So last year (or at least a while ago--before I got pregnant) I had really bad back pain (I believe I even blogged about it). It had started out as sciatic nerve pain (on my right side) but then triggered my sacroiliac joint to hurt on that side too. I was unable to move without assistance and excruciating pain for several days. Because of this, it really scared me when my left side started with the sciatic nerve pain because as a pregnant woman, you release a hormone called relaxin (yes that's seriously what it's called) that makes your joints looser (and usually more painful). It has a purpose because you are gaining a lot of weight quickly (if you can call 9 months quickly) and this will help prevent your joints from killing themselves...or something. It also helps loosen you up for labor.
Anyway, with this hormone rushing through me, I thought it would be even more likely that my left sacroiliac joint would flare up and again, I would be unable to move. I have an appointment with my doctor on Friday (it's just my regular monthly appointment plus my ultrasound) and will ask her about all this then but in the meantime, I have to find a way to cope with the pain and not make it any worse. I do know last month when I asked about joint paints in general she said that walking would help (my preferred type of exercise right now considering how out of breath I get even just getting dressed) and prenatal yoga. I had been walking every day but stopped when it got really hot out. I also had been doing some prenatal yoga (thanks to YouTube videos) but nothing specifically joint related. They didn't seem to really help but because of my bad headaches, I was already taking tylenol (at least once a day it seemed) so I didn't want any other medicine.
With this pain, I decided to look up videos specifically for it. I found one I really like and it's only 10 minutes long. I don't even always do the whole video because it's specific poses that really seem to help. I am PERFECT after the video for a while but then the pain comes back. If you're interested, the pose that seems to help me the most is to be on all fours and then make circles with your hips, as if you were making a circle around your knees. They can be as big or as small as you like. You can feel your sciatic nerve flare up for a bit while doing it but then it calms down.
Sleeping seems to be the big issue, although last night went pretty well since I did the yoga right before I went to bed. Otherwise, laying on the side that doesn't hurt (if you can get there) with a pillow between your knees or laying on your back with something under your good side (I use a bunched up blanket) seem to help.
Sitting definitely makes it worse so the more active you can be, the better (although that's much easier said than done, especially when you're in your second trimester and feel dizzy and light-headed if you are standing for too long (or at least I do)). Any activity you can do will help, even if it's just a short walk around the block.
Lastly, you could take an anti-inflammatory (although if you're pregnant, be careful which ones) to see if that helps calms things down too but basically, it's the baby's fault. The extra weight, the baby kicking, and the rearranging of organs can put a lot of strain on your body. At least people seem to be saying that it tends to get better in your third trimester (although I personally think that would make it worse, being so much bigger, but we'll just have to see!)
No comments:
Post a Comment