In part two of this four part blog series we will identify the most common stressors that can trigger migraines and provide strategies on how to avoid them.  Even though migraine triggers are different from person to person and can be triggered by almost anything, this blog will identify the most likely triggers of migraines.  If you suffer from migraine headaches, the best strategy is to create a migraine headache log so you can track which stressors may be triggers for you.  Start by tracking the 10 most common triggers of migraines, which we have listed below.  Any day you have a migraine, read through this list to see if you have encountered any of these stressors within the last 24 hours.  If so, implement a strategy to remove the stressor and then track the frequency of migraines once you have removed the stressor.

Top 10 Migraine Triggers:

1. Phenylethylamine and Tyramine

These two amino acids are most commonly found in chocolate, cheese, wine, vinegar, nuts, and soy.  They also occur in any foods that are fermented or aged.  These two amino acids are thought to trigger migraines by increasing your body’s blood pressure which in turn increases the pressure inside your head.

2. Tannins

Tannins are naturally occurring polyphenols that are found in plants.  Although scientists aren't entirely sure why tannins trigger migraines, it is thought to be linked to the fact that they inhibit protein absorption, which could play a role in serotonin regulation.  The most common way we encounter tannins is through our diet by eating and drinking things like tea, red wine, apples, grapes, dark chocolate, and vanilla. 

3.  Nitrites

Nitrites are preservatives and flavor additives used in processed meats.  Nitrites cause vasodilation of our blood vessels which can trigger migraines in sensitive individuals.  They are most commonly added to sausage, jerky, pepperoni, and other deli meats.  Look for nitrite free meat next time you're shopping for any of these meats at the grocery store. 

4.  Sulfites

Sulfites are used as a preservative in dried fruits, fruits juices, wine, and other processed foods.  They trigger migraines in some people due to their ability to trigger a release of histamine and homocysteine.  High levels of histamine and homocysteine trigger an immune response and result in inflammation, which is a cause of miragine.

5.  Caffeine

People who are caffeine sensitive may develop migraines after drinking tea, coffee, soda, or eating chocolate.  However, in some individuals, low doses of caffeine can actually helps get rid of a migraine once it has started.  Test this one out for yourself to see how your body reacts.

6.  Alcohol

The link between alcohol and migraines isn't entirely understood. Some believe alcohol triggers migraines due to the increase of histamine production. Others suggest it is due to alcohol's diuretic effects on the body, causing dehydration.  In any case, keep track of whether alcohol is a trigger of your migraines.

7.  Emotional Stressors

Emotional stressors are often overlooked when searching for migraine triggers.  Emotional stressors impact our body’s autonomic nervous system.  The autonomic nervous system is responsible for controlling the body’s sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest, digest, and heal response).  When you experience emotional stressors, your body activates your sympathetic nervous system.  Although the sympathetic nervous system is good in life threatening scenarios, it is not good when it is activated for prolonged periods of time.  This can results in a host of health problems, one of them being migraines.

8.  Lack of Sleep

Lack of sleep will alter your brain chemistry and can be a trigger of migraines for a lot of people.  Make sure you are getting 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night.  Use a sleep log to keep track of the number of hours of sleep you get and how rested you feel upon awakening.

9.  Overuse of Technology

Staring at a bright screen for several hours during the day can trigger migraines for many reasons.  First our eyes get exhausted easier when staring at bright screens and can result in an eye strain migraine.  This is especially common for people who have light sensitivity once their migraine has set in.  Another reason is due to the strain that overuse of electronics puts on the head and neck.  The muscles, bones, and nerves in our neck play a direct role in the triggering of migraines.  We will explore this relationship in greater depth in a later blog when talking about how chiropractic can help with your migraines. 

10.  Physical Stressors

            As mentioned above, physical stressors can be be a trigger of migraine headaches. This can include poor posture, misaligned vertebrae and cranial bones, overexertion during exercise, and head traumas.

Migraine headaches are a common condition that millions of Americans struggle with each day.  Migraines come in many different forms but are generally described as a disabling headache accompanied by sensitivity to light with associated nausea. These painful and often times debilitating headaches are a problem that leave people mystified and searching for answers.  In this 3 part blog series we will aim to answer the questions that many people have a about their migraines. 

In this first blog, we will describe the different types of migraines and how to distinguish what type of migraine you may be suffering from.

Migraine with aura

The two broad categories of migraine fall into migraine with aura and migraine without aura.  Migraines with aura usually has a warning sign or an "aura" indicating the person is about to experience a migraine.  The aura is usually some type of neurological symptom; numbness, tingling, visual disturbances, or confusion and occurs 5-60 minutes before the actual headache onset.  These types of migraines are more severe but shorter in duration.  They are more likely to be associated with some type of trigger that classically causes the headache.

Migraine without aura
Unlike the migraine with aura, the migraine without aura comes on with no real warning signs.  These have been described as a moderate to severe pulsating headache that may occur on one or both sides of the head.  They may be accompanied by light sensitivity, confusion, nausea, dizziness, and vision loss.  They typically last longer than migraine with aura, lasting anywhere from 4 hours to several days. 

Less common types of migraines:

Basilar migraine (AKA brainstem migraine)

This type of migraine more commonly affects children and adolescent females and my be associated with menstrual cycles. Symptoms include dizziness, loss of balance, confusion, weakness, and nausea.  They are called basilar migraines because the region of involvement is thought to be at the base of the skull where the brainstem originates. 

Migraine without headache

This strange type of migraine contains all of the symptoms of a migraine just without the headache. People who suffer from these may experience an aura, nausea, light sensitivity, dizziness, and pain in other regions of the body.  

Hemiplegic migraine

This type of migraine is typically more rare than other types of migraines. In addition to having a severe headache, they also result in partial or complete paralysis of one half of the body.  Hemiplegic migraines are thought to have a genetic component and is termed Familial Hemipelegic Migraine (FHM) when more than one family member suffers from this type of migraine. 

Retinal migraine

Also known as an ocular migraine, this type of migraine is characterized as having visual disturbances in one or both eyes.  The visual disturbances experienced may be either blind spots, flashes of light, or loss of color vision.  The good news is that this type of migraine is usually painless and the vision loss is temporary.

Chronic migraine

Chronic migraines are described as migraines that occur for at least 15 days out of the month for three consecutive months.  These types of migraines may or may not have an aura and can vary in their intensity and symptomatology. 

As you have read above, the signs and symptoms of migraines, along with the causes of migraines, can be very different from person to person.  In our next blog, we will look at what some of the most common stressors are that can cause migraines and how to eliminate or reduce them substantially. 

We hope you will join us on Tuesday, Jan 9 at 6:30 PM as we learn more about the Whole 30 and taste some of the most delicious recipes!  To register, please follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/13948619606 

Now here are the Top 5 Benefits you will receive by following the Whole 30 Program

1. Improved Digestive Health

Having a healthy digestive system almost always correlates to having a healthy body.  Improving the health of your digestive tract can do wonders for preventing and cure systemic diseases.  One reason the Whole30 will help improve your digestion is because it eliminates all grains.  Grains contain complex proteins that are hard for our gut to breakdown and digest.  The most notorious of these is gluten.  Everyone is gluten intolerant to some extent, even if they don't think they are.  When our gut is exposed to gluten our intestinal cells signal the release of a protein called zonulin.  Zonulin opens up the spaces between the cells of the intestinal lining and result in leaky gut. 

2.  Increased Energy

The Whole30 diet focuses on eliminating simple and refined sugars.  By doing this you will have a stable blood sugar throughout the day.  This means no insulin spikes, no cortisol spikes, and no sugar crashes.  When doing the Whole30 you can expect a steady stream of energy throughout the day.

3.  A Clear Mind

The Whole30 will eliminate brain fog and make you sharp as a tack for a few reasons.  First, by eliminating grains, you will reduce the likelihood of having leaky gut.  Leaky gut results in food proteins slipping through intestinal cells and into the bloodstream.  Over time, this can cause a host of problems, one of which is brain fog.  Another reason the Whole30 will give you a clear mind is due to a stable blood sugar.  Stable blood sugar means a steady stream of glucose for your brain to use for energy.

4.  You will Discover New Foods

By eliminating certain foods that you may typically eat every day, you will be forced to discover new and exciting foods that you may have not cooked with.  In addition to expanding your cooking portfolio and learning new recipes, you will also be consuming dozens of different phytonutrients that you may have not been eating on a regular basis.  Phytonutrients are naturally occurring compounds found in plants.  It is thought that the greater diversity of phytonutrients you consume, the healthier you will be. 

5.  You Will Lose Weight

Even though the Whole30 isn't intended to be a weight loss program, the side effects of eliminating processed foods, grains, sugars, and alcohol is weight loss.  Consuming excessive carbohydrates is one of the most common ways people gain extra weight.  By eliminating grains and processed foods your carbohydrate intake will naturally be lower.  

So many of our patients have been sick with colds or flus this week! As our schedules become jam-packed and our nutrition is less focused on light, fresh foods, our immune systems become much more susceptible to infections.  Here are our top recommendations for a bullet-proof immune system this December.

1. As mentioned last week, stay on track with your weekly adjustments!

2. Make a plan - To avoid the inevitable holiday weight gain from rich foods, decadent sweets, and extra alcohol, create your holiday nutrition plan.  Eat your veggies or healthy meal prior to attending parties rather than showing up hungry.

3. Intermittent fasting - The latest research in health is showing that skipping a meal here and there is not only good for your waistline, it is vastly beneficial in fighting against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other health disorders.  To fast most effectively, go 12-16 hours without food, and eat in an 8-hour window for that day. Most people find it easiest to skip breakfast or eat a light breakfast later in the morning. Aim for 1-3 days/week on non-consecutive days.

4. Write your exercise plan in your calendar. If you prioritize your movement, you won’t skip! High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a very efficient way to get in your workout in just 10-30 minutes each day.

5. Just say no!  Prioritizing sleep and your self-care routine becomes difficult in December.  Focus on the activities that are most aligned with your values, and pass on the ones that cause the most stress or are less important to you.

6. Supplements - Immune boosting supplements can help fend off not only colds and flus, but in the case of the superstar Vitamin D, also the winter doldrums. Vitamin D is also a hormone precursor involved in many parts of your body. Supplementation is necessary in Minnesota in October-April due to lack of sun. Adequate levels can be achieved by supplementing 5,000-10,000 IU’s/day in adults. Make sure that you choose Vitamin D3!  Other supplements that peer-reviewed research has been shown to improve immune function include: elderberry syrup, Vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea.

This great blog comes to us from Dr. Kyle.  Though getting adjusted this season seems like an additional stress, the benefits your adjustment will bring greatly outweigh the trouble of coming to the office.

1. Getting adjusted boosts your immune system.           

The winter months are a common time for people to get sick.  With people spending more time indoors and in closer quarters, germs get passed on more easily  In addition, we tend to eat more unhealthy foods and have higher stress, both of which will decrease immune function, making us more likely to get sick.  However, getting adjusted on a regular basis will help to boost your immune system, helping prevent any holiday sickness from occurring.  A literature review done in 2016 in The Journal of Chiropractic Medicine found chiropractic adjustments to increase the activity of T-cells, which are the immune system cells responsible for fighting off pathogens1.  Next time you feel a sickness coming on, be sure to get adjusted to help boost your first line of defense!

2. Getting adjusted regulates metabolism

Making adjustments to the spine helps to balance your autonomic nervous system, which is the system responsible for regulating all of your involuntary organ functions in your body.  Chiropractors focus on balancing this nervous system by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for resting and digesting food.  Next time you overeat during the holidays, remember that chiropractic may help to speed up digestion!

3. Getting adjusted decreases stress hormones

When stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine get overproduced in our body, they can wreak havoc on our health.  The long term effect of chronic exposure to these hormones include weight gain, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and heart disease.  The best way to reduce these is by making lifestyle modifications to avoid stressful situations.  However life often presents situations with unavoidable stressors.  In this case it is best to help manage the overproduction for stress hormones by getting adjusted.  A study published in the Journal of Australian Chiropractic found patients who got adjusted for 5 weeks had lower cortisol levels than the control group2.  Help to offset the stress of holiday shopping and travel by getting adjusted!

4. Getting adjusted helps lower blood pressure.

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season can add stress and make your body respond in ways other than producing stress hormones. High blood pressure is another side effect of extra stress.  Making adjustments to the top bone in your neck, called the atlas, can help regulate the signal your brain sends to the body, resulting in lower systemic blood pressure3.

5. Getting adjusted increases mobility           

Travel in long car rides and flying in cramped airplanes are common stressors that our bodies experience this time of year.  Prolonged sitting can cause postural alterations, resulting in stiff muscles and joints.  Maintaining your spine with regular adjustments will help improve posture and free up restricted joints.  Make sure to get adjusted before and after your long holiday travels!

Sources

1. http://www.journalchiromed.com/article/S1556-3707(16)30028-1/fulltext

2. Tuchin PJ. The effect of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy on salivary cortisol levels. Journal of Australasian Chiropractic and Osteopathy, July 1998;7(2), pp86-92.

3. https://vertebralsubluxation.sharepoint.com/Pages 2017_1471_vansen_hypertension.aspx

Rounding out our series on sleep, we can't be remiss about how vital it is to create or maintain a healthy spine. In our fast-paced world, with overbooked schedules, stretched finances, and non-stop communications, it is easy to become stuck in sympathetic, also known as fight or flight mode. In sympathetic mode, our bodies crank out the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, our hearts beat more quickly, blood pressure increases, breathing speeds up, blood goes into the extremities and away from our internal organs and digestion.  The physiology supports running away and thinking quickly. Our body needs sympathetic nervous system to get us through stressful situations, but without having periods of rest from this, while our parasympathetic nervous system is in charge, the resources of the body become quickly tapped, and it is becomes increasingly difficult to wind down.  That is why we find so many individuals who are both tired AND wired. Having a sympathetic dominant system is much like having a Ferrari engine, you are designed to GO GO GO!

Chiropractic, specifically the tonal techniques used at Lifelong Health Family Chiropractic, support a switch away from sympathetic dominance and toward parasympathetic balance. This is because your parasympathetic nervous system is housed in your upper neck and low sacrum and hips, precisely we focus your adjusments because these are the powerful areas where your spine and spinal cord connect.  As your body unwinds its tension, we liken your adjustments to "pumping the brakes" so your body can have big powerful brakes to match the giant roaring engine of the sympathetic nervous system.  As a result, many of our clients, children and parents alike, report an increase in quantity and quality of rest, as well as greater ease with other bodily functions.

Another benefit of chiropractic in those people who struggle with sleep is the physical aspect.  If certain positions are difficult due to pain, or your stress or pain become worsened by lying down, correcting your spine helps your body function AND feel better. 

Cheers to a Happy and Healthy Nervous System with lots of ZZZ's!

As the holiday season begins and we start to look to the New Year, many of us have set some amazing goals for 2018.  In order to accomplish those goals, you need to make sure that your body is healthy and functioning at its best!  For New Year’s resolutions, people often turn to lofty diet fads that end within a week of when it started.  At LifeLong Health Chiropractic, we are focusing on a long term health plan in order to change your health for the better in 2018!  As always, our primary focus in our office is to make sure your nervous system is functioning at its best by making adjustments to the spine.  In addition, for the month of January, we are also going to be doing a Whole30 eating program open to all practice members and the public (invite your friends!).

The Whole30 program is a 30 day program designed to help clean up your diet and jump start you into cleaner, healthier eating.  The program is unlike other diets that result in eating limited portions and being hungry all the time.  Instead, the Whole30 focuses on making realistic changes that your body can handle for 30 days and even longer if you desire.  This is accomplished by eliminating certain foods and ingredients that will spike your blood sugar, disturb our digestion, and contain artificial ingredients.  Listed below are the official rules from the Whole30 website:

Do Eat:

Eat moderate portions of meat, seafood, and eggs; lots of vegetables; some fruit; plenty of natural fats; and herbs, spices, and seasonings. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re whole and unprocessed.

Do Not eat:

• Do not consume added sugar, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, date syrup, stevia, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
• Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking.(And ideally, no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, sprouted grains, and all gluten-free pseudo-cereals like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn, and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch, and so on. Again, read your labels.
• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
• Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat, or sheep’s milk products like milk, cream, cheese, kefir, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, or frozen yogurt.
• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
• Do not consume baked goods, junk foods, or treats with “approved” ingredients. Recreating or buying sweets, treats, and foods-with-no-brakes (even if the ingredients are technically compliant) is totally missing the point of the Whole30, and will compromise your life-changing results. These are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, even if it’s made with coconut flour.

The diet program may seem like a lot, but you will find that as you do it, the health benefits will far outweigh the sacrifice of giving up certain foods.  Listed below are just few of the amazing benefits of the Whole30:

• More energy throughout the day due to a stable blood sugar
• Less bloating and better digestion
• Better sleep
• Weight loss
• A sharper, clearer mind
• Better mood
• Decreased joint pain and stiffness

Those are just a few of the many benefits of the following through with the Whole30.  

We will have an official event in our office to kick off the Whole30 on January 9th at 6:30pm at LifeLong Health Chiropractic .  We will be going over the rules, share recipe ideas, and eat dishes that are Whole30 approved.  In addition we will have a Facebook page for everyone who is doing the Whole30 in order to encourage each other throughout the month and also to share recipes and ideas.  RSVP to the event here:  https://business.facebook.com/events/144028783035187/

Please join us on Tuesday Oct 17 from 6:30-7:30 pm at our office for our most popular workshop, Unraveling Developmental Disorders.  While we in no way attempt to diagnose or treat neurodevelopmental disorders, we are empowering parents, caregivers, and educators on some fantastic ways to support their children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Our focus will be on explaining the connection of the gut to brain, exploring the role of the autonomic nervous system in neurodevelopmental disorders, and sharing resources that have been powerful in improving the quality of life of children and families dealing with these pervasive disorders.

To save a seat, please sign up through Eventbrite:  https://unraveling1017.eventbrite.com/

Hello everyone! Change is in the air.  As many of you have noticed, our team is expanding.  Liz and I (Dr. Erin) have been working hard for months to bring you the perfect team to elevate the level of service and care in the office.  Please read on to learn more about all of our coming changes!

From Liz:

I have some bittersweet news for you all. Exciting things first: I have decided to go to chiropractic school! The program is 3.5 years and starts on September 26th! I've been thinking about this opportunity for a while, and only recently felt like it was the right time. After looking into my options, I have chosen to go to Life University, which is located in Marietta, GA (just outside of Atlanta). I do know a couple of people in Marietta but this is going to be a huge transition! I am excited, nervous, freaked out, and grateful. My last day at the office will be on September 21st- so please come in and say goodbye! Dr. Erin and I have a plan A, which is for me to come back after school and work together forever. : ) Obviously, there are a couple of years between now and then so things may change, but I would love to come back and rejoin my favorite place to work and play! You all are one of the biggest reasons I want to go back to school full time- so thanks for being amazing patients and friends!

We absolutely can’t wait to see what an amazing chiropractor Liz will be!!! Join us in keeping fingers crossed that a southern boy does not steal her heart so she can come back! And in the years while she is away, we have found the perfect team.  

What’s staying the same:

Tom will continue to work part time in the afternoons and on Saturday, but for a month or so he will be focusing on starting out his school year right.  He got a new teaching job at Webster Elementary teaching special ed!  

Dr. Amy will continue to work Tuesday afternoons.  Dr. Erin will stay at Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturday mornings.

New Team!:

Taking over as office manager is the lovely Rachel Carlson, who many of you have met:

Rachel graduated from Bethel University in 2015 with a degree in Elementary Education. Her long term goal is to become either a Nurse or a Child Life Specialist. Last summer, Rachel left on an 11 month missions trip to 11 different countries including Africa, SE Asia, Central America, the Caribbean and one of her favorite countries was Jamaica. Rachel returned home at the end of June this year, so feel free to ask her more about it, she loves talking about her experience! Besides traveling, Rachel loves baking,reading and pretty much anything on the water! She is so excited to be joining the Lifelong Family!

Also joining our team is an amazing intern - the first in over 4 years.  We have been waiting for the right fit: high energy, big heart, great adjusting.  And soon-to-be Dr. Kyle LeDuc is worth the wait!

Kyle is currently in his last trimester of chiropractic school at Northwestern Health Sciences University and will graduate in December.  Kyle's chiropractic journey started at a young age when he became interested in health and the human body.  After graduating high school, Kyle did an internship at a hospital where he was exposed to dozens of people who were sick with chronic and debilitating diseases, many of which were preventable.  This experience inspired him to pursue a career that took a proactive approach by preventing these common diseases.  Having benefited from chiropractic his whole life, along with having a brother and uncle who are practicing chiropractors, the decision to pursue a career in chiropractic was obvious.  It is now Kyle's mission to help lead people to a higher level of health through preventative chiropractic, nutrition, and lifestyle advice.

Kyle grew up in northern Minnesota in the town of Thief River Falls.  After graduating high school, he attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.  There he graduated from the biology honors program as magna cum laude and also participated in both the pre-health professionals club as well as the wrestling team.  Next, Kyle started in the Doctor of Chiropractic program at Northwestern, where he  studied a variety of techniques that work with the body, in order to help the patient achieve optimal health.  He is excited to bring his knowledge and passion for chiropractic to the Northeast community! In Kyle's free time, he enjoys staying active with sand volleyball, golf, traveling, being outdoors, reading, and exploring the Twin Cities.

Are you a new mom or mom-to-be who deeply values breastfeeding?  I was sure when becoming a mom that the answer to any health problem is breastmilk (or coconut oil!  Don’t get me started on coconut oil!).  Infection? Pink eye? Brain development, healthy body composition, awesome immune system. Preparing motherhood, my top priority was to breastfeed my baby for as long as both of us were willing and able. 

On the day Cora was born, I was exhausted from a long and arduous labor.  Awake for over 40 hours straight by the time of her delivery, I was too delirious to insist that my baby latch right away.  Within several hours, she successfully began to breastfeed and get some awesome colostrum.  Nurses were amazed at how strong her latch was.  I was equally amazed – at how much it hurt. Without a frame of reference, I thought she was nursing frequently, but though she would often attempt to latch, her sessions were short and very painful for me. Within a few days, my midwife began to worry at how much weight she had dropped.  And my milk that should have come in on the third day… didn’t.  I started pumping often to try to bring in my milk.  I was raw, cracked and bleeding. Cora looked emaciated and didn’t have enough wet diapers.  My mama red flags were flying high!  I knew something wasn’t right.

Luckily, I had recently learned about tongue and lip tie and its genetic link (A post on MTHFR will be coming soon!).  I realized just weeks before her birth that the gap teeth my dad, all four of my siblings and I sported were likely due to a severe lip tie.

My milk came in hard and fast on day 4. That’s when I came to grips that Cora had a problem.  My breasts were not being fully emptied. In the first few days, I developed 3 blocked ducts and a couple near cases of mastitis (thank you, chiropractic and garlic!).  I began to notice that she just couldn’t get her lip around my nipple.  Then I finally remembered to look in her mouth.  There it was, a severe lip tie.  Thank goodness I knew what to look for.  I will stop to mention that though she had been checked by several nurses, two midwives, and we had even seen a lactation consultant, this was not caught. 

Cora began to put on weight and have enough output, but my sore nipples and blocked ducts just did not improve.  After lots of research, the option we decided was right for us was a laser revision of both her lip and tongue tie. This is done at a pediatric dentist’s office.  We preferred this option to the surgical revision because it was less traumatic and didn’t require anesthesia.  At 12 days old, they put Cora in ridiculous goggles and took her into a private room for the brief procedure.  As a new mom, being away from her for these few moments was the hardest part of the whole thing.  We were given exercises to help improve her suck and keep her new range of motion. She was clearly in pain for a day or two, and completely needed to retrain her sucking biomechanics, but the relief for me was instantaneous. Then it was time for me to take off my mama hat and put on my pediatric chiropractic hat. Working on her upper spine and cranials frequently in the first week improved her latch exponentially.  We had moved from a scary place – no milk, and extraordinary pain, to become a successful breastfeeding pair in a matter of a few days.  She went on to nurse until she was 20 months and my pregnancy with Eva dried up my supply.

**I am neither a pediatric dentist, a lactation consultant, nor a pediatric ENT who performs these procedures or does evaluations.   This is just the story of one super stubborn mama who persisted through a tough situation to be able to breastfeed.  If you intend to breastfeed, know that it is almost never easy! Getting the support you need is necessary and worth it if it is a priority.

Tongue and lip tie have been growing at an alarming rate in the last few decades.  Some unknown factors remain, but genetic influence is highly involved (Again, I will post on MTHFR next).  I have since caught dozens of lip and tongue ties in my littlest and sweetest patients.  Other providers have also begun to see more and refer these post-revision cuties to our office. Gentle adjustments of their upper spine, cranial work, and suck retraining exercises have helped many other mamas and babies go on to meet their breastfeeding goals.

Have you had an experience with lip or tongue tie?  Do you have persistent breastfeeding issues?  Please share your experience here!  If you would like your child to be checked for lip and tongue tie, we recommend Dr. Darcy Rindelaub of St. Croix Kidds Pediatric Dentistry or Riverdale Pediatric Dentistry in Coon Rapids.  Once the revision is complete, we are honored to check the biomechanics of the cranials and upper spine to improve the latch even more.   Feel free to email me at drerin@lifelonghealthchiropractic.com if you have any questions.

My favorite breastfeeding resources for tongue/lip tie  as well as all else nursing are from KellyMom. http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/bfhelp-tonguetie/