Do Pregnancy Pillows help with sciatica? This is the question always asked by the new moms.
The pregnancy period is never so easy and smooth. Back pains are normal for many pregnant women during this period. These back pains can lead to some severe problems and will make your maternity period even harder.
One of the severe kinds of pain during the pregnancy period is the pain of Sciatica.
The sciatica condition is not permanent, but the pain is sometimes unbearable. It commonly starts from your back and causes pain in other parts of the body.
Let’s dive into how and what can help sciatica pain during your pregnancy.
Table Of Content
- What is Sciatica?
- Causes of Sciatica during Pregnancy
- Can Sciatica Condition Harm Your Baby?
- Things To know about Sciatica
- Gentle Exercise to help sciatica pain
- Tips On How To Relieve from Sciatica Pain
- Using Pillows to get relief from Sciatica Pain
- How to Sleep With Sciatica?
- Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica?
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a condition that mostly occurs in pregnant women during their pregnancy period.
Sciatica pain is really severe than any type or normal back pain during pregnancy.
The pains go all the way from your back to the lower part of your bodies, such as your buttock and your legs.
The pain of Sciatica is basically caused by our sciatica nerve (the largest nerve in the human body) with origin from your lower back down to your legs and connected to the feet and ankles.
This sharp and severe pain is caused by the compression of the sciatic nerve. This compression is caused by the spinal cord narrowing, slipped disks, arthritis, etc. Sciatica can cause severe issues, but these issues are mostly temporary for a pregnant woman.
What Causes Sciatica Flare Up?
Women are more vulnerable to sciatica pain due to a number of reasons, especially during their pregnancy periods. These reasons include:
1) More Fluid Retention & Weight Gain: The weight gain is obvious during the pregnancy period, and it can press your sciatic nerve near the pelvis. The pressure applied to the nerve results in its compression.
2) Expanding Uterus:The expansion of the uterus can possibly press your sciatic nerve, which results in its compression.
3) Growing Belly: It may cause the pelvic area and buttocks to be pressurized and might pinch your sciatic nerve.
4) Baby’s Head Position: When women are in their final pregnancy months, their baby’s head settles in such a position that it can possibly press your sciatica nerves, causing severe pain.
5)\Slipped Disc: This issue is not very common among pregnant women, but sometimes your disc may slip due to excessive pressure on your uterus.
Can Sciatica Condition Harm your Baby?
The sciatica pain does not cause any kind of harm to your baby. The main cause of pain is your growing uterus that puts pressure on your sciatic nerve.
This longest nerve in our body extends from the lower back of your body to your foot. When this nerve is disturbed due to extra pressure, it causes pain at one side of your body. The pain is mostly caused by lifting heavy objects.
Your weight gain during pregnancy can also be a reason for such pain. The pain is mostly temporary and common among pregnant women.
Once their pregnancy period is over, they can easily get rid of this pain by taking some set of actions to lose their excessive weight.
Things to Know About Sciatica Pain
Here are some of the important points that pregnant women must know about Sciatica:
- The sciatica condition in pregnant women normally occurs in the third trimester. During this period, your baby is growing. The condition may occur before the third trimester, but mostly, it doesn’t.
- Most pregnant women will feel pain on one side of their lower body from their back to their legs while some of them may feel in both legs.
- The pain of Sciatica is directly dependent on the pressure being exerted on your sciatica nerve. The larger the pressure, the more the pain.
- You may feel an increase in the pain if you are gaining more weight and retaining fluid.
- The pain might remain even after your pregnancy period is over, and the child is born. In order to get rid of this pain after pregnancy, you must lower your excessive body weight and the fluid pressing your nerve.
Gentle Exercise To Help Sciatica
One of the best way to relieve sciatica pain is to do sciatica nerve relief exercises. Exercises are always important for your body. You can’t do some hard exercises during the pregnancy period, but instead, you can go for some gentle exercise to relieve sciatica
The gentle exercises will provide strength to your back and abdominal muscles. Once your muscles are strengthed, you will hardly fall for Sciatica pain.
All back pain issues will disappear if you do regular exercise even just from some minutes daily.
Before you jump to an exercise, you can contact your doctor and ask him if it’s safe for you to do exercise.
The doctor will definitely advise that the best sciatica nerve pain relief method is to do some gentle exercises in most scenarios. Stick to those exercises and be regular.
Some of the common exercise to help sciatica pain you can do during your pregnancy period include yoga, brisk walking, cycling. swimming is also really effective in reducing any kind of lower back pain.
Swimming reduces pressure on your muscles and joints. You will feel much lighter if you practice these exercises on a daily basis, but first, it is strongly recommended to ask your doctor for any kind of suggestions.
Tips On How To Relieve Sciatica Pain
How to stop sciatica pain? If you are facing sciatica pain in your pregnancy period, then you can act upon the following tips to get temporary relief. If the pain is really severe, then you must consider visiting a doctor.
Things To Help Sciatica Pain
- Use warm pads on the parts of your body where the pain is severe such as your legs and back.
- Stretching helps a lot to relieve pain. You can stretch in different positions such as seated piriformis stretch, child’s pose, kneeling lunges, and other stretching techniques specially made for pregnant women.
- Massages can help to get instant relief from such pains. Get yourself a massage and let the pain go.
- Sleep on the opposite side of the pain. For example, if there is a pain on the left side of your body, then you should consider lying on your right side.
- Use pregnancy pillow for sciatica nerve pain. There are some best pillow for sciatica pain designed to help pregnant women to handle all the pain issues caused by Sciatica, and it actually helps to relieve your sciatica pain. These types of pillows support your back, neck, and you can simply place them between your knees.
- Keep exercising in a gentle manner. Avoid any excessive exercise, but you can try swimming, cycling, and yoga. One of the best way to help sciatica pain.
- Do not lift any heavy objects. Pregnant women are not advise to lift any heavy object and if you suffering sciatica pain during your pregnancy, you must it because it can cause damage to your discs resulting in a slipped disc issue.
- Keep your shoes flat. Do not use any kind of shoes with high heels, especially after your third trimester period of pregnancy.
- Weight gain is obvious during pregnancy, but you should keep this process well maintained. An instant increase in weight can also cause Sciatica.
- Rest your feet when you are free. Avoid making any excessive effort harmful to your body.
- In severe conditions, you must visit a doctor and consult with him about your problem. If it’s a slipped disc issue, then your doctor can recommend the best solution.
Using Pillows to Reduce your Sciatica Pain
Do pregnancy pillows help sciatica pain? The answer is definitely yes..
The best way to relieve sciatica pain so far is to give your body some rest, and it is only possible if you are using the right pregnancy pillows to get some relief from all these pains.
Here are some things you must look while you are buying pregnancy pillow for sciatica pain for yourself.
1) Firm Surface
A firm surface is always important to keep your body aligned. It also depends upon the personal preference of many people. Some people may like to sleep on a solid surface, such as on yoga mats, while others may go for medium-firm surfaces. If you have back pains and you are facing sciatica condition, then you must choose a firm surface for your rest. It will allow aligning your spine, and this alignment will help you to get rid of pain quicker.
2) Pregnancy Pillows
A flat surface is obviously important, but your pillows also play an important role in your spine and other body parts, especially if you are a pregnant woman. Using a lot of small pillows is just a pain. You can go for full-sized U-Shaped pregnancy pillows that cover your whole body, providing it proper support for sciatica.
It help to get rid of sciatica pain by supporting your back, belly, neck, and shoulders. You will feel much comfortable, and there will be no need to set other tiny pillows on your bed.
3) Pillows for one side sleep
While you have sciatica pain, you will face this pain occurring at either the left or right side of your body. You have to sleep on the opposite side of your pain in order to get relief but to provide proper relaxation to your back and legs, and you need a pregnancy pillow.
The pregnancy pillow for side sleepers will provide support to both sides of your body. You can place a pillow arm between your knees, and your body will feel more relaxed instantly. The U-shaped pregnancy pillows work really great for this purpose because they cover your whole body.
4) Pillows for sleeping on the stomach
It is not much recommended to sleep on your stomach when you are pregnant and have sciatica pain. If you mostly sleep on your stomach, then it’s probably your habit that is not easy to stop. In this scenario, you can use a pregnancy pillow specially designed for stomach sleeper pregnant women.
These pillows have a stomach hole in the center. You can easily lie down on these pillows in the stomach position, and it will not cause any excessive sciatica pain.
How to Sleep With Sciatica ?
Sleeping with sciatica pain is really difficult. However, if you use any wrong sleeping position, then it can lead to more pain. Pregnant women suffer a lot due to sciatica pain, and there are many sleepless nights from them, but do not worry; there are some solutions that can at least reduce your sciatica pain, and you will be able to sleep much quicker.
- Get a firm mattress and lie down in such a position that your spine is fully aligned with your bed. The sleeping position of your knees must be towards your ceiling. Try to keep your neck strain-free and then relax your body. It will help to get better sleep, and it will also help in the long term if you use this technique on a daily basis.
- Many people have a side-sleeping habit, and they are unable to sleep straight. If you have sciatica pain, then lying on one side can increase the pain. You must use a pregnancy pillow between your knees to lower any kind of back stress and back pain.
- Choosing the right pregnancy pillow matters a lot if you are going through sciatica pain. Try to find a pillow that mutually supports your neck, back, head, and shoulders without causing much strain. There is nothing else better than pregnancy pillows. Pregnancy pillows provide mutual support to your whole body without causing any strain. If you use these pillows in your daily routine, then you will see the sciatica pain disappearing.
- The surface where you sleep matters a lot. If you are using a really soft mattress to get a good night’s sleep, then you might be doing wrong. Soft mattresses do not help to align your back with a flat surface when your back is not aligned, and it will cause pain due to a bend. It is always recommended to use flat surfaces and rigid mattresses if you want to get rid of sciatica pain.
Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica?
If you ask me, My answer is definitely Yes! Pregnancy pillows are the most effective things you can use to lower all your back pains and issues related to Sciatica. You should also implement other pain-relieving techniques, but the smallest thing that can lead to extraordinary pain relief results are these pillows.
Get one pregnancy pillow specifically for sciatica according to your body weight, shape, and your sleeping position to maximize the results.
Final Words!
There is no best sciatica pillow but there is most suitable sciatica pillow for your. Every pregnancy women has different style of sleeping position. Choosing the right pregnancy pillow with the right position to sleep is the most important as pect to help your sciatica problem during your pregnancy,
Now, you know the more about sciatica pain during pregnancy and how to get rid of this, but the last question that would become in your mind is “Do I need pregnancy pillow?”
Then my answer is Yes. If you still have queries about which pregnancy pillows you should get, i recommend you to check our article ” Best Pregnancy pillow for sciatica pain“ to get the most suitable pregnancy pillow for yourself.
And also, Do not forget to check out also the “Top 8 Pregnancy Pillow Health Benefits”. This will allow you to know more about why you need a pregnancy pillows.
Now, it’s your turn, Drop your valuable opinion about “Do pregnancy pillows help with sciatica” in the comment box and let me know if you have any question in mind.
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