Anyone else have a seriously messed up back and went through pregnancy?
I have a severely herniated L5-S1 that impinges on my left sciatic nerve, and bulging discs at every lumbar vertebra, as well as degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis of my spine, and mild scoliosis. My neurosurgeon told me 2 years ago that surgery was my only option, but as long as I can walk, I am not ready for surgery. He also told me that pregnancy would be excruciating for me.
He recommended I get a strong/maximum maternity support brace, and start wearing it early, before I am showing.
Has anyone survived pregnancy with pre-existing major back problems?
Re: Herniated disc in pregnancy
I won't lie, the last trimester of my pregnancy was very, very painful. My sciatica came back with a vengeance. There are things that can be done, but I'm more of a "grit your teeth and get through it" kind of a girl. The best thing I can say about it, is that the pain went away after delivery.
MC 4/23/2014
BFP 8/1/2014, expecting our rainbow on 4/12/2015
How are y'all holding up?
Picked up a brace yet?
I haven't picked up a brace yet. I have been trying to convince my husband to rub my back some and my doctor for my back, and the one who did my hernia repair, and my OB all keep telling me if I keep my weight under control I should be fine and not have as many problems! My last pregnancy I gained 60 pounds. So they all decided that I need to count calories. I have always pretty thin and never had to worry about what I ate big bummer!
I hope you all can stay as pain free as possible.
Not the same thing but I have chronic ass problems due to my youngest daughters birth and the tears that happened rectally. I'm seeing a surgeon Monday because the pain can be severe. Yuck!
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Has anyone bought a brace yet?
My back pain is getting much worse and is causing sciatica again. My husband and a friend I work with have been scolding me to get a brace, and last night Ryan finally put his foot down and had me place an order. One problem I was having was how do I know which one is right for me? So, in the end, I ordered 3 different braces from Amazon. I'm going to try them all on and whichever one feels right, I will keep, and will return the other two. I'll reply again when I get them and give them a try.
I hope everyone else is feeling better than I have been!
In the meantime, I've continued an aggressive regimen of chiropractic care, massage therapy, physical therapy, yoga, task modification, and ice packs to help keep my pain (mostly) under control - at least tolerable on my chronic scale. My MFM also gave the okay for intermittent use of NSAIDs during flare ups, which was a huge relief (literally and psychologically).
Good luck!
I did get the best news today that my massage therapist is venturing out on her own and she's going to make house calls! She told me she's available this weekend, so a massage may be on my Sunday agenda. Ahhhh...
Ok, finally I can report my personal opinions/recommendations. I ordered my braces to wear mostly just at work, since I have a very physical job. I may find that I need it outside of work when I start getting bigger, though.
I ordered 3 braces:
Meditex Maternity Belt – Maximum Support: I ended up deciding that this is “the one”. It is the most annoying, but most effective. It has 3 separate pieces, which at first I did not like. The first piece is the lower belly band, which I then realized is just what most women would wear if they bought the typical maternity support band at BRU or Motherhood. I may wear this one alone later on for mild support when I'm off from work. After you have that positioned and comfortably strapped on, there is the actual brace. The material is uncomfortable to my very sensitive skin, but I figured out that I can put my belly band on first, then the lower support, then the brace. It keeps it from rubbing my skin. The brace itself is also kind of annoying, but again, because it is effective. It actually supports your spine and forces you to have better posture (mine obviously is horrible). You line up the brace on your back and pull it tight around your belly and fasten it to the lower support. It straightens your back while also lifting your stomach. I had to laugh at how hugely pregnant I looked with the brace, since it lifted everything up. The final piece is an upper belly band that seems pointless to me. Maybe I will feel like it is necessary later in pregnancy, but probably not. Overall, this one offered the most support and seemed like it will actually help me, if I can get over how stubborn I am and accept that I need help.
Gabrialla Elastic Maternity Support Belt, Medium Support: I bought this one hoping it would be sufficient and less annoying, since it is smaller. I put it on and immediately realized this will do nothing to help my messed up back.
Gabrialla Maternity Support Belt (Strong Support): Maybe this one just didn’t fit me right, I don’t know, but it didn’t feel like it was doing anything for my back. It was easier to use than the Meditex one, but I just didn’t feel supported.
I hope this helps someone else out there. What worked for me may not work for you, and vise versa.
I hope you're all feeling ok! I know my pain is just getting worse. Ryan gave me money for massages for our anniversary, so I had my massage therapist come to our house on Sunday and she gave me a 2 hour NMT/MFR massage. It hurt like hell at some points, but it really helped to release things. She is so awesome - she also had Ryan come in so she could teach him a few moves to help me out.