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Pregnancy:


History:
Pregnancy is a wonderful time but has its downside. Morning sickness, sciatic pain, headaches and then you have to lug that carrier around and pick the baby up constantly. All of this can stress your back. It is not unusual to experience some back pains during and after delivering your child.

For years chiropractors have helped alleviated these problems. That is why we have specific techniques that allow us to treat any patient regardless of what term they are in. I like to work directly with your OBGYN so I know what their concerns are and how much strengthening exercises you can do safely.

If you are trying to get pregnant or even getting close to delivering, chiropractic


Symptoms:
Many women can experience sciatic pain, low back pains, headaches to exhaustion from 9 months of pregnancy and then from lugging, chasing and feeding the baby. Also Elastin is released to help soften the ligaments to prepare expansion of the pelvis for delivery. This allows your joints to move around more easily. Patients can feel and hear joints popping in and out of place.


Treatment:
The only thing I can’t do while you are pregnant is use the electric stim machine. They don’t think it can affect the fetus but still advise against it. Adjusting techniques are altered to allow me to do what I need to and make sure you are comfortable the entire time. I have seen patients from the stages of wanting to get pregnant to almost the due date.




Research:
  • Intractable Migraine Headaches During Pregnancy Under Chiropractic Care Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2009 (Nov); 15 (4): 192–7. The absence of hormone fluctuations and/or the analgesic effects of increased beta-endorphins are thought to confer improvements in headache symptoms during pregnancy. However, for a number of pregnant patients, they continue to suffer or have worsening headache symptoms. The use of pharmacotherapy for palliative care is a concern for both the mother and the developing fetus and alternative/complementary care options are sought. We present a 24-year-old gravid female with chronic migraine headaches since age 12 years. Previous unsuccessful care included osteopathy, physical therapy, massage and medication. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication with codeine provided minor and temporary relief. Chiropractic care involving spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) and adjunctive therapies resulted in symptom improvement and independence from medication. This document provides supporting evidence on the safety and possible effectiveness of chiropractic care for patients with headaches during pregnancy.

  • Daly JM, Frame PS, Rapoza PA. Sacroiliac subluxation: a common treatable cause of low back pain in pregnancy. Fam Prac Res J 1991;11(2):149-159. A retrospective review of 100 consecutive pregnancies, involving 94 women receiving prenatal care at a rural western New York family practice, was conducted. Back pain was spontaneously reported to the physician by 23 women in 23 pregnancies. Eleven of the 23 women met diagnostic criteria for sacroiliac subluxation. These criteria include absence of lumbar spine and hip pathology, pain in the sacral region, a positive Piedallu's sign (asymmetrical movement of the posterior superior iliac spines upon forward flexion), a positive pelvic compression test and asymmetry of the anterior superior iliac spines. A cohort of 11 women meeting criteria for sacroiliac subluxation was treated with rotational manipulation of the sacroiliac joints. After manipulative therapy, 10 of the 11 women (91%) had relief of pain and no longer exhibited signs of sacroiliac subluxation.

  • Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation for Low Back Pain of Pregnancy: A Retrospective Case Series J Midwifery Womens Health 2006 (Jan); 51 (1): e7–10. Sixteen of 17 (94.1%) cases demonstrated clinically important improvement. The average time to initial clinically important pain relief was 4.5 (range 0-13) days after initial presentation, and the average number of visits undergone up to that point was 1.8 (range 1-5). No adverse effects were reported in any of the 17 cases. The results suggest that chiropractic treatment was safe in these cases and support the hypothesis that it may be effective for reducing pain intensity.