Low back pain during pregnancy.
Low Back Pain During Pregnancy According to a study published in the journal SPINE, the prevalence of back pain in pregnant moms over a 9-month period was 49%. As you know, your body during pregnancy changes quickly. All of these changes and redistributions of weight contribute to tension in muscles, strain on ligaments and often strain on joints that is typical but excessive on joints. With your baby growing, your low back muscles have to work harder to maintain your upright posture as your belly pulls you forward. This puts strain on your low back muscles – which may lead to muscle pain. The harder your muscles pull you back, the more compressed the joints of your low back become. This may lead to joint pain. To compensate for the new posture of the low back, your mid back (thoracic spine) arcs more, or hunches. The more it hunches, the more deconditioned the muscles of the mid back become and the tighter the muscles of your chest become. This may lead to mid back and upper back pain. As you hunch further forward, the more your head sticks out forward. This makes your head effectively weigh more and puts great strain on...
read moreSacroiliac Joint Pain During Pregnancy.
Sacroiliac Joint Pain During Pregnancy Sacroiliac joint pain (pain over the dimples in your low back), is extremely common during pregnancy. The pain is often achy, burning, sharp and deep feeling. The “SI Joint” as it’s often called is especially vulnerable during pregnancy because it is where the lower half of the body meets the upper half of the body at the sacrum. The joints on both side of the sacrum are large. When misaligned even a tiny bit, they cause great discomfort and significant inflammation. Why? because the area is very “locked in” with ligaments, tendon, connective tissue and muscle. Under normal circumstances the joints do move, but pregnancy puts additional strain on them, often pushing them over the line into the zone of pain and dysfunction. Will anti inflammatory drugs help? They may help with the inflammation, may help with pain, but I rarely encounter pregnant moms that want to take drugs. Additionally, medications don’t address the underlying joint dysfunction, just the pain. This leaves mom in a state of vulnerability where the slightest change in pelvic alignment or step down off a curb could trigger an SIJ meltdown. Going in to labor and delivery in pain is...
read moreTension Headache or Migraine Headache?
What kind of headache do you really have? You have to differentiate between a migraine and a tension type headache, which can be tricky with complicated headaches. Misdiagnosis, which is common, will lead to little or no relief and will also prevent you from seeking the right type of care. Typically, migraine headaches will be triggered by an issue with hormone changes, foods, food additives, alcohol, sensori stimuli like bright lights, strong smells, sleep disturbance and intense physical stress, barometric pressure change and medications and other chemicals. Headaches are often on one or both sides of the head, there may be an aura or visual disturbances, pins and needles in the arms or legs, facial weakness, difficulty speaking, etc. Tension headaches typically materialize as the day goes on. Mental, chemical and physical stress will cause them. This sometimes makes it harder to point at a trigger. They tend to present in the forehead or back of the skull. The headaches can also be “full head” headaches, and may get bad enough that they lead to triggering a more migraine like headache. If this happens, patients are often medicated, when what they need is stress management. What I often...
read moreDoctors Don’t Know What’s Wrong With Me.
What do you do when doctors don’t know what’s wrong with you? You know something is wrong, they’ve done all the tests, you’ve spent thousands of dollars, your family is tired, you can’t sleep, they have no answers, your stress, anxiety and frustration are through the roof. Doctors have some of the answers, but they don’t always have ALL of the answers. Some limitations of doctors include: Education, Knowledge & Judgement. Philosophy. Personality. Inclinations & Persuasions. Testing tools and materials. Skill of applying “their medicine”. Doctors are human and they are only as good, as these things are good. We’ve all experienced it. So what do you do if doctors don’t know what’s wrong with you? You go somewhere else. There’s no such saying; “everything happens for no reason”. If you have a problem, there is a cause. Guaranteed. Because one doctor can’t find the cause, doesn’t mean it can’t be found, it means that doctor can’t find it. It may mean that their tools or their ability to comprehend or understand the cause may not be there. If their personality, inclinations, persuasions don’t allow them to see potential causes, they’ll never find it. Think about this. Without the...
read moreIs Chiropractic Addictive?
One of the greatest fears of potential patients and new patients alike is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are addictive. The fear of an eternal desire, an insatiable need to have a chiropractor adjust your spine, sometimes prevents people from getting help in the first place. Now research shows that prescription drugs are often highly addictive. Some say BIG PHARMA creates medications on purpose that must be taken forever. Research has shown the addictive nature of sugar, carbohydrates (which turn to sugar in the body). Exercise, to many, is addictive. Being kind is addictive to some who dedicate their lives to helping others. Addiction carries a negative connotation. Some things that are potentially addictive are good things, like exercise, like stretching, like sleep, like eating healthy. Some people are addicted to reading, to love, to water, to things that make them feel good. Chiropractic is no more addictive than exercise. Exercise triggers the production of chemicals in our body that make us feel good. “Natural drugs” if you will. Chiropractic has been shown to do the same. If chiropractic can lower blood pressure, which it’s been shown to do, it can trigger the production of feel good chemicals and...
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