The Chiropractor is Magic

I made an appointment with a chiropractor that my doula referred me to. Her practice specializes in working with pregnant women, and luckily they had an appointment open for the very next day, because I was totally at my limit.

When you tell people you're going to the chiropractor, you get about the same split of reactions as when you tell people you're finding out what sex your baby is. Some people think it's great, and some are skeptical as to why you would ever want to do it.

Well, the next time you have severe back pain and aren't allowed to take anything but Tylenol (which I'm assuming are just sugar pills at this point), and you've gone about a week without being able to sleep, sit, stand or walk comfortably for more than 10 minutes at a time, you're willing to look into anything that advertises relief, and that includes medieval torture devices, rare botanics that cause temporary paralysis, and magic spells. So really, choosing a chiropractor seems downright levelheaded to me.

When I got there, I was seen right away, and asked a lot of questions about location, frequency and severity of pain. I was asked to lay on the table while my legs were lifted in different ways, and I was asked if I was experiencing any pain. At one point, she lifted my hands over my head, and said, "Ah hah." When she placed my palms together while I was lying down, my palms were uneven.

Turns out that what can frequently cause sciatic pain in pregnancy are things called Sacroiliac Ligaments.

According to some site called WiseGeek.com:

The sacroiliac ligament is the connection between the sacrum (the lowest part of your back) and the hips. The sacrum is a large triangular bone at the base of the spine in the pelvic cavity at the ileum between the two hip bones. The ileum is the largest of the pelvic bones which gives the hips a rounded appearance.

This ligament, or fibrous tissue which links bones, cartilage or other structures together, provides stability between the sacrum and the hips. The sacroiliac joint, the point of attachment of the bones, is a strong connection with the ability to withstand the pressures of weight bearing. Problems with this ligament can cause pain issues to include things like low back pain and pain in the hips, thighs, buttocks or legs.

"Ow, oh my gosh you guys, my back is freakin' buggin.

I think it's my sacroiliac ligaments."

According to my doctor, if these ligaments are tighter on one side than the other, it can put pressure on your sciatic nerve, and even cause hip pain.

She somehow helped me stretch the appropriate side out enough so that my hands were even again, and also did some acupressure with her fingers along the left side of my spine (where all my pain was), along with some other pelvic rotation-type things by moving the bottom half of my body around while I lay on my stomach. Rather enjoyable, and I while I was a bit afraid to say, I was feeling pretty darn good when I stood up again. She made one small cracky adjustment to my mid-back (which always cracks anyway), but I was happy that when all was said and done that it didn't take a bunch of bone-crunching adjustments to fix me up.

Of course, true to form, I did a little too much activity when I got home, and was hurting at the end of the day, but the pain was manageable, and after another good night's sleep with the mattress fully supported on the floor, I felt relatively awesome the next day.

I'll go twice a week for the first two weeks, then once a week after that. My insurance covers 80%, which is great, but in case your wondering, I think the appointment would have run me between $100 to $125 if I were uninsured.

Added tips from the doc:
--Ice, NOT heat--the sciatic pain is from the nerve being inflamed, and ice calms the blood flow.
--Massage your round ligaments (different from sacroiliac ligaments, but still helpful for pain relief)every day.
--If you're watching TV, or working on a computer a lot, try sitting forward with your arms resting on a coffee table or ottoman, and put a pillow wherever your hips or belly are resting. This takes the pressure off of your low back (try ace bandaging an ice pack on top while you lean!)

I've really been chilling out the last two days, and it has helped everything a lot. Frank is much happier now that we're both sleeping, and I'm able to manage my level of pain immensely better already after one appointment. HALLELUJAH.

p.s. Found this while I was looking for that other horrible picture up above. HA. You're welcome.