Some back and neck pain needs a doctor today, not a chiropractor. Some back and neck pain is not a case for a chiropractor and needs a doctor the same day. Go to an emergency room, not to us, if you have numbness in the groin or inner thighs, if you have lost control of your bladder or bowels, if a leg is becoming weak rather than just painful, if the pain followed a serious fall or a car crash, if you have a fever with back pain, if you have unexplained weight loss alongside it, if you have a history of cancer, or if a headache came on suddenly and is the worst you have ever had. We would rather you rang your doctor and never rang us at all.
Pregnancy asks a great deal of a musculoskeletal system in a short time. Weight goes on quickly and at the front, the centre of gravity moves, the ligaments soften under hormonal influence, and the pelvis is loaded differently than it has ever been. The result, for a large proportion of people, is low back pain, pain across the back of the pelvis, pain at the front of the pubic joint, or a hip that aches all night on whichever side you are lying on. It is common, it is genuinely miserable, and it is not something to be endured silently because pregnancy is supposed to be uncomfortable.
It is also treatable, gently. Dr. Bautista sees most of our pregnant patients and works almost entirely side-lying, propped with wedges and bolsters so that lying down is comfortable in itself — which for somebody at thirty-four weeks is not a trivial thing. The techniques are low force: mobilisation, soft-tissue work, a drop-piece table, an adjusting instrument. Nothing involves a twist through the abdomen at any stage of pregnancy, and nobody lies face down on a table with a hole in it.
What we will not do is make claims about your pregnancy or your baby. Chiropractic care during pregnancy is for the musculoskeletal pain that pregnancy causes. It is not a treatment for the position of the baby, it does not shorten labour, it does not make birth easier, and it has nothing to do with the health of the pregnancy. Those claims get made, they are not supported, and your midwife or obstetrician is the right person for anything to do with the pregnancy itself.
What we treat
The four patterns that account for most pregnancy-related musculoskeletal pain.
Low back pain
The most common. It builds through the second and third trimesters as load increases and posture changes, it is often worst at the end of the day and after standing, and it responds well to a combination of gentle hands-on work, specific exercise and practical advice about how to get through a day. Most people are considerably more comfortable within a few visits.
Pelvic girdle pain
Pain across the back of the pelvis, at the front over the pubic joint, or both. Characteristically bad on single-leg activities — stairs, getting out of a car, turning over in bed — and it can be genuinely disabling. It responds to hands-on work, to a support belt in some cases, and to specific advice about keeping the legs together during the movements that provoke it.
Hip and rib pain
The hip that aches all night from side-lying, and the rib pain under the breast that arrives in the third trimester as the ribcage is pushed upwards and outwards. Both are common, both are mechanical, and both respond to hands-on work plus positioning advice. The rib one in particular is often eased considerably in a single visit.
Afterwards
The postnatal period gets less attention than it should. Feeding postures, carrying a growing baby on one hip, a body that has changed and is being asked to do a great deal on very little sleep — these produce their own set of neck, back and wrist complaints. We see plenty of people for the first time three months after a birth.
How the visit works
Practically, because comfort is most of the point.
Side-lying, properly propped
You lie on your side with a wedge under the bump, a bolster between the knees and a pillow arranged so your neck is level. Getting this right takes a couple of minutes and it makes the difference between an hour that is restful and one that is endured. Nobody lies face down, and we do not use tables with a cut-out for the abdomen.
Low force only
Mobilisation, soft-tissue work, a drop-piece table and a hand-held adjusting instrument. No twisting through the abdomen, no rotational manipulation of the lower back, and no high-velocity technique through the pelvis. If you want to know exactly what is about to be done before it is done, ask — you will get a description first every time.
Short and frequent beats long
Later in pregnancy, twenty comfortable minutes is worth more than forty during which you need to get up twice. We keep visits shorter and closer together in the third trimester, and we do not book anybody into a long appointment they will not enjoy at thirty-six weeks.
Things to do at home
Positioning for sleep, how to get in and out of a car without provoking pelvic pain, how to turn over in bed, and two or three gentle exercises. The practical advice is frequently the part people say made the most difference, particularly the sleeping and the car.
What we do not claim
This section exists because these claims are common in this field and none of them is supported.
We do not turn babies
We do not perform any technique intended to change the position of a baby, and we make no claims about breech presentation. If your baby is breech, that is a conversation for your midwife or obstetrician, who have actual options. Any clinic offering to turn your baby by treating your spine is offering something it cannot deliver.
We do not make birth easier
There is no good evidence that chiropractic care shortens labour, reduces the need for intervention or makes birth easier, and we will not suggest otherwise. Being more comfortable in the last trimester is a genuinely worthwhile outcome on its own, and it does not need an unsupported claim about the birth attached to it.
We do not treat the pregnancy
Nothing we do affects the health of your pregnancy, and we do not offer opinions about it. Nausea, blood pressure, bleeding, reduced movements, swelling, headaches in late pregnancy — every one of those goes to your midwife or doctor immediately, and some of them urgently. We will tell you to ring them rather than book you in.
We check with your maternity team when we should
If you have a pregnancy complication, a placental issue, a history of preterm labour or anything your maternity team is watching, we ask before treating and we are happy to write to them. That is a normal part of the process rather than an obstacle, and it takes a couple of days.
Prenatal Chiropractic in western Queens
Side-lying, bolstered and low force, for the back, pelvis and hips that pregnancy makes ache. Nothing we do involves a twist through the abdomen, and we make no claims about the birth.
Every course of care here starts the same way: a full hour, a proper history, an examination, and then a plain statement of what we think is going on and how confident we are about it. You are told what we propose, roughly how many visits it ought to take and what should have changed by when — and we agree a date to stop and look at whether it worked. If the honest answer at any point is that this needs somebody else, you get that instead, and we write to them the same week.
Chiropractic care is not a substitute for medical diagnosis. Chiropractic care is not a substitute for medical diagnosis, and nothing on this website is medical advice for your particular problem. We are not physicians: we do not prescribe medication, we do not perform surgery, and we do not treat disease. What we do is examine how your spine and joints move, work on them by hand, and give you something to do between visits. If your problem turns out to be outside that, we say so and refer you — which happens often enough that you should expect it as a normal outcome rather than a failure.
What chiropractic does not treat. We treat musculoskeletal problems: the spine, the joints, the muscles and the nerves that are irritated by them. We do not claim that adjusting a spine treats asthma, allergies, ear infections, colic, digestive disease, high blood pressure, infertility, immune function or any other internal illness. Chiropractors who make those claims are making them without good evidence, and you should be wary of anybody who does. If somebody has told you that spinal care will fix a condition on that list, we will tell you honestly that it will not.
Questions
Prenatal Chiropractic — the questions we are asked most
Is chiropractic safe during pregnancy?
The gentle approaches used here — side-lying mobilisation, soft-tissue work, drop-piece and instrument-assisted technique — are widely used in pregnancy and generally considered low risk. Nothing we do involves a twist through the abdomen at any stage. If you have any pregnancy complication or your maternity team is watching something, tell us and we will check with them before treating rather than after.
Can chiropractic turn a breech baby?
No, and we do not offer any technique intended to change your baby's position. That claim circulates widely in this field and it is not supported. If your baby is breech, speak to your midwife or obstetrician — they have real options with real evidence behind them. A clinic that offers to turn your baby by treating your spine is selling you something it cannot do.
Will it make my labour shorter or easier?
There is no good evidence that it does, and we will not tell you otherwise. What prenatal care can genuinely offer is a considerably more comfortable third trimester — sleeping better, getting in and out of a car without your pelvis hurting, being able to walk. Those are worthwhile in themselves and they do not need an unsupported claim about the birth attached to them.
Will I have to lie on my front?
No. Nobody lies face down here during pregnancy, and we do not use tables with a cut-out for the abdomen — they look reassuring and they still load the abdomen and lower back in ways we would rather avoid. You lie on your side, propped with a wedge under the bump and a bolster between the knees, which most people find is the most comfortable they have been all day.
When in pregnancy can I start?
Any point at which you are uncomfortable, including the first trimester. Most people come in the second half because that is when the load-related pain arrives, but there is no rule about waiting. If you are in the first trimester and have any bleeding, pain that is not obviously musculoskeletal, or anything else worrying you, speak to your midwife or doctor first.
Can I come after the birth?
Yes, and plenty do — the postnatal period gets far less attention than it deserves. Feeding postures, carrying a baby on one hip, a changed body doing a great deal on very little sleep, and wrist pain from lifting all produce their own complaints. There is no need to wait for a particular number of weeks; come when it is convenient and bring the baby if that is easier.
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Book an appointment
Pick a chiropractor and an hour from the calendar — it shows only the times each of them genuinely has free. A first visit is a full hour and costs $95 for the examination on its own, or $145 if we treat you at the same appointment. You decide which after the examination, not before.