Chiropractic Care and Pregnancy

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, fibromyalgia, gonstead chiropractic, gut problems, kids chiropractic, pregnancy | No Comments

Chiropractic Care and Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be a really exciting time for parents as they get ready for their family to grow with the baby’s arrival. As the baby grows, mum’s body changes as she prepares to give birth.

Sometimes these changes can be uncomfortable or painful, with about three-quarters of pregnant mums suffering from pain in their back or pelvis.1, 2 This is one reason that so many pregnant mums seek chiropractic care.

Is it safe?

When deciding whether they should see a chiropractor, pregnant mums often ask ‘is it safe to be adjusted by the chiropractor when I’m pregnant?’ The good news is that chiropractors can tailor the care they provide to each individual patient and the research suggests that chiropractic care during pregnancy is safe for both mum and baby.4,6

What does the research say?

But what does the research tell us about the benefits of seeing a chiropractor while you’re pregnant? When it comes to back pain, not many big studies have been done yet that have looked at whether chiropractic care helps pregnant mums.3

So, although more research is needed, results from the research that has been done so far are promising and seem to show that for some pregnant mums, chiropractic care can be really helpful.4 In one study, researchers in Switzerland followed 115 pregnant women for a year who went to see a chiropractor with low back pain.5 What they found in this study was that over half of the patients said they ‘improved’ after just 1 week of chiropractic care, and after a month that figure had grown to 70%.

In a study conducted in New Zealand, researchers studied pelvic floor muscle function in pregnant women before and after they were adjusted by a chiropractor.

By the end of the study, about 90% of the mums who entered the study said their pain was better. From this study, we can’t be sure if it was the chiropractic care that really helped them but at the end of the study over 85% of the mums said they were happy with the care they received from their chiropractor.

Could chiropractic care help me through delivery?

One area researchers think chiropractic care may help pregnant moms is with the delivery of their baby. For a woman in labor, the ability to relax and contract her pelvic floor muscles is really important for helping the baby to move through the birth canal.7 Ideally, for the birth process to go as well as possible, giving the greatest chance of natural, vaginal birth, you want strong pelvic floor muscles that can relax and contract at just the right time.7, 8

New Zealand Research Study

In a study conducted in New Zealand, researchers studied pelvic floor muscle function in pregnant women before and after they were adjusted by a chiropractor. What they found was that after the pregnant women were adjusted, their pelvic floor muscles appeared to relax more when they were at rest.

This relaxation of their pelvic floor muscles after they were adjusted may mean that chiropractic care could help them to have a natural vaginal delivery. This was only a small trial, and the researchers couldn’t be sure how much of an impact these relaxed muscles would have on labour itself, but it does suggest that for pregnant mums, chiropractic care may give them more control over their pelvic floor muscles, which may make childbirth easier. Other research supports this idea with one study reporting that new mums experience on average a 25% reduction in the length of labour time with chiropractic care during pregnancy and that rises to a 31% reduction for mothers who have given birth before.It makes sense to keep yourself as healthy as possible during your pregnancy.

So, if you want help with the way your spine and nervous system are functioning, consider seeing your chiropractor, because it’s natural, safe, and may help you to feel better and boost your chances of having a faster, easier delivery of your little bundle of joy.

References

  1. Malmqvist, et al. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2012;35(4):272-8.
  2. Weis, et al. Journal Of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada 2018;40(8):1038-43.
  3. Stuber & Smith. Journal Of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2008;31(6):447-54.
  4. Borggren. Pregnancy and Chiropractic: a Narrative Review Of the Literature. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2007;6(2):70-74.
  5. Peterson, Muhlemann, Humphreys. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2014;22(1):15.
  6. Stuber, Wynd, Weis. Chiropr Man Therap 2012;20:8.
  7. Yan, et al. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Systems Biology and Medicine 2016;8(6):506-16.
  8. Du, et al. International Urogynecology Journal 2015;26(10):1415-27.

Acknowledgments

  • Dr. Heidi Haavik – BSc(Physiol) BSc(Chiro) PhD
  • Dr. Kelly Holt – BSc, BSc(Chiro), PGDipHSc, PhD
  • Dr. Jenna Duehr – BChiro, BHSC (Nursing), MHSc

How Often Should You Visit Your Chiropractor?

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, Ear Infections, gonstead chiropractic, gut problems | No Comments

When you first see your chiropractor, you may be among the many people who ask, ‘how often do I need to come?’ Often the answer people want to hear is ‘once’ but chiropractic care, like most things that are really good for us, rarely makes a long term difference to your health and wellness after just one visit.

One reason a single visit to your chiropractor may not make a long-term change is that it usually takes years for the problem to develop that motivates someone to first see a chiropractor and it can take many visits to the chiropractor to correct that problem.

Seeing your chiropractor can be a little like going to the gym. It takes time, frequency and follow up.

One way of looking at it is that it can be like the thousandth straw that breaks the camel’s back. A problem can build up day after day as you sit hunched over your desk, or bend and twist as you lift, or tense up as you deal with your daily stress and then one day, you bend to tie your shoelaces and all of a sudden something hurts! You can rest assured that tying your shoelaces isn’t what caused the problem, it’s simply the thousandth straw that broke the camel’s back (or was too much for your back) and that’s why you’re in pain.

There will usually be changes to the way the supporting muscles in your spine work that build up over time until your muscles can’t cope anymore, and symptoms appear.1-2 So, seeing your chiropractor can be a little like going to the gym. It takes time, frequency, and follow up. Working with you to correct the problem and help your brain and the muscles in your spine communicate or ‘talk’ with each other again so you can regain the stability you need to function properly and resolve your aches and pains.3

But how long will this take and how often do you need to be checked by your chiropractor? Everybody is different, so your chiropractor will be guided by their clinical experience, and what your goals are when they recommend a care plan for you. 

US Research Study

A new research study was recently published that suggests, in the early stages of chiropractic care, the more often you get adjusted, the better the results you enjoy, and this can also be better for you in the long term as well.4

In this study, that was conducted by scientists in America, they looked at 256 people who had chronic, regular headaches and divided them into groups who either received chiropractic care once a week, or twice a week, or three times a week, for up to six weeks, or they received no chiropractic care at all and instead were given light massages over the same 6-week period. Previous studies have shown that people with this kind of headache often respond well to chiropractic care.

The scientists in this study were most interested in how many visits per week to the chiropractor showed the best results. They looked at how many days a week a patient suffered from headaches at the end of the study and whether any changes in headache frequency between the groups were still there up to one year later. What they found was that the patients who were seen by their chiropractor most regularly, so up to three times a week, had fewer headaches than those who were seen once or twice a week, and they were much better than the patients who received no chiropractic care at all.

In fact, after one year, the patients that had been seen three times a week had over three fewer headaches per month compared to the patients who only received a light massage. So, these effects obviously lasted.

The more you get adjusted, the better the results that you will enjoy.

This study was done in people with chronic headaches, so we can’t be sure if the same differences occur in people with other problems who see a chiropractor. A similar study in patients with chronic low back pain did find that people who were adjusted more often had the best results, but the results weren’t as clear as the study done on patients with headaches.

The studies suggest that seeing a chiropractor more often when you begin care has real, beneficial, long-term effects to the way your spine and nervous system works, but how much you benefit may depend on what’s wrong with your spine when you begin care.

So, when you go and see your chiropractor, know that their recommendations for your plan of care are based on what their clinical experience tells them is best for you, and that the research suggests more frequent adjustments has the biggest positive impact on your health and wellness.

References
  1. Hodges & Moseley. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2003;13(4):361-70.
  2. MacDonald et al. Pain 2009;142(3):183-8.
  3. Ferreira et al. Manual Therapy 2007;12(3):240-48.
  4. Haas et al. Spine J 2018. 18(10): 1741-1754.
  5. Haas et al. Spine J 2014;14(7):1106-16.
Acknowledgments
  • Dr. Heidi Haavik – BSc(Physiol) BSc(Chiro) PhD
  • Dr. Kelly Holt – BSc, BSc(Chiro), PGDipHSc, PhD
  • Dr. Jenna Duehr – BChiro, BHSC (Nursing), MHSc

Handbrake In Your Brain

By | ADHD, Allergies, Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, energy, High Blood Pressure | No Comments

Handbrake in Your Brain

Does it feel like you have a handbrake on your muscles and you don’t have your usual strength?

This idea of having a handbrake on your muscles may actually be more real than you think – maybe not a handbrake on your muscles, but a handbrake in your brain which is what controls your muscles and tells them to contract.

Chiropractic care can make you stronger over the last few years studies have shown that when you get adjusted by a chiropractor it can make you stronger. One study reported in a group of students who received chiropractic care, that they were actually able to produce 16% more force in their leg muscles after a chiropractor had gently checked and adjusted any dysfunctional spinal segments, or what chiropractors call vertebral subluxations.1

What does the research show?

Researchers in New Zealand followed up this study in Tae Kwon Do athletes, and again showed that even in a group of elite, highly trained athletes, a single session of chiropractic care can improve their strength.2 But what does this have to do with handbrakes in the brain you may wonder? Well, in a new study by the same team of researchers, they wanted to see if chiropractic care resulted in an increase in the way the brain could drive the muscle in the subject’s arms.4 To do this, they measured the participant’s bicep’s muscle strength, and then measured something that’s called ‘central inhibition’, before and after a single session of chiropractic care, or just moving their heads around as a control intervention. This ‘central inhibition’ measure is a bit like the brain’s handbrake to the muscle. There are two ways the brain can increase the way your muscle contracts. It can either press the gas pedal or it can release the ‘hand brake’ to that muscle. The scientists wanted to know if a particular type of handbrake changed after these subjects got adjusted. The technical term for the method they used to record this was ‘TMS twitch interpolation technique’ and it allows them to explore the way the participants brains are driving their arm muscles… in other words it measured the degree to which their brain was pulling the handbrake to that particular muscle. What they found was that there was a difference in the degree of central inhibition to the bicep’s muscle only after they were adjusted, compared to when they did the control movement of the neck. There was less inhibition, suggesting the brain had released the handbrake to the muscle after they got adjusted. So, this may be one of the reasons why the previous studies showed that chiropractic care could increase strength, because maybe chiropractic care is reducing the central inhibition to your muscles, or in other words, releasing the handbrake to your muscles making it easier for your brain to move your muscles and produce more strength. So, if you feel like you’ve got a handbrake in your muscles or in your brain, maybe you should go see a chiropractor and see if they can help your brain release the handbrake so that your brain can more efficiently control your muscles and perhaps even help you to get that jam jar open.

Disclaimer and References

 This information is provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be professional advice of any kind. Haavik Research Ltd encourages you to make your own health care decisions based on your own research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

Niazi IK et al. Exp Brain Res Epub 2015/01/13. 2. Christiansen TL, et al Eur J Appl Physiol 2018;118(4):737-49. 3. Holt K, et al. Scientific Reports 2019;9(1):2673. 4. Kingett M, et al. Brain sciences 2019;9(6)

@Haavik Research 2021

• Dr. Heidi Haavik BSc(Physiol) BSc(Chiro) PhD • Dr. Kelly Holt BSc, BSc(Chiro), PGDipHSc, PhD • Dr. Jenna Duehr BChiro, BHSc(Nursing), MHSc

chiroshub.com

Motion Is Lotion

By | Allergies, Asthma, Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment | No Comments
After receiving a chiropractic adjustment, some assume the patient needs to “hold” their adjustment. “Holding” theorizes the spinal bone has been properly placed in the correct position and the Chiropractor has cured all imperfections for life! While this is flattering to the Chiropractor it has no basis in truth. Here’s an analogy: George went to the gym once and was instantly granted six pack abs. They lasted until his second helping of potato chips, which deflated his six pack back to flab. See what we mean?!

Think of what a chiropractic adjustment is: a low amplitude force into a specific subluxated section of your spinal column (misalignment creating undo dysfunction within the central nerve system to a specific motor segment). This   creates an imbalance within the entire framework of your body. An adjustment is specific MOVEMENT. In order for you to retain what your Chiropractor has done, you need movement in your body afterwards. Motion is lotion!

One of the best things to do after an adjustment is walking! Walking will help mechanically correct the spine, allowing it to settle in by triggering the cerebellum in the brain. This begins to activate the muscles in the right firing sequence. Walking improves the balance of the central nerve system by creating an accurate reality of how the body is supposed to move. Walking will also  decrease inflammation from the impacted spinal nerve by establishing the correct movement pattern. Specific motion builds on more motion. Don’t like   walking? Running, swimming, biking, or any form of movement will stimulate a healthy response.

The theory of “holding” an adjustment doesn’t mean you have to sit down and wear plastic bubble wrap in the event of something bad happening. Your body will become more apt to “hold” correct spinal alignments through regular adjustments. This works in tandem with you performing your daily activities, and making sure you get enough movement to support your regular care.  

The Tale Of The Young Man

By | ADHD, Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths | No Comments

The tale of the young man starts with a common thread that everyone has to either fight with or control…time.  Time to start a family, time to make a career, and time to take care of his health. There are three variables that are typically at the top of the list.  Too often, though, we become sidetracked and focus our time on just one.

Seeing that we are a Chiropractic office we will focus on the health topic.  Some examples of repetitive sayings we hear are; “it’s time to start taking my health back” or ” I have waited long enough”.  Regardless of the tale, we often see the same story but with different characters.  

Old proverb – ‘A healthy man wants many things, a sick man wants only one thing.’  We cannot stress the importance of actively taking care of your health on a daily basis. The adage “if you don’t use it you lose it” is not far off the mark.  Your body is a vehicle that you must care for and its entirety, trading in for a newer model doesnt work here.  

Whether it’s sooner rather than later to start taking care of your health, we are ready for you.  Just as you work on bettering your family and career everyday, prioritizing your health should not take a back seat.  
Why Chiropractic care?  Just think of a health paradigm that is not involved in feeding your body pills, lotions, oils and other external variables.  Chiropractic is a salutogenic (an approach to wellness focusing on health and not on disease)  paradigm that is at the foundational level for health based on the tenants of Chiropractic dealing with the central nerve system.  For without a healthy functioning central nerve system, your health would cease to exist.

The tale of the young person to make the right choices with their time is left to them and themselves alone.  Making an old person wise starts with their approach in their youth.   I will leave you with this age old adage: “A young man in the pursuit of wealth will often neglect his health, the old man he becomes will spend his wealth to acquire his health.”

Garden Your Spine Much?

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths | No Comments

‘Tis is the season to dive into the outdoors and create an abundance of joy that comes from gardening. Along with the tending of your garden comes the process of deciding what type of garden you want. There are basic laws that cannot be subsitited when it comes to gardening, as well as variables to enhance what you expect from your garden. Some of the minor variables that come with this decision for your garden:

  • talking to your plants
  • fertilizer
  • Vegtables or flowers
  • Soil Ph level
  • To weed or not to weed
  • Proper spacing, and so on…

Variables. When it comes to gardening, there are variables upon variables that exist and will continue to change, modify, and heighten the experience of gardening. Tricks of the trade, even secrets of what to do. Often, you will learn these through trial and error. Yet the three basic laws of gardening that have survived the test of time are water, soil, and sunlight.

Chiropractic care is like gardening. Seeds need care and maintenance while they grow, just like our bodies do as we “grow” through life. Your spinal column is designed to protect the most important entity in the human body, the central nerve system. Any subluxation (misalignment within the spinal column) will create interference within the brain to body connection and thus cause interruptions in the growth and development of the body.

Just like gardening, many variables exist to “enhance” your health. Basic laws will still exist and will survive the test of time. Your central nerve system does, and always will, need check-ups throughout life to make sure your body is expressing its fullest potential. It provides water, sunlight, and the proper soil for all your organs, cells, tissues, and glands that you need to thrive in life.

Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying

By | ADHD, Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, pregnancy | No Comments

“The only reason for time is so that everything does not happen at once,” stated Albert Einstein. What the heck does this mean, and what does it have to do with our health? A society trained for immediate satisfaction may have difficulty understanding this. You see, Einstein understood that there is
no process that does not require time. A baby developing in the womb, a home project, a flower growing in the garden, and yes, even regaining our health. To address this idea in terms of our health, let’s talk about momentum. 
Momentum is the product of Mass multiplied by Velocity. Like a chubby kid on a swing set (myself when I was young) we must build momentum and sustain it to get a desired result.

Life, and especially our health, must be like this kiddo building momentum. While it may take more effort at the beginning, it is an intelligent thing to desire.  Any rational person understands that health is largely a matter of attention to the good versus poor choices. The chiropractic adjustment is no
different. The vertebral subluxation is a detriment to the overall health of the body. When the lifesource of the body (Central Nerve System) becomes less than optimal, one is then susceptible to dysfunction and eventually symptoms. Here’s the interesting part: we have a choice. We can build this thing called momentum for our health in either direction. Momentum towards sickness, or
momentum towards optimal expression of life. While easier said than done, the road less traveled is worthwhile! This is your wellness-pivot point! 

Logically, Chiropractic is a key aspect in committing to a lifetime of healthy momentum. Albert Einstein was right, and we can conclude that there are processes to build health or to lose it, neither being instantaneous. So keep smiling and keep swinging!

May We Have Your Consent?

By | Benefits of Chiropractic | No Comments

We are fortunate to live in the era of the informed consumer. However, one of the biggest obstacles we face is accessing and considering the source of information. In a capitalist, free market society we always need to consider the source. The phrase, “Trust Me I Am A Doctor,” holds no merit to us. Our strategy begins with education.

Our informed consent to you from Basler Family Chiropractic (BFC) is based on principles that we understand to be known as truths. We encourage questions, thoughts, and open dialogue. We need to meet on the level of creating a shared partnership so that we can better our community and the outlook of what  “healthcare” actually is.

Our office model is based on the patient and the patient’s needs. Naming it the “Patient Centered Model,” we believe we are not here to make decisions for you, but rather to be in your ‘corner,’ supporting you with knowledge we have obtained in our schooling. This allows us to better educate you about chiropractic healthcare.

The ‘type’ of doctor that you choose to be involved in your health matters! At BFC we believe, understand, and know WHY and HOW the body is self regulating and self-healing. Every human experience one encounters is processed and coordinated via the central nerve system (CNS.) Restrictions known as subluxations (misalignments within the spinal column) limit the body’s potential to be at its full expression of health.

Any interference within the CNS will directly  impact ones potential to properly adapt naturally to the external stressors in life. While  chiropractic is not the only profession focused on prevention, health, and healing, we believe it is the most practical one to give you the solutions  you are looking for.  

Balance Your Stress By Balancing Your Health…From The Inside

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, stress | No Comments

Balance your stress by balancing your health. Your health begins and ends within the spinal column, the central nerve system.  Recent research has demonstrated decreased adaptability of the nerve system in those who suffer from depression – Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019. To understand the importance of the central nervous system is to understand this phrase. “You live your life through your central nerve system, every human experience you have is coordinated, processed, and controlled via your nerve system.” 
A calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health -Dalai Lama. 

 Your stress creates fight or flight. What kind of stress are we talking about? Bills, driving to work, politics, religion, depression, public speaking…etc…etc.  Break it down this way.  Have you ever felt stressed before?  Everyone should say yes. When you feel stress you typically “feel” it along the spinal pathway and the feeling comes from what the nerve controls, that being muscles, tissues, ligaments, and soft tissue. When your body has a stressful thought that continues for even a short period of time the fight or flight response is activated and the small, yet drastically important, muscles along the spinal column are basically put to sleep. This is due to the fact that specific muscle groups that are larger are required for instances of fight or flight. 

When fight or flight becomes a chronic nature in your life due to the stress that you place upon it the nerves that are supposed to be controlling the tiny muscles along the spine send insufficient messages and the central nerve system is unable to properly control the body. The subluxation (misalignment in the spine creating pressure on or around a spinal nerve) ensues and creates constant dysfunction within your body.  

The number one reason that people will visit a Chiropractor is due to their inability to adapt to the emotional stressors that they place upon themselves.  The good news is that after a specific adjustment a bombardment of afferent neuro-receptors flood the brain with positive activity.  Particularly to the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which actually should be called your executive functioning sector.  The more you are able to influence the pre-frontal cortex the happier you are and the better able you are to adapt to the stressors placed on you internally and externally.  Your body is intelligent.  That’s why we work with the design of your body to improve its function. 

Beauty Begins From Within The Body

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths | No Comments

Beauty Begins From Within The Body

Taking care of the body begins from within.  In the fast paced society that we live in we are led to believe that looking good on the outside signifies health.  Yet, the “Hollywood Persona” depicts that health is young, good looking, no wrinkles, skinny, etc.  This is a complete illusion.  Being healthy begins from within the body first and foremost.  The starting point is the central nervous system.  Every human experience you have is coordinated and processed via your central nerve system.  It’s safe to say that you live your life through this system and always remember; you are worth whatever amount of time you need to take care of yourself.  So, start from the inside.

When the body is working properly, it tends to heal no matter the condition.  We recommend Chiropractic check-ups for setting the bar in the most holistic and natural manner of dealing with your health.  It’s pretty incredible how the body can function when there is no interference to the central nerve system.  Most patients that have high xyz or low xyz are that way because their body is under stress and it can’t adapt.  When the nervous system is working correctly it normalizes all of those levels all by itself in its own time.  It’s quite remarkable.

Yet, when people are suffering from a condition their typical first response is to cover it up with a medication.  Still looking beautiful on the outside yet the inside is struggling to function optimally.  Symptoms are not the cause of sickness. By suppressing symptoms you are leaving the sickness to advance.  Every single thought, action, and feeling changes your brain.  When repeated enough times, a habit is formed.   Chiropractic encourages natural healing. When the body is working properly, it tends to heal effectively, no matter what the condition.