Chiropractors Help Pregnant Women With Pain

The above headline comes from the August 14, 2007 issue of the Dallas Morning Star. In this article, Special Contributor Kathleen Green, starts off by stating, " Moms-to-be once resigned themselves to nine months of misery. But, frankly, they've had enough." She continues, " More women are exploring options and seeking alternatives to ease back pain, headaches, exhaustion and much more. One place many are finding relief is at a chiropractor's office."

The article follows several chiropractors and their pregnant patients and views their reasons for choosing chiropractic and their results. One such patient was Teresa Seymour, who started chiropractic treatment during her first pregnancy with her daughter who is now 2 years old. Teresa said, "If there were times when I could feel that I was starting to get sore in the back, I would go to the chiropractor." During her second pregnancy, she reported, "Just picking up my daughter could knock a hip a little bit the wrong way and kind of pinch a nerve," she says. "I went to [my chiropractor], and he'd adjust my back and my hips." <

The article interviews Dr. Ken Wilson, a chiropractor who sees a lot of pregnant women in his practice and estimates that about 20 percent of his patients are pregnant. He stated, "My focus has changed more to pregnant moms and kids nowadays. My wife had to go through the constant low back [pain] and headaches and really being uncomfortable all of the time. I wanted to help her personally."

Chris Burfield, an educational director with Dr. Wilson added, "When spinal bones get pulled out of place, those bones push up against or irritate the nerves. Those nerves will start to send pain signals off to the brain to let the brain know there's a problem."

Sara Townsley, a former high school science teacher received chiropractic care two years ago during her first pregnancy. She recalled, "If I do a lot of cleaning, like bathroom cleaning where I'm bending over, when I'm pregnant, that's usually when I have my sciatica." She continued, "Ella [her daughter] really sat on my hips, and it helped to have them aligned regularly to relieve some pressure and nerve pinching."

The article also interviews a medical physician, Dr. Walter Evans, an obstetrician-gynecologist in private practice at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. According to the article, Dr. Evans acknowledges a chiropractor's potential in prenatal care, sometimes referring patients with lower back pain to chiropractors. He states, "I've had good luck working with some chiropractors with patients who have low back pain during pregnancy."

Still in pain!

Today, I had a patient come in and tell me he wasn't responding to his adjustments and was still in severe pain. Now, when someone tells me something like that, I am quite honestly surprised.

Not that I think that I am the greatest thing since sliced bread, But I know the spine and the results expected when you eliminate subluxations.

Sure, the patient's job has a lot to do with the problem, since he has to bend and twist at the waist. But there usually is an improvement.

We will send out for diagnostic tests to see what is happening exactly.

Suicide

Sometimes people are in so much pain and have so little hope that they contemplate suicide. A patient confided in me that I am their last resort-that if they don't see relief, they will check themselves out.

Now I didn't know what to say except that this person really needed me to be confident and offer hope-I did. I also offered a hug and listened to them vent their frustrations a little.

This person's gonna be OK.

Music Reduces Pain and Depression

Did you know that listening to music for an hour a day can reduce chronic pain by 21 percent and depression by 25 percent? That’s what England’s Journal of Advanced Nursing reports.

60 patients who averaged the age of 50 and suffered from a range of painful conditions including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis for at least 6.5 years volunteered to be a part of a clinical trial. Patients were divided into two music groups and one control group that did not listen to any music.

Before the study began, each patient rated their pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most intense pain. Pre-study results showed that the group’s usual pain levels averaged around 6 on the pain scale.

The study began with group one listening to their favorite music, which spanned rock and pop to sounds of nature commonly used to promote sleep. Group two chose from five predetermined tapes: orchestra, piano, synthesizer, jazz and harp. All patients kept track of their pain each day.

At the end of the study the results were tallied and the clear winner was music therapy. The type of music listened to did not have much bearing on the outcome, as both music groups experienced significantly less pain and depression during the trial. In fact, both music groups reported a feeling of having more power over their pain, when compared to the control group that did not listen to any music.

Several other studies have also concluded that music promotes many positive health benefits.

To maximize your health and alleviate pain, turn to natural healing remedies like chiropractic adjustment, massage therapy, music therapy, etc. It will do your body good.

[Source: www.topix.net 5/24/06]