Benefits of Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Pregnancy should be a special time in a woman’s life filled with joy, happiness and great anticipation for the arrival of a precious son or daughter.  Pregnancy should not be a time battling illness, pain and discomfort.

The chiropractic care provided at Atlantic Chiropractic and Wellness Center provides many benefits to women and their unborn children during pregnancy.  We’ve played an integral part in the health care of hundreds of pregnant women.

Utilizing our safe and effective chiropractic care, nutritional guidance and exercise plans, we help mothers-to-be stay healthy, fit and comfortable during pregnancy and properly prepare them for a smooth and easy birth.

Contact us to schedule an appointment by calling (386) 492-4881!  
We can help you have a healthy and comfortable pregnancy too!

Keeping Spine and Nervous System Healthy During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, expectant mothers undergo dramatic physical changes within their bodies in preparation for carrying a child and giving birth. The spine is one of the primary areas where these changes are felt the most and where a majority of problems start as misalignments in your spine, also known as subluxations.

Our chiropractors are specially trained physicians who keep the spine and nervous system healthy and free from subluxations.
Most people don’t realize how the spine and nervous system control all parts of the human body. But your developing unborn child certainly does.
When a mother’s egg is fertilized and pregnancy begins, cells start to multiple and divide. The first things these cells create are the brain and spinal cord. From the spinal cord, little branches of nerves begin to spread outward. The combination of the brain, spinal cord and nerves becomes the central nervous system. Once the central nervous system is in place, “buds” will form at the end of nerves. These buds are the beginning of all the vital organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys.

The brain and central nervous system literally are the origin of life and control every cell within the body. These cells form tissue, tissue forms organs and organs form systems. Put all these systems together and a human body is created.
The human brain controls every microscopic cell within the body and the brain communicates with each of the millions of cells via the nervous system. This is how the brain delivers the necessary energy and instructions to every part of your body to make it function.

There are many situations where the energy sent by your brain through your nervous system becomes filtered and distorted. This interference is known as a subluxation.
Bones or joints may become misaligned and nerves can become irritated, pinched, stretched or compressed which all causes inference in the flow of energy from the brain. When this energy is distorted or blocked, a variety of symptoms will surface including pain.

As a baby starts to develop and continues to grow, an expectant mother is experiencing 9 months of increasing stress on her bones, muscles and joints which can create subluxations.
Our chiropractic care keeps mothers-to-be free from subluxations and the pain and discomfort that are caused by these subluxations.

Preventing Common Pregnancy Health Conditions

Due to the changes a woman’s body experiences, pregnancy is a time where health conditions can quickly develop. We help expectant mothers stay healthy so they avoid such common pregnancy conditions as the following:
Back Aches/Back Pain
Neck Pain
Headaches
Hip Pain
Indigestion/Heartburn
Insomnia
Constipation
Fatigue
And More...

Healthy Nutrition and Diet

As outlined above, a healthy spine and nervous system are essential elements of a pleasant, problem-free pregnancy. Another crucial part is proper diet and nutrition.
A mother and her unborn child are dependent upon receiving the correct nutrition for proper development. What mom chooses to eat during pregnancy has an impact on her child receiving the correct nutrition.
At Atlantic Chiropractic and Wellness Center, we provide our expectant mothers who are patients with important guidance on diet and nutrition during pregnancy so they can make the right food choices for themselves and their baby.

Proper Exercise

Another important element for a pleasant pregnancy is getting the correct amount of exercise.
We work with expectant mothers to develop a customized exercise program that keeps them fit, prepares them for birth and helps them continue to look great after giving birth.

Preparation for Birth

Chiropractic care provides numerous benefits to expectant mothers and increases their probability of having an enjoyable pregnancy. The advantages of following our chiropractic care during pregnancy culminate at the birth of the child.  Our chiropractic care prepares mom and baby for birth. Certain chiropractic techniques relieve stress on the pelvis and uterus which helps the unborn child properly turn and position for a healthy birth.

Webster Technique for Breech Births

Dr. Larry Webster, a chiropractor and founder of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association developed the Webster Technique as a safe means to restore proper pelvic balance and function. It was developed to restore normal function of the mother and improve her comfort throughout pregnancy in preparation for a safer, easier birth.

Dr. Webster reported that in women who presented with a breech baby, the results of the adjustment appeared to normalize pelvic biomechanics and facilitate optimal fetal positioning.  As Dr. Webster taught other doctors of chiropractic this adjustment, they too reported positive changes in baby positioning.
At Atlantic Chiropractic and Wellness Center we have been utilizing the Webster Technique for many years and have seen the benefits of this technique for preventing breech births and facilitating safe and easy births for our patients.

For more information, please contact our office to see how we can help make your pregnancy a happier and healthier experience!   (386) 492-4881 or visit us on the web at www.atlanticchirofl.com!

Headaches and Chiropractic

If you have a headache, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. Some are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing, and some cause debilitating pain and nausea.

What do you do when you suffer from a pounding headache? Do you grit your teeth and carry on? Lie down? Pop a pill and hope the pain goes away? There is a better alternative.

Research shows that spinal manipulation – the primary form of care provided by doctors of chiropractic – may be an effective treatment option for tension headaches and headaches that originate in the neck.

A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.

Also, a 1995 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches and that those who ceased chiropractic treatment after four weeks experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in contrast with those patients who received a commonly prescribed medication.

Headache Triggers

Headaches have many causes, or “triggers.” These may include foods, environmental stimuli (noises, lights, stress, etc.) and/or behaviors (insomnia, excessive exercise, blood sugar changes, etc.). About 5 percent of all headaches are warning signals caused by physical problems.

Ninety-five percent of headaches are primary headaches, such as tension, migraine, or cluster headaches. These types of headaches are not caused by disease. The headache itself is the primary concern.

“The greatest majority of primary headaches are associated with muscle tension in the neck,” says Dr. George B. McClelland, a doctor of chiropractic from Christiansburg, VA. “Today, Americans engage in more sedentary activities than they used to, and more hours are spent in one fixed position or posture. This can increase joint irritation and muscle tension in the neck, upper back and scalp, causing your head to ache.”

What Can You Do?

The ACA suggests the following:

• If you spend a large amount of time in one fixed position, such as in front of a computer, on a sewing machine, typing or reading, take a break and stretch every 30 minutes to one hour. The stretches should take your head and neck through a comfortable range of motion.
• Low-impact exercise may help relieve the pain associated with primary headaches. However, if you are prone to dull, throbbing headaches, avoid heavy exercise. Engage in such activities as walking and low-impact aerobics.
• Avoid teeth clenching. The upper teeth should never touch the lowers, except when swallowing. This results in stress at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) – the two joints that connect your jaw to your skull – leading to TMJ irritation and a form of tension headaches.
• Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day to help avoid dehydration, which can lead to headaches.

What Can a Doctor of Chiropractic Do?

Dr. McClelland says your doctor of chiropractic may do one or more of the following if you suffer from a primary headache:

• Perform spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve spinal function and alleviate the stress on your system.
• Provide nutritional advice, recommending a change in diet and perhaps the addition of B complex vitamins.
• Offer advice on posture, ergonomics (work postures), exercises and relaxation techniques. This advice should help to relieve the recurring joint irritation and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back.

“Doctors of chiropractic undergo extensive training to help their patients in many ways – not just back pain,” says Dr. McClelland. “They know how tension in the spine relates to problems in other parts of the body, and they can take steps to relieve those problems.”