We utilize a special pregnancy pillow to support your growing bump and ensure maximum comfort during our adjustments. We use the Webster Technique which is a specialized technique specifically for pregnant women to ensure safe and effective treatment with the changing hormones, flexibility and body structure associated with pregnancy.
Our techniques are modified to fit your child's size, weight, and unique spinal condition. We can use special pillows and perform assessments and adjustments while you hold your baby as well to make it a comfortable, stress free environment.
To schedule a Complimentary Consultation with our experts in order to better understand how chiropractic can help you or your child, call 805-781-9155 or click Complimentary Consultation.
We have found that San Luis Obispo is a community filled with countless young families yet many are still unaware of the great benefits of Chiropractic care for their pregnancies and children. How does chiropractic help children suffering from a condition which doesn’t seem to be related to their back or neck? For instance, how can chiropractic help with Asthma, Colic or Ear Infections?
In working with children who are affected by such conditions our primary mission at Powersource Chiropractic is to help the child’s body function optimally. This is achieved by restoring the nervous system which controls organ function. Chiropractic is not directed at any condition; rather, it is directed at the interference to the child’s nervous system: A Subluxation.
In order to understand what this means you first understand the following four principles:
1. The body is a self-healing organism, designed to heal itself given the right conditions.
2. This mechanism is controlled by the nervous system and as long as nothing interferes with that function, we experience optimal health.
3. If something interferes with the nervous system, our ability to heal ourselves is interrupted.
4. The mission of Chiropractic is to remove that interference and restore health.
Simply put, a subluxation puts pressure on the nervous system which controls and coordinates all other body functions. It is through specific chiropractic adjustments, our doctors are able to remove this interference and allow the child’s body to function optimally and heal.
Below are many helpful articles regarding these benefits. To schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Sterling or Dr. Dubrul in order to better understand how chiropractic can help you or your child, call 805-781-9155 or click Complimentary Consultation.
How the Birthing Process Injures Spines
During the pushing stage of labor, the spine may be injured as the fetus is compressed and pushed down the birth canal. The most frequent cause of subluxation in infants is the pulling, twisting and compression of the infant’s spine during birth. If something alters normal birth, you will frequently have subluxations occur at the point of greatest stress (upper and lower cervical vertebrae). While in severe cases, this can result in more obvious, clinical nerve damage such as paralysis, more frequently, subluxations remain unnoticed by physicians and parents with health issues rising at a later time. Among them:
- Colic Sleep disorders
- Symptoms of lowered immunity
- Poor development
Pediatric expert Dr. Maxine McMullen states, “Subluxations should be analyzed and corrected as soon as possible after birth to prevent these associated conditions.” (1) Moreover, these subluxations have been found to be severe enough to lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) due to the pressure they cause upward toward the lower brain (2) as well as creating numerous other disorders common to newborns, infants and young children. Reports show chiropractic care can be helpful in such diverse disorders as cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, ear infections, the prevention of SIDS, and others. (3) While chiropractic care is not a treatment for anything, the benefits of adjusting subluxation to remove interference has been particularly telling in the case of small children. In fact, young people need chiropractic care as much as or more than anyone to maximize proper development and minimize the advent of common infant symptoms and disease.
Preparing for a Safer Birth
Dystocia is defined as difficult labor and is something every woman wants to avoid. In addition to the pain and exhaustion caused by long, difficult labors, dystocia leads to multiple, medical interventions which may be physically and emotionally traumatic to both you and your baby. Some of these interventions are the administering of pitocin, the use of epidurals, painful episiotomies, forceful pulling on the baby’s fragile spine, vacuum extraction, forceps and perhaps even c-sections. Each of these procedures carry a high risk of injury to you, your baby or both!
However, all of these procedures used to hasten the delivery process can be avoided if delivery goes more smoothly to begin with. When reviewing the obstetric texts, the reported reasons for dystocia are caused by pelvic imbalance and its resulting effects on your uterus and your baby’s position.
Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy restores balance to your pelvic muscles and ligaments and therefore leads to safer and easier deliveries for you and your baby. Additionally, the chiropractic adjustment removes interference to the nervous system allowing your uterus to function at its maximum potential. Published studies have indicated that chiropractic care does in fact reduce labor time.
We, at Powersource Chiropractic offer specific analysis and adjustments for your special needs in pregnancy. You and your baby’s continued safety and comfort is primary in our care. This pregnancy, offer yourself the best! Include the many benefits chiropractic offers in your prenatal care choices. Call for your individual consultation. Give you and your baby the opportunity for a more comfortable pregnancy and a safer, easier birth.
Originally Published by I.C.P.A. Newsletter May-June 2002 References available here.
www.icpa4kids.org
Comfort For Your Baby, Too
As your baby develops, your uterus enlarges to accommodate the rapid growth. So long as the pelvis is in a balanced state, the ligaments connected to the uterus maintain an equalized, supportive suspension for the uterus. If your pelvis is out of balance in any way, these ligaments become torqued and twisted, causing a condition known as constraint to your uterus. This constraint limits the space of the developing baby. Any compromised position for the baby throughout pregnancy will affect his or her optimal development. Conditions such as torticollis occur because a baby’s space was cramped in utero. If the woman’s uterus is constrained as birth approaches, the baby is prevented from getting into the best possible position for birth.
Even if the baby is in the desirable head down position, often times constraint to the uterus affects the baby’s head from moving into the ideal presentation for delivery. The head may be slightly tilted off to one side or even more traumatically, present in the posterior position. Any baby position even slightly off during birth will slow down labor, and add pain to both the mother and baby. Many women have been told that their babies were too big, or labor “just slowed down” when it was really the baby’s presentation interfering with the normal process and progression. Avoidable interventions are implemented turning a natural process into an operative one.
Doctors of Chiropractic work specifically with your pelvis throughout pregnancy restoring a state of balance and creating an environment for an easier, safer delivery.
The Infant Adjustment
"One of the most interesting studies, based on examination and adjustment of 1,000 infants, was done by Dr. Gutmann, a German medical doctor. (4, 5) He concluded blocked nerve impulses at the level of the first vertebrae can be the cause of central motor impairment and lower resistance to infections, especially those of the ear, nose, and throat." (6)Dr. Gutmann’s research showed the children treated had success — almost without exception — for a variety of ailments by spinal adjustments at the atlas (top vertebra in the neck). Among the symptoms that responded favorably:
- Congenital torticollis “Growing pains”
- Infantile scoliosis
- Bronchitis tonsillitis
- Restless sleep
- Disturbed motor responses with repetitive falls
- An inability to thrive
“If the indications are correctly observed,” states Dr. Gutmann, “chiropractic can often bring about amazingly successful results, because the therapy is a causal one. With developmental disturbances of every kind, the atlanto-occipital joints should be examined and in each case be treated manually in a qualified manner. The success of this treatment eclipses every other attempt at treatment, including especially the use of medications.” (7)
Most people would not consider Chiropractic care for infants and children. However, the fact of the matter is, children are very, very prone to misalignments of the spine. Their vertebra are not fully formed, nor are their ligaments and tendons fully strengthened. This, along with the fact that a child falls enough times in a day to hospitalize an adult, makes it clear children should be evaluated by a chiropractor for spinal abnormalities. And, don’t question the safety rating for Chiropractic treating children. The process is strictly AAA and cannot even be compared to the safety of medicine. Nevertheless, countless children suffer from the side effects of modern medication each week, causing malpractice insurance for pediatrics and obstetrics to be astronomical — reaching into the tens of thousands. Chiropractors, on the other hand, pay as little as $300-$500 annually for malpractice coverage. Chiropractic makes good scientific, factual and common sense for your child. I urge you not to wait until they hurt or get hurt.
www.icpa4kids.org
Improving Control and Coordination
The nerve system controls and coordinates the function of all the systems in the body: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, hormonal, eliminative and immune system. Any aspect of health may be impaired by nerve interference. The chiropractic adjustment restores nerve system function allowing the body the ability to express a greater state of health and well-being.
www.icpa4kids.org
The doctor of chiropractic will take a case history and perform a chiropractic exam to determine if spinal subluxations exist. Chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified to fit a child’s size, weight, and unique spinal condition. They are both gentle and specific to the child’s developing spinal structures. Most parents report that their children enjoy their chiropractic adjustments and look forward to subsequent visits. They also report that their children experience a greater level of health while under regular chiropractic care. To enhance your child’s ability to function in a greater state of health, we recommend having your infant, toddler or child be evaluated by Dr. Scott Dubrul who is dedicated to serving children with the utmost of care.
How the Birthing Process Injures Spines
During the pushing stage of labor, the spine may be injured as the fetus is compressed and pushed down the birth canal. The most frequent cause of subluxation in infants is the pulling, twisting and compression of the infant’s spine during birth. If something alters normal birth, you will frequently have subluxations occur at the point of greatest stress (upper and lower cervical vertebrae). While in severe cases, this can result in more obvious, clinical nerve damage such as paralysis, more frequently, subluxations remain unnoticed by physicians and parents with health issues rising at a later time. Among them:
- Colic Sleep disorders
- Symptoms of lowered immunity
- Poor development
Pediatric expert Dr. Maxine McMullen states, “Subluxations should be analyzed and corrected as soon as possible after birth to prevent these associated conditions.” (1) Moreover, these subluxations have been found to be severe enough to lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) due to the pressure they cause upward toward the lower brain (2) as well as creating numerous other disorders common to newborns, infants and young children. Reports show chiropractic care can be helpful in such diverse disorders as cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, ear infections, the prevention of SIDS, and others. (3) While chiropractic care is not a treatment for anything, the benefits of adjusting subluxation to remove interference has been particularly telling in the case of small children. In fact, young people need chiropractic care as much as or more than anyone to maximize proper development and minimize the advent of common infant symptoms and disease.
Chiropractic for Newborns and Infants
Jeanne Ohm, D.C.
Birth is a normal, natural process that’s been around since the beginning of humanity. As with any other task the body was created to perform, when you support normal functioning, you have your best chance at success.
The road down the birth canal and out into the world can be a trying one, particularly in the case of medical intervention and high-tech births. (You may recall a JAMA study showing the United States ranked last in neonatal mortality, infant mortality and for the health of newborns.) As a result, there has been an ever-increasing occurrence of traumatic birth syndrome. Traumatic birth syndrome describes the presence of trauma-induced skull and spinal damage and spinal misalignment as a result of the birth process. As tough as birth is, going through it with the woman lying on her back, working against gravity, on medications to increase the intensity of labor, numb to the delivery muscles, and often accompanied by surgical interventions, makes it exponentially more traumatic. When you think about this, it’s no surprise vertebral subluxation in infants is so common.
Chiropractic and Pregnancy: Greater Comfort and Safer Births
How Can Chiropractic Add Comfort?
Jeanee Ohm, D.C.
Chiropractic care in pregnancy is an essential ingredient to your prenatal care choices. A large percent of all pregnant women experience back discomfort/ pain during pregnancy. This is due to the rapid growth of the baby and an interference to your body’s normal structural adaptations to that growth.
Pre-existing unnoticed imbalances in your spine and pelvis become overtaxed during these times. The added stresses lead to discomfort and difficulty while performing routine, daily activities. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can relieve and even prevent the common discomforts experienced in pregnancy. Specific adjustments eliminate these stresses in your spine, restore balance to your pelvis and result in greater comfort and lifestyle improvements.
Why Should Children Have Chiropractic Care?
Jeanne Ohm, DC
More and more parents are seeking chiropractic care for their children. Many spinal problems seen in adults began as early as birth. Even so called ‘natural’ birthing methods can stress an infant’s spine and developing nerve system. The resulting irritation to the nerve system caused by spinal and cranial misalignment can be the cause of many newborn health complaints. Colic, breathing problems, nursing difficulties, sleep disturbances, allergic reactions and chronic infections can often be traced to nerve system stress.
Since significant spinal trauma can occur at birth, many parents have their newborns checked right away. As the infant grows, learning to hold up the head, sit, crawl and walk are all activities that affect spinal alignment and are important times to have a child checked by a Doctor of Chiropractic.
As the child begins to participate in regular childhood activities like skating or riding a bike, small yet significant spinal misalignments (Subluxations) may occur. If neglected, the injuries during this period of rapid growth may lead to more serious problems later in life. Subtle trauma throughout childhood will affect the future development of the spine leading to impaired nervous system function. Any interference to the vital nerve system will adversely affect the body’s ability to function at its best.
One of the most common reason parents seek care for their child is trauma from an injury of some sort. These misalignments may or may not result in immediate pain or symptoms. Regular chiropractic checkups can identify potential spinal injury from these traumas, make the correction early in life and help avoid many of the health complaints seen later in adults. Proper spinal hygiene is an important key to better health.
Another sought out reason for care is the resolution of a particular symptom or condition. Parents seek care for conditions such as colic, ear infections, asthma, allergies and headaches (to name a few) because they have heard from other parents that chiropractic care can help.
It is important to understand that the doctor of chiropractic does not treat conditions or diseases. The expertise of the chiropractor is in checking the child’s spine for misalignments that impair nervous system function therefore affecting overall body function. The bones of the spine, the vertebrae, house and protect the spinal cord. The spinal cord is an extension of the brain and carries information from the brain to the body parts and back to the brain again. Subluxations interfere with the nerves’ ability to transmit this vital information.
