As soon as you become pregnant, your body starts to change to accommodate the baby’s growth. And with those changes it’s common to experience aches and pains in the lower back and hips.
If you are looking for relief of joint pain caused by your pregnancy and body, chiropractic care may help you. As chiropractors have the ability to realign your spine, joints, ligaments and muscles, it may give you the relief you need during this special time of your life.
But why do pregnant women experience pain?
During pregnancy, your body produces more of a hormone called relaxin that loosen the ligaments and joints. This hormone eases the labor and delivery processes. But it can get the ligaments so loose that they become unstable, creating pain.
There are other causes of pain. Since your body is growing fast, your muscles, joints and ligaments may have trouble keeping up with the increased demands placed on them. Causes usually include:
- Having to carry about 25 to 30 extra pounds;
- The curvature in your lower back gets accentuated;
- Your abdominal muscles weaken because of the baby’s growth;
- Changes to your posture; due to the front loaded weight.
- Changes to your pelvis as you begin to prepare for labor.
So, if you choose to start your chiropractic care during your prenatal phase, it can lead to less discomfort and pain that comes with the pregnancy.
How Chiropractic Care Helps With Pregnancy?
Since the main goal of chiropractic care is to keep your spine aligned through manual manipulation and prevent disorders on the musculoskeletal system, it can be very helpful for pregnant women to address this kind of treatment to ease their pain.
Other than keeping the spine aligned, they can help strengthen the muscles at the lumbar area, and decrease the discomfort of the growing belly.
And as the spinal cord and spinal nerves are part of what chiropractors effect, they can improve the overall function of the nervous system, helping with the nausea symptoms that are common during pregnancy.
Chiropractic care can also help with aligning the pelvis and the ligaments and muscles in that area to decrease the constrainting and allow more positions for delivery, helping the baby to reposition to the rear-facing head down position.
If your baby is in a non optimal birthing position, it can lead to a longer and more complicated delivery, reducing the chances of having a natural and non-invasive birth.
Other Benefits of Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy
There are a few types of pain that chiropractic care may help decrease, including:
* Low Back Pain;
* Ligament Pain;
* Pelvis and Sacrum Pain.
It’s also discussed that chiropractic care can help reduce the length of the labor, because of the right alignment at the pelvic region, allowing the baby to pass through the canal easily.
Is it safe to go to a chiropractor during pregnancy?
If you have any doubts, you should talk to your OBGYN or Primary care provider before visiting a chiropractor to make sure it’s a safe treatment for you and your baby. Here at Prestige, we’re licensed and some of our providers are even specifically trained to work on pregnant women.
For the safety of yourself and your baby, make sure your chiropractor will use an adjustable table to keep the pressure off your stomach and belly. And in the third semester, it’s not advisable to lie on your back during a session.
Chiropractic care are not recommended for you if you experience the following:
- Vaginal bleeding;
- Placenta previa or abruption;
- Ectopic pregnancy;
- Moderate to severe toxemia.
How often should I go to chiropractic care during pregnancy?
There’s not an exact answer to that, not a set schedule. You, your care provider and your chiropractor will, together, create a treatment plan that is best for you. But the recommendation is making regular visits..
If you experience particular pain and discomfort, it may require more routine visits. Here at Prestige we’ll create a treatment plan that suits your needs and will help you live a happier pregnancy.
Contact us right now and book an appointment with one of our specialists.
