Bad sciatic nerve pain - help!

[LavenderSweetPea]

So I'm panicking a little bit, I'm 6 months pregnant and physically was absolutely fine up until Friday morning. I was sitting on the floor and when I got up I felt this terrible shooting pain in my right buttcheek. It's not gone away and seems to be getting worse, even though I've been trying to rest as much a possible.

Googling, I think it's pain of the sciatic nerve. It's excruciatingly painful when I move, particularly when I bend over. I'm frustrated and scared because I can hardly walk. I don't know what to do or if I should just keep resting and hope it does away.

Has anyone had similar? Is there anything I can do to help it? Will it go away on its own?

Hi
i has exactly the same thing after sitting on the floor. I have a ‘theragun’ which is a massage gun and got my partner to use it all down my back and leg which really helped. I think having a firm massage will help if it’s nerve pain, mine felt like it ‘released’ soemthing whereas resting it seemed to make it worse.

If it’s sciatic pain, that means a disc in your spine is bulging and pressing on the sciatic nerve.

I would avoid massage in case you inflame it further.

Definitely ask GP for advice as you may need painkillers soon.

Do whatever feels right. For me that was a lot of lying flat on my back on a hard floor but as you are pregnant that might make it worse 🙈

Avoid bending and lifting, as much as possible. Walking is good.

Try nerve flossing eg
https://chiroup.com/blog/sciatic-nerve-flossing#:~:text=Sciatic%20nerve%20flossing%20entails%20tensioning,have%20developed%20along%20the%20way.

Just throwing this in, my mother was told by a physiotherapist to lie on her back on the floor with her calves on a kitchen chair for twenty minutes a day to avoid having a recurrence of a sciatica pain.

Thanks all. I'll give some of these suggestions a try. Sitting seems to help so I'll keep resting as much as I can and I'll also call the GP tomorrow. I can't not walk for the next 3 months!

Just updating this in case anyone else comes across this in the future. I was referred to an osteopath who diagnosed the issue as being a problem with my piriformis muscle. I must have strained it when I got up, but anyway it can interfere with the sciatic nerve when the muscle is inflamed and apparently this can happen in pregnancy because the way you stand with a bump puts additional pressure on the muscle. It should heal in 3-4 weeks.

In any case I've got some exercises which have already started helping, and the osteo was litteral magic - i've never been to one before but I had to be helped in slowly as I could barely walk, and an hour later I walked out so it has made a huge difference!