Last Updated on September 16, 2022 by Natalie

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I have dealt with sciatica for almost a decade.

It got especially bad during my pregnancy and I was on a constant mission to find relief.

Wondering if you have it?

What is sciatica?

It’s identified as pain that radiates from your back down to your leg.

And it’s usually focused on one side.

Don’t be quick to think it’s not sciatica because you don’t feel a pain shooting from your back to your leg.

It can be difficult to know where the pain starts and ends.

Sometimes you only know because someone is massaging a point that, to your surprise, provides relief to your pain.

For me, the sciatic nerve pain is focused in my glute.

For years, I have routinely gone to get a massage in which I started the session telling the massage therapist to just focus on my glutes.

I love me a good butt massage.

Naturally, when I became pregnant it got worse and I was one of those who dealt with a lot of sciatic nerve pain as a result of pregnancy.

Especially in the second trimester when I started sleeping on my left side every night, as they recommend you do.

I brought it up at one of my OB appointments and there wasn’t a lot of direction I got other than doing pregnancy sciatica stretches.

Simple pregnancy sciatica stretches, while they felt kinda nice, weren’t fixing this problem.

Relief for Sciatica in Pregnancy

1. Body pillow

I was gifted the Snoogle by a friend at the beginning of my pregnancy.

I was warned that this may wreak havoc on my marriage.

My husband wasn’t jealous of the Snoogle pillow, though. If anything, he was jealous that I got to use the snoogle pillow.

Sometimes I’d find him cuddling with it and I would need to remind him I’m the one who is pregnant and needs the snoogle pillow.

The dogs also liked it a lot.

What’s great about the Snoogle is that it’s a full body pillow so it is supposed to help the alignment of your full back and legs while you sleep.

Although I love sleeping with the Snoogle pillow, unfortunately, it didn’t kill my sciatic nerve pain in pregnancy.

Before I was pregnant, it was usually my right glute that hurt.

Now, it was my left glute.

I think the weight that I constantly had stacked on my left glute (due to sleeping on my left side) was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve.

I’d wake up in the middle of the night with pain that felt like a cramp in my butt.

I would shake the bed, ferociously kneading my glute with my fist trying not to think about what my husband might think was happening.

2. Prenatal Massage

Ahhh…This was definitely the most enjoyable sciatica pregnancy treatment.

It’s not recommended that you have a prenatal massage until you’re in your second trimester.

Of course, check with your OB to get the green light before.

Once you’re cleared, you have to find a therapist who is certified in prenatal massage.

Then, the next step is finding one whose style you like.

I am a member of Massage Envy, which have locations throughout the United States.

I was excited to learn they offer prenatal massages.

Make sure that wherever you go, you let them know you are making an appointment for a prenatal massage.

I also tried some fancy well-known spas, which cost a lot more money and didn’t satisfy my sciatica pregnancy pains.

In fact, I left agitated because it was the most expensive massage I’ve ever paid for and the lady refused to apply any pressure on a pregnant woman.

I basically paid $200+ for a back rub.

All therapists are different and you’ll find some that feel strongly that deep pressure on a pregnant woman is unsafe.

To them I say, you are not my people!

I need to feel pain to relieve pain.

Get in there, Lucy!

But whatever your preference, you may need to kiss a few frog therapists to find someone whose style you like.

3. Foam Roller or Tennis Ball

No matter how many massage appointments I had or how awesome they felt, I always experienced pain at home later.

Make sure you’re prepared to help yourself at home because these moments will come.

The foam roller is nice for generalized pressure.

Some positions help you get a little deeper.

For example, if you sit on the roller, have one leg straight on the floor in front of you and rest the ankle of your other leg above your knee. Then roll back and forth over that glute.

The tennis ball gives a deeper, more focused pressure on a particular point.

I. Love. This.

I still use them regularly.

You just stand up against the wall and put the tennis ball behind the spot that needs some love.

Roll around on it. The end.

For seriously, I was looking for my foam roller on Amazon to include in this post and I found this kit that brings the foam roller and spikey massage balls (and other stuff)!

Even better than buying tennis balls separately from the foam roller just for the sake of massaging yourself.

Unless, of course, you already have tennis balls at home.

In that case, just get a foam roller.

4. Prenatal Yoga

This supports the sciatica pregnancy stretches approach.

I have done yoga on and off over the years.

I had become bored of it and didn’t find the joy in it anymore.

But when I tried prenatal yoga…

It was super gentle and the whole ambiance helped me disconnect.

It wasn’t difficult.

I’m sure it has a lot to do with the type of yoga and the teacher’s style.

It felt more like a series of stretches done to soothing music in a dimly lit room.

It’s recommended that you wait until you’re in your second trimester before beginning prenatal yoga.

For any Miami people reading this and interested in knowing, I went to Body4Yoga in Hialeah.

I decided on this place after reading reviews.

Very decent prices, the owner is so nice and the class is perfect.

It’s also a way to meet other pregnant friends.

While my sciatica pain still lived with me, some of the stretches done in the class felt great.

5. Chiropractor

Eventually I started seeing a chiropractor.

I’ve always enjoyed cracking my neck and back.

So this wasn’t solely for my sciatica but I figured it could probably help with that.

I think it may have helped a bit but it’s hard to say.

At this point, I had implemented several strategies to deal with the nuisance that was sciatica.

I made sure to find a chiropractor that specialized in adjusting pregnant women.

I’ll be honest, even still I was a little freaked out about some of the adjustments.

I particularly hated one where the chiropractor applied pressure to my round ligaments.

It hurt and it consisted of pressing her fingers down under my belly.

Like…the baby was there.

She assured me she wasn’t hurting the baby but…meh.

I’d rather skip that part.

The Wrap Up

So there you have it.

Try these tips and let me know if they help.

Or if there is something that has worked for you not mentioned here, comment below and let me know.

Thanks for reading!