What Causes Sciatica During Pregnancy? (Probably Not What You Think)

What many women don’t realize when they first learn that they are pregnant is that they may be in store for sciatica pain. This can often come a s a surprise to woman and it can make what should be a happy and joyful time into a painful and agonizing time. Well, if you don’t already know, sciatica is a sharp or shooting pain in your lower back, buttocks, hips, or down your legs. It is caused when there is pressure placed on the sciatic nerve, which branches out from the lower back and runs down to the tips of your toes. Many women are quick to assume that sciatica is caused by the baby pressing down on the sciatic nerve in the womb. After all, the womb is located very close to the sciatic nerve. But in the vast majority of pregnancy sciatica cases, this is not the cause. Here I’d like to share a few things with you that are more likely to cause sciatica during pregnancy. The first is a change in posture. As the baby inside your grows your belly will begin to bulge outward. In order to accommodate this growing weight, many women must lean their upper back and chest backward to keep their balance. This however, is a change in your posture and it can cause the pressure on your inter-vertebral discs to not be spread out evenly. This can result a bulging disc which can put pressure on the sciatic nerve. The second thing is hormones. When you are pregnant, your body produces a hormone called relaxin. This hormone helps to soften and relax the joints in the pelvis in anticipation for delivery. When these joints become softened they are less sturdy and it is possible that things could shift around much more easily and result in pressure on your sciatic nerve. Third are muscular imbalances. There is probably a good chance that you had some sort of muscular imbalance before your pregnancy. However, being pregnant certainly isn’t going to make that any better. In fact it will accentuate it in all probability. Muscular imbalances can cause all sorts of problems with your back and sciatica. They can result in bulging discs, problems like piriformis syndrome (which is essentially a tense muscle in your pelvis), or other problems such as over exertion of back muscles that support the spine. Fourth is stress. It is not surprise that pregnancy is stressful. There are so many things to prepare for and so many decisions to make. Stress can actually manifest itself in your body as tension. Don’t believe me? Think back to the last time you were really stressed out. I bet your shoulders and neck were very tense. When stress is stored in your back or hips, it can cause muscles to become tight around the sciatic nerve, which can put pressure on the sciatic nerve. This is how emotions can actually cause sciatica. Being pregnant should be a joyful time in your life. It is sad that many women seem to suffer with sciatica during this time.