Pregnancy

After I posted how we use a gym ball to treat and provide pain relief to pregnant mums I met up with Vicky Warr, a young dynamic fitness instructor whose company, Beez Kneez, provides pregnant mums across West London a wide range of prenatal and post natal fitness programmes.

We had a good chat on such topics as managing good physical and mental health during and after pregnancy, good nutrition, and exercise teaching methods, during which I appreciated her caring, reflective and tonic approach to these subjects. Her website is clearly laid out with good information on Beez Knees classes and activities (including short videos) – www.beez-kneez.co.uk

I proposed to Vicky to visit one of her classes and provide the mums a tutorial on using a gym ball for good pelvic alignment, and involving their partners in giving them simple pain relief treatment during the last weeks of pregnancy. Do take a look at their fitness and nutrition programmes if you are concerned about remaining in good shape during and after pregnancy.

If you are just starting your third term of pregnancy, your baby’s weight becomes significantly more noticeable, and you will increasingly tend to experience lower back, pelvic and perineal pain or discomfort. These symptoms can be upsetting as they increase both your level of tiredness and tension (particularly if you are still working or looking after young children) and perhaps concern about a potentially more protracted and uncomfortable delivery.

This is where a gym ball may turn out to be a faithful ally. We recommend that our pregnant patients start using a gym ball as their main chair towards the end of the second term – for eating, working at the computer or even watching TV.

Sitting on the slightly unstable and mobile gym ball favours better seated posture, gently mobilises the pelvis and lower back, and helps massage and relax the perineal muscles.

We also tend to use a gym ball when treating pregnant mums (or mums to be), and we have devised a simple treatment routine that supportive partners can safely give during the final weeks of pregnancy, reducing spouse tension and pain from the neck to the pelvis. This has the cumulative benefits of involving Dads positively, providing tangible relief to the Mums, and further enhancing the couple’s relationship at an important stage of their partnership.

I developed this treatment routine to help my own wife with her third and fourth pregnancies. Her first two deliveries had been protracted and traumatic (our eldest child was delivered by emergency C-section), and in stark contrast, our last two children were born relatively peacefully at home. My wife asserts that this result is significantly owed to a combination of osteopathic treatment and her gym ball routine.

To find out more about osteopathic healthcare support during pregnancy and after delivery, do contact us – we are located in Uxbridge and opened a second osteopaths’ in Ealing last September.

Gym balls are very cheap (from less than £10) and can be found in the likes of Sports Direct and Argos. You might also find this post helpful: Reducing aches and pains during pregnancy (and how to speed up post-natal recovery)

We have just revamped our testimonials page. It is a lot less cluttered and hopefully it will help visitors quickly home in on the experiences of patients suffering similar conditions / injuries to them.

The first two testimonials are short: sciatica and lower back pain (whilst pregnant) and When your job/work is the cause of your pain or injury (two cases – both are proof that for some injuries recovery is possible in just a few sessions) are up. More to follow…

Cranial Osteopathy is an integral form of osteopathic treatment. It was developed in 1899 by William Garner Sutherland who found that the 26 separate bones of the head and face, whilst ‘fused’ in adults, do allow microscopic movement. In fact he found that the bones and underlying structures are continuously moving with their own rhythm, much like the inhalation/exhalation of breathing. Unlike breathing however, this movement is beyond our conscious control, and is hence referred to as “Involuntary Motion”. These tiny physiological movements are vital for health, a cranial osteopath has a refined sense of palpation which can be focused to detect these movements as well as the flow of cerebrospinal fluid which protects and brings essential nutrients to the brain and spinal cord.

An osteopath is able to focus treatment on the obstructions to natural movement caused by trauma and injury. He or she can make subtle adjustments improving the health of the patient as a whole. As part of the initial case-history taking to aid with diagnosis, the osteopath will ask about any trauma that the body may have had throughout its life. This may include:

• any dental work or direct trauma to the head or face,
• (for children) details of birth such as the length of labour and method of delivery, or
• indirect stress such as whiplash,

which can create a violent shaking of cranium and injury to the fragile underlying structures.

Cranial Osteopathy and Small Children

The cranium is exposed to this whiplash during birth. The skull of a newborn baby is very vulnerable; the bones are not yet fully developed and have not fused together (this is so that the skull is capable of coping with the compression and trauma of birth). Very often these bones are affected and do not sit in their true alignment after birth, causing areas of tension in the cranium. By adjusting these tensions, cranial treatment has a lot of success in dealing with a wide range of childhood conditions such as colic, glue ear, restlessness and constant crying, ear infections, sleep disturbances and recurrent infection.

Cranial Osteopathy in Adulthood

In later life, cranial osteopathy is used in the treatment of learning difficulties, behavioural issues, ADHD, sinus and breathing problems, tinnitus, jaw and dental pain, headache and migraine as well as a wide range of musculoskeletal injuries. It is also successfully used before, during, and after pregnancy for patients who are in pain but unable to cope with the physical approach of more structural osteopathic treatment.

Although treatment will frequently involve holding and working with the head and its contained structures, the term “cranial” can be a little misleading; indeed, treatment often involves interaction with many parts of the body, including peripheral joints as well as the, sacrum (back of the pelvis) and spine.

One of the core principles of all osteopathic treatment is that the body is a self-correcting entity, therefore treatment does not aim to heal the patient but by removing the obstructions to good health, the body is put in a position where it is able to heal itself.

We are now able to offer cranial osteopathy at our clinic in Uxbridge. If you have any questions, whether for treating a baby, child or adult, please do not hesitate to contact us.

A number of our female patients are expecting babies. They tend to visit the clinic at a relatively advanced stage of the pregnancy, when the greater weight of the child is beginning to provoke lower back, pelvic or hip pain.

Beyond the first term, Osteopathy is a highly helpful form of pre-natal and post-natal therapy in reducing aches and pains as the pregnancy progresses, preparing the body for effective delivery and speeding up recovery after birth.

Many of our pregnant patients are active professionals or family carers, who often tend to pursue their existing active lifestyles regardless, and don’t make the necessary adjustments and concessions to their pregnancy until pain stops them in their tracks.

Thus during pregnancy, the support provided by holistic osteopathy needs to extend well beyond the gentle joint mobilisation, muscle stretching and soft tissue massage that patients expect to receive.

Right from the first session, it is important to assess the lifestyle factors that may cause upset and trigger pain: simple issues such as banning high heels for the duration, not carrying heavy weights on one arm or shoulder, how to get in and out of cars, and relying on legs rather than on the back to stoop low etc. all contribute to stave off the risk of injury during pregnancy.

We try and help our patients to be more aware of their posture and work ergonomics, both in the office and at home.

Our patients are encouraged to adopt a tailored range of simple and gentle physical exercises to address the factors causing pain and stiffness, and foster the postural alignment, muscle balance and tissue health that will support the remainder of the pregnancy and prepare for a positive and empowering delivery.

Relaxation, visualisation and breathing exercises are also routinely used in conjunction with the physical exercises, specifically in the weeks directly preceding delivery.

Surprisingly, an area often neglected in preserving good physical shape, limiting undue weight gain during pregnancy and looking after the baby-to-be is the patient’s diet. Detailed dietary assessment and sound nutritional advice provided early on really help to manage weight, optimise mother and baby body tissue health, and favour prompt recovery post-delivery.

In our experience, addressing this full range of concerns really helps our patients’ feel they are in charge of the process and can play a leading role in ensuring a healthier and more comfortable pregnancy, and a more straightforward delivery.

An added bonus to these treatments is that we often get to welcome older children and partners in our clinic; in so doing, we can assist in their active involvement in preparing for this very special event.

Last but not least, a classic pitfall following a safe delivery is that all the focus centres on the baby to the exclusion of the Mother’s post-natal aches and pains, which are then ignored until well-entrenched and chronic. Encouraging pregnant mums to actively plan for a few post-natal treatments really helps them rapidly reclaim their previous form.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss our range of treatments/support for pregnancy. Bridge to Health is based in Uxbridge, west London.