Top 5 Reasons Chiropractic care benefits pregnancy

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The Human body makes many changes during pregnancy in preparation for giving birth.  All of which put stress on parts of the body.  Preparing for a baby is stressful enough so feeling good during pregnancy makes preparing for baby a lot easier.  Chiropractic can help mommy, baby and labor.

#1
Making Room for the baby

If the bones in your pelvis are subluxated, it can put tension on the ligaments that support the uterus.  During pregnancy, the body secretes hormones that help to relax our ligaments.  Without these hormones, the pelvis would not expand enough to allow the birth of the baby and if those ligaments are not relaxed, it can cause a decrease in space in the uterus, as well as, in the pelvis ring. The Importance of Chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy is to establish pelvic balance and reduce undue stress to the uterus and supporting ligaments and optimizes the room the baby has for development throughout pregnancy.  With a balanced pelvis, babies have a greater chance of moving into correct position for birth. Optimal baby positioning at the time of birth also eliminates the potential for dystocia (difficult labor) and therefore results in an easier and safer delivery for both mom and baby.

#2
headaches/migraines.

Most headaches are caused or aggravated by subluxations in the cervical spine. Fluxes of hormones also contribute to headache occurrence. Women, who suffer from migraines and were taking medication prior to becoming pregnant, often look to Chiropractic for relief, since they can no longer take the medication. Many patients actually find that the adjustments are more effective than the medications.

#3
Mid back

Pain in the mid-back becomes more frequent as the breasts become denser from milk gland production. The heavier they get the worse your posture become.

#4
Low back

When you add the increase in weight, shift in center of gravity, the change in biomechanics (due to the weight--all out in front!) it is no wonder that pregnant women are prone to low back pain.  The degree of pain ranges from barely noticeable to debilitating, with stabbing or shooting pain into the legs and buttocks.

#5
Hips

As the pregnancy progresses, the hips widen, and the pelvis can begin to feel a little uncomfortable.  This makes sitting, standing and walking difficult.  Keeping your hips aligned helps the pregnancy progress normally.

Other benefits of Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy

  • maintaining a healthier pregnancy
  • controlling symptoms of nausea
  • reducing the time of labor and delivery
  • relieving back, neck or joint pain
  • prevent a potential cesarean delivery

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, Chiropractic care may help.

 

12 Things You can do to Help Your Headaches

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Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches.  Some have them occassionally, some are frequent – even occurring daily.  Headaches are debilitating.  They can cause a loss of concentration, throbbing, pounding, nausea, moodiness, inability to work, and a diminishment in quality of life.  Most Americans use over counter pain medications in the form of aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or a variety of muscle relaxors to combat a headache.  The problem is that this only covers up the symptom and the headaches will return.  There are also side effects from use of over the counter pain medication listed above including ulcers, liver damage, and kidney failure. 

Here are 12 tips to help naturally control your headaches:

1.  Avoid Stress:  Anything that boosts your stress levels will aggravate a headache.  Tension headaches occur with increase in muscle tension at the base of the skull or the upper neck.  Migraine headaches are caused from altered blood flow from within the brain itself.  Stress changes both the tension of the muscles and the amount of blood flow to the brain.  Control of stress will mean less muscle tension, balanced blood flow and less headache.  Exercise, consistently good diet, proper sleep, and a healthy spine and nerve system are ways to help your body disappate stress.

2.  Heat:  Statisically, headaches increase by 7.5% for every 9 degrees of rise in temperature.  As summer approaches, monitor your time in the sun.  Drink a lot of water and allow your body time to cool off in the shade.  

3.  Strong Smells:  Pleasant smells like perfume and deoderants, or toxic smells like paint or gasoline can be triggers for headaches.  If you are sensitive to smells, avoid them.

4.  Hair Accessories:  Believe it or not - pulling your hair tightly into a pony tail can trigger headaches.  Let your hair down...literally.

5.  Cheese:  Certain aged cheeses have a chemical called tyramine which, when broken down, creates a protein that some people are sensitive to.  Blue cheese, cheddar, brie, feta, mozarella, parmasean, and Swiss all contain tyramine.  The longer a cheese ages, the more tyramine it has.  

6.  Red Wine:  Tyramine is also found in red wine, beer, and hard liquors according to the University of New Hampshire.  If these trigger your headaches, avoid them.  

7.  Diet Soda:  Diet sodas contain a toxic chemical known as Aspartame.  It is also known by the trade names of Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal Measure.  According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical School of Mississippi, an excess of Aspartame kills neurons (brain cells).  This can result in headaches in addition to a host of neurodegenerative diseases.  Watch for more on Aspartame in another post.  For now, ditch the diet pop.

8.  Caffeine:  Caffeine can both be the cause and the cure for headaches.  According to a Norwegian study, those with low caffeine consumptions tended to have more chronic headaches and those who consumed higher doses of caffeine tended to get occasional headaches.  Their recommmendation:  If you have chronic headaches (more than 14 headaches per month) increase your caffeine intake slightly.  Occasional headache sufferers should try cutting back on caffeine.  

9.  Pain Medications:  I know, these are supposed to help headaches, and many do.  However, if you take them consistently, it can lead to rebound headaches.  If you can, it is best to avoid them.

10.  Skipping Meals:  Low blood sugar is a problem that is interpreted as a chemical stress by your body.  Headaches are often the first symptom of low blood sugar.  Be sure to eat three balanced meals a day.

11.  Dehydration:  Much like low blood sugar, dehydration is also a chemical stress to your body that can trigger headaches.  Children and seniors are more susceptible to dehydration, especially on hot days.  The best way to judge your level of hydration is through the color of your urine.  White or pale is good, dark yellow is bad.  Plan your water consumption throughout the day so your urine is consistently pale yellow or clear.  

12.  Subluxation:  Poor posture, inadequate movement of the spinal bones (vertebrae), stiff neck, and poor range of motion are all causes of headaches.  Subluxation is most often the underlying cause of most of the "triggers" noted above.  This means that if the subluxations are removed or reduced, you are less susceptible to stress, heat, strong smells, etc. that are the "triggers" ofyour headaches.

There are many more causes for headaches, these are some of the more common ones that I see on a daily basis in practice.  Hope this helps!

 

Dr. Tom

 

How to Keep your Brain from Shrinking

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Carolyn Rosenblatt of Forbes magazine posted the following article on maintaining brain matter.  Basically, if you exercise, you get to keep your brain.  If you don't like exercise, it shrivels as we age, just like dried fruit.  Click on the following link for the full article, How to Keep Your Brain from Shrinking.

It is important to exercise as part of the 3 legged stool of health and wellness that we teach at Holt Chiropractic and Massage in Port Orchard, WA.  Leg #1 - Have a healthy spine and nerve system.  Leg #2 - Have a well balanced, sensibly portioned diet.  Leg #3 - Exercise.  Without any one of the legs, the stool will topple - all three must be a priority for proper health.  

As far as the type of exercise:  Pick something you enjoy and stick with it.  If you get bored (as I do) with a particular exercise routine, change it.  Whether it is walking, Pilates, P90X, Crossfit, or swimming doesn't matter...as long as you are participating in it.  After all, it will preserve your brain!

Until next time,

Dr. Tom