Webster Chiropractic: Not Just for Pregnancy

I have blogged about my hip/sacroiliac problems before. They were so bad that my husband and I considered not having any more children, and then surprise! In August of last year, I found myself pregnant with my third baby. We started that pregnancy with trepidation. I had heard stories of a woman in similar circumstances not walk after the birth of her third baby and I was terrified that would happen to me. As the pregnancy progressed, I was again surprised to find that my hip wasn't giving me the trouble that I thought it would. I made it all the way to the third trimester without much complaint.

It was then that I noticed that the baby was stuck in a very awkward position. It felt like she was trapped against my hip bone and this was uncomfortable to me. It must have been uncomfortable for her too. At times she certainly seemed unhappy. Since I was obviously dealing with positioning issues, I turned to Spinning Babies to try to get the baby to move. One of the best ways to reposition a baby is using a Rebozo. Lucky for me, a doula training was being held around that time in my area so I signed up and volunteered to the resident pregnant lady for everyone to practice on.

We found that the rebozo helped but she still seemed trapped. She wasn't breech but both my midwife and I agreed that a referral to a Webster Chiropractor would be helpful. Thanks to a recommendation from a woman at church, I found a chiropractor in my area. Since then I have realized that she is the most recommended Webster chiropractor in Seattle.

Let me tell you, finding Dr. Gita was an answer to prayer. She informed me that Webster Chiropractic is not just for pregnancy and baby positioning but that its for pelvic balance and issues impacting the  sacrum at any time of life and for any gender. If only I had known! I could have started seeing her when I was postpartum with Belle and saved myself 2 years of discomfort and difficulty.

The Webster technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and diversified adjustment. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of sacral subluxation/ SI joint dysfunction. In so doing neuro-biomechanical function in the pelvis is improved.

Dr. Larry Webster, founder of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association discovered this adjustment as a safe means to restore proper pelvic balance and function. This specific sacral analysis can be used on all weight bearing individuals to determine S/I joint dysfunction/ sacral subluxation and is therefore applicable for the entire population. The assessment includes heel flexion to buttocks, with restricted flexion indicating the affected SI joint. Correction is made with a diversified, sacral adjustment. It is used on all weight bearing individuals presenting with this biomechanical restriction. Common symptoms include (but are not limited to) low back pain, sciatic neuralgia, and symptoms associated with sacral subluxation and/ or S/I joint dysfunction.

Since I started with the Webster technique during my third trimester, we were able to get the baby to move from LOP/LOT to LOA. I felt more comfortable and I did not experience any of that tightness in my hip and back that I experienced at the end of Belle's pregnancy. After birth, I did not have any flair ups. Each time I start to feel the familiar ache, I was able to get an adjustment and it would go away.

With my previous chiropractor, the technique she used was not as gentle and my hip actually seemed more likely to slip out of joint after an adjustment.  I stopped seeing her and started seeing the Upper Cervical Chiropractor, which helped but was not as effective as the Webster technique. I go more time between the first signs of discomfort with Dr. Gita than I did with the UC.

I was so surprised to learn that Webster is not just for pregnancy. As a doula and as a mother, I know that Webster is the thing to do for breech babies, but it goes so far beyond that. Its not just pregnancy, its not just birth (though that is the population who frequents a Webster DC most), but its for any one with SI, hip or sciatic issues. Both my father and my grandfather could have greatly benefited from this type of treatment.

Another funny thing is that both my older children are prone to the exact same sublaxation that I am so when they visit Dr. Gita, she performs the same adjustment on them as she does on me.