Are you a pregnant woman with sciatica? Or just a regular person with sciatica who has heard about the pregnancy pillows can help you with the back pain?
Well, if these so, then you are in the right place. We have all the information that you need to know to make up your mind.
Pregnancy is no walk in the park. There are a lot of firsts, regardless of the fact whether you’re pregnant for the first or the third time.
Each pregnancy has its own set of ordeals and, let’s say ‘surprises.
One of the most prominent features will be your belly enlarging, the weight of your baby growing and weighing down on your back.
According to the Nhs.uk
During pregnancy, the ligaments in your body naturally become softer and stretch to prepare you for labor. Weak ligaments can put a strain on the joints of your lower back and pelvis, which causes back pain.”
By the second trimester, you can probably feel the weighing down have a pulling effect on your spine.
Depending on your age, intake of nutrients, and the amount of exercise you get, the pull can begin to turn into constantly nagging back pain.
This back pain is sometimes most felt at the end of a tiring day.
While exercises, excellent and healthy food intake, and painkillers may seem helpful,
But they are not the solution to the back pain that will keep amounting till the baby arrives.
Now before I answer Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica? Let us give you a quick crash course of precisely what sciatica means.
What is Sciatica?
The sciatic nerve is the largest in the body. It runs down from your spine, branches in your buttocks, and descends the back of lower limbs to ankles and feet.
This nerve can get compressed or damaged due to reasons such as age, weight lifting, weight gain, trauma, slipped or ruptured spinal discs or arthritis.
Sciatica pain differs from other back pains or arthritis pain in the sense that the sciatica pain comes up as sharp, shooting, and goes radiating down the spine, to the buttocks and down to your legs.
The intensity of the pain differs based on what kind of sciatica one has, yet the mildest of pain remains quite discomforting.
However, pregnant women do not develop sciatica because of pregnancy. Although women with sciatica, going through pregnancy can face additional back pain.
So, now its time to answer your question, Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica?
Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica?
Pregnancy pillows are not only great comfort but are beneficial as well. The most obvious being that it helps you sleep better. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a pregnant woman with sciatica or just a regular person with sciatica.
One of the essential benefits of a pregnancy pillow is that it maintains weight and evenly distributes it to prevent any of your body parts, especially legs weighing down on the other.
In pregnancy, weight increases, which can cause a strain on the back and legs. Even an overweight patient with sciatica may suffer from the same scenario.
Spine-Health says,
in finding a pillow—and a pillow arrangement—that works best for you, can increase your chances of getting sufficient sleep. Interesting?
Sciatica pain has various underlying causes, and the medical cause of the sciatica pain may influence what sleep position feels comfortable.
Sleeping with a pregnancy pillow provides support to your legs and torso, taking away the strain from the spine, allowing it to destress as you sleep.
Sleeping on your side is generally recommended, especially for pregnant women, for proper circulation of blood.
Also, Sleeping sideways can prove to be comfortable for many women, and sleeping flat on your back can cause a strain on the sciatic nerve.
According to a research article published in The Journal of Physical Therapy Science, the height of the pillow and the sleeping positions have a significant impact on breathing patterns,
which further influences the quality of blood circulation in the body.
Humans spend roughly one-third of their lives sleeping. Sufficient sleep helps reinvigorate the body and mind, while insufficient sleep causes fatigue and disturbs our daily lives.
Lack of sleep causes symptoms like being in a daze throughout the day, lows levels of concentration, and slower speeds in performing tasks
A good night’s sleep can do wonders. Physically, healing wise, emotionally, and physiologically.
What Other things Can Help You In Sciatica
To relieve the sciatica pain, some common remedies are:
- Use hot pads or warm compresses to soothe the areas with pain.
- Keep your legs up, resting on a horizontal surface while sitting down. It will help you ease leg and lower back pain and avoid swelling too.
- Sleep on the side of your body. Preferably, on your right-hand side. Once sleepy, you can switch sides as the right side is said to be the better side for pregnant women to sleep.
- For therapeutic sleeping and extra comfort for your back, use a pregnancy pillow or a large pillow between your legs to maintain better alignment and remove extra pressure off of the sciatic nerve.
- Make small and practical lifestyle changes such as regular exercises and stretches. Make sure you maintain a proper posture when standing, sitting upright, and especially lifting objects.
- Avoid using frequent medications for pain. Too many medicines can cause side effects of their own and also numb down sciatic pain temporarily, helping you continue sciatic triggering lifestyle choices.
- Avoid bed rest, lazing around, or sitting or remaining in a single position for too long.
I hope you have found this information useful, and this “Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica” guide will help you in making a valuable decision.
Thing To Consider Before Buying a Pillow for Sciatica?
Before we get to the list, there are certain factors that you should keep in mind.
Pregnancy pillows are engineered to help you sleep in the best possible positions, angling your body and limbs to provide maximum comfort. These are not be confused with orthopedic cushions or pillows that serve a significantly different purpose.
Apart from that, one should remember that these pillows will not help you suppress pains or issues linked directly to sciatica.
Sciatica is a medical condition. It is an ailment where the nerve, deep inside your body, has strained or damaged or simply failing to perform its function.
Thus the pillows cannot in any way help you eradicate the cause. It can only help you sleep better as a part of your lifestyle change.
The primary purpose of using pregnancy pillows for sciatica remains strictly to help you sleep better to stay well-rested and stress-free.
What More to Know?
According to MedicalNewsToday
There is no real way to prevent sciatica. Avoiding too much time spent sitting or in the same position can help, as can maintaining a healthy weight. Also, protecting the back through regular stretching and exercise, and avoiding lifting with the back is essential.
Some of the key factors that everyone should keep in mind when buying pregnancy pillows help with sciatica does are:
Material – There are two materials. The material of the cover and the material of the fill. Make sure it should be soft, easy to clean, and hypoallergenic because this is what will be coming in contact with your body while you sleep for hours.
Shape – There are many shapes of pregnancy pillow available, like C, J, or U shaped pregnancy pillow, But for sciatica, go with Wedge pregnancy pillows. They are small and used for specific portions of the body such as the hip region to help with sciatica.
You can also check our list of the Best pregnancy pillow for sciatica.
Now it’s your turn. Let us know how you like our Do Pregnancy Pillows Help With Sciatica? Guide. Is it help full?
Put your question in the comment box and let me know what you are doing to get relief from sciatica. Your acknowledgment will help other moms.
And finally, don’t forget to share this article because sharing is caring.
Sakshi Patel
Senior Content Writer
Sakshi Patel is a busy Mom who enjoys spending most of her time with her cute daughter and a pet dog. She joins us as a senior content writer, and because of her creative writing style, has become our top-rated content writer