IN Peters Township April/May 2018 | Page 33

INDUSTRY INSIGHT CHIROPRACTICS SPONSORED CONTENT MOMS: WE GOT YOUR BACK! S uper-hero, multi-tasker, chef, circus-wrangler, the calm in the chaos. You manage the laundry, the cleaning, the grocery shopping, the playdates and after school activities, feeding well balanced meals to your ever-hungry family, attempting to keep two socks on your toddler, keeping up with friends, dating your spouse/partner, juggling work outside the home, and finding some small amount of time to shower and make yourself look presentable to the world. You wear many hats, dear mom, and our hat goes off to you! You’re going about your normal daily routine and it happens: you bend the wrong way or pick up something too quick and there is an immediate sharp pain in your back that takes your breath away. You pause, if only for an instant, to see if you can stand up and you can, but only very slowly. You take a few slow steps to get to the medicine cabinet where your go-to pain reliever can be found. Take a few, wait for them to kick in, and slowly continue with the absolutely necessary parts of your day because momma doesn’t get injury time. What if I told you, though, that this injury was a long time coming, and more importantly, that it could have been prevented? To understand how and when this injury started, we have to re-visit your pregnancy. Everyone knows that a woman’s body changes, its visible in “the bump”. Look beyond the bump and the extra weight gain though, and you’ll learn that a woman’s spine, biomechanics, and the way we move is greatly impacted by pregnancy. As our belly gets bigger, our lumbar spine and pelvis shifts forward, a term called hyperlordosis. During hyperlordosis, the joints in our back that should glide take on more force and jam together. This is called Facet Syndrome and a very common reason of low back pain especially in the third trimester of pregnancy. As the hyperlordosis progresses, our bodies will make other skeletal changes to the neck and upper back in an attempt to keep our head over our pelvis and our eyes looking out in front of us toward the horizon. These compensatory skeletal changes are a leading cause of pain between the shoulder blades and headaches. But doesn’t our spine revert back to normal, like our midsection does, after the baby is delivered? It would if our lives completely returned to normal. Instead we do further injury to our spines over the next several years by carrying our sweet children. Whether we “baby wear” or hold our toddlers on one hip, we apply more force to our spines by carrying around our baby’s weight. Now, if we have more than one child in our life, we continually re-injure our spine. If left untreated these injuries will lead to premature spinal This Industry Insight was written by Dr. Kristina Skraitz Rossin. Dr. Kristina Skraitz Rossin is a 2014 Palmer College of Chiropractic graduate. She has extensive post-doctoral work in the area of Chiropractic for Pediatrics and Women. Dr. Rossin practices alongside her father, Dr. Timothy Skraitz, at Skraitz Chiropractic on Rt 19 in Canonsburg. She is a Peters Township graduate and resides in the community with her husband and daughter. For more information please visit. www.skraitzchiropractic.com. degeneration and can result in more painful, chronic conditions like herniated discs, spinal arthritis, and spinal stenosis. Without proper post-baby rehabilitation, injuries like the one described in the beginning of this article, are inevitable. What’s worse, is that your spine is a ticking time-bomb, even if you never had one episode of pain throughout pregnancy. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can help minimize the extent and progression of the facet syndrome described. As you enter the post-partum phase, chiropractic care, along with core stability training, is essential to rehabilitate and stabilize the spine and muscles to prevent injuries and minimize early spinal degeneration associated with the altered biomechanics of pregnancy and motherhood. Moms, please take the necessary time to focus on your overall health including your spinal health, to ensure that you can be fully present for your family’s busy and wonderfully chaotic life. When you are ready to begin your road to spinal health, our doctors at Skraitz Chiropractic will be here to help. RESTORING HEALTH NATURALLY WITH OVER 30 YEARS COMBINED CLINICAL EXPERIENCE We specialize in the treatment of: • Headaches/Backaches • Sports Injuries • Pregnancy and Postnatal related conditions • Infant and Pediatric conditions including Torticollis, Colic, and Acid Reflux • Advanced Brain Based Concussion Treatment • Whiplash injuries CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TODAY! NOW SEEING PATIENTS ON SATURDAY MORNINGS 724.746.1740 Skraitzchiropractic.com COME SEE OUR NEW LOCATION! 2476 Washington Rd, Canonsburg PETERS TOWNSHIP ❘ APRIL/MAY 2018 31