Back pain is often induced during pregnancy, due to the rapid growth of the baby, and structural changes that occur in the body to accommodate for that growth.

Imbalances of the spine or pelvis that went unnoticed prior to pregnancy are often overtaxed as the body adapts to pregnancy. Many pregnant women experience discomfort and difficulty in performing routine, daily activities.

Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can relieve and prevent these discomforts by eliminating stress on the spine and restoring balance to the pelvis.

As the baby develops, the uterus enlarges. A balanced pelvis is able to maintain and support this suspension, but if the pelvis is not balanced, the ligaments twist and constrain the uterus.

This constraint not only limits the space for the developing baby, but the compromised position will affect the baby’s overall development. The constraint often results in torticollis, a contracting of the neck muscles, which causes the neck to rotate and tilt sideways, forwards or backwards, placing the baby in a position that will lead to a difficult birth.

Medical interventions are often used to ease birth — administration of picotin, epidurals, painful episiotomies, vacuum extraction, forceps, and cesarean deliveries, amongst others.

Obstetric texts have reported dystocia, or difficult birth, is caused by a pelvic imbalance and its resulting effect on the uterus and the baby’s position.

Expectant mothers should make Chiropractic a part of prenatal care, as it can restore balance to the pelvic muscles and ligaments, remove interference of he nervous system, and reduce labor time.

If your pregnancy ended, but you are still suffering with the muscular aches and pains, Chiropractic care can help eliminate these symptoms.

Pregnancy-related back pain doesn’t merely go away for some new mothers; many need to seek treatment to relieve the symptoms they experience long after they have given birth.

According to researchers in Sweden, some 5% of all pregnant women — or 20% of all women with back pain during pregnancy, had residual back pain three years after their pregnancy ended.

Researchers collected data on 799 expectant mothers — 231 suffered back pain during pregnancy and 41 reported the pain had lasted for three years following their pregnancy.

Women who experience back pain should seek the help of their chiropractor to effectively relieve their symptoms.

In a study involving 94 pregnant women, nearly 25% suffered with back pain. After receiving Chiropractic adjustments, 91%,were relieved of the pain and symptoms.

FuturePerfect and ChiroPediactrics.com, July 1, 2002; European Spine Journal on-line report,

A recent study was performed to determine the effectiveness of chiropractic for the treatment of reducing symptoms associated with Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS).

The subjects were given an initial medical screening by a qualified medical practitioner as well as a full physical chiropractic examination. Spinal dysfunction and subluxations were identified using
standard techniques.

All of the treatments were rendered by one of two experienced, qualified chiropractors, with each woman being treated by the same chiropractor throughout the study.

Treatment was given two or three times within the ten-day period prior to the commencement of each menses. This was continued for a minimum of three cycles, during which time the subjects recorded their symptoms daily.

At the end of the treatment program, all of the women had indicated that their PMS symptoms had improved overall while under chiropractic care and they considered chiropractic an appropriate method of treatment.

SOURCE: Walsh, M.J., Polus, P.I., The Efficacy of Chiropractic Therapy on Premenstrual
Syndrome: A Case Series Study, Chiropractic Journal of Australia, Vol. 24, No. 4.