The answer is yes it is!
There is no proven link between osteopathy and miscarriages. If anything, it can help with pains you may be experiencing. And the good news is that some of our practitioners are trained in prenatal osteopathy.
How might the consultation go?
If you are pregnant we will first ask you about the symptoms you are experiencing, your medical history as well as ‘extra’ questions about your current and previous pregnancies. We then proceed to examine you, this can include tests such as taking your blood pressure, getting you to do certain movements, palpation of certain muscles and other things. Then if we judge that all is well and you are safe to treat, we proceed to treatment, adapting to how big your bump is.
Why are you experiencing pain when pregnant?
An estimated 50% of women experiencing back pain during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. As you will be aware, your body undergoes a lot of change over the 9 months. Beyond your uterus expanding and pressing against other organs, your musculoskeletal body (muscles, joints, ligaments, bones) are also adapting to the embryo growing.
For example, your body secretes a particular hormone (relaxin) that has the effect of relaxing your ligaments, to adapt to the change and ease delivery. And although your body is designed to adapt to this change, it can sometimes struggle to keep up with how fast said change is occurring, which in turn puts strain on some structures.
So, how can osteopathy help?
First of all, osteopathy can be very beneficial even if you do not experience pain. Via the assessment part of the consultation, your osteopath will identify which structures are being strained or inflamed. They then know where and how to treat you. Depending on what they find, they might encourage certain joints to move, work on relaxing muscles, release tensions and give you exercises to do at home.
The combination of those helps your body to cope with the stress/strain and reduces pain and inflammation, allowing you to resume to normal day to day life!
Osteopathy is also recommended in the postpartum period, so feel free to book an appointment when you have given birth to your little one.
What is more: you can also bring them to be treated by the osteopath!
If you have any questions or want to book an appointment, you can contact our team at info@theartofhealing.uk or 0203 146 6755.
