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“Under normal circumstances, chiropractic care for a woman is of great benefit,” Cary Chiropractor

Dr. Todd Staker believes. “When she is pregnant, chiropractic care becomes a near-essential choice for good health—for the woman as well as for her unborn child.”

Pain in the pregnant woman is all-to-often accepted as an inevitable part of the child-bearing experience, he finds. It very often presents at the bone in the spine la-beled L5, says Dr. Staker—near the bottom of the spinal column, just above the sacrum and coccyx, in the area involving the sciatic nerve, lower leg, ankles, and feet.

“We had a patient, Emily, who was five months pregnant when she first came to

us. That’s frequently a time for intense pain to set in with pregnant women, because at this point both the pelvis and the spine start to shift. Sciatica—a condition that occurs when the sciatic nerve becomes inflamed—is common and painful for preg-nant women at this time, and that proved to be her problem.

“Emily came into our office with severe left-sided low-back pain that radiated down to her left glutel area, and into the left posterior aspect of the leg down to the knee. She needed assistance coming into our office. She was a chef, and had been forced to leave her job.

“There are certain complications in treating women at this point in their

pregnancy. Certainly we do not want to do an X-ray or MRI, and we all want to avoid medications of any kind. Chiropractic turns out to be the most logical, non-invasive, and conservative health care approach for pregnant women. In such cases, we do our diagnostic work using motion studies.

“We treated Emily for three weeks. She began to have good results after the first week, following light treatments to take pressure off the sciatic nerve. Adjustments with pregnant patients are really quite easy, because their ligaments are already loose, while they often have some muscle tight-ness and mild muscle spasms.

“After our chiropractic adjustment work, we treated Emily with the Active Release Technique (ART) that we find is a powerful adjunct to chiropractic adjust-ments. ART allows us to treat muscles and tendons in a way we’ve never done before. Chiropractic adjustments can accomplish a great deal on their own, and so can ART. In combination, there’s a powerful syn-ergism, as Emily experienced. After three weeks, she was mobile and pain-free—and a true convert to the idea of regular chiro-practic care.”

EVALuAtInG SPInESDr. Staker and his colleague, Dr. Ben

Schemmel, encourage women to have their spines evaluated regularly during pregnancy. “Misalignments in the spinal

column—which we call vertebral sublux-ations—damage the nervous system and affect the workings of the entire body. The essence of chiropractic care is to correct these misalignments with a spinal adjust-ment to release the spinal stress.

“The result of such alignments,” he says, “is that the body will function better, have higher resistance to disease and simply be healthier. All of this, of course, is ex-tremely important for the pregnant woman, who needs to have an optimum level of health for her own well-being and the well-being of her child.”

Adds Dr. Schemmel, “Chiropractic care will help ensure that the reproduc-tive and other systems so essential for a healthy pregnancy receive a proper nerve supply from the spinal column without interference.”

Chiropractic care is especially valuable during pregnancy, Dr. Staker notes, “because of the many physical and chemical changes the woman’s body is going through. Not only is her center of gravity changing because of the added weight she is carrying, but her spinal structure becomes more flexible due to hormonal changes that relax the ligaments in the pelvis, preparing them for stretch-ing during childbirth. In an already unstable spine, that may aggravate spinal problems.”

BEnEfICIAL AnD SAfEAbove all, says Dr. Staker, “I want to

assure women that chiropractic care during pregnancy is absolutely safe. Some women have happily received chiropractic adjust-ments during labor. Infants a few hours old have been given spinal checkups and adjust-ments, if needed. My youngest patient was two days old. His Mom, a patient of mine, noticed after his birth that his head was tilted to the right. I did a very, very light treatment, and his mother brought him in three weeks later for a check-up. He was fine.”

Osteopathic physicians share his opin-ion that spinal care for pregnant women is important and effective, Dr. Staker notes. “In the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, one practitioner wrote that ‘cor-rection of vertebral subluxations definitely helps normal function and rehabilitation. Manipulation can be of great value in nor-malizing the body functions of women with problems of pregnancy such as toxemia.’ Of course,” Dr. Staker, emphasizes, “all pregnant women should promptly consult their obstetricians if toxemia is suspected.

“Another physician added that ‘ma-nipulative therapy normalizes functions of the pituitary, adrenal, ovarian, and placental systems, including the craniosacral respira-tory mechanisms. This shortens the labor, and lessens medication requirements. Postpartum depression is a rarity in patients receiving manipulative therapy.’”

Both doctors are fathers, and their respective wives gave birth to their children with minimal hours of labor with each delivery. “This was due in large measure, we believe, because the pelvis and back were in line, and they were free of complications,” says Dr. Staker. “We did a spinal check on our respective wives every week throughout their pregnancies.” h&h

S t A k E R C H I R o P R A C t I C C E n t E R

for more information about chiropractic treatment, contact:

M. Todd Staker, DC Ben Schemmel, DC

STAKER CHIROPRACTIC CENTER���0 nw Cary Parkway, Suite �0�

Cary, nC �7���telephone: (9�9) �60-����

www.stakerchiropractic.com

Chiropractic Especially Beneficial When Women Are Pregnant

Dr. Schemmel provides chiropractic treatment to a third-trimester patient.

Practicing inCARY: (919) 865-0700218-30 Ashville Avenue

Cary, NC 27518

And

CORNELIUS at LAKE NORMAN: (704) 765-3150

20905 Torrence Chapel Road Cornelius, NC 28031

www.smilesraleigh.comAccepting new patients.

In a stunning example of applied technology, holistic dentists Dr. Carl McMillan and Dr. Gabriel Duncan are now selectively using The DNA Appliance™ to straighten teeth in a pain-free, highly effective manner, relying on natural genetic forces to do so.

Explains Dr. Duncan, “The notion that bones cannot expand and grow after adolescence—especially craniofacial bones—proves after a great deal of research to be incorrect. In fact, this DNA appliance harnesses the body’s natural ability for self-correction through gene-environmental interactions.”

Notes Dr. McMillan, “This appliance, in use throughout the world, is proving to be remarkably effective when it is used properly. A patient wears this removable appliance about 16 hours a day, to place gentle force in key locations in the mouth and on the bone to stimulate and support genetic corrections to misaligned teeth.”

In traditional orthodontics, he notes, “the idea is to make teeth straight at all costs and fit all the teeth into a certain space—working with the limitations of the space that is present. In that process, sometimes perfectly healthy pre-molars are removed. With the DNA appliance, we’re expanding the real estate so teeth can fit comfortably and attractively.”

The process typically requires six to 18 months for completion, notes Dr. Duncan, “about the same amount of time as needed for traditional braces. The appliance is comfortable to wear. There’s a tiny screw in the middle of the device allowing us to increase micro-pressure every three or four weeks, based on measurements of movement.

“I’ve heard reports from patients saying they sleep better at night when they wear this device, because it has the added benefit of repositioning the jaw and the muscles and tongue to open up the airway, providing a healthy flow of oxygen while decreasing snoring. These benefits exist even when not wearing the appliance, since these subtle, important, healthy changes are permanent in nature.”

Clearly, the doctors say, this new appliance has the potential to be of benefit to patients who have sleep apnea. Notes Dr. Duncan, “We strongly advise patients to have a professional sleep study if they have bruxism or they grind their teeth at night or they are chronically tired. A sleep study provides invaluable information to support any treatment plan, including the use of a DNA Appliance.”

A HOLIStIC DENtISt:• Places a priority on overall health; knows that everything he does has the potential for

long-term ill effects on a patient.• Refuses to place materials known to have toxic effects on the human body. He practices

by the Oath, “First, do no harm.”• Never uses mercury amalgam in his practice and takes special precautions to protect

the patient, staff, and himself from toxins in the office.• Believes that each patient is unique and not all patients respond the same to all materials.• Listens to a patient’s needs and wants, and offers information as part of the healing

process.• Insists on science that proves safety rather than science which claims “no proof

of harm.”• Has special equipment, knowledge and training to protect patients and staff.• Knows about a range of alternative materials and alternative/integrative medicine

practices.• Seeks to understand the implications of dental health/disease on other areas of

the human body.

Holistic Dentists Who Will Earn Your Trust

Crowded, misaligned teeth (top) are straight and attractive after use of the DNA Appliance

for 12 months.

A Natural Way To Straighten Teeth

“It’s not at all unusual for chiropractic adjustments

to have a beneficial impact on other organ systems.”

Originally published in Health & Healing in the Triangle, Vol. 16, no. 6, health & healing, inc., Chapel hill, nC, publishers. Reprinted with permission.