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.

 

Whiplash: What is it and What can you do?

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Whiplash. Most commonly associated with car accidents, whiplash can occur in a trip and fall or in attempt to catch your balance, playing on a trampoline, riding a horse, sports activities, or experiencing the thrill of a rollercoaster ride! Whiplash is any damage caused to the neck area when a sudden “whip like” action occurs along the spine. In most cases, injuries are to the soft tissues, such as the disks, muscles, and ligaments.  

Symptoms can include tightness and limited mobility to neck, shoulder tension and/ or arm pain, ear ringing, and headache radiating from base of neck. Severe whiplash can cause whole spine pain, nerve pain, dizziness, confusion, and concussion. Symptoms can occur immediately or most commonly, the next day.

Old school treatments were to immobilze with a neck collar and load up on pain killers and muscle relaxers. While there is a time and place for these measures to ensure more serious injuries are not present and to prevent further damage, new research is finding in most cases, gentle movement and ice as soon as possible is best.  For more severe problems, treatment for the three possible levels of spinal damage - muscle, bone, and nerve is appropriate.

Whiplash can involve up to three levels of spinal damage.  The top level is the muscle level and is the most common injury sustained in a whiplash.  The next level is the bone or spine level.  Bone level injuries occur when the whiplash is bad enough for the spinal bones misalign, which causes arthritis later in life. The deepest level is the nerve level of damage.  At this level, the nerves that carry all communication to and from the organs (28 billion impulses per day) are altered - leading to potential health problems.

Things you can do for muscle level damage:

  1. A series of massages eliminates use of pain killers and muscle relaxers that may cause slow recovery time and set up longer term damage. Massage relaxes muscles, breaks up scar tissue and adhesions, releases toxins, as well as stimulating chemicals within your brain to naturally speed up the physical and mental healing process.
  2. Spinal Rehab. Targeted exercises aide in stabilization of an injured or weak area, protecting ligaments and tendons, while stretching increases flexibility and range of motion to cut down on re-injury.
  3. Hot and cold packs. Talk to your doctor before applying hot or cold packs to an injured area to prevent possible inflammation or irritation.

Things you can do for bone and nerve level damage:

  1. Chiropractic Adjustments. Chiropractic care removes nerve interference by correcting spinal misalignment. This helps prevent arthritis and increase nerve flow, restoring proper organ function.  Most chiropractors are specialists in whiplash injuries.  

Going through a whiplash injury is an unpleasant experience, with potential life changing affects.  Visit www.holtchiropractic.net for more information.

 

Preventing "Crick in the Neck"

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This comes from the blog "Chiropractors Write Hand".  I was interviewed for the article and the author (Deborah Tukua), did a great job providing insight from a patients point of view.  Click here for the article, "Preventing Crick in the Neck".

 

Dr. Tom

The New Killers

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This is a great article from our friends at Forbes called Pharma Be Aware:  The Next Killers.  The next killers are diseases that, in the opinion of the author, are not getting enough attention on the world stage.  For instance, there are 32 million people in the world today inflicted with HIV/AIDS, but over 300 million suffer from diabetes.  Diabetes, heart disease and cancer are predicted to account for 73% of all deaths by the year 2020 and 19% of deaths in the developing world over the next five years.  The World Economic Forum has determined that these diseases are one of the top four global risks.  Whats more, as processing and centralization of food spreads to other countries, there are a growing number of cases of diabetes in the developing world.

The author implies that it is important that the pharmacological companies take note of the new market for their drugs - that you can live well with diabetes if you receive the right treatment.  He is right - it is important to control diabetes using insulin and other medications as needed.

But at the same time, he has missed the point - the growing epidemic in developing countries can be PREVENTED if the countries in question return to their traditional diets.  Modern diets that are rich in sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and genetically modified foods in combination with a sedentary lifestyle lead to the most common form of diabetes (type II).  As our friends in developing countries prosper, they are adopting some of our nasty habits...and acquiring some of our diseases as a result.

Returning to a traditional diet includes naturally grown, non pesticided, unprocessed, free range, organic foods.  For more information on how to eat a traditional diet please visit the Westin A. Price Foundation website.

The Dangers of Soy

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Soy products are becoming more common everyday.  Their popularity is mostly due to their properties as a low fat protein and also some evidence of a decrease in some cancers with a diet rich in soy.  Soy is found in tofu, soy nuts, soy milk and soy butter.  However, soy has some major drawbacks as well.

  • High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
  • Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
  • Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
  • Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
  • Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.
  • Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.
  • Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
  • Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
  • Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
  • Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys(*). 

Beware of soy and soy products.  Mothers be especially careful of soy infant formulas.  Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys(*). 

* Information acquired from www.westinaprice.org

 

Dr. Tom