Musculoskeletal pain during pregnancy is common. A 2018 study in Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease, for instance, found that 70% of 184 women who gave birth in a hospital reported having low back pain during their pregnancy. Overall, 80% of participants reported experiencing more general back pain, and 32% said they endured hip pain.
Plus, 33% had hand-wrist discomfort, which is often the culprit of carpal tunnel syndrome, worsened in pregnancy by swelling that causes nerve compression. Since carpal tunnel surgery is usually not recommended or covered by insurance during pregnancy, patients may turn to chiropractic support for treatment.
Alternative pain management options are particularly important for pregnant women. There are many pain medications, for example, they shouldn't use because they could adversely affect their baby, explains Dr. Heather L. Beall, an OB-GYN with Northwestern Medicine in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
"You don't want (pregnant women) to use chronic pain pills because they're addictive," she explains. Additionally, these medications could cause the baby to go into withdrawal when they are born.
Other medications that are usually considered common over-the-counter remedies may not be considered safe during pregnancy either. For instance, some non-steroidal pain medications, like ibuprofen, could cause the fetus's heart connection to close prematurely, which could be life-threatening, Beall says.
So, how can chiropractic treatment help? Tens of millions of people in the U.S. see chiropractors for relief from a variety of conditions, including back, shoulder, foot and neck pain, headaches, a loss of strength in their arms and hands and numbness and tingling.
For patients like the woman with PSD, chiropractors can restore motion to restricted joints, Brocker says. During an initial visit, a chiropractor typically takes a thorough health history and does a physical exam, paying attention to anything that may be a contraindication to chiropractic care, like a fractured bone or joint dislocation.
The chiropractor can then employ an array of adjustments. For example, they can use their hands to apply controlled and rapid force – pressure, more specifically – to a restricted joint. This allows the joint to move in a normal manner and reduces inflammation and pain, Brocker explains.
Concerned about the dangers of chiropractic care during pregnancy? Modifications to the applied force with special populations – like pregnant women – help ensure the adjustment is "comfortable, safe and effective," Brocker says.