a chiropractor saved my nipples!

The adjustments do not involve cracking or cranking, but rather soft intentional touches along the back, head, and abdomen that completely turned around my breastfeeding experience.

Who knew that seeing a chiropractor would be key to making breastfeeding less painful? Having watched my wife nurse our first daughter with what seemed like endless ease, but also hearing the heart-wrenching challenges of low milk supply from my sister, I knew that breastfeeding could be both extremely rewarding and incredibly difficult. I was determined to breastfeed but reminded myself that each person faces different challenges throughout their experience. What I did not expect was to have comfort and satisfaction on one breast and extreme pain and nipple damage on the other.

My lactation counselor who I booked through boober, was so patient and informative when I texted her on a daily basis attempting to figure out how I could feel so successful on the left while feeling tragically incompetent on the right. She made many recommendations, one of which was seeing a chiropractor for an adjustment of my newborn. I had a positive experience, myself, with a chiropractor a few years earlier, but was hesitant with my three week old as I envisioned neck and back cracking. After speaking to friends, I decided to go for it and hope for the best.

We went for an assessment, which confirmed many of our own observations that our new daughter was “tight” on the right side; her right leg wouldn’t really relax during diaper changes, and she definitely preferred to rest on the right side of her head. Our next appointment came the day after an extremely painful night where a large blister formed and I needed to unlatch our baby so I could go cry in the bathroom and get myself together.

After the adjustment, my wife and I went to get a coffee. Our daughter was crying, people were looking, I was nervous because of the pain and because I felt insecure in a public place. I latched her and for about a minute her tongue felt like sandpaper and I felt the familiar pinching sensation when all of a sudden those both went away and it felt the same as it had on the left for the past 5 weeks. I couldn’t believe how different it was feeling and hoped that it wasn’t a placebo effect after the adjustment. I remained a bit skeptical, not wanting to get my hopes up, but from that moment on, I did not experience pain, pinching, or damage.

The chiropractor was patient, knowledgeable, and explained all elements of the process to me from the beginning. The adjustments do not involve cracking or cranking, but rather soft intentional touches along the back, head, and abdomen. Working with a chiropractor completely turned around my breastfeeding experience for the better.