Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The Chiropractor

Right up there with seeing a therapist is seeing a chiropractor, another bourgie thing I can cross off my bucket list, as my chiropractor put it (not the bourgie part).

I strong-armed my doctor into referring me to a chiropractor. My chiropractor wasn't worried as much about the upper back pain that I came in for, although she was willing to work on my slipped ribs and it seems that they are indeed pretty massively slipped; she was more interested in my somehow misaligned pelvis. She said if she worked on it, it would probably help my childbirth to go better. Well, if there's is one thing you can tell this frantically nesting pregnant woman to get her to spend money (the co-pay on my insurance is pretty substantial), it's that this will help me have a smoother labor. But the problem is, when the chiropractor adjusts my back and hips, it hurts like heck for the next few days: I already feel like an old lady when I walk two blocks to the pool as it is, I don't need extra upper and lower back aches on top of that. (And what if I go into labor right after an adjustment?! I have to deal with contractions and back pain!)

Plus, there's no two ways about it: I'm super cheap. And she wanted to see me three times a week for several weeks, before gradually cutting back. I talked her down to once a week, supplemented by massages from Francisco (best husband ever).

I'm really conflicted: if my body is out of joint, I'd like to fix it. The problem is, I'm pretty sure it's going to go right back out of joint again after she's done fixing me.

Chiropractic thoughts, dear readers?

4 comments:

Hannah said...

I saw a chiropractor while pregnant as well. I initially went in for a twinge-y hip pain that was getting slowly worse, and decided to continue going until Baby was born. It is true that the initial visits are not comfortable, but each visit should have a little less painful recovery! I also talked the doc into weekly visits (and I skipped a week here and there), especially since our insurance would only cover 12 visits a year. I do think it helped with delivery! And by 37.5 weeks (when we went to the hospital), I only had mild aches and pains. So, there's my 2 cents. I thought it was beneficial, but I completely understand your hesitations.

PS. I also had a slipped rib for years before I knew what was actually causing the pain. After delivery, it got so much worse (maybe from funny delivery positions?? Or bad nursing posture??) and I finally went to the chiropractor - who, luckily, was able to fix it in just a few visits!

Emily Hale said...

Wow--37.5 weeks with only mild aches and pains! I'm jealous:)

Ah--that's what I'm worried about re: the slipped rib--the chiropractor thinks it will get worse after delivery just from holding the baby and nursing. Yeah--I've had this for years, too.

Diana said...

My years of chiropractic experience is that it's best to go to someone who practices Active Release Therapy, which adjusts both the spine and the muscles surrounding the spine, rather than just quickly cracking everything. The chiro I go to now actually performs a full body massage on me, and only makes adjustments if he feels I need it that day.

Emily Hale said...

Wow--I didn't realize you'd been to the chiropractor so much or I would have asked! Yes--she did a lot more muscle work the second time in order to make sure that I wasn't sore. This chiropractor recommends 15 minutes of muscle work in addition to the chiropractic stuff, although it isn't covered by the insurance... (and I'm not sure if it's Active Release Therapy or not).