Chiropractic and headaches

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everyone

Today I wanted to talk about headaches. It is not uncommon for people to come to the clinic and tell me that they have headaches everyday and live with it. Most of them simply take medication or have tried different things and nothing seems to help. For many having a headache is a normal part of their life. Why I love chiropractic is that I have had many cases, it will change their life. They will go from having a headache everyday to hardly any and they are able to reduce all the medication that they take. But why?

I describe to my patients that there are different types of headaches. The one type that we can help is called cervicogenic headache. These types of headaches are so common and misdiagnosed. They are linked to tensions in the neck, jaw and face. The lack of motion of vertebras in the neck will create muscles tensions all around the neck, jaw and face. These headaches usually cause pain on both side of the head and start from the back and go in the front. It usually comes at the end of the day. Our goal as a chiropractor is to increase and restore proper mechanics in your neck to then allow all the tension in the muscles to release. So the frequency of the headaches diminishes dramatically. Obviously if you are allergic to read wine or cheese or you headache is linked to your cycle, we will not be able to help with these ones. The thing to remember is that many headaches are linked to the neck. Don’t just blame stress! Stress causes muscle tension and the cycle starts up again….

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Another successful Webster technique!

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi Everyone

I was very excited last night when I got an email from a patient so I thought I would share the story. You are probably wondering why? This mom was referred by a friend doula because the baby was in a transverse position. Most of you may not know but in chiropractic we have a technique that helps turn babies that are in the wrong position for delivery called the webster technique. We never force or touch the baby. The basic principle is to rebalance the pelvis of the mother trough a chiropractic adjustment and then release a ligament in the front of the uterus. This will usually allow the baby to have more room and if it is not restrained in the wrong position by anything anatomical it will decide to go head down. I was certified as a webster practitioner in 2005 but had been doing the technique for a while.

So I treated this patient 3 times last week and after the last few treatments she did notice a lot of motion which is usually a good sign. She then went for an ultrasound on monday and the verdict came in that the baby was head down. So mom is happy no c-section planned and she can have a vaginal birth. I am always pleased to help moms with that technique because it does change everything for them for the postpartum recovery. Of all the patients I have treated I have to say that the success rate is quite high.

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Latch is key!!!

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everyone

The week end is almost over and tomorrow I am heading to the breastfeeding clinic. I wanted to talk briefly about the subject of latch. So many issues stem from a bad latch. Some research actually says that 80% of problems in nursing are related to a bad latch. When I help moms, the first thing we always do is to look and correct the latch. Also remember that if you are experiencing pain during nursing there is something wrong. It should NOT HURT!!!. When nurses tell you the latch looks good but you are still in pain then you must do something. It is not normal. A few simple tricks to remember is to point the nipple towards the nose so that the baby has to reach up and open his mouth very wide. Remember that the baby’s neck also needs to be in extension or looking up. It will be a lot easier for the baby to move his tongue down and swallow as well.

Another thing that we seem to have forgotten is that babies are programmed in their brain to nurse and to latch well. At the clinic and what I use a lot in my practice is called self latching. We place the baby in an upright position between the breasts of the mother and we do not touch the head or force the baby on the breast. The baby will then move around and find the breast by himself and attach in a much better position with a wide mouth. A great web site you can visit for more information on that is http://breastcrawl.org/ I encourage you guys to view that video and to see how amazing this little baby is.

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Why did I choose chiropractic?

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everyone

Many people are curious to know how I became interested in chiropractic. I always like to tell this story. Chiropractic has been a part of my whole life. My family used to go see a chiropractor regularly. It actually started with my father. When he was quite young, he had decided to jump off a barn and he ended up falling straight down on a fence. After he had all sorts of health issue. My grandmother finally heard about this doctor who had helped a lot of people and he was a chiropractor. So she took him in and he helped my father tremendously. After he always continued to see him and when my parents got married, he introduced chiropractic to my mother. When she had me the rumour was that I was very colicky so she decided to take me to see this doctor. She said she loved it because after the treatment I slept so well! We then continued to visit them whenever we were sick or not feeling well our whole life. When I was 14 years old, we saw a new chiropractor. She was a women and it just clicked for me. I realized that may be that would be a great job for me. I love helping people, there was science, you treated with your hands to help the patients. So there it is at 14 years old I said I was going to be a chiropractor and the rest is history. I did all the necessary pre-requisite to go to Toronto at the Canadian Chiropractic College. I graduated in 1998 and have loved every minute since then. It is so special to help people get out of pain with natural intervention and no drugs.

So briefly this is how and why I became a chiropractor……

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Sleep posture

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everyone

Today I wanted to talk about sleep posture. We spend so much time sleeping in our life that it can have a huge impact on how you feel. People always ask me which posture is best. The easiest thing to answer I find is to tell patient which one to avoid.

The worst position is stomach sleeping. Stomach sleeping as been associated with upper back pain and headaches. When I do my history, I always question which position people sleep in. If they have major headaches symptoms most of the time I can predict that they are stomach sleepers. When you are on your stomach it changes all the curves in your neck and upper back and affects all the muscles and joints in the neck.

So patient should either sleep on their side or back. If you are on your side make sure your pillow covers the distance between your shoulder and your neck when your neck stays straight. On your back the best thing is to bring your knees up if you are experiencing some low back pain and make sure In your neck your pillow gives you god support. You want to ensure your head is not lifted too high or too low. The basic principle is to keep your spine in a neutral position.

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