When your body starts changing…

…your mindset needs to change to. It’s time to stop thinking about pregnancy as just your belly getting bigger and your back hurting. The reality is that every part of your body changes to support the new life inside of you and thus we must take a whole-body approach to preventing pain and dysfunction. At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we believe that the best way to do this is with chiropractic’s natural healing modalities, as well as attention to posture and trimester-appropriate exercise. Below we have identified all the threats your body faces during pregnancy and what we can do about it!

Pregnancy affects every corner of the body

Let’s go from top to bottom:

• Extension of the first vertebrae in the neck 
• Hyperkyphosis in the thoracic region
• Excessive lordosis in the lumbar region
• Anterior pelvic tilt
• Hyperextension of the knees
• Flattening of the feet 

It is important to realize that pregnancy causes systemic changes throughout the body- what starts as a growing weight and a shifting center of gravity can create a volatile setting for the rest of the spine. With your curvature accentuated in opposing directions to support your child, the strains can become significant enough to cause a number of symptoms including: 

• Lower back pain and sciatica
• Problems with digestion and constipation
• Headaches
• Neck pain 
• Pain in the legs and feet
• Breathing problems

More comfortable pregnancies start with chiropractic care in Dunedin

As you can see, there are myriad challenges to the mother’s health and well-being. While some pains are inevitable, it is important that you be proactive about mitigating the severity of such structural and systemic changes. At our office in Dunedin, we use a specialized table that can accomodate even the heaviest of pregnancies. By providing gentle adjustments, we improve stability and balance at the base of the spine, and focus on maintaining healthy alignment in the thoracic and cervical regions. Our on-site massage therapists can ease the rapidly-accumulating tension in the supportive tissues. From here, we work on postural awareness and appropriate exercise that will make for the most comfortable pregnancy possible. Give us a call to add chiropractic into your pregnancy care regime today!