Sciatica exercises during pregnancy

Pregnancy lasts for 9 months and during that period a woman's body goes through a lot of changes. Besides the obvious (increased belly), there are hormonal changes within the organism and also physiological changes within the uterus and hip area. This is a period when a woman also should increase the control of meals, because it is obvious that the intake of nutrients must be increased. Many pregnant women tend to make mistakes here, eating too much, thinking that it is not enough for the baby and obesity occurs, which is a problem because a form of diabetes might occur as well. Also, mood changes are frequent, and there are morning sickness and nausea present for the first several months of the pregnancy.

Sciatica

The problem with the increasing belly is that the pressure on the spine and the entire hip area is increased and some women might feel discomfort and even pain. Pain can be caused by several factors here, but most likely, it happens because of the inflammation of the sciatic nerve. This happens when this nerve gets in contact with the uterus, or sometimes a baby can get in the same contact. The problem with this pain is that sometimes it travels through the hip area towards the legs, reaching the feet occasionally.

Exercises

Sciatica exercises during pregnancy are one of the methods for dealing with this problem. Actually, it might be the only safe one, since the use of medications in pregnancy is not allowed, especially in the first trimester of the pregnancy. Even in later months, meds are something that should be avoided and are used only in a case of emergency. Exercising abdominal muscles will alleviate the pressure form the backbone, because strong abs will not allow the belly to pull forward. And it is also important to say that strong abdominal muscles might help with delivering a baby. But abs should not be done when pregnancy is already present; instead, another form should be used. It requires sitting in the chair and then ankle of one leg is put on the knee of the other. After about half a minute, legs are changed. Another form includes standing normally with feet a bit spread. Bending one leg is needed, while the foot of the other is elevated on the heel.

Before any exercising is done, it is especially important to consult a doctor. Even though exercises like those mentioned above will help with sciatica, it would be pointless to harm the baby in any way for removing this problem. And, perhaps the body is simply not in shape in that given moment for some physical activity.