"Chiropractic care during pregnancy can help create balance in the pelvis, making both baby and mama more comfortable."
Dr. Susan Barrett-Naccarato
Pregnancy is an amazing time in a woman’s life. Her body is going through many changes physically, emotionally, and mentally. Chiropractic care can help decrease discomfort and prepare the pelvis for delivery.
Early in pregnancy, the body produces the hormone relaxin, which loosens the ligaments of the body to prepare the pelvis for delivery. Often this laxity can lead to instability of the sacrum and pelvis as well as any other joint in the body, causing discomfort and pain.
Chiropractic care during pregnancy can help with:
Backache
Neck pain
Headache
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Pubic Symphysis Pain
Round ligament pain
Maintaining a healthier pregnancy
Dr. Barrett is also Webster Technique Certified, which allows for balancing of the pelvis which can affect fetal positioning and labor and delivery.
Chiropractic and cranial care can be very beneficial when it comes to tethered oral tissues (tongue, lip, and cheek ties). The tension caused by the tethered tissues can create long-lasting structural changes to the musculoskeletal system; especially in the neck, cranium, and face. The muscles and connective tissues are intricately connected from the mouth and jaw, down to the collarbone, sternum, and spine. Abnormal stresses on these tissues cause asymmetry, leading to many common presenting symptoms in babies, children, and even adults.
Gentle chiropractic adjustments can help to normalize the mobility of the neck. If your baby has a head-turning preference it can affect the ability to feed optimally. How the skull glides on the first vertebra is integral in attaining a full deep latch. Also, the tongue muscle and the muscles of swallowing are attached to the bones of the head and neck. If the bony structure is not aligned and functioning properly the soft tissues connected to it cannot function optimally. Gentle chiropractic adjustments and cranial manipulation can help!
Our goal is to make sure the whole body is functioning well, especially before and after any revision or intervention. Gentle, specific adjustments will help to reduce tension and create balance throughout the body. It helps the revision process if one’s nervous system is calm and balanced.
Active Release Techniques (ART) is a patented soft tissue technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, fascia, ligaments, and nerves by using isolated pressure and movements on soft tissues to release adhesions. It is very effective in improving pain and increasing blood flow and healing soft tissues.
During an ART® session, the therapists identify, isolate and target the affected areas by using their hands to locate an area with adhesion. They then apply traction to that specific area while the patient moves their body, in order to pull the muscle underneath. This technique helps break up the scar tissue which helps the area restore proper blood flow.
Active Release Therapy® works by breaking up adhesions, which are a microscopic form of scar tissue. This can cause pain, weakness, reduced flexibility, and nerve damage.
The Active Release Technique® is very beneficial for musculoskeletal pain.
List of Benefits of ART (Active Release Technique®):
The Active Release Technique® helps restore the function of soft tissue which helps prevent injuries and promotes faster recovery. Active Release Technique® helps break up adhesions which then aid in restoring normal tissue motion and function.
Numerous studies show that ART® is a highly effective soft tissue treatment. In fact, it has been extremely popular with athletes, especially in North America and helps them train better and be injury free.
The time it takes for ART® to work varies depending on how long the individual has had the injury and other factors. Dr. Barrett will create a treatment plan for you based on the assessment findings.
During Active Release Technique (ART®), a muscle is shortened and the therapist applies tension to the muscle while the patient moves the area to actively lengthen the muscle. This may cause some pain but this is normal because this technique works by increasing the nervous system’s tolerance to the stretch to a tight muscle.
ART® has been developed, refined, and patented by P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP. He developed this technique because he noticed that his patient’s symptoms seemed to be related to the changes in the soft tissue which he could palpate. This technique method focuses on relieving tension in the tissue caused by repetitive movement.
This technique revolves completely around the patient’s symptoms and aims to treat soft tissue mobility issues with tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and fascia.
Dr. Leahy consistently helped heal 90% of his patients’ issues. In 1985, he first documented his work under the title of Myofascial Release, but later on, he patented it under the name Active Release Techniques®. He is now teaching healthcare providers all over the world to use ART®.
If you are considering seeking chiropractic care for your infant, you most likely have a lot of questions. We get it! Dr. Susan considers it an honor and privilege to be trusted to care for your baby. Your baby may be having feeding and/or latch challenges, reflux, ‘colic’, or maybe your baby’s head is tilted or turned to one side or your baby is holding a lot of tension in his body. Dr. Susan can help!
Dr. Susan begins each new patient visit with a detailed history of what challenges you and your baby are facing. She is interested in your pregnancy, labor, delivery, how your baby is feeding, and your baby’s overall state of being to name a few.
After the history and consultation, Dr. Susan will do an examination starting with a visual inspection, looking for facial symmetry, head-turning preference, and overall tone of the facial muscles. She is also looking for body curvature and body symmetry and assessing the cranial bones. All these things can affect how a baby feels and its ability to feed efficiently.
Next is a gentle examination. Dr. Susan will gently palpate (using the amount of pressure you would use to test a ripe tomato) and assess neck movement, sacral movement, and spinal movement. She will examine your baby’s head for possible flat spots or limitations of cranial movement. Because of where the nerves that supply the tongue and swallowing exit the skull, proper upper neck, and cranial movement are essential for your baby to feed efficiently. Dr. Susan will also assess your baby’s suck and assess tongue function and jaw mobility.
With your permission, Dr. Susan will next proceed to adjust your baby if examination findings indicate the need for an adjustment. Again, the pressure to work on infants is about the pressure you would use to test a tomato. There is NO popping or cracking. She may use an instrument called an Activator to adjust your baby. The Activator has ten settings and she uses the gentlest setting and often through her finger when adjusting infants. Most babies relax and often will sleep through an adjustment, it’s that gentle! You will be with your baby for the entirety of the appointment.
Did you know pediatric chiropractic benefits most childhood ailments? There is evidence that pediatric chiropractic care can improve common childhood ailments such as colic, ear infections, scoliosis, and more. Here's how it acts as a natural remedy for ear infections and scoliosis treatment.
Colic or an ear infection can cause a lot of pain and misery for parents and children alike. However, the results of pediatric chiropractic have been promising. Several case studies have also shown that pediatric chiropractic treatment for ear infections, acid reflux, and colic has been effective with just a few treatments. This amazing restoration of health in these children can be explained by the intricate relationship between the body and the brain's nerves. For example, when a child experiences a vertebral subluxation, it can cause interference in the nervous system. This interference doesn't allow the brain to communicate with the body and cannot effectively fight off ailments. With pediatric chiropractic care, the spine will be realigned and communication restored.
Those with scoliosis have curvatures of their spines. When caught early, chiropractic adjustments and muscular rehabilitation can prevent scoliosis from progressing. As a result, scoliosis curvatures in some patients have been reduced by as much as 30%.
In the correct and intended position, the body is capable of self-healing. As a result of chiropractic treatments, the immune system can focus on healing the damaged parts of the body. A child's back out of alignment can cause a variety of problems. As a result of all the added stress on the body, the immune system cannot focus on other areas that may need attention due to the pain in the back and spine. The following are some of the added benefits of pediatric chiropractic treatment:
A child's well-being and development are positively affected by pediatric chiropractic. If you are looking for a natural remedy for ear infections or scoliosis treatment, please feel free to schedule an appointment or give us a call at 509-319-2310 or email us at admin@barrettfamilychiro.com
