Can I Go to the Chiropractor While Pregnant?

Yes! You can still have (or seek out) chiropractic care when pregnant, and you’ll want to ensure that your provider knows that you are expecting. The chiropractor can then safely adjust you as needed. There are many changes happening in your body, one being your ligaments are loosening because of hormonal changes preparing your body for birth.

Best Chiropractic Care When Pregnant
Any chiropractor you go to should take care of you with gentle adjustments—and should especially avoid any cracking or bending with pregnant patients. At Shephard Chiropractic Clinic, we use exclusively controlled force adjustments with our Arthrostim tool. It’s gentle, and ensures that you feel no discomfort while you’re being treated in our office. To learn more about our methods, take a look at what to expect at Shephard Clinic.

Why Chiropractic Care is Helpful During Pregnancy
There are so many changes happening in a pregnant woman’s body in a small amount of time:

1. Hormones (relaxin and progesterone) both loosen ligaments and relax muscles in preparation for childbirth creating sciatic nerve pain and pelvic pain
2. An extra 25-35 pounds can be gained during pregnancy, putting extra pressure on the spine
3. Swollen ankles / edema
4. Morning sickness
5. An ever-changing center of gravity thanks to a growing baby and uterus, which increases the curvature of the lumbar spine—leading to overcompensation through leaning backward, causing increased spine pain.

If you’re looking forward to some relief, you can seek out chiropractic care to help with low back pain, pain in your legs and feet, and general body aches. Swollen ankles can be helped with a combination of spinal adjustments, gentle manipulations and massage to carefully move the fluid out of the area. Nausea due to pregnancy (morning sickness) is often caused by miscommunication in the body—realignment of the spine and thereby restoring the nervous system’s optimal function can help. Interested in the science behind it all? Read up on the 5 conditions the American Chiropractic Association has determined can be helped by chiropractic.

Additional Help during Pregnancy from Your Chiropractor

Because chiropractic care is focused on treating the whole body, it can be extremely helpful in your pregnancy to seek out chiropractic care, particularly in offices that offer complementary care. Care that can accompany chiropractic that’s also helpful for pregnancy discomfort includes therapeutic massage and physical therapy. We may also be able to provide you with a regimen of gentle exercises to maintain your body’s alignment and keep your discomfort to a minimum.

Most of all, it’s vital that you take excellent care of yourself, your spine, and your little one. We’d be thrilled to be entrusted with your chiropractic care during this special time of pregnancy. Reach out to make an appointment or to ask any questions you may have about chiropractic care during your pregnancy.