If you have lower back pain or sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy, you’re not alone. According to an article entitled Pregnancy-Related Low Back Pain at the National Library of Medicine, between 25 and 90 percent of women experience some type of lower back pain while pregnant. The prevailing statistic that is often cited is that 50 percent of pregnant women experience back pain. Of those women, about 1 percent experience sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy, which occurs when pressure is put on the sciatic nerve. Let’s take a look at how chiropractic care can help with pregnancy-related back pain and sciatic nerve pain.

Understanding Sciatica During Pregnancy

Sciatica pain during pregnancy can be caused by a few issues, including:

• Herniated or Bulging Discs – Occurs when the soft, jelly-like disc that cushions the vertebrae bulges or slips out of place.
• Piriformis Syndrome – The Piriformis is a muscle in the buttocks. If it becomes unusually tight or starts to spasm, it can result in sciatic nerve pain.
• Spinal Stenosis – This is a condition in which the spinal canal narrows and puts pressure on the nerve roots.
• Spondylolisthesis – This condition occurs when one vertebra moves forward in relation to the one below it.

Symptoms of Pregnancy-Related Sciatica

The symptoms of pregnancy-related sciatica can last well after the baby is born. Back pain is listed as the number one cause of women requesting sick leave after the birth of a child. For women who experience lower back pain during pregnancy, it usually starts between the 20th and 28th week. Once the baby is born, 38 percent of women still have lower back three months later, and 13.8 percent of women still have lower back pain 12 months later, according to Pregnancy-Related Low Back Pain at the National Library of Medicine. Symptoms can include:

• Continuous or intermittent pain down one or both legs
• A shooting, sharp, burning, or stabbing pain in the lower back or down one or both legs
• A sensation of pins and needles or numbness in one or both legs or feet
• Problems with walking, standing upright, or sitting

The Role of Chiropractic Care in Managing Pregnancy-Related Sciatica

Chiropractic care can help women manage their lower back pain and sciatica pain during pregnancy. Chiropractic care focuses on naturally treating pain by correcting subluxations, which are slight misalignments of the joints. Properly aligned joints experience a greater range of motion. There is less inflammation in the area, less compression of the nerves, and lower levels of pain.

Prenatal chiropractic usually involves the use of gentle chiropractic manipulations or adjustments. They are performed on a special table that helps perform the adjustment and avoids placing unneeded pressure on the abdomen. Pillows may also be used to ensure comfort.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Managing Sciatica During Pregnancy

Sciatica pain relief during pregnancy is possible and generally considered safe. This is because prenatal chiropractic care is a drug-free, non-invasive approach to health and wellness that is tailored for the expectant mother. The primary benefits of prenatal chiropractic care include:

• A more comfortable pregnancy
• Reduced instances of nausea
• Lower levels of back and neck pain
• Improved spinal alignment and nerve function
• Better overall quality of life and feelings of well-being

Techniques and Approaches Used in Chiropractic Care for Pregnancy-Related Sciatica

Chiropractic care seeks a comprehensive approach to health and wellness. Treatments for expectant mothers can include spinal adjustments, pelvic stabilization exercises, soft tissue therapies and stretches, and lifestyle changes that are specific for expectant mothers.

• Chiropractic Adjustments – At North East Chiropractic Center, we used an instrument called an Activator. This delivers quick, low-force pulses to the area that needs to be adjusted.
• Pelvic Stabilization Exercises – Pelvic stabilization exercises can help strengthen your lateral hips, glutes, and lower back.
• Soft Tissue Therapies – Soft tissue therapies can include massage therapy, yoga, soft tissue release, and trigger point therapy as well as stretching.
• Lifestyle Adjustments – We’ll recommend some modifications for performing everyday activities and some activities to avoid while you’re pregnant.

Safety Considerations and Precautions

Safety is a paramount concern for expectant mothers seeking chiropractic care. It is natural to have questions and concerns about the safety of spinal adjustments during pregnancy. However, it is important to note that chiropractors undergo extensive training and have expertise in providing care for pregnant women.

Chiropractors employ specialized techniques and adaptations to ensure the safety and comfort of pregnant patients. Gentle adjustments, the use of specialized equipment, and positioning modifications are some of the measures taken to accommodate the unique needs of expectant mothers.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy is generally considered safe. It’s always a good idea to make sure your chiropractor has had some advanced training when it comes to performing adjustments and treating pregnant women.

When it comes to safety, it’s essential that you feel comfortable and are physically comfortable during the session. Before the session, our chiropractor will ask you about any pre-existing conditions and answer your questions about prenatal chiropractic treatments.

Our prenatal chiropractic care involves holistic treatment methods that do not use invasive procedures or medications. When we perform chiropractic adjustments, we use an actuator and a specially designed table to reduce the amount of pressure needed for the adjustment. We also take the time to make sure you are completely comfortable.

Prioritizing Maternal Well-being with Chiropractic Care during Pregnancy

Sciatica during pregnancy can be a challenging and painful condition that affects the daily life of expectant mothers. However, chiropractic care offers a safe and effective approach to managing this discomfort. By providing pain relief, improving spinal alignment and nerve function, and enhancing overall well-being, chiropractic care can make a significant difference in the quality of life for pregnant women.

If you are experiencing sciatica during pregnancy, consider consulting a chiropractor who specializes in prenatal care. By prioritizing your well-being and seeking appropriate support, you can navigate this special time with greater comfort and empowerment. Remember, taking care of yourself is essential for a healthy pregnancy and a positive start to motherhood.

Prenatal chiropractic for sciatica during pregnancy is safe for women and their babies. It can help reduce your lower back pain and leg pain. You may even have a smoother delivery. To learn more about our prenatal chiropractic care and to schedule a consultation, call us today.

Are you an athlete that’s looking to improve your performance while minimizing the risk of muscle injuries? If you are, then a sports massage may be the answer. Sports massages combine elements of Swedish massages, stretching, and joint mobilization to prevent sports injuries, improve performance and promote muscle recovery after a workout or game. Let’s take a look at the primary benefits of sports massage therapy for athletes.

Improved Circulation and Blood Flow

Getting sports massages helps increase circulation and blood flow. This is because it helps dilate the blood vessels, which improves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues of the body. Additionally, it helps in the removal of metabolic waste. Metabolic waste is the result of certain cellular processes, like cellular respiration. These substances can’t be used by the body and must be expelled. Components of metabolic waste can include lactic acid, nitrogen, water, and CO2. The increased blood flow from the massage can help flush these substances out of the body.

Muscle Relaxation and Reduction of Tension

Sports massage therapy can help the muscles relax and reduce muscle tension. This is because it releases muscle knots and adhesions. Muscle adhesions are usually the result of collagen fibers sticking to tissues that are adjacent to the muscles. They can cause stiffness and soreness as well as loss of flexibility and strength. The good news is that sports massage can help improve flexibility and range of motion while reducing muscle soreness.

Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation

Getting sports massage therapy for athletes can help you prevent injuries. The most common types of sports injuries include sprains and strains, swollen muscles, knee injuries, and injuries to the Achilles tendon. Of those injuries, the most common is a sprain or a strain. Sports massage can help lower your risk of incurring these types of injuries, and if you do happen to get injured, sports massages can help you recover faster. It does this by improving circulation and oxygenation of the tissues of the body and by enhancing nutrient delivery. It also helps improve lymphatic flow. Your lymph system is responsible for removing cellular waste and toxins from the body.

Enhanced Performance and Athleticism

Sports massages can help increase your flexibility and joint mobility, which can help with your performance and athleticism. After receiving a few sports massages, you may notice that your muscle strength and overall power have improved. This is attributed to the fact that receiving regular massages can help improve overall muscle health while optimizing muscle function.

Faster Recovery and Reduced Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

If your muscles have ever become extremely sore between 12 and 24 hours after a workout, it’s likely because of DOMS or Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness. DOMS is due to the muscles incurring tiny tears in the tissue when you participate in a high-intensity workout or strength training session. These microscopic tears are how your muscles get stronger. In essence, the muscles repair themselves and replace damaged muscle fibers, which results in increased strength. However, the soreness, stiffness, and pain of DOMS are not a desired effect. The good news is that a sports massage can help your muscles heal faster so that your DOMS symptoms don’t last as long.

Stress Reduction and Mental Well-being

Getting regular sports massage therapy can help reduce your levels of stress and promote healthier mental well-being. It accomplishes this by aiding in the reduction of cortisol in your bloodstream. Cortisol is a stress hormone and excessive amounts of cortisol in your bloodstream over a prolonged period can increase your risk of experiencing weight gain and high blood pressure. You may also notice an increase in fatigue, muscle weakness, and slow healing. If you want to keep your stress levels low and improve your mental well-being, getting regular sports massages can help.

If you’re looking to enhance your sports performance and increase muscle recovery and recovery after a sports injury while lowering your stress and improving your mental health, you may benefit from getting regular sports massages at North East Chiropractic Center in Fort Wayne. We offer massage therapy as well as chiropractic care and spinal decompression. We can also help you if you want to lose a few pounds.

To learn more about sports massage and to schedule a consultation, give us a call today.

If you suffer from migraines, you will agree with us: they are not only incredibly painful and debilitating, but they can also have the potential to completely disrupt your day-to-day life and the way you go about your routine.

Sometimes, though, they are triggered by specific habits or events, which means that if you avoid those you have a higher chance of reducing (or completely eliminating) the likelihood of suffering from frequent migraines.

Would you like to find out more about some of the worst – and, frustratingly, most common – migraine triggers? Keep reading our guide right here.

Habits That Trigger Migraines

Arguably, there are several different habits that can generate the onset of migraines. For brevity reasons, here we will only be discussing the three main ones.

1. Neglecting Daily Stressors

Unsurprisingly, the number one migraine trigger according to doctors and experts is daily stress. When stress levels are kept consistently high, they can result in both tension headaches as well as full-blown migraines.

Not looking after your mental health and exposing yourself to daily stressors such as a toxic work environment, unhealthy relationships, and poor food and exercise habits can all lead to increased stress levels.

2. Not Eating or Drinking Enough Water

An unhealthy diet is another common reason why many people experience it. If you habitually eat processed foods or, conversely, do not eat enough, your blood sugar levels can drop, which can result in a migraine.

Similarly, not drinking enough water can also lead to experiencing migraines. This is because when you don’t keep your body well hydrated you can lower your blood pressure and increase feelings of fatigue and weakness.

3. Indulging in Too Much Screen Time

Too much screen time is not just bad for children: it can cause serious issues in adults, too. One of these issues is, of course, frequent headaches and migraines.

The light that electronic devices emit when they are being operated on is another major trigger. In parallel, using these devices for too long can also cause poor posture, which in turn generates neck and back pain and – you’ve guessed it – migraines.

Seek Help from an Expert

If you suffer from regular migraines, you probably think that you are destined to take painkillers for the rest of your life. There are, however, other – and much more effective and sustainable – ways to combat and eliminate them for good.

For example, have you considered consulting a migraine chiropractor in Fort Wayne, New Haven Leo, or Huntertown? By offering a highly-customized migraine treatment, your trusted specialist will use specific manipulation and adjustment techniques to help relieve your migraine.

Similarly, a qualified and expert chiropractor will also be able to quite literally change how the nerves and blood vessels at the base of your skull operate. By doing so, they will enhance blood flow to the area and, ultimately, help ease off your migraine symptoms.

At North East Chiropractic Center, we run a specialist team of chiropractors who can tackle your headache and migraine issues in a safe, comfortable, and effective way – and always without the use of drugs or the need to undergo surgery or other invasive treatment.

With over 15 years of experience – and counting! – our skilled, professional, and hands-on chiropractors look forward to welcoming you to our clinic in Fort Wayne, and assisting you in overcoming your migraines.

Set Yourself Free from the Worst Habits that Trigger Migraines

Frequent migraines can be so debilitating that they end up ruining entire days of your life. The good news, though, is that it doesn’t need to be that way!

Contact us now and find out how we can help you get rid of them for good with fully-personalized chiropractic sessions.

In the United States, over 40 million adults live with mental illness, with anxiety being one of the most commonly reported mental health disorders. If you, too, suffer from anxiety, then be reassured that you are not alone.

Anxiety manifests itself through feelings of extreme fear and worry. These can be brought on either by specific triggers, such as phobias or without any trigger at all, such as in the case of GAD (generalized anxiety disorder).

Often, feelings of anxiety can generate physical symptoms, too, which are defined as stress. While most people experience all this at least once in their life, if anxiety and stress become chronic and debilitating you might need to intervene quickly.

Keep reading to discover how you can treat anxiety in a safe, effective, and unmedicated way.

The Physical Signs of Anxiety

As we said earlier, anxiety is mostly recognized via specific emotions as opposed to physical symptoms. However, when anxiety generates stress, you may experience any of the following:

• Increased heart rate (“heart palpitations”)
• Gastrointestinal upset
• Muscle tension
• Digestive problems
• Breathing difficulties
• Dizziness
• Trouble sleeping and/or insomnia

What Can Chiropractic Care Do For Anxiety?

Let’s now find out why chiropractic care can be so helpful in managing and easing the symptoms of anxiety.

A Natural Method

Chiropractic care is one of the best ways to treat anxiety naturally, without recurring to any medication. Anti-anxiety drugs, in fact, can be effective but also come with a range of problematic side effects, which might actually end up making your anxiety even worse.

Tension Relief

One of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety and stress is tension in the muscles, particularly in the limbs (legs and arms). By following personalized chiropractic treatment, you will be able to address those tensions while at the same time promoting musculoskeletal health and reducing stiffness in your joints – all of which help tremendously to ease the physical signs of anxiety.

Improved Sleep

Having trouble sleeping and suffering from insomnia are two of the most common symptoms of anxiety. And because getting little or poor-quality sleep negatively affects your mental health, you might feel like you are stuck in a vicious circle. Chiropractic care can help, by relieving tension and promoting healthier and better sleep.

Positive Hormone Release

Much like a body massage or a workout that you really enjoy, a chiropractic care session can release some of the so-called “feel-good hormones”, such as serotonin and oxytocin, while blocking the production of the stress hormone cortisol. As a result, you will instantly notice that you are feeling calmer, happier, and more positive.

Let Northeast Chiropractic Center Help You

If you are currently suffering from anxiety and live in the New Haven or Fort Wayne areas, then Northeast Chiropractic Center is the best choice to help you ease your symptoms and start living a better, healthier life inside and out.

Our caring, trusted, and fully qualified team of chiropractors have a wealth of experience helping patients just like you to manage and ease the physical symptoms of stress and anxiety. Led by Dr. Osenga, your dependable and committed Fort Wayne chiropractor, our team strives to support each of our patients to achieve their best possible health – both physical and mental.

Find a Better, More Natural Way to Treat Your Anxiety

Treating anxiety doesn’t necessarily involve taking medication. It can be as simple as getting in touch with a trusted, local chiropractor and booking a series of highly customized sessions.

Chiropractic care, in fact, is renowned for helping ease muscle tension, promoting better sleep, and triggering the release of happy hormones – all of which are great ways to ease the most common physical symptoms of anxiety.

Contact the team at Northeast Chiropractic Center, your reliable chiropractor in Fort Wayne, and start enjoying better mental health today.