Sheree

Morning sickness. Vomiting. Nausea. Back pain. Pelvic pain. Shortness of breath. Hormones gone wild. High blood pressure. Swollen ankles.

These symptoms are seen as normal during pregnancy, something you better get used to for the next 38-42 weeks. You wanted a baby, now deal with it. Right?

Wrong. Sure these examples are common among pregnant women, but the intensity or even the presence of these symptoms will greatly diminish if under Chiropractic care.

Why?

As we established in previous posts, the nervous system controls all in your body. Under the direction of your body’s Innate Intelligence, the nervous system will adapt to the changes brought on by a growing new life inside of you. This new life you carry has its own Innate Intelligence that will do whatever it must to preserve the health and well being of itself. This will come at your expense, causing a number of deficiencies that your Innate Intelligence will have no choice but to adapt to.

The presence of a vertebral subluxation will interfere with the nervous system’s ability to communicate back and forth with the body. The subluxation will result in three things:

1.) Body Imbalance – a subluxation at your atlas will tilt your head to one side. Your brain has a reflex called the righting reflex which keeps your eyes level with the horizon. This will cause your lower cervical spine to bend the opposite way of your head tilt. To compensate, your thoracic spine will bend the opposite way, then the opposite way in the lumbar spine, resulting in one side of your pelvis being drawn up and causing one leg to appear shorter than the other, as well as an uneven distribution of weight putting undue stress on the joints. An unevenly aligned pelvis during pregnancy can be incredibly painful, as well as problematic for the baby trying to get into a proper birthing position.

2.) Nerve Tension or Pressure – Because of these compensations traveling down your spine, the muscles on one or both sides of your spine will become very tight, and inflammatory effects will take place and escalate in places of spinal misalignment. These changes will add stress to the nerves exiting your spinal column at some level, be it the nerve root or further along the distribution of the nerve. The nerves exiting your spine all lead to various parts of your body, including muscles, organs, glands, and blood vessels. Left alone and, over time, this nerve stress will lead to degeneration in these various body systems.

3.) Brain Stem Tension or Pressure – A subluxation of your atlas (C1) vertebra will not only narrow the spinal canal in which the spinal cord travels down, but this narrowed space will result in an increase of pressure within this spinal canal. This added pressure will cause undue stress to the brain stem located just above the atlas.

If you remember Christopher Reeve, he shattered his atlas and nearly severed his spinal cord at the level of his axis (C2) vertebra. The brain stem is the Houston Control of your body, coordinating any and all communication from the brain to the body and vice versa. Because of an injury to this area near the brain stem, Christopher Reeve could not breathe on his own without a respirator and he eventually died of heart failure due to decreased brain stem function.

As you can see, the results of a vertebral subluxation do not equate to healthy changes in your body. Your Innate Intelligence can only do so much when given a limitation of matter. Add in a growing baby using up much of your body’s resources to survive and grow within you, and you can begin to see where a subluxation can wreak havoc on the health of a pregnant woman.

How?

The spinal compensations resulting from the subluxation may result in distorted pelvic positioning, causing the baby to get into an unfavorable position for birth, possibly breech. This unfavorable position could be adding increased pressure to your pelvic veins and vena cava (the large vein on the right side of your body carrying blood from the legs back up to the heart). This pressure could slow down the flow of blood back up to the heart, causing the blood to pool in your legs. This will only add to the swelling you might be experiencing in your ankles, as well as contributing to the increased risk of preeclampsia in your last trimester.

The nerve pressure and tension caused by the spinal compensations in the spine may lead to improper signals to be sent to various organs and tissues. Pressure and tension on the nerves in your mid to upper thoracic spine may lead to decreased function of the heart and/or lungs. This may result in an added shortness of breath. Or maybe high blood pressure, adding to that risk of preeclampsia.

Maybe pressure in the lower thoracic, lumbar, and sacral nerves results in decreased blood flow to organs such as your kidney and liver. This could result in decreased organ function, which may cause protein to leak into the urine, another sign of preeclampsia. Nerve tension in these lower spinal areas may result in a tight uterus, making you unable to relax during labor due to the pain you feel with each contraction. This might keep you from dilating properly, only adding to the stress a possible cesarean section can create.

A subluxation of your atlas will cause tension or pressure to the area of your brain stem. This tension or pressure will interfere with the brain stem’s ability to coordinate the messages being sent to the body by the brain. This could interfere with proper distribution of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. Since the placenta is being developed with the help of estrogen and progesterone, a lessened amount of both these hormones may result in complications with the placenta, and therefore the growing baby inside that placenta.

As you can see, a vertebral subluxation is not a minor thing to ignore. Even the most seemingly insignificant of subluxations will always run some kind of interference to the brain-body communication. This is never a good thing, and especially not when you are pregnant and your body needs the most help and the least interference.

You deserve to have the best chance at a successful pregnancy and childbirth, and you can only do that with a nervous system that is running free and clear of interference.

Over the decades, millions of patients have experienced what many call miracles, but in fact are simply the results of chiropractic care. Research is starting to catch up with the results of a healing profession that chose not to wait for science to help change the lives of those millions.

The following are a collection of letters from my personal patients, some almost 30 years old and I certify that each letter was written by one of my patients based upon their results under chiropractic care. Although I strongly support other healthcare avenues, none received nutritional therapy, physical therapy, exercise rehabilitation　or any　care other than chiropractic.

As I no longer actively　practice, this collection is my gift to chiropractic　with the hope that　it will inspire others to seek chiropractic as a possible solution to improve their lives.

To read the letters, please visit:  http://www.uschirodirectory.com/index.php/whats-new

I hope all of you have a wonder Memorial Day! The office will be closed for the day but will reopen on Tuesday June 1st!

Chiropractic for Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the term for the paired joints between the upper and lower jaws, as well as the term generally used to describe pain or other dysfunction of these same joints. Initial treatment for a temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) can include applying heat or cold to the jaw area, eating mostly soft foods, taking anti-inflammatory drugs, or wearing a bite guard in the mouth at night. If these methods are unsuccessful, many patients resort to dental treatments to modify the bite or even surgery of the jaw. For those with TMJ symptoms, chiropractic is available as an alternative to those more invasive treatments.

How Can Chiropractic Help the Temporomandibular joint (TMJ)?

Chiropractic care for the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can ease pain by correcting the misalignment between the spine and nervous system. Chiropractic can be effective at reducing the pain associated with TMJ, either when used alone or as a complement to other treatments. This is because, rather than change the diet or modify the teeth, it relaxes the muscles, adjusts the joint and uses specific trigger points to accurately re-position the jaw. When done successfully, this will not only relieve pain in the short run (as would medications or eating soft foods), but it will help prevent TMJ pain from returning.

Chiropractic treatment of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) focuses on relieving tension in the muscles around the joints themselves—working both outside and inside the mouth, using massage and trigger point therapy. A trigger point is a very sensitive area made of muscle fibers. Trigger points feel like knots and may cause pain or even a twitching response when pressure is applied to them. A chiropractor can manipulate trigger points in such a way to alleviate the pain associated with them.

Trigger points common to TMJ include:

• Trapezius muscle, located at the base of the neck. Manipulating this trigger point can influence the areas behind the ear, at the temple and at the jaw bone.
• Sternocleidomastoid muscle, located along the neck from the collarbone to the ear. This trigger point can be used to relieve pain in the forehead, front of the jaw and around the eye socket.
• Masseter muscle, located at the back of the jaw. This refers to pain in the upper jaw, ear and above the eye.
• Medial Pterygoid muscle, located behind the molars on the jaw. This trigger point influences pain in the TMJ, as well as in the ear, nose, lower jaw, and the neck.

Adjustments to the joints can also be done by hand, using a technique that causes a tiny stretch inside the joint to release any fibrous attachments made by the body due to previous trauma. The chiropractor may also give the patient home exercises to help strengthen the joint and loosen the tight muscles.

In some cases, misalignment of the jaw that results from improper posture or a back problem can cause temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. An approach to treating TMJ caused by misalignment in the neck and upper back is to perform chiropractic adjustments on the spinal joint in these areas. In addition, a chiropractor may use massage to relieve tight muscles in the back around the spine. This reduces the amount of stress put on the jaw so that other treatments to adjust the jaw will be more effective.

When these treatments are employed, motion of the jaw joint can improve and symptoms such as ear pain, jaw locking, headaches, and neck pain can be reduced.

Why use Chiropractic for Temporomandibular Joint Disorder?

While there are numerous ways to effectively treat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, scientific studies have shown that chiropractic was helpful in cases of TMJ. In a 2003 study, 15 participants were administered treatments with the Activator Method, which uses a tool that delivers high-frequency, low-impact adjustments. All participants showed improvements in the distance they could open their jaws and in pain measurements. Although this group was not compared to a group receiving traditional treatment, it shows that chiropractic treatments like the Activator Method show promise as an emerging treatment for temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD).

Many report relief and satisfaction with chiropractic care for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. In a survey of 192 members of a health maintenance organization published in 2003, nearly two-thirds reported using some form of complementary medicine to treat TMJ. Almost everyone surveyed used complementary approaches together with other traditional treatments, and the greatest satisfaction was reported for the hands-on alternative therapies, including chiropractic.
Chiropractic may be used alone or in conjunction with other treatment approaches. Medications can include anti-inflammatories, analgesics (pain killers) and muscle relaxants, as well as local injections of corticosteroids in severe cases. Application of hot and cold compresses also reduces inflammation. When teeth grinding or clenching is an issue, wearing a mouth night guard can help prevent these actions during sleep. Bite plates can help correct misalignment. Stress reduction, relaxation techniques, jaw-stretching exercises, and modifying chewing habits are all behavioral approaches that are proven effective.

More research into chiropractic methods used to treat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder are needed; meanwhile, evidence from existing studies as well as patient testimony suggest that chiropractic therapies are helpful in relieving TMJ symptoms.

What Causes Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorder?

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) symptoms can be the result of an injury to the joint, improper alignment of the jaw and teeth, overuse due to excessive or vigorous chewing, or the action of orthodontics. Habitual clenching or grinding of the teeth, especially while sleeping, can cause or aggravate symptoms. Besides pain and difficulty chewing, jaw symptoms can include decreased range of motion, locking, popping, clicking or sudden misalignment of the teeth. TMJ can lead to pain that radiates to the face, head, neck and shoulders. Some chronic sufferers experience headaches, dizziness, earaches and even difficulty hearing.

For individual experiencing symptoms of TMJ, receiving treatment from a qualified chiropractor can help.

References

• Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2003 Sep;26(7):421-5.
• Journal of Orofacial Pain. 2003 Summer;17(3):224-36.