5 Reasons to See a Chiropractor During Pregnancy

Chiropractic-Care-During-Pregnancy

Did you know that structural shifts in the spine can happen during pregnancy? When the pelvis is shifted it affects the uterus and the position of the growing baby. However, a well functioning nervous system enables a mother to easily combat many of the hurdles of pregnancy. Often women learn to just accept pregnancy discomforts such as nausea, heartburn, constipation, pubic pain etc, when in fact they don’t need to.

Chiropractic care is extremely important before, during and after pregnancy. Studies show that having your spine checked regularly may result in a less stressful pregnancy and a less uncomfortable delivery. To shed more light on this subject, here are 5 reasons to receive chiropractic care during your pregnancy:

1. Shorter Labor Time

First time moms who received regular chiropractic care experienced on average, a 25% shorter labor time. As for seasoned moms who received chiropractic care; labor time was on average, 31% shorter. Vaginal delivery is strongly dependent on the alignment and relationship between the mother’s pelvis and baby. If there are misalignments, it can interfere with effective labor and delivery, thus prolonging it.

2. Enhance Fetal Positioning

The Webster Technique is a technique that is used to correct structural shifts in the sacrum to allow the baby to get into the best possible position for birth. A Webster Certified Chiropractor has advanced training in prenatal chiropractic care. It balances the pelvis, eliminating undue tension to muscles and ligaments and enhances optimal fetal positioning.

This highly effective technique is safe and gentle and should be a first approach before considering more invasive methods. As a Webster Certified Doctor, I have seen countless situations where a baby has changed position and a mother was able to avoid a C-section or medical intervention.

3. Less Painful Labor

In a hospital study that incorporated chiropractic adjustments during the patient’s pregnancy, the results indicated that there was a 50% decrease in the need for painkillers during delivery, attributable to pre-delivery adjustments.

4. Better Chance of a Natural Birth

Establishing pelvic balance and alignment is another reason to obtain chiropractic care during pregnancy. A misaligned pelvis may make it difficult for the baby to get into the best possible position for delivery. This can affect the mother’s ability to have a natural, non-invasive birth. Better positioning and proper nerve system function improve the mother’s ability to birth naturally.

5. Better Recovery After Delivery

Often after birth, whether vaginally or via c-section, the mother’s pelvic biomechanics change – these changes can bring discomfort with walking, nursing and sleeping. Receiving regular chiropractic care during your pregnancy gives you a better chance at recovering faster after delivery. After all, specific adjustments can eliminate the cause of stress in the spine and pelvis – and improve your body’s ability to function naturally.

October 23, 2014

It’s Not The Load, It’s The Way You Carry It

posture__health — “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lena Horne

Our body is an architectural masterpiece – designed to do extraordinary things when functioning optimally. As a Structural Chiropractor, my focus is on the design of your spine. When the spine’s structure matches the blue prints from your DNA, then it is designed to handle the stresses of gravity and a healthy level of activity. However, when the spine loses its proper structure, then those stressors (gravity and activity) can suddenly reveal its weakness. In this post, we’ll focus on the cervical spine (your neck).

Structure Determines Function

The presence of a curve in your neck allows for smoother motion of each of your neck vertebra. It also plays a key role in distributing force throughout the discs of the cervical spine. In essence, a C-shaped curve in the neck can and will prevent early breakdown and degeneration of your spinal joints. As the discs and joints begin to breakdown, it can create the environment for inflammation to build up around the nerves, or even lead to disc protrusions and disc bulges.

When the head shifts forward, it causes the shoulders and thoracic spine to round. When left there over time, the facet joints of the neck stop moving smoothly and lock the head in that forward position. This shifting of the spine can also advance the age of your spine through degeneration. However, when this head forward movement is corrected, the rest of the spine will often shift back into a normal position again and reduce the rounding on its own.

How Do We Correct This?

Postural corrective exercises can be performed to strengthen the upper back and neck. Massage therapy can be performed to address the muscular dysfunction and trigger points resulting from this shift. However, if the shifting of the spine is not addressed – then a correction will often not occur. In our office, we use specific adjustments to correct Structural Shifts allow your body to make Structural Corrections naturally and to the extent that is capable for you.

August 14, 2014

Infantile Colic? What You Can Do

Infantile colic can be very stressful for parents whose baby is inconsolable during crying episodes. Colic is often defined by the “rule of three”: crying for more than three hours per day, for more than three days per week, and for longer than three weeks in an infant who is well-fed and otherwise healthy.

Medications available in the United States have not been proved effective in the treatment of colic, and most behavior interventions have not been proved to be more effective than placebo. So what options do parents have?

Pediatric Chiropractic

A recent systemic review published in the Cochrane Library, evaluated the results of studies designed to address the efficacy of hands on therapies (specifically, chiropractic, osteopathy and cranial manipulation) for infantile colic in infants less than six months of age.

The authors concluded that majority of clinical trials seemed to indicate parents of infants using this type of care for colic reported fewer hours of crying per day and was statistically significant. The trials also indicate that a greater proportion of those parents reported improvements that were clinically significant.

George Lewith, MA, DM, FRCP, MRCGP, professor of health research at the University of Southampton commented “the majority of the included trials indicate that the parents of infants receiving manipulative therapies reported fewer hours crying per day than parents whose infants did not. This difference is statistically significant and important for those families who experience this condition. These studies show that in this small sample there were no adverse effects from using these treatments.”

Few parents understand the importance of the brain’s control over the digestive system in their child. The brain controls digestion, along with many other functions, through the Autonomic Nervous System. However, the messages have to travel unimpeded from the head to the body. As a Structural Chiropractor, I know that stressful births (even C-sections) can strain the head and neck (a typical birth can place 60-90 lbs of force onto an infant’s head and neck), causing subtle shifts in the spine leading to interference in the nerve signals between the brain and the digestive system. Early check ups can help prevent structural shifts from becoming a chronic problem. Continue reading “Infantile Colic? What You Can Do”

July 28, 2014December 17, 2014

Performance and Prevention With Chiropractic

performance chiro

Recent research from New Zealand has found that Chiropractic care may reduce gym and fitness-related injuries while also improving performance.

According to Dr Heidi Haavik, Director of Research at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic, the inability of some people to properly activate and control their core muscles when engaging in exercise, predisposes them to injury – particularly in the lower back. This may be reversible with regular chiropractic care.

“We know that delayed trunk muscle reflex responses increase the risk of low back injuries. Research suggests that this is partly due to a failure of the brain to predict what is going to happen during some movements. There is now accumulating evidence that chiropractic care may play a part in improving the ability of the brain to engage the core muscles appropriately and stabilize the spine”, states Dr Haavik.

The nervous system plays such an essential role in our bodies, especially when it comes to our fitness. Your nervous system connects to every system in your body – from your muscles and bones, down to your organs, it even controls things like your immune system. In many ways, it’s like the electrical system of your house with your brain acting as the power source. When there is interference to the nervous system (a structural shift in your spine) your electrical system will not work properly. When it comes to athletic performance, this interference results in an inability of the brain to activate the core muscles in time – which may be the cause of many gym and fitness-related injuries.

It’s important to note that poor nervous system coordination will not manifest itself as a ‘symptom’ until it is too late. So, if you’re only using chiropractic care as pain management – you’re missing out on this performance and prevention benefit.

Chiropractors and elite athletes have know for years that chiropractic care helps them perform at an optimal level – it seems that now science is finally starting to catch up and demonstrate how it actually works. From Dr. Haavik:

“Chiropractic care improves the communication between the brain and body and results in better control of the core muscles during body movements, so that your spine is at less risk of injury. We are also starting to see research developing which suggests that a single session of chiropractic care may improved muscle activation and increase muscle contractions equivalent to findings following three weeks of strength training. This line of research also suggests chiropractic care may possibly reduce muscle fatigue developing during strong contractions.”

In our office, we see Athletes, Crossfitters, Triatheletes, and Runners – and guess what? Most of them don’t have back pain, but are actually looking to make their bodies work more efficiently. After all, normal structure allows your body to operate smoothly and at its best.

April 28, 2014

Optimal Structure = Optimal Function

The design of any structure dictates what the function of that object will be. Have you ever looked at the structure of the human frame? The spine is truly an incredible feat of engineering. Each piece is placed in a specific way for a specific function. When the spine’s structure matches the blue prints from your DNA, then it can handle the stresses of gravity and a healthy level of activity. However, when the spine loses its proper structure, then stress of gravity and activity can suddenly reveal its weakness.

As a structural chiropractor, it’s my job to detect structural and functional abnormalities of the spine before they become major problems. In humans, structure is dictated by your spine and function is dictated by your nervous system. The nervous system is responsible for the function of every system in the body. When the nervous system has a hiccup, then muscles, organs, or glands may overreact or under react leading to a wide variety of problems called Secondary Conditions.

What Is A Structural Shift?

A structural shifts occurs when a segment of the spine shifts and disrupts the spinal nerves and spinal cord, which can create many different secondary conditions or symptoms. The reason these are called secondary conditions is because they are a result of the primary structural shift, or the underlying cause. This shift will distort the signals going in and out of the brain. As the spine shifts, the spinal cord and spinal nerves will misfire into the brain. This misfiring causes the muscles of the spine to tighten and spasm, and create dysfunction to anywhere where those nerves travel.

The location of the structural shift and where the nerves are being disrupted will give us an idea about your secondary conditions. A structural shift may produce local pain, but this may also have an effect elsewhere in the body. For example, according to a recent study in the Journal of Neurosurgery, deformities in the neck affect the alignment of the hips and pelvis.

What You Can Do About It

The good news is that these problems are almost always preventable. With proper exercise and proper postural awareness, you can save years of wear and tear on the spine, and maintain full function of the delicate nervous system. As with anything else, it’s always important that you protect the parts of your body that you hold most dear through routine check ups. Your spine is no exception.

Reversing structural abnormalities using specific customized chiropractic care gets to the underlying cause of many conditions. The best thing about someone with Normal Structure is that it allows their spine to be stable. When the structural alignment of someone’s spine goes back to normal and it is stable, secondary conditions will often resolve and the nervous system can function optimally.

At True Health Family Chiropractic, we are focused on delivering a full structural correction to the spine. We use structural x-rays, digital structural analysis, and neuromuscular scanning tools to assess the full nature of your problem.