Receiving chiropractic care during pregnancy is a safe, excellent way to manage the many aches and pains women experience throughout those tedious nine months. While there are so many things you can't have or do while pregnant, chiropractic care is something safe that can help you feel better physically and emotionally. It's a whole-body approach to wellness that can be essential to your prenatal journey.
It's no secret. Being pregnant can get uncomfortable. Your body begins to retain fluid and store extra fat as it absorbs nutrition to sustain a growing baby. From the early days, where many women experience nausea and vomiting, to the final weeks, where even standing up is a great feat, pregnancy comes with plenty of physical obstacles.
With your body changing so rapidly, week by week, you're bound to experience tension, aches, and neck or back pain as your skeletal and muscular systems are put under greater and greater pressure. For many, this leads to a tough, uncomfortable pregnancy. Other women have great pregnancies without any significant side effects. However, chiropractic care during pregnancy can help virtually every woman.
Keep reading to learn more about the safety of receiving chiropractic care during pregnancy, when to start seeing a provider, how treatment can help, and more.
Why Chiropractic Care Is Safe During Pregnancy
There are many things that doctors generally don't consider safe during pregnancy. They often recommend avoiding foods like sushi, meat that isn't cooked well, deli meat, unpasteurized cheese, and more.
There are also medications you'll be told to avoid. From acne medications to certain psychiatric drugs, some antibiotics, acetaminophen, allergy medications, and cold meds, it may seem like you're extremely limited on how to find relief from many symptoms.
You'll likely be advised to avoid Botox, lip fillers, cool sculpting, and more. All of these things pose a danger to your unborn child.
However, chiropractic care during pregnancy is safe. It's a totally non-invasive, holistic way to treat many common ailments women experience. From headaches to morning sickness, joint and muscle pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and even your child's position in the final weeks leading up to birth, chiropractic can help with it all.
Seeing a chiropractor helps ensure that your spine and pelvis aren't misaligned. Prenatal chiropractors are trained to work with pregnant women specifically. There are no known contraindications, increased risks, or adverse effects of seeking chiropractic treatment during pregnancy at this time.
This provides pregnant women to find relief from many symptoms without medication and can help manage chronic pain throughout the process, with total peace of mind.
When Should You Start Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy?
Many OB/GYNs will say that it's safe to begin seeing a chiropractor at any time after finding out you're pregnant. Since women often report feeling better after appointments quickly, if not immediately, this makes it an appealing option.
You should always tell your chiropractor you're pregnant before continuing or starting care. Some treatment methods may not be indicated for pregnant women. Additionally, many chiropractors prefer to wait until the first trimester is passed before starting adjustments.
Ultimately, this decision will come down to the recommendation of your OB/GYN, your chiropractor, and what you feel comfortable with. It's never too late to start chiropractic care during pregnancy, so it's perfectly fine if you feel better waiting until you're a little further along.
How Does Chiropractic Help During Pregnancy?
Chiropractic care helps pregnant women in many ways. From helping maintain an aligned skeletal system for an easier birth to improving mood, managing minor symptoms, and more, it enables women to feel physically and mentally better.
Not only do prenatal chiropractors perform adjustments and traditional treatment methods, but many also offer the option of prenatal massage therapy, acupuncture, gentle stretching, and more.
A prenatal chiropractor will send you home with recommendations of what to do between office visits so that you can stay feeling as best as possible. They may advise you on vitamins or herbal supplements to help certain conditions. However, you must always check with your OB/GYN before adding any medication or supplement to your daily routine.
Below, we'll provide a comprehensive list of the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy, addressing which symptoms it can treat and the results you can expect.
How Often Should You Go to The Chiropractor When Pregnant?
The answer to this question is entirely subjective. Your chiropractor will outline a custom treatment plan for your pregnancy, though it will likely change as the months pass. New symptoms are bound to arise while others go away entirely as your body changes and hormones fluctuate (not to mention the increasing size of your soon-to-be newborn).
Some women seek chiropractic treatment once a week or less, while others may go as often as three times a week. It comes down to what enables you to feel your best and what you're most comfortable with. As with OB/GYN appointments, as you near the end of your pregnancy, you may find yourself needing chiropractic adjustments and treatment more frequently.
Additionally, many women continue going to chiropractic visits postpartum. Especially within the first three months following birth, your body is re-setting, and hormones are still fluctuating. You may notice new aches and pains or benefit from the feel-good chemicals your brain releases as a result of care.
How often to see a chiropractor during pregnancy, and following, is entirely up to you.
The Benefits of Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy
Chiropractic care during pregnancy poses a vast amount of benefits. First, maintaining proper pelvic alignment can lead to shorter and easier labor as the baby goes through the birth canal. Seeing a provider regularly, especially in the last few months, gives a much better chance of seeing this happen and is one of the main benefits of chiropractic adjustments.
Ease Muscle Pain
Additionally, many women develop symptoms and conditions they never had before becoming pregnant. As the body retains fluid, it can stress muscles, tendons, and ligaments tremendously. Some women develop carpel tunnel syndrome, which usually disappears after giving birth, but is painful nonetheless. A prenatal chiropractor can effectively target this area and safely treat the pain.
Alleviate Joint Pain
You're also likely to experience lots of aches and pains while you're pregnant. You may find that excessive pressure on your joints causes pain in the ankles, knees, and hips. Though ongoing treatment is often necessary, gentle adjustments can realign these areas to relieve tension.
Additional Symptom Management and Positioning
Chiropractic care can also help manage those common headaches and morning sickness. Often, what's more important near the end of pregnancy is the position of the baby in-uterine. Ideally, the baby should be head-down, chin-tucked, facing the mother's back. This is known as a cephalic presentation and makes for the easiest birth.
Most babies move into this position on their own, sometimes even at the very last moment possible. Other times, the baby seems comfy where they are, even if its feet are down (known as a breeched position).
The birth of a breeched baby is often more difficult and painful for both mother and child. In this case, some doctors opt to perform C-sections, which some women wish to avoid. Chiropractic care during pregnancy can help facilitate the movement of the unborn child, helping them ease into the preferred and safest position.
This can help women avoid serious invasive surgery with a long recovery time and the possibility of post-surgical infection. It can also help women avoid the stress and fear that often comes before the procedure.
Improved Mood
Lastly, chiropractic care and massage therapy during pregnancy can significantly improve your mood and emotional well-being. When the endless aches, pains, and troubling symptoms you're enduring begin to dissipate, you'll likely feel happier, more relaxed, and ready to move about more comfortably.
It's not just pregnant women who experience better emotional wellness after receiving chiropractic care. When a chiropractor performs an adjustment, your brain stimulates the release of endorphins. Endorphins are a group of hormones within the brain and nervous system. When they're released, they reduce levels of both stress and pain. This is why many patients report a greater sense of happiness immediately following a session.
Schedule an Appointment Today
At ChiroCare of Florida, we have specialized prenatal chiropractors on-staff at many of our locations. With ten offices throughout South Florida, we've helped countless pregnant women find pain relief and improve their psychological wellness during what can be a challenging time.
We know that pregnancy can be stressful, both physically and mentally. That's why we make scheduling as easy as possible, with evening hours and weekend appointments available upon request. With offices throughout the region, you won't have to travel far to get the care you need.
Contact us online or call (877) 388-2165 anytime Monday through Friday between 9 am and 6 pm. We'll verify your insurance benefits and review the potential cost of treatment before your appointment so you're aware of any out-of-pocket expenses associated with your chiropractic care.
