If you have the misfortune to develop sciatica during your pregnancy then you are probably ready to punch though a steel door in frustration. I developed mine about mid way though my fifth month and all I kept hearing was "It'll get worse" or "Has it brought you to tears yet?" which is not what you want to hear. The doctor, nurses, random medical techs, online resources... everything seemed to say that you might make it a little less painful, but you were just shit out of luck until the baby comes. Having four + months of increasing pain to look forward to is soul-crushing.
I tried swimming, stretching, heat, cold, Tylenol, rest... it just got worse and worse. Swimming was the closest to relief, but only when I was in the water. I had to stop because as soon as I started climbing out of the pool the pain was back in full force. The most frustrating thing was trying to get someone to take the pain seriously. I finally called my doctor in tears because I was terrified of falling down the stairs, or getting stuck in the pool, or falling getting out of the shower. The pain was bad, but randomly losing the ability to put ANY weight on my leg was horrifying. The pain you can deal with, but the thought of hurting your baby is just too much.
Finally I got the number to a chiropractor. Dedicated and targeted massage can also help, but I really hate being touched by strangers and massage has never really worked for me before so I was skeptical. Knowing any appointment was a few days away at best, my husband gave massage a try. For the record, he does not really do "gentle" massages. He's kind of a big, strong man-type of guy and I already bruise easily enough that I don't get professional massages, let alone let his steel fingers loose on my delicate muscles.
He dug his fingers into my hip so hard tears came to my eyes. I held on for as long as I could, but damn, it hurt! When he was done... it didn't hurt anymore. It kind of came back the next day, so he did it again. He dug in so hard something popped! He POPPED my HIP with his FINGERS! And that was the last of the sciatica. Seriously. It was gone. Weeks of pain just vanished.
I don't hurt at all now. Not even a twinge. There was some major soreness afterwards because I had been favoring these muscles for months, but that cleared up quickly.
Talk to your doctor about a chiropractor or strong massage therapist if your husband doesn't have Superman hands. Be specific, because they all seem to have a "shit happens" kind of attitude about sciatica. It wasn't just my doctor, but several other medical professionals, the nurses, online resources... the impression you get is that you just have to deal with it. You don't!
Good luck!
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