Pregnancy’s Musculoskeletal Changes

Your musculoskeletal system is composed of muscles, bones, ligaments, cartilage, joints, and tendons. It supports your body’s weight and allows you to move in response to messages relayed through your nervous system.

When you’re pregnant, the extra weight you’re carrying changes your center of gravity, posture, and curve of your spine. This places more stress on your spine, joints and muscles. Hormones also loosen your ligaments to accommodate the baby and prepare for labor and delivery.

All of these changes can cause pain and other problems, such as increased strain on your lower back, hips and knees.

Some women are affected more than others by musculoskeletal complications, which may include:

• Higher risk of injuries
• Muscle strain
• Pain, especially in the lower back
• Fatigue
• Sciatica
• Pinched nerves
• Numbness
• Difficulty performing daily tasks
• Reduced mobility and balance

Physical Challenges After Pregnancy

Getting your body back to its normal state can be even harder with the physical demands of caring for a new baby. Some common practices may cause pain and muscle strain, such as:

• Leaning over the baby while feeding
• Lifting baby or baby gear without protecting your back
• Standing with hips and back in misaligned postures while holding the baby
• Excessive sitting

And, of course, lack of sleep is a fact of life for most new parents, making everything more challenging.

Tips for a Better, Faster Postpartum Recovery

While recognizing the challenges of having a new baby, you can make your best effort to have a positive impact on your recovery.  Here are some natural ways to care for yourself:

• Try to maintain good posture while caring for your baby.
• Take breaks often when you’re standing.
• Elevate your feet when you do sit down.
• Apply heat to painful areas.
• Eat a balanced diet with sufficient fiber, protein, calcium, and other nutrients.
• Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
• Get regular exercise.
• Ask your chiropractor for help with exercises that stretch muscles and strengthen your core.
• Address problems early to help prevent temporary pain from becoming chronic.

How Chiropractic Care Aids Your Recovery

Having a properly aligned spine is a great foundation to help prevent pain and injury.

When you’re in pain, you may compensate in your movements, throwing your musculoskeletal system out of balance and leading to more muscle and joint strain.

Even before and during pregnancy, your chiropractor can help you get out ahead of problems by strengthening and aligning your spine and musculoskeletal system with chiropractic treatments and exercises.

Benefits to you include better mobility, a well-functioning nervous system, pain prevention without the use of medications, and a good start to a healthy, happy post-pregnancy!

Contact our Broken Arrow Office to Book Your Free Consultation

We want to help you feel great before, during and after your pregnancy. Call Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic at 918-940-4630.

The post Boosting Your Post-Pregnancy Recovery with Chiropractic and Other Holistic Care first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

What are the benefits beyond pain relief?

Spinal adjustments produce numerous additional benefits beyond the scope of basic back and neck pain relief. In fact, new discoveries afford the ability to better understand exactly why these changes can and do occur. Chiropractic offers a unique value which benefits virtually every person.  Whether young or old regular chiropractic provides vital care to the nervous system. Better spinal and nervous system care mirrors the benefits of regular exercise, healthy eating habits, and daily dental brushing and flossing. Preventative care provides a model of health care that produces long term results. As a result, we recognize a reduction in the need for painful and expensive medical interventions.

What can chiropractic do to help expectant mothers?

No group of people focus extensively on long term, proactive care as much as pregnant or conceiving women. These amazing mothers undergo dramatic and remarkable changes to their bodies.  They lovingly invite a human being into the world at the expense of the comfort and physical hardship of the child’s mother. Human beings would not exist if not for the immeasurable strength and determination of women. Pregnant mothers and women planning to conceive benefit extensively from Chiropractic care before, during, and after pregnancy and birth. Recently published research determined that spinal care provided a long list of positive physical responses to Chiropractic care for pregnant women.

The list included:

• Faster delivery

• Decreased use of forceps

• Decreased likelihood of having a pre-term delivery

• Reduced fluid overload

• Decreased blood pressure

• Reduced prevalence of low back pain

• Decreased carpal tunnel

• Decreased sacroiliac joint dysfunction

• Reduced risk of having meconium-stained amniotic fluid

These amazing results do not manifest simply because of an adjustment to the spine.  During pregnancy, mother’s body function intimately connects to the spine through the brain and central nervous system. As the spine becomes more aligned, mobile, and healthy, better nervous system function eases tension, increases mobility, and improves whole body health. Spinal adjustments simply allow for better function in the healthiest, most efficient way possible during pregnancy.

Do medical advancements always yield better outcomes?

People tend to believe that advances in medical care and treatments produce healthier babies and deliveries than ever before. Unfortunately, the most industrialized countries in the world currently experience some of the worst pregnancy, delivery, maternal, and infant health statistics on record. The United States produces some of the world’s lowest labor, delivery, maternal, and infant health rankings. Chiropractic interventions provide a safe, healthy, and effective need that mothers and infants both deserve.  In fact, chiropractic plays a significant role in providing natural solutions which lower the risk of intervention and improve a female’s quality of life during and after pregnancy.

Women all over the world demonstrate incredible resolve that ensures life will continue to pass from this generation to the next. Chiropractic positively influences the health of mothers, babies, and children throughout that beautiful life-giving journey.

The post Chiropractic Provides Benefits to Pregnant and Conceiving Mothers first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Wait Until She’s Ready for Visitors

Everyone is so excited to see, snuggle and ‘ooh and ahh’ over the latest family addition, however, it’s critical to take cues from the new parents on when to visit. Some parents want space, i.e., no visitors for a bit, while others are ready to show off their pride and joy almost right away. Even if you’re a close family member, be sure to ask the mother when she feels up to having visitors. Don’t be offended if she’s not ready for others to hold the newborn, her top priority is the health and safety of her child, and she just might not feel comfortable yet.

Offer to Help and Leave the Baby to Her

In the days and weeks following birth, for many women, one of the best things to hear is, “how can I help?” Many people are anxious to see and take the baby off the momma’s hands so she can get a break, however, those first days and weeks are a critical time of bonding for the baby and new mother, especially if she is establishing breastfeeding. What the exhausted new parent(s) often need is help with all the other stuff. You could offer to:

• Pick up groceries
• Bring by some freezer meals
• Do some laundry
• Mow the lawn
• Take the older kids out for an afternoon
• Drop off a gift card to a local food delivery spot

If you’re really comfortable and close with the new mom, and you know she wouldn’t mind, take things into your own hands: Tidy up the kitchen, clean out the fridge, fold the pile of laundry in the family room, wipe down the bathroom, etc. And, if the mama tells you she needs a break from the baby to take a nap, shower or eat something, by all means, snuggle up!

Many people have a hard time saying yes to help, so a great way to word it is: “It would make me feel wonderful to be able to help you, may I [pick up some groceries or diapers? drop off a dinner? do a few chores around the house]?” Depending on how close you are to the family and their comfort level, sometimes a card or a gift card is perfect.

It truly does take a village—to raise a child and raise up a mother! Those weeks and months after a baby arrives can be some of the toughest, and most beautiful, in a woman’s life. Kudos to you for giving her your love and friendship.

The post Ways to Help a New Mom first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

1. 800 mg of iron- this ensures the proper production of RBC.  Iron is found in lean red meat, most dark leafy vegetables or a liquid supplement is often available. (Vit C helps in iron digestion)

2. Folic acid (folate) is important to nervous system development and must not be omitted.  Luckily it’s found in most of the same foods you find iron.

3. 1200 mg of calcium.  This is found in dairy, and also almonds.  (Vit D helps in the absorption of calcium)

*Luckily with the advancement of technology, there have been many great “pre-natal vitamins” created to make the consumption of these vitamins and minerals a cinch, but don’t rely purely on a supplement and neglect the food intake.  You want to get as close to the source as possible.

Weight Gain

It wasn’t that long ago when mothers-to-be were told to restrict weight gain to 8-10 pounds.  This is no longer the case.  The latest research shows that weight gain of 25-35 pounds or more is healthy as long as it’s on a high protein diet that is well balanced and the foods are not laden with chemicals, preservatives or refined sugars.  Be cautious when taking too much Vitamin B when pregnant because it tends to reduce the amount of available breast milk.  Another interesting facts are that babies do not like garlic so try to avoid that if breastfeeding and too much chocolate can lead to diarrhea in babies.  Moms have also been told to restrict their salt intake but natural sodium is important in the production of extra blood volume and a lack can be disastrous.  I recommend salting your food to taste with Celtic or Sea Salt.  In the end, listen to what your body tells you.  With our first, my wife craved saltine crackers and pickles (she must have needed the sodium).  And boy, does my daughter love crackers and pickles still to this day.

Pregnancy No-Nos

1. Alcohol- this has been shown to cause problems with the baby’s nervous system.  Some researchers say a little is okay, but error on the side of caution and avoid it if possible.

2. Caffeine- found in coffee, soda, teas and chocolate.  Too much has been linked to birth defects so it’s best to limit your intake or again, avoid it completely.

3. Artificial sugars and sweeteners- it’s a good rule of thumb for all of us to avoid these but it’s an absolute necessity if you are pregnant.  Avoid these at all costs.

4. Medications- be cautious with medications because many have the tendency to cross the placental barrier and affect the baby.

One of the most common nuisances in pregnant moms is morning sickness.  It affects everyone differently and it is often caused by hypoglycemia or “low blood sugar”.  Since your baby steals your food as you sleep, you’ll generally wake up in the morning with very low blood sugar which is often what causes the sickness.  A trick that worked for my wife was to keep a snack near the bed.  The moment her eyes opened in the morning, she was consuming something and she didn’t suffer like others (maybe she was just lucky?).

Can you receive chiropractic care while pregnant?

This is a fantastic question and one that I have talked extensively about and even made some videos for social media.  Not only is chiropractic care okay during pregnancy, but it’s encouraged.  The main reason you’ll want chiropractic care during pregnancy is that your body will be going through so many rapid changes which often lead to pain and discomfort especially in the lower back and sciatic nerve.  We can often facilitate the changes to happen more smoothly and avoid the pain.  Many moms also swear that chiropractic care during pregnancy makes delivery much more tolerable and some state that it reduces labor times.  And lastly, chiropractic care has been shown to aid in the proper positioning of babies when moms present early on with breech presentations.  A combination of chiropractic, acupuncture and exercises/stretching can do wonders for these situations.

As always, the first step on the road to health is a consultation with Dr. Travis Ring of Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic.  It’s as easy as a phone call to 918-940-4630 and we can get you started down the right path.  Moms that experience chiropractic care often says they wish they had known about it during their previous pregnancies.  Don’t be the one who wishes they would’ve made the call.

The post How should I change my habits now that I’m pregnant? first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.