PREGNANCY AND CHIROPRACTIC: YOUR BEST START

Congratulations, you are going to have a baby. Northgate Chiropractic wants you to have a healthy pregnancy for both you and your child. Our office wants to inform new mothers of ways that they can have a better pregnancy.

One of the ways you can have a healthier pregnancy is to take care of your body. Women should eat a healthy diet both, before, during and after their pregnancy. Other things to consider are the side effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, and the use of medicine.

Mothers who smoked during their pregnancy increased the chances that their baby would likely suffer ADD later in life. Statistics have shown that these children were 3x as likely to develop ADD.

Since there are no known safe levels of alcohol, physicians advise pregnant women to abstain from consuming alcohol during the entire pregnancy.

Also, 10 to 20X the amount of any drug that a pregnant woman takes is passed on to the baby. One of the main ingredients in most cough and cold medicines is dextro-methorphan, which research studies have indicated may cause birth defects and miscarriages.

Another way to take care of yourself during your pregnancy is to exercise regularly. A daily exercise regiment is as important during pregnancy as it is before and afterwards. Exercise helps to make you feel your best during your pregnancy. You should consult your doctor to determine what is best for you and your baby. These are a few of the known ways you can take care of your body during your pregnancy.

Another way to take care of you during pregnancy is through chiropractic care. Chiropractic is a holistic way to ensure that the body’s nervous and reproductive systems are functioning properly. Chiropractors look for subluxations in your spine; misalignments of a bone in your spine that puts pressure on a nerve creating an interference or dysfunction in your body. Since the body is ever changing during pregnancy it is important that the body maintains at its optimum level of efficiency and health. Chiropractic helps the body to maintain its optimum state.

Adjustments keep the segments of the pregnant woman’s structure freely and normally movable and permit a constant free flow of all body fluids and a normal venous supply to control function. During the second 6 weeks of pregnancy the growing fetus and expanding uterus often settle in the hollow sacrum and relief of nausea may be achieved. Adjustments result in an easier pregnancy and delivery.
Chiropractic care during pregnancy resulted in 31 % decreased labor for the first child and 25% for subsequent children. Approximately 84% of patients receiving spinal manipulative therapy reported relief of back pain during pregnancy. There was significantly less likelihood of back labor when spinal manipulative therapy was admitted during pregnancy.

The postpartum return of the mother to prepartum health is also expected by adjustments.

The Webster In-Utero Constraint (Breech Turning Technique), a chiropractic procedure, has been with high success (85%) to clinically correct or reduce in-utero constraint. These are a few of the many benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy.

MOMS SPEAK OUT

“With my first pregnancy, I had severe headaches and low back pain with 24 hours of labor and a c-section without chiropractic care. While under chiropractic care for my second and third children, I had minimal headaches and low back pain with an average of three hours of labor and two natural vaginal deliveries.”
S.S

“It is important for the nervous system to be functioning at 100% so that the mother and child have the opportunity for optimum health and development. When I got adjusted, there was always a sense of ease, knowing that my child was at ease also.”
M.S.

“My potential and your body’s potential as a mom-to-be is far greater with the full expression of a healthy nervous system. My best advice to you is to get adjustments before, during, and after the baby is born.”
T.C.

“Getting adjusted during my pregnancy gave me the chance to have a "normal" pregnancy and delivery. I was diagnosed as diabetic at the beginning of my pregnancy and was told that most diabetics have problems. The nurses told me the amount of insulin I would have to take would triple by the end of my pregnancy and that in all likelihood my baby’s birth weight would be in the 90% percentile at least 9 to 10 pounds. I ended up having a fairly easy pregnancy despite the daily shots and diet I had to follow. My baby was not quite 7 pounds. My doctors were amazed at how well my sugar levels, weight, and the pregnancy was in general. They acted as if I was an exception for all the diabetics that they delivered babies for. They also expected me to be insulin dependent afterwards. As of yet I only watch what I eat and do not need pills or shots.”
B.C.

For additional information, please call Northgate Chiropractic at
(206) 367-2224.

Auto Accidents

Crash, bang, boom…It sounds all too familiar. People are involved in all types of accidents from minor fender benders to severe spinal “whiplash” injuries. I have found, in my nine years experience in auto accidents, that whether you were involved in an accident at 10 mph or 65 mph, you can still have damage to your spine. Cars are manufactured differently than they were 40 years ago. Today, they are made out of plastics and aluminum, not steel. That 2,000-pound car that hit you from behind won’t injure your car as easily as it will damage YOU. All that force travels somewhere...and that somewhere is your delicate spine. Ouch! National statistics estimate that an average person is involved in an accident every seven years. I was involved in three within three months. That is a tremendous amount of trauma over a lifetime, multiplied with falls, stress and bad habits.

Research shows that within a two-week period, the body will form permanent scar tissue in the injured area. This scar tissue is formed as a result of muscle spasms, poor flexibility of the bones, poor blood supply in joints and nerve interference. I have found in adult X-rays, years after the accident, that the patient will have permanent arthritis and degeneration (if the misalignment is not corrected immediately).

In my experience, the major causes of severe injuries are: rear end collisions, head turned to the left or right during the time of impact, tightening up before you get hit or arthritis in your spine already (this degeneration makes your spine weak and unstable).

It is extremely important that you have your spine checked after every accident, no matter how minor it may seem. Research shows that it only takes the pressure of a dime to take away 60% of the nerves’ ability to function properly. Remember that pain is always the last symptom that will occur. Your nervous system controls every function in your body from breathing, digesting, smiling to running. In the nervous system, 90% controls function and ONLY 10% controls pain. It would be a terrible thing to have you live your life for the next 25 years with a SUBLUXATION, until one day he would develop a headache or neck pain, but lived the last 25 years with less than 100% nerve function to every part of your body. I have found that immediate attention to any injury will speed the healing process and decrease the chances of permanent injury.

I look forward to re-aligning you and your family. - Dr. Lachuta

For additional information, please call Northgate Chiropractic at
(206) 367-2224.