Ollis Chiropractic - Louisville

Pregnancy and Pediatric Care

Care During Pregnancy

A pregnant mother’s neuro-musculo-skeletal system undergoes a lot of change and stress as the baby continues to grow, occupying more and more space in the abdomen.  Hormones also cause ligaments to be looser, which means bones have a greater likelihood of becoming misaligned, resulting in Vertebral Subluxation Complexes (VSC)For these reasons, pregnant women often experience some level of pelvic and/or low back pain.  It is not uncommon for them to also experience neck pain, mid back pain, rib pain, and/or leg pain.  Consistent chiropractic care while pregnant can help mitigate these symptoms.

Consistent chiropractic care is also important for the baby while they are in the womb.  It is estimated that being cramped while in the womb is a contributing factor to skull and spine dysfunctions (subluxations) in newborn babies, which often go unaddressed for years or decades.  Since the uterus (where the baby resides) is connected to the woman’s pelvis, pelvic misalignments can have a direct effect on the uterus, restricting the amount of space available to the baby.  As a result, the child can become cramped, which can have a negative effect on their growth.  

Chiropractic care can also improve the birthing process.  For a woman to perform well during labor and delivery, it is imperative that her neuro-musculo-skeletal system functions optimally.  This allows the bones and soft tissues of her pelvis to be well balanced and flexible to make room for the exit of the child.  This is not only important for the mother’s delivery process, but also for the child, since difficult deliveries can result in the newborn experiencing subluxations.  Receiving consistent chiropractic care during pregnancy helps to optimize labor and delivery, and safeguard children from unnecessary subluxations.

After the delivery process, the body will begin to return to a pre-pregnancy state as ligaments begin to tighten back up.  Chiropractic care can help to ensure that the woman’s  neuro-musculo-skeletal system is restored properly, avoiding future problems that may arise.

If you are pregnant, or are planning to become pregnant in the future, we recommend that you undergo a thorough evaluation by a Chiropractor for the above stated reasons.


Care for Children

Children, from birth through 18, accrue injuries to their neuro-musculo-skeletal system that result in subluxations, and therefore dysfunctions, just like adults.  Oftentimes the problems we experience as adults are the result of the injuries that we sustained as children.  This happens through a variety of avenues, such as being cramped in the womb, the birthing process, slips and falls while learning to crawl and walk, sports injuries, auto accidents, or even poor sleep, poor nutrition, or taking in toxins from our air and water.  If left unaddressed, these injuries that accumulate over time begin to snowball, producing greater and greater dysfunction until poor posture and/or pain symptoms result, whether that be weeks, months, years, or decades later.  

“Bent is the root, so grows the tree!”  

Our job as chiropractors is to detect and correct or reduce subluxations.  This results in improved biomechanics throughout the spine and extremities, but also improved nervous system function, which is important for children as they grow.  When children are under consistent chiropractic care, they can move well and their nervous systems stay healthy, which means they can grow and develop to their true potential.

Chiropractic is very safe for children of all ages, even newborn babies.  A chiropractic adjustment performed on an infant versus a teenager or an adult looks very different.  Adjusting an infant requires no thrust.  All that is required is a small amount of pressure placed on the bone to make it move.  The general rule of thumb is to use the same amount of pressure as the weight of a nickel!  Older children, such as a toddler, may or may not require a very gentle thrust.  Teenagers are adjusted very similarly to adults, though they tend to require less force.

Chiropractic care can be helpful for a number of common childhood conditions, such as colic, breastfeeding, constipation, bedwetting, ear infections, even scoliosis and scoliosis prevention. 

We recommend that your child undergo a thorough evaluation by a Chiropractor, whether your child suffers from pain or not.  Maintenance chiropractic care is important for everyone’s spine, but especially growing children.  This is how we care for our own children!  If your child is experiencing some pain, or you are interested in consistent, quality chiropractic care as they grow, we would love to help! 

For more information on the benefits of Chiropractic care for children, please read Part 1 and Part 2 of our "Is Chiropractic Beneficial for Children?" blog series.

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