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Colic and Chiropractic

By Dr. Jessica Caruso, Prenatal & Family Chiropractor and Reiki Practitioner

Colic is a disorder in which an infant has episodes of uncontrollable crying. It occurs in about 10-20% of infants less than 4 months of age. Colic is not only detrimental to the infant’s health but can create a tremendous amount of stress on the entire family unit.

The exact cause of colic is not known, but has been linked to gas in the intestine, dietary issues and birth trauma.

Research has shown that chiropractic care can help. A randomized clinical trial by Wiberg, et al. has concluded: “Spinal manipulation is effective in relieving infantile colic.” The research team enrolled infants diagnosed with infantile colic into two groups. For 2 weeks half the infants received chiropractic spinal manipulations (adjustments) , while the other half received the drug dimethicone.  At day five of the trial the group receiving spinal manipulations did significantly better than the group on the drug. Over the course of the entire trial, the infants receiving chiropractic care had a 67% reduction in crying noted, compared to only 38% reduction in the infants on dimethicone. (1)

There is a growing body of research that supports the efficacy of chiropractic care for children with colic.  In a prospective study of 316 children satisfactory improvement was noted within 2 weeks in 94% of the infantile colic cases being treated by a chiropractor. 51% of the infants in this study had previously unsuccessful results using drug therapy. (1, 2)

Chiropractic is not designed to treat disease, but rather to remove spinal nerve stress from the body. Spinal nerve stress (AKA subluxation) is misalignment of the spinal column, cranium, hips and related structures that interferes with the proper function of the nervous system. The nervous system controls the function of the entire body. Therefore, subluxations can weaken internal organs,  organ systems and the immune system as well. (3)

Subluxation can be caused by physical, chemical and/or emotional stress. Physical stress may begin with the baby’s positioning in utero. It may also present during a difficult or traumatic birth which can cause stress to the baby’s skull, spinal column or pelvic structures. (3)

The chiropractic adjustment is designed to remove nerve interference, allowing the immune system to function more efficiently, increase resistance to disease and improve the overall functioning of the body.  Even though parents may bring their children to the chiropractor with a symptom and/or a disease, the chiropractor does not treating the symptom but rather frees the body of nerve interference. This allows  the body to access its innate ability to heal from within and function optimally. (3)

  1. http://icpa4kids.org/Wellness-Research/colic-and-chiropractic.html
  2. http://www.atypon-link.com/MCY/doi/abs/10.5555/pmfh.2009.2009.2.1a
  3. http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-health/articles/32/1/Chriopractic-and-Children/print/32
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What is BPA? (And how can it affect my unborn child?)

By Dr. Denise Ingrando, Family Chiropractor

If you’ve shopped lately for baby products like bottles or plastic toys, you’ve probably seen the label “BPA free.” While the advertisement itself is likely enough to pique your interest and perhaps keep you from buying products containing BPA, what exactly is BPA, and why is it important to avoid?

BPA (bisphenol A) is a petrochemical and contaminant found in plastic products such as water bottles, plastic containers and plastic wrap, as well as the lining of canned goods. It has been linked to a long list of serious chronic disorders including cancer, cognitive and behavioral impairments, endocrine system disruption, reproductive and cardiovascular system abnormalities, diabetes, altered immune function, asthma and obesity. It has been found to contribute to disease by mimicking the body’s hormones and causing disruption (3,5,7).

The disturbing part is, this toxic substance can affect your children even before they have the chance to drink from a bottle! According to recent research conducted by the Environmental Working Group, this substance, along with 231 other toxic chemicals, was found in nine out of ten random samples of cord blood taken from American infants (5, 6,7). This means that fetuses are not protected from the toxins their mothers are exposed to. “This can lead to chromosomal errors in the developing fetus, which can cause spontaneous miscarriages and genetic damage. And being exposed to just 0.23 parts per billion of BPA is enough to disrupt the effect of estrogen in a baby’s developing brain” (7). In fact, not only do infants and children have underdeveloped organ systems for detoxifying and excreting chemicals, they also have immature and porous blood-brain barriers, which increases the risk for brain exposure and neuro-developmental disorders (7). Women of childbearing age and those who are pregnant should consider the sources of BPA and diligently avoid them. Although the FDA declared BPA safe in 2008, they now have “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children” and are becoming more aggressive in “re-evaluating the way they regulate BPA” (1,2,3).

Tips to help you steer clear of BPA include:

  • Drink from glass bottles
  • Buy fresh or frozen rather then canned food products
  • Drink plenty of water to flush toxins from your system
  • Receive regular chiropractic care

Regular chiropractic care is an important aspect in helping your body handle the wide variety of chemicals it is exposed to, as it can keep your system functioning optimally in spite of a potentially toxic load. As the nervous system is responsible for regulating endocrine (hormonal) function, as well as the function of every system in your body, chiropractic adjustments that remove nerve interference can help the body to function at 100%. Consider chiropractic care for yourself and your family today, especially if you are pregnant.

[1] “Understanding FDA food packaging regulations,” White-paper by Rohm and Haas,

[2] Kissinger M. “FDA says it’s unable to regulate BPA” (January 17, 2010) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[3] “Update on bisphenol A for use in food contact applications: January 2010” U.S. Food and Drug Administration

[4] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/04/fda-shifts-position-now-has-concerns-about-bpa-risks-.aspx

[5]www.mothering.com/toxic-chemicals-found-in-babies (12/09/09)

[6]www.ewg.org/minoritycordblood/fullreport

[7] Dr. Mercola -“232 Toxic Chemicals Found In Babies” (12/31/09) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/current.aspx

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Labor Pain: What EVERY Pregnant Woman Needs to Know

by Jenny Everett King, childbirth educator and prenatal yoga teacher

Because we promote natural childbirth at Healing Hands, some people assume that our practitioners are opposed to epidurals and other pharmacological methods of labor pain relief. This is absolutely not the case. Rather, what concerns us is the idea so prevalent in today’s culture that women need medication for labor pain. We encourage natural pain relief methods because we want every pregnant woman who walks through our doors to know that non-medicated birth is a viable option.

Some mothers who plan to use medication for pain relief do little else to prepare for the discomforts of labor. But women who plan on epidurals for labor and delivery still need other coping techniques. If you go into labor at home, you will still need to cope with contractions during the car ride to the hospital as well as the admission process. Even at the hospital, the window of opportunity for receiving an epidural can be relatively small – typically between four and eight centimeters cervical dilation. Request it before 4cm, and you’ll have to wait until your labor has progressed. Request it at 8cm or more – for most women, this is the most intense part of labor – and you’ll likely be denied because the “pushing” stage is imminent. It’s also a good idea to let an epidural wear off somewhat before pushing begins, so that you can feel your contractions enough to work with them. That means that you’ll probably have some discomfort during the second stage of labor. Additionally, epidurals do not always provide total pain relief. Planning in a scheduled cesarean? In the absence of medical need, it’s unlikely that one will be performed before 39 weeks gestation. But full-term labor can happen as early as 37 or 38 weeks. Every pregnant woman, therefore, needs to prepare herself to deal with labor contractions.

Our childbirth workshops teach several ways to cope with and minimize labor pain, including relaxation techniques, the best positions for labor, massage, counter-pressure, acupressure, and vocalization. We also discuss epidurals at length, so that parents who are interested in them can make an informed decision and know when pain medication may be the right choice.

The other services we offer at Healing Hands, particularly pregnancy chiropractic, acupuncture, and prenatal yoga, are extremely useful for minimizing labor pain, because receiving these treatments during pregnancy can help your baby get into the best position for birth. The worst discomforts women feel during labor are usually due to the baby being in a less-than-optimal position. (The horror stories told to vulnerable pregnant women about “back labor” are really stories of a baby facing backwards for birth!)

Our practitioners welcome your questions about handling labor pain and optimal fetal positioning. For more on coping techniques in labor, please join us for “Love Your Birth” on January 26th or April 20th.

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MORNING SICKNESS, ACUPUNCTURE AND HERBAL MEDICINE

By Christina Wolf, LaC

Congratulations on your pregnancy!  What’s that?  You’re too nauseated to celebrate?  Unfortunately, this is the reality for many women in their first trimester (and sometimes in the second and third as well).  Nausea, dry heaves, vomiting and heartburn can all eclipse the joy of knowing you’ll soon be a mother.  Luckily, there are tried and true ways to combat “morning sickness” (in quotes here because it isn’t just confined to the morning):

  • Try to eat frequent, small meals.  For some women, keeping their stomachs full will considerably reduce nausea, even though it seems counterintuitive to eat while you’re feeling queasy.
  • Ginger is a wonderful, readily-available herbal remedy that’s been prescribed for thousands of years by Chinese physicians.  Put a raw slice of ginger under your tongue, chew on a piece of crystallized ginger, drink ginger tea or take ginger capsules frequently throughout the day.
  • Trust your cravings!  Avoid the foods/smells that seem to make your stomach lurch and eat the foods you are craving, sometimes those foods will stave off nausea for a few hours.
  • Acupuncture can be very helpful for reducing the nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy.  Pericardium 6, an acupuncture point located about two inches above your wrist crease, on the inside of your forearm, between the two big tendons there is well known for treating any kind of nausea and vomiting.  Some pharmacies sell wrist bands that apply pressure to this point and can be worn all day long.

Still sick after following these suggestions?  Get some help!  Your acupuncturist has other Chinese herbal remedies that may help you, the ND can offer homeopathy and other supplements, your chiropractor can make any necessary adjustments, etc.  Of course if you are seriously ill and cannot keep even water down, you may become dehydrated, so it’s important to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

Remember that this too will pass and the rewards of parenthood will far outweigh the discomforts of pregnancy.  Hang in there mamas-to-be!

To make an appointment for acupuncture with Christina Wolf, Lic Ac, click here.

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Dominoes

An acquaintance shared her birth story with me. We’ll call her Shelley. Her child was born at a local hospital less than four years ago. Here’s a summary of the birth of Shelley’s first child:

Shelley’s water broke (also called “ruptured membranes”) a few days after her due date. As instructed during the last weeks of her pregnancy, she called the hospital, and was asked to come in for an evaluation. After a quick test, it was determined that her water had indeed broken, and she was admitted to the labor and delivery floor. Shelley was then asked to get in bed so that staff could check on her baby’s heart rate with an electronic monitor.

She stayed in bed for 13 hours.

Over the course of that long night, not much changed for Shelley or her baby, except that she got pretty darn sick of sitting in bed. When morning came, the birth of her baby did not appear to be any closer than it had been the night before. He doctor decided to administer Pitocin, a synthetic hormone used to cause or strengthen labor contractions. For the next 11 hours, Shelley sat in bed experiencing strong labor contractions with no pain relief. (Because her cervix had not dilated to at least 4 centimeters, she was not eligible for an epidural.)

After a full day of Pitocin-induced contractions, Shelley was exhausted, frustrated, and dilated to only 3 centimeters. By this time her water had been broken for over 24 hours, which many practitioners believe increases the chances of infection. Since Pitocin had not helped her labor to progress, her doctor diagnosed her with labor dystocia (also called “failure to progress”) and recommended a cesarean section. Shelley gave birth to her baby via cesarean a few hours later.

Shelley was left very disappointed with her birth experience. She had wanted a vaginal birth and couldn’t understand why her body had not cooperated. She was left to recover from major abdominal surgery while learning to care for a newborn.

Shelley’s story is a classic example of a concept childbirth educators call the “Domino Theory of Interventions.” Like dominoes falling, one medical intervention leads to another, and that one to another, and so on, often resulting in a disappointing birth experience overall.

Could Shelley’s cesarean birth and subsequent difficult recovery have been prevented? I believe so.

There is a specific reason Shelley’s labor did not progress: Her baby never “dropped,” which means his body never moved down far enough for the top of his head to press on her cervix. Especially in first pregnancies, without pressure from the baby’s head, a mother’s cervix can dilate the first few centimeters, but usually no further.  Mother and baby truly work together to make labor happen.

Why didn’t Shelley’s baby drop? The likely reason is that she was stuck in bed. Her body was not allowed to opportunity to work with gravity and move her baby deeper into her pelvis.  The most frustrating part of this story is that, according to Shelley, there was no medical reason for her to stay in bed for those 13 hours. She simply wasn’t offered other options. Once the Pitocin was administered, staying in bed was necessary, since Pitocin augmentation requires continuous monitoring of fetal heart tones.  (This is because Pitocin contractions can be more stressful on the baby than naturally-occurring contractions are.) As we know already, Shelley’s baby hadn’t had a chance to drop, so the 11 hours of painful and exhausting Pitocin contractions were relatively futile.  For Shelley, confinement to bed interfered with both her own body’s and her baby’s natural impulses, which resulted in Pitocin administration, which necessitated staying in bed and further stole the opportunity for Shelley to work with her contractions. In all likelihood, it was medical intervention that created the need for a cesarean.

So what to do if you find yourself in a situation like Shelley’s? If you give birth in a hospital, starting your labor in bed is highly probable, since most hospitals require 15 minutes of fetal monitoring upon admission. If this is your hospital’s policy, you still have options. You can sit upright in bed for 15 minutes, then get up and move around. Another option – one that works especially well if your situation requires continuous monitoring throughout labor, instead of just 15 minutes – is to labor near the machine but not in bed. You can stand or walk near the machine, or sit in a rocking chair or (my personal favorite) on a birth ball directly next to it. As long as the monitor stays in place on your abdomen, and you don’t move further than the wires can reach, there is no good medical reason for staying in bed.

Our weekly prenatal yoga classes incorporate many poses that can encourage your baby to “drop” and engage in your pelvis at the final weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the poses we practice are equally helpful during labor, and some can even be used for birth.  Any expectant mother who wants to learn more about helping to create the birth she wants for her baby is invited to join an upcoming prenatal yoga class or childbirth class series.

Healing Hands Chiropractic is a family wellness center located in Londonderry, NH. Also offered at Healing Hands: Prenatal and Family Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Pregnancy Massage and Reiki Therapy.  

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PREGNANCY CLASSES NOW OFFERED IN LONDONDERRY, NH (GREATER MANCHESTER – NASHUA AREA)

LONDONDERRY, NH – Healing Hands Chiropractic, A Family Wellness Center in Londonderry, NH announces additional prenatal education services. Healing Hands’ prenatal education program now offers two distinct classes: Celebrating Your Pregnancy, for women in their first or second trimester along with their partners; and Honoring Your Birth, for women in their third trimester and their birth partners.

The Celebrating Your Pregnancy series is designed to help parents make healthy choices for pregnancy and while planning baby’s birth. Topics covered include:

  • Nutrition for optimal health & complication prevention
  • Safe exercise habits
  • Choosing the right practitioner for you
  • Understanding prenatal testing
  • Physical, emotional, and sexual changes during pregnancy
  • Fetal development

Healing Hands Chiropractic offers some of the only classes in the greater Manchester and Nashua areas that are not affiliated with a specific hospital. This independence allows them to work for you, the parent, rather than an institution. While some hospital-sponsored birth classes may cost a bit less, parents can benefit significantly from the independent nature of these classes.

Classes are available in weekday evening or Saturday afternoon formats. The cost for either series is $59 per family. Upcoming class dates are Wednesdays, March 25th and April 1st, 6:30-8:30 pm; and Saturday, April  11th from 12-5 pm.  For more information, please call 603-434-3456 or email Jenny Everett King at jenny@healinghandsnh.com.

Also available at Healing Hands Chiropractic are prenatal chiropractic care (including the renowned Webster Technique), prenatal yoga, pregnancy massage, and childbirth education. For more information on Healing Hands Chiropractic, please visit www.HealingHandsNH.com. 

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Pregnancy Chiropractic in New Hampshire

There is a very specific chiropractic technique that chiropractors use to adjust pregnant patients. The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) certifies these chiropractors in this technique after successful completion of course work and practical examination. This technique is called the Webster Technique.

Dr. Larry Webster, founder of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association discovered this technique as a safe means to restore proper pelvic balance and function for pregnant mothers. In expectant mothers presenting breech, there has been a high reported success rate of the baby turning to the normal vertex position. This technique has been successfully used in women whose babies present transverse and posterior as well. It has also successfully used with twins. Any position of the baby other than ROA may indicate the presence of sacral subluxation and therefore intrauterine constraint. At no time should this technique be interpreted as an obstetric, “breech turning” technique. (www.icpa4kids.com)

It is strongly recommended by the ICPA instructors of this technique that this specific analysis and adjustment of the sacrum be used throughout pregnancy, to detect imbalance and optimize pelvic biomechanics in preparation for safer, easier births. Because of the effect the chiropractic adjustment has on all body functions by reducing nerve system stress, pregnant mothers should have their spines checked regularly throughout pregnancy, optimizing health benefits for both the mother and baby.(www.icpa4kids.com)

Dr. Jessica L. Caruso, Director at Healing Hands Chiropractic is certified in the Webster Technique and is located at 195 McGregor St. Manchester, NH 03102 (across the street from Catholic Medical Center & St. Mary’s Bank).  Patients can conveniently book their appointments right online at www.HealingHandsNH.com

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Dr. Jessica L. Caruso Announces Prenatal Program at Chiropractic and Family Wellness Center in Londonderry, NH

December 20, 2008

LONDONDERRY- Dr. Jessica L. Caruso (formerly Leavey), director at Healing Hands Chiropractic- A Family Wellness Center in Londonderry, NH is currently accepting new patients. Healing Hands Chiropractic is a full service wellness center offering chiropractic care, massage therapy, reiki therapy, yoga, meditation and childbirth education classes; focusing on prenatal care, family wellness, women’s health, and pediatrics.

Healing Hands Chiropractic is pleased to announce the addition of a comprehensive prenatal program to their schedule, beginning January 2009. Dr. Caruso is certified in the Webster Technique; a safe and effective technique for expectant mothers used to restore proper pelvic balance and function; allowing the baby to get into the best possible position for birth. In expectant mothers presenting breech, there has been a high reported success rate of the baby turning to the normal vertex position. This technique has been successfully used in women whose babies present transverse and posterior as well. More may be learned about this technique at http://www.healinghandsnh.com/chiro.html.

Healing Hands has also added additional pre- and postnatal yoga, as well as Yoga for Women’s Wellness classes to their schedule. Prenatal yoga classes are a traditional series of beginner and intermediate asanas, tailored to the specific needs of expectant mothers. The mission of their prenatal classes is to help you find the balance between preparing for the profound experience of birth, while also caring for yourself in the present moment.
Pregnant women may also participate in any of their traditional Asana classes. Instructors at Healing Hands can show you how to modify poses when necessary. Babysitting services are available on site for most yoga classes at Healing Hands Chiropractic. Classes with childcare may be found at http://www.healinghandsnh.com/yoga_hours.html

Healing Hands Chiropractic also has childbirth education classes available. Classes meet in two formats: Weekly classes are two hours each, and run for six weeks. The seventh week is a casual question and answer time, where students have the opportunity to speak with new parents as well as holistic health professionals who specialize in prenatal care and/or pediatrics. Weekend sessions, an alternative for those who can’t attend during the week, meet two Saturday afternoons for five hours each time. Exact dates and times of classes may be found at http://www.healinghandsnh.com/child_hours.html.

A free prenatal consultation is available with Dr. Caruso by appointment. Appointments may be made by calling Healing Hands Chiropractic at (603)434-3456 or online at www.HealingHandsNH.com by clicking the ‘Book Now’ icon.

Healing Hands Chiropractic is located at Landmark Crossing, 25 Nashua Rd., Ste F2 (RT 102); Londonderry, NH 03053.

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