Can you be adjusted during pregnancy?

People come to our office for a variety of reasons and I think for most of us we associate those with pain, condition or something that needs to be treated and that's often the case. However, there is a population of patients that we see and take care of on a very regular basis that some people may not think about and that that is pregnant ladies. During pregnancy there can be a lot of pain, discomfort and conditions that respond wonderfully to chiropractic care. Some of you may be saying “Oh I don't know how I would have made it through my pregnancy without my adjustments!” and some of you may be saying wow I didn’t realize you can go to the chiropractor when you were pregnant!” So I'd like to just address a few of those different issues. During pregnancy it's very common for women to experience an increase in back pain or neck pain or headaches even adding nerve trouble numbness tingling into the fingers and hands. There are many reasons for that. We're retaining more water during pregnancy, a woman's gait changes dramatically, we know that to maintain their center of gravity as their belly and the baby gets larger. Their stance will become a little wider, they'll toe out a little bit, their belly will push forward; but in order not to tip over they'll push their head forward and have a pregnancy gait which we've all seen. That can create increased stress on the low back. If you create stress on the neck and the shoulders at the base of the skull it can lead to a lot of symptoms or uncomfortable conditions that don’t need to be necessary during pregnancy. We work with a lot of OB offices in our community that refer to us and make sure that we're working together to provide effective care and during pregnancy. It is a very common time for ladies to be very conscious of what they're putting into their bodies and they realize that a lot of medications are just simply contraindicated when they're pregnant or they're doing the best they can to create a very healthy environment for their pregnancy. They don't want to put in any unnecessary medication; so chiropractic care is completely safe during pregnancy. We have postgraduate training in taking care of women during pregnancy. I'm certified in the Webster technique which is a pelvic balancing technique that is used during pregnancy and can be used outside of pregnancy, but most commonly people reference it there. So if you would like more research based on this you can go to the ICPAs website which is the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association or its ICPA for kids.com. One other thing that I would like to show you is that many women really enjoy this about coming into the office because when you're pregnant as the pregnancy progresses often laying on your belly is not really an option but all of the tables in our office have drop away belly pieces or abdominal pieces. It works very effectively to allow women to lie on their belly and receive the adjustment. There are different techniques that we employ and modify so if you are pregnant, if you know someone who is pregnant or if you were wondering if chiropractic care is safe and effective it is very safe and effective. We have research showing that the duration of labor is shorter whenever women can keep their pelvis aligned, keep the muscles relaxed and the ligaments relaxed so that the body is allowed to go through natural childbirth easier. If you have more questions on the topic feel free to message us, email us or talk to us on your next visit. Hopefully this is useful information for you have a fabulous day we'll see you for your next adjustment!