Chiropractic Brings Better Birth Outcomes

(NaturalNews) Chiropractic during pregnancy is an important part of prenatal care. Unfortunately, not enough women know of the benefits of chiropractic care both for themselves and their unborn baby. A woman's body undergoes an amazing amount of changes during pregnancy. As her baby grows her musculoskeletal system must adjust accordingly to accommodate the growing uterus and prepare for delivery. Chiropractic care helps her body to stay aligned as these changes occur and also helps to keep the nervous system functioning at its optimal level.

Many pregnant women experience low back pain, hip pain, and pubic symphysis. These discomforts are the result of the stresses put on the body by the rapid growth of the baby and the changes the body must undergo to accommodate those adjustments. As her belly gets bigger, the woman's center of gravity changes. The growth is so quick that it is often difficult for the low back and pelvis to adjust to this change. This causes stress in those areas, resulting in misalignments, (or subluxations as they are called by chiropractors) which then causes pain and dysfunction. If a woman's low back and pelvis was out of alignment before her pregnancy it is even harder for her back and pelvis to adjust. When the pelvis is subluxated (misaligned) it affects the uterus and the position of the growing baby.

The uterus is connected to the pelvis by ligaments: the broad ligament, the uterosacral ligaments, and the round ligaments. Like a hot air balloon tethered to the ground, these ligaments work to keep the uterus in the proper place in the pelvis and allow support as the uterus grows to accommodate the growing baby. If the pelvis is subluxated, these ligaments can become torqued. When the ligaments are affected, they directly affect the position of the uterus which can result in the baby not being in an optimal position. This type of situation may result in a breech baby or a transverse (sideways) baby.

The goal of the chiropractor is to correct the subluxations in the pelvis to help balance the uterus and allow the baby to get into a better position. Chiropractic adjustments for a pregnant woman are specific, gentle, and safe. Some chiropractors are certified in the Webster Technique which is a technique that is used to relieve intrauterine constraint caused by imbalance in the pelvis and the pelvic ligaments. Webster certified chiropractors adjust the pelvis and also feel for and relieve tension in the round ligaments.

Besides increasing a pregnant woman's comfort level, an aligned pelvis can result in a quicker, safer, and easier birth. When a baby is in breech or transverse position a cesarean section is almost always performed. Because they are so common many people forget that a c-section is a major abdominal surgery and can be risky. Helping the baby to get into a proper head-down position by balancing the pelvis and ligaments helps to avoid c-sections due to baby positioning. Other variations in baby position such as a tilted head or a "sunny side up" baby (face up during delivery) can also be caused by pelvic imbalance and may result in a more difficult, painful, and longer labor and delivery.

Sources:
www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/176/4/455
www.icpa4kids.org
http://www.isischiropractic.co.uk/c...

What is best for your health?

A message from Dr. Rick

I often tell patients: “My job is to diagnose your condition by determining what is wrong and to outline a care plan with specific short and long term goals to restore normal health and function.” Your job is to determine if you want to do what your doctor says, how long you want to do it for and how quickly you want to proceed.

Nothing works better than exceptional service and integrity. There are basic standards set up for us by the Chiropractic Associations, boards, colleges, Medicare and other insurance companies. I have always tried to exceed these standards of care to provide you, my patients (who I consider my extended family) the finest chiropractic care available. However, some patients get confused when it comes to insurance coverage of active/intensive care vs. passive/wellness/maintenance care. It all has to do with a treatment plan to treat a condition. All doctors need to comply with what is best for the patient. However, for the patient to have their doctor bills paid for by the insurance carrier we all need to abide by the protocol and rules set forth by the insurance industry and commissioner.

To have insurance authorize coverage for active care, follow the treatment plan per the diagnosis. This is usually for a new condition or an acute exacerbation of a chronic problem.

As all patients know, the most important part of chiropractic healthcare is wellness or maintenance care. We should all strive for optimal health, being proactive to get as healthy as possible and then stay that way. Preventive care is the buzz these days. It’s much more cost effective (usually $50-$70 per visit, once or twice a month as needed) and saves you from costly intensive care (having to see me two or three times a week), which is sickness/disease/reactive based heath care.

Everyone has a choice, but I would rather be paid for keeping my community healthy—not just eliminating pain.

For better health,

Dr. Rick

(NaturalNews) Chiropractors have, for the past 112 years, treated sickness and infirmity without the use of drugs and with the goal of avoiding surgical removal or repair of any of the body's organs or structures. Chiropractic's message is that the proactive care of one's body and wise lifestyle choices are necessary to achieve health. Chiropractors have held and maintained this view, even before it became fashionable and long before evidence made it clear that the drug and surgery model of "health care" is really nothing more than "disease care", waiting for disease to occur and then treating the effects. Chiropractic takes a preventive approach to health care: eliminate the cause of disease.

Chiropractors have always maintained that interfering with the transmission of the electro-chemical signals that connect your brain, the master control system for the human organism, to every organ and cell in your body has a detrimental effect on health.

This system is so delicate and of such vital importance that the body has designed the most elaborate set of protection, armor if you will, to protect it. The skull is a protective vault that houses and protects the most sensitive of systems: the eyes, the mouth, the ears and most importantly, the brain. The next critical organ in your body, the spinal cord, is guarded by your spine. This masterpiece of engineering is 24 vertebrae, each one a unique bone, that serves not only as the axis of your musculoskeletal system, giving you the unique ability to walk upright, but also has a unique set of nerves that run through it to every other system of the body through individual holes called foramen.

What travels through the spine and the foramen that protect them is the very essence of your being. From your brain, your spinal cord and the millions of nerves that branch out from it are the core from which your body functions. Before you came into the world, you formed a brain and a spinal cord and developed a body around it. And so it is today that the brain regulates the rest of your body through this delicate system of nerves protected by your spine.

Chiropractors maintain the proper position of these delicate joints and the precious cargo which they protect, your nerve system.

Pressure on the root nerves that leave the spine through the foramen to control and regulate all of the other organ systems of the body can affect millions of nerve fibers. Pressure on the brain stem, where it leaves the skull and enters the spine can also affect millions of nerve fibers. Interfering with these nerve fibers can have disastrous affects on your health.

Chiropractors detect and correct the cause of this interference, allowing your body to self regulate, adapt and heal. The care and maintenance of the spine and nervous system is a necessary component of any natural approach to health and wellness.

Chiropractors have been outspoken opponents of water fluoridation, mass vaccination, over-use of prescription drugs, food additives and have always maintained that it is better to find and correct the cause of disease, rather than merely treat or cover up symptoms.

Today, chiropractors embrace and support the growing body of evidence that health is a result of - a fully functioning nerve system, consuming natural, nutrient rich food, clean pure water, proper exercise, natural sleep and emotional/spiritual well being. A healthy spine allows your body to adapt, regulate and fully realize the benefits of all of these other natural methods of avoiding disease and achieving health. See your chiropractor today to have your spine checked and begin to extricate yourself from the disease care system of treating symptoms.