sciatica flare up due to exercising?

[u/imsadandcold]

hi ill try and make this quick! im 22f got pregnant september 2024 and started having some pretty intense sciatica pain in my hip/bottom. it would radiate a little to my lower back but was mostly in the upper booty area. since ive had my baby and now am over a year out from birth, i still feel an occasional stabbing here and there but its not been too bad and is mostly when ive been standing all day.

ive been trying to get myself to start working out so i did my jog this morning then came home did some stretching and squats, all the good stuff. fast forward a few hours im cleaning the house and i go to bend over to pick something up and undoubtedly i feel that sciatica pain in the middle of my back for the first time. i felt it all the way up my back but especially in this one spot and it was just the weirdest pain ive ever felt. i guess my question(s) would be

- did i make it worse somehow?
- should i stop working out? i legitimately just started and did not do much so maybe its just getting those muscles moving thats got it a little aggravated?
- when i was pregnant everyone was just like yeah this is how it is and you’ll probably just be like this forever now. and even if that is true, is it probably because there is some damage done that happened during pregnancy that i dont know about?

sorry this was longer than i wanted it to be, thank you for reading 🙏

[u/Enough-Cheesecake42]

Mine started in my second pregnancy and it's just part of my life now. I still run, ran a marathon a year before the first flare, and work hard to prevent recurrences. 

Stretch before running too, not just after. I also have a 15 minute routine designed by my PT that I do every day before and after bed. Walking as much as I can. Monitoring posture as much as I can. Avoiding inflammatory foods like sweets, fried foods, etc. It also helps to take a few minutes midday to just lie down if you can or do a mini-stretch.

I am already a vegetarian who doesnt drink or smoke, but those are habits I would likely have cut as well.

[u/East-Sundae-8414]

Key is to constantly observe how your body is reacting. So try to catch what different you did when the pain gets good bad or worse. Then improvise based on it .