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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities

Mind and Body Chiropractic Life Center: Using Chiropractic for Healthy Pregnancy, Infancy and Childhood

May 29, 2014 11:39PM ● By Michelle Hamburger

Dr. Vernon Kuznia, D.C.

Dr. Vernon Kuznia, DC, owner of Mind and Body Chiropractic Life Center (MBCLC), in Roseville, believes the benefits of chiropractic care can begin as early as inside a mother’s womb. “I always look at chiropractic as foundational,” Kuznia says. “Whatever state of life someone is in, chiropractic will help them experience that state of life better.” He says if a woman is in a state of pregnancy, chiropractic is going to help her experience her pregnancy better, and that her unborn baby is going to benefit equally from its mother’s healthier state.

For pregnant women, regular chiropractic adjustments can be the differentiating factor between a smooth delivery and a delivery requiring medical intervention. “There’s a technique called the Webster Technique that was developed for pregnancies and optimal fetal positioning, also known as the breech baby turning technique,” Kuznia explains. “I once had a woman referred to me with a breech baby and within a week the baby was turned.” Additional benefits of prenatal chiropractic care include heightened energy, less morning sickness, reduced hip and back pain and improved pelvic alignment, which can prevent a stalled labor.

Kuznia treats pregnant women at MBCLC up to delivery, then offers home visits until mothers have recovered and can easily travel. “I switch to home care for about a month,” he says. “I’ll schedule a visit once a week and we’ll adjust them at home.” Newborns are also adjusted at home during this time, which Kuznia says is an important step in their recovery from the delivery. “The birth process is such a physical experience for both the baby and the mother. Even the most natural birth can put pressure on the bones in a baby’s neck. That could be the first subluxation or the first misalignment.”

Many parents are concerned about having their infants adjusted by a chiropractor. Kuznia says their concern is common and very normal. “You see an adult get adjusted and there are some twists and cracking sounds and they’ll think, ‘There’s no way my newborn is going to get adjusted,’” he says. “But an adjustment for a newborn uses the same amount of gentle force used to test the ripeness of a tomato. It’s a very slight touch.” Kuznia adds that the same is also true with children because they don’t have years of muscle tightness along their spine, and that makes adjustments much easier.

Kuznia compares adjusting babies and children to an arborist training a newly planted tree. “You’ll see a small, thin tree and then a pole with a string tied to the tree to guide it so it doesn’t grow crooked,” he says. “Right from the beginning we do things to help trees grow straight.” In a similar manner, adjusting infants and children helps their spines grow straight and strong. Kuznia says this is especially important as they become more active in learning to walk, playing sports and participating in other jarring activities.

To make regular chiropractic care convenient, MBCLC offers a pay-per-month clinic membership. “I set the office up to make it affordable, and it’s affordable because I do memberships,” Kuznia says. Monthly memberships are $67 for an individual and $100 for a family. Kuznia explains that if a mom is coming in to get adjusted, and for only $33 a month more the entire family can come in, it makes it an easy decision. There is no limit to the number of patient visits each month and patients can increase or decrease treatment frequency depending upon schedules or current states of health or injury.

MBCLC encourages weekly visits for adjustments and patients are not required to schedule treatment appointments. Instead, patients can stop in for treatment at any time during open hours. “My recommendation for anyone is to get checked on a weekly basis just for that maintenance,” Kuznia says. “During the week everyone is typically experiencing some sort of stress on their back or their neck and, in general, anything that is properly put together or in alignment is simply going to work better.”

Mind and Body Chiropractic Life Center is located at 3101 Old Highway 8, Ste. 106, Roseville. For more information or to schedule a consultation, call 651-600-3521 or visit MindBodyChiropractic.com.

Michelle Hamburger is a freelance writer for Natural Awakenings and can be reached at [email protected].