Giving birth is a wonderful and unique experience. Think about it, after nine tough months, the mother has brought a new life into the world!
But while the process of having a baby is overall positive, there are often many health issues that mothers have to deal with after the fact. Pain, weakness, and various bodily issues can plague new mothers and can make life very difficult, all while they are attempting to care for a newborn baby. Luckily, chiropractic care can help new mothers deal with musculoskeletal and other health issues after the birth of their babies.
5 Ways Chiropractors Can Help Mothers Postpartum
While there are tons of ways in which chiropractors can help new mothers address any post-natal issues they experience, we will outline the top five ways in this section.
Decreased Joint Pain
As women gain weight during pregnancy, then rapidly lose said weight after giving birth, their joints are put through a significant amount of stress. Because of this, many women will report high levels of joint pain during and after pregnancy.
Fortunately, through chiropractic manipulations, new mothers can find relief from their pain symptoms and prepare to care for their newborns!
Improved Posture
One of the most striking changes that a woman’s body goes through during and after pregnancy, is a significant shift in their posture. Often, women will have an increased curve (lordosis) in their low backs as a result of the extra weight from the growing baby.
This shift in posture often causes back pain that doesn’t immediately resolve once the baby is born. However, chiropractors can help to gently guide and correct a new mother’s posture with targeted, specific spinal adjustments.
Relieved Nerve Pain
During pregnancy, many women can develop a nerve issue known as meralgia paresthetica. Specifically, this issue causes numbness and pain on the outside of the thigh.
Meralgia paresthetica often resolves on its own after the baby is born. However, there are many women who have continued symptoms long after the baby is born. While it is not a life-threatening condition, meralgia paresthetica can drastically reduce a mother’s quality of life and can lead to chronic issues.
Chiropractic treatments can help to loosen up these tight, restricted nerves and allow new mothers to return to a pain-free life as quickly as possible.
Decreased Neck Pain
Early on, new mothers need to try out many different ways of holding their babies when they are breastfeeding and transferring the newborn from one place to another. As a result, mothers’ necks often become stressed and strained, causing pain and dysfunction. Neck pain makes it hard to accomplish many daily tasks and can be incredibly debilitating.
Cervical manipulations provide the perfect solution to these neck issues and enable the mother to achieve a better range of motion with less pain.
Improved Bladder Control
During and after pregnancy, some women will have trouble with incontinence. This is often the case after especially traumatic births, but it can happen to any new mother as well. Despite the embarrassment that women may feel due to incontinence, this issue is also a sign that the pelvic floor muscles are weak and aren’t being properly controlled.
Through specific adjustments in the low back, chiropractors can often improve bladder control and decrease incontinence symptoms.
At Keystone Chiropractic, our team is available to help new mothers navigate the many changes that come after childbirth. Our expert clinicians can perform specific manipulations on patients to improve their spinal alignment, reduce their pain, and help them get their lives back. If you’re in need of a chiropractor in Plano, TX, book your appointment with us today!.