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Tips to Relieve Back Pain During Pregnancy

It’s estimated that over 85% of women experience back pain during pregnancy. As a woman enters her second and third trimesters, the growing baby pulls your center of gravity forward, increasing your lower back’s curve (or lordosis). That increased stress on your lower back often leads to back pain.

Spinal adjustments are considered a highly safe and effective evidence-based option for pregnant women to relieve back pain during pregnancy. Additionally, chiropractors can provide specific exercise and stretching recommendations. A recent study found that patients who received care from their OB-GYN and chiropractor had greater reductions in pain and improved quality of life than those who only saw an OB-GYN.

• 92% of pregnant women are advised by their doctor to exercise during pregnancy.

• Choosing the right pillows and finding the best stretches can dramatically reduce neck and mid-back pain during pregnancy.

• The mechanical low back pain that women experience during pregnancy can often be relieved with spinal adjustments.

How Your Body Changes During Pregnancy

A woman’s body undergoes many transformations during the nine months of pregnancy. Some of these changes are visible, such as an expanding belly, while others are well known, such as morning sickness and backaches. However, a few body changes may be unexpected and catch some women by surprise.

During pregnancy, the hormone relaxin is produced to help loosen the joints and ligaments of the pelvis, preparing for the birth process. Relaxin relaxes ligaments in the pelvis, but it also stretches the joints and ligaments all over the body. This is one reason women develop back pain or sciatica (pain that starts in the back and travels down the leg into the foot). As the ligaments become looser and the center of gravity is pulled forward due to the growing baby, a woman’s low back, or lumbar spine, can become over-stressed and painful due to these changes in biomechanics.

• Relaxin is a hormone produced during pregnancy to relax the joints and ligaments to prepare the pelvis for birth.

• All of the other joints and ligaments of the body also become “looser” due to relaxin, which changes their movement patterns.

• These changes, while welcomed, often result in low back pain and other joint pains throughout pregnancy.

Beyond the Pill: Non-Opioid Care for Chronic Pain

If you’re dealing with chronic pain, now is the time to tackle it naturally. But how do you deal with chronic pain without using opioid pain medication?

One of the problems with pain medications is that they only treat the symptoms; they aren’t doing anything to resolve the source of your pain. If you are looking for a long-term solution, the cause needs to be addressed. Altered biomechanics, or movement patterns, tend to be a common issue for many people dealing with chronic spine pain.

To get things moving on the path toward relief, we have found a lot of success with a plan that typically encourages:

• Whole Body Movement with Daily Exercise

It may seem impossible to get out and get active when dealing with chronic pain, but it may help you see some relief from your symptoms! For example, if you’re dealing with chronic back pain, regular walks can help relieve the stiffness and soreness of back pain.

• Specific Spinal Joint Movement with Chiropractic Adjustments

Chiropractors are an excellent resource for anyone who is dealing with chronic pain. New research has shown chiropractic care is at least as effective at relieving pain as many medications, without the risks or dangers associated with drugs. The likelihood of filling an opioid prescription is reduced by over 50% for people who see a chiropractor.

Next Steps:

You don’t need to keep struggling with chronic pain. Researchers have found that chiropractic care and active exercise can effectively reduce your symptoms and address the cause. If you or someone you know has struggled with chronic pain, please reach out to us today so that we can help provide you with options for relief that don’t include the dangerous medications that have created the current opioid epidemic.

Opiates vs. Opioids: What’s the Difference?

Opioids and opiates have caused millions of people looking for pain relief to enter a cycle of addiction. The scary part is that many people dying from opioids aren’t recreational drug users looking for the next high; they were people prescribed these drugs by their doctors to treat chronic pain.

To understand how this epidemic has happened, it’s essential to understand the differences between opioids and opiates.

Opiates describe drugs derived from the flowering opium poppy plant. Morphine is an example of an opiate. These drugs have been linked to physical dependence, increased tolerance, and addiction.

Opioids are synthetic or made in a lab. When opioid receptors in the brain become activated, they produce feelings of pleasure and pain. All opioid drugs act on these receptors. Some are up to 50 times more powerful than heroin. Opioid drugs used to treat pain include oxycodone and hydrocodone. These drugs are highly addictive and dangerous. Oxycodone exhibits the highest risk of abuse and poses the most significant dangers. It affects the nervous system in the same way as heroin.

• Opioids can have a negative impact on your emotions, breathing, digestion, and movement. • Fentanyl, a pain-relieving opioid, is 100 times more potent than morphine.

• Opioids are highly addictive and not meant to be used for chronic pain.

Current medical guidelines no longer recommend using opioids for most spinal pain. If you’re struggling with pain, movement based care such as chiropractic is often the best way to accelerate the healing process and put yourself in a position for long term relief. Call us today if you want to explore a relief path that doesn’t include medications.

The Chronic Pain Crisis is the Opioid Crisis

For decades, opioids were marketed as a “safer” alternative to treat chronic pain. And as the number of people with chronic pain began to rise, so did the number of people addicted to and dying from prescription opioids. The chronic pain epidemic has evolved into our current opioid crisis.

To address the opioid crisis, we must first find non-pharmacological solutions to the chronic pain epidemic. Over the past few years, major healthcare agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recognized that non-pharmacological approaches should be the first line of care to manage chronic pain.

New studies have indicated that there is a reason to be hopeful. Non-drug care options, such as chiropractic, are very effective at helping people reduce pain. Even people with severe chronic pain have benefited from the care that chiropractors can provide.

• Chronic low back pain will affect up to 20% of people over 18 years old. • Cooperation between your Medical Doctor and Chiropractor can help provide the best results. • Chiropractic care has been shown to provide better outcomes than care in a pain clinic.

The change in approach to a primarily non-pharmacological-based approach to care is unprecedented in healthcare. We can’t undo the damage that has been done. But, we can learn from the past and work together to overcome chronic pain with safe and effective care to relieve your pain without the dangerous side effects and addiction issues we’ve experienced with opioid medications. Our practice is proud to partner with other healthcare providers supporting a natural pain management approach.

The Opioid Crisis: How Did We End Up Here?

About 30 years ago, there was a fundamental shift in medicine regarding how pain was understood and treated. The number of people with chronic pain seemed to rise, and it was thought that the options to address the pain weren’t adequate.

As doctors paid more attention to assessing pain, they also paid more attention to treating pain. Opioid medication was prescribed more frequently for chronic lower back or neck pain. Until then, opioids were only prescribed for severe pain after surgery or advanced-stage cancer. But, in the early 1990s, it all changed. New opioid formulas were promoted as less addictive, and physicians were encouraged to prescribe these drugs far more liberally than before.

Prescribing these drugs very quickly led to a variety of problems. First, patients rapidly adapted to the drugs, requiring larger and larger doses to achieve the same effect over time. Second, these drugs weren’t very effective at addressing chronic pain. They provided short-term relief but became less useful for many people as time passed. Finally, these drugs provided a euphoric feeling that quickly led to addiction. • Starting in the 1990’s, doctors were encouraged to prescribe opioids for chronic pain.

• 59% of opioid users report having experienced back pain.

• In the US alone, we have averaged over 130 deaths per day due to opioids.

Now, decades later, we are consumed with the opioid crisis. Over 130 people die daily from opioids, and over 40% are from prescribed opioids. If there is a silver lining to this crisis, we now realize that the answers and treatment of chronic pain are rarely found in a bottle. Many leading healthcare organizations are now recommending non-pharmacological approaches to treating chronic pain- including chiropractic. If you want to explore a drug-free approach to pain relief, schedule an appointment with us today.

Your Body is Designed to Move

Your body is built to move. Every spinal disc and joint is designed to help you sit, stand, run, and move! Your discs are soft enough to flex as you bend forward and back, the spinal facet joints slide as you turn and twist, and the spinal bones are connected with ligaments that keep you supported as your muscles push and pull. It’s an incredibly strong and resilient system when you stop and think about it.

New research has begun to give us a glimpse of just how important movement is in our lives. For example, spine movement has now been shown to stimulate and accelerate the healing process. Movement is so crucial in the healing process that even people who have spine surgery are encouraged to get up and move as quickly as possible after surgery.

• All of the bones, muscles, ligaments, and joints of your spine are designed to support
  daily movement.

  • Blood flow, strength, and flexibility are all enhanced through movement.

  • Movement of the individual segments of your spine can affect how you heal.

Next Steps:

I believe encouraging healthy movement and activity is part of my job as your chiropractor. If you have any questions about stretches, exercises, or other ways to proactively stay healthy, ask. There is an old saying, “You don’t get old then stiff; you get stiff then old.” We want to help you stay young by helping you keep your spine and body moving. Stay proactive with your health by ensuring you have your next appointment scheduled!

The Brain + Spine Connection

Every thought and movement occurs through your brain or spinal cord, commonly known as the central nervous system. Your spinal column acts as the protection and pathway for your spinal cord to travel down and then split into the nerves that reach every cell of your body. Every moment, millions of messages are moving along your spinal cord to maintain the delicate balance between your brain and body.

Chiropractic adjustments can alter biochemical markers in your brain. New research has shown that the type of movement during a chiropractic adjustment can change the chemistry of your brain. These changes can result in everything from endorphin release (a feel-good hormone) to pain relief, and emerging research has even indicated increased strength (or cortical drive) after an adjustment.

• Your brain and body are in constant communication through your central and peripheral nervous system.

  • The spinal cord can send information to your brain at over 250 mph!

  • Chiropractic adjustments to your neck or back have been shown to influence brain function, resulting in pain relief, endorphin release, and more.

  Over the past 100 years, scientists and doctors have learned much about the brain/body connection, but we still have a long way to go. Aging, healing, and your entire life experience happen through the communication and coordination of your brain and body. Keeping your brain and body engaged and moving each day can help support a healthy life. If you’ve struggled to stay active due to pain, schedule an evaluation with us today.

Disc Issues and Chiropractic

Disc herniations, bulges, protrusions, and extrusions are the most common reasons people visit a chiropractor. Come to think of it, most people see a chiropractor not just because they have a disc issue but because the disc issue has caused a significant impact on their quality of life. Exciting new research has begun to showcase what we have witnessed for years: how chiropractic care provides outstanding results for people with spinal disc issues.

Specific chiropractic techniques are thought to influence the pressure in your spinal discs. Emerging research has shown that movement, reducing intra-discal stress, and opening up the channels your nerves pass through can improve how you feel and accelerate the healing process.

• Keeping your core muscles strong and flexible can decrease your likelihood of suffering a disc bulge or herniation.

• Research has shown spinal adjustments to be very effective at reducing pain caused by disc bulges and herniations.

• Spinal adjustments were found to be more effective than spinal injections for treating
disc issues.

Your body has an incredible ability to heal without drugs or surgery, even from disc herniations. A recent study showcased that people with an MRI-confirmed disc herniation received better results with chiropractic adjustments than injections. If you have an MRI that shows a disc issue, it does NOT mean that surgery or injections are your only options. If you have a disc issue slowing you down, call us today to discover a natural way to find relief.

Facet Joints: Gliding Your Way to Better Health

If you’ve had neck or back pain that you could put a finger on, or sharp pain when moving, it may be due to facet joints of your spine. It’s easy to think of your facet joints as the knuckles of your spine. They are small joints with a capsule and cartilage pad that glide and slide, allowing your spine and body to move.

As you go through life and your spinal discs undergo the aging process, your facet joints take on the extra load. Unfortunately, this excess stress and pressure can wear down your facet joints, resulting in the beginning of the degenerative process, which can cause adhesions, restricted motion, bone spurs, and pain.

• The facet joints of your spine slide and glide as you move.
  • Restrictions or adhesions in the facets can occur with age and injury.
  • Spinal adjustments help the facet joints move freely and decrease painful restrictions.

The facet joints of your spine thrive on movement. Movement helps them stay healthy and may even slow down the degenerative process. Spinal adjustments have been shown to reduce adhesions of the facet joints, allowing you to move more freely with less pain. We believe that when you are moving better, you are feeling better, and we’re proud to be a part of the healthcare team that helps you stay active!