PREGNANT WOMEN
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Premier Spine Center has a saying, “your pregnancy should be enjoyable, not painful.” With that being our main mindset, we do all that is in our power, through special adjustments, exercises, and home recommendations to ensure that your pregnancy will not only be as pain-free as possible, but your labor may be shorter, and the pain levels significantly decreased.
Dr. Riham Alnaji is one of very few in the county that have achieved Advanced Certification through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) certifying her to work on prenatal and pediatric patients. She uses a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment called the Webster technique that reduces interference to the nervous system and balances the pelvic muscles and ligaments. This improves function in the mother’s pelvis and may contribute to easier labor and delivery. With this specific treatment, the majority of her patients, once under care, experience a joyful pregnancy journey and first-time moms have on average 6–13-hour labors from start to finish.
Many mothers and practitioners have reported that after this adjustment, the baby settled into a more optimal position for birth. The ICPA (who certifies doctors in this technique) is exploring the clinical data from hundreds of cases in its NIH-recognized Practiced Based Research Network. As an ICPA member, Dr. Riham Alnaji is kept abreast of all publications and current research to apply in her practice.
Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy is a vital ingredient to a healthier pregnancy and birth. Call us for a complimentary consultation and we can assess your individual needs during this special time of your life.
The largest free-standing chrioporactor provider.
The ICPA mission is fulfilled by engaging and serving family chiropractors worldwide through evidence-informed practice, supporting excellence in professional skills, and delivering educational resources for family well-being.
Headaches
Experiencing headaches during pregnancy is one of the most common discomforts and complaints, and frequently occur in the 1st and 3rd Trimester. The increase is headaches is believed to be caused by the surge of hormones along with an increase in the relaxin hormone in the body causing the ligaments to start loosening causing aggravated stress from poor posture and changes in the vision.
Upper Back & Neck Pain
Upper back and neck pain during pregnancy can occur at any point and with the tiniest of movements which occurs for several reasons. First, as your pregnancy progresses, the growth of your baby and uterus shifts the center of gravity forward placing an increase of pressure on the muscles of your low back, this combined with the weight gain, and instability of joints due to the increase of hormones makes for a perfect storm of back and neck aches.
Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain during pregnancy is a common symptom that you may experience. During pregnancy, your body releases hormones that allow connective tissue to relax and soften. As a result of this, the joints and ligaments between the bones in your body will begin to loosen. When sleeping on your side your humorous is not snuggly put into the shoulder socket causing achiness in the joint.
Rib Pain
Rib pain during pregnancy is usually experienced as a mild discomfort to a sharp stabbing pain which can make it hard to take a deep breath. This type of pain can be caused from your baby punching or kicking the area in the front of the abdomen, as well as the ribs popping up on your back from the new forward leaning posture and relaxin hormone allowing them to slip out of the joint very easily.
Heartburn
In late pregnancy, these symptoms are due to the hormone progesterone, which relaxes the valve at the top of your stomach. This causes a small amount of stomach acid, sometimes with partially digested food, to surge upwards into your esophagus. A diaphragm release can be done to help reduce the heart burn.
Low Back & Sacro-Iliac Joint Pain (SI Joint)
SI joint pain is felt at or near the sacroiliac joints of your pelvis (tailbone) as a result of sacroiliac
joint dysfunction. This pain often feels deep within your low back and can occur on one or both sides of your back. In some cases, pain radiates down to the buttock and the back of the thigh.
In some cases, it can become chronic and disabling, causing a sharp stabbing like feeling when you stand up or take those first couple of steps after resting.
Sciatica
The sciatic nerve is the largest in your body which starts in the lower back and runs down the buttocks and branches down the back of the legs to the ankles and feet. In most cases of sciatica, a sharp, shooting pain, tingling or numbness starts in the back or buttocks and radiates all the way down the back of your legs. This happens when the sciatic nerve gets compressed during pregnancy, the stretching of the ligaments and the tightening of the piriformis muscle in the buttock causes.
Round Ligament Pain
Round ligament pain can be concerning and uncomfortable. But it is considered normal as your body changes during pregnancy. The symptoms of round ligament pain include a sharp, sudden spasm in the belly. I can affect both sides of the lower front of the abdomen. The pain only lasts a few seconds. Exercise may increase the pain, as well as rapid movements such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, rolling over in bed, and standing up too quickly.
Symphasis Pubic Dysfunction (SPD)
Symphasis Pubic Dysfunction is a condition that causes excessive movement of the pubic symphasis, either forward or to the side, as well as a misalignment of the pelvis. This is thought to affect up to 1 in 4 pregnant women. The side effects of SPD, have varying degrees of intensity which include clicking or popping when walking or changing position while seated to having intense burning and extreme pain when walking upstairs, carrying anything of weight, and leg adduction and abduction. If left untreated, or not taken care of this condition can lead to disabilities or physical damage.
