Headaches during pregnancy can be troublesome, but, unless there’s a more serious underlying cause, they’re usually normal, especially in the first and third trimesters, writes Melany Bendix
Headaches during pregnancy can be troublesome, but, unless there’s a more serious underlying cause, they’re usually normal, especially in the first and third trimesters, writes Melany Bendix
Headaches during pregnancy can be troublesome, but, unless there’s a more serious underlying cause, they’re usually normal, especially in the first and third trimesters, writes Melany Bendix.
Facing the pain of headaches during pregnancy head on features the headache clinics PMA. See one readers story.
A Reader’s Story
Madelein Joubert is eight months pregnant and suffered with severe migraines. She say, “After months of treatment, hopping between doctors, and expensive medical bills, I went to the the Headache Clinic. After a series of test, the doctor recommended I have a posture modifying appliance (PMA).
A PMA is a tiny custom-made wearable plate that fits into the patient’s top or bottom palate behind their teeth. It’s prescribed for patients who present with muscle tension as the cause of their pain, and is used to encourage the muscles of the jaws and neck to relax into their natural position
The natural resting posture for the lower jaw should be to hang open two to three millimeter without the teeth touching or clenched like most people do. Everyone has their own unique ideal rest position.
When the jaw muscles are more tense than normal, they shorten, and when they shorten, they pull the lower jaw up closer to the top jaw, and the tongue is raised so that the space between the tongue and palate is reduced. The posture of the jaw can have an incredible effect on all the muscles of the face, head, and neck causing spasms that create the headaches. To make the muscles relax, we have to get the tongue and lower jaw to return to their natural rest positions, which relieves the tension in all the muscles and corrects the patient’s jaw posture.
The PMA was developed by Dr Shevel at Johannesburg’s Headache clinic. Patients must wear it night and day for the first week or two of treatment and within that time they should have positive results. Once their headaches have reduced or disappeared, patients can then evaluate how often they need to wear their PMA’s to keep their headaches at bay.
Madelein says. “After just two weeks of wearing the PMA, I was free from migraines and headaches, which I had throughout my pregnancy”
To download a pdf of Your Pregnancy article,(213KB) click here .
A Reader’s Story
Madelein Joubert is eight months pregnant and suffered with severe migraines. She say, “After months of treatment, hopping between doctors, and expensive medical bills, I went to the the Headache Clinic. After a series of test, the doctor recommended I have a posture modifying appliance (PMA).
A PMA is a tiny custom-made wearable plate that fits into the patient’s top or bottom palate behind their teeth. It’s prescribed for patients who present with muscle tension as the cause of their pain, and is used to encourage the muscles of the jaws and neck to relax into their natural position
The natural resting posture for the lower jaw should be to hang open two to three millimeter without the teeth touching or clenched like most people do. Everyone has their own unique ideal rest position.
When the jaw muscles are more tense than normal, they shorten, and when they shorten, they pull the lower jaw up closer to the top jaw, and the tongue is raised so that the space between the tongue and palate is reduced. The posture of the jaw can have an incredible effect on all the muscles of the face, head, and neck causing spasms that create the headaches. To make the muscles relax, we have to get the tongue and lower jaw to return to their natural rest positions, which relieves the tension in all the muscles and corrects the patient’s jaw posture.
The PMA was developed by Dr Shevel at Johannesburg’s Headache clinic. Patients must wear it night and day for the first week or two of treatment and within that time they should have positive results. Once their headaches have reduced or disappeared, patients can then evaluate how often they need to wear their PMA’s to keep their headaches at bay.
Madelein says. “After just two weeks of wearing the PMA, I was free from migraines and headaches, which I had throughout my pregnancy”
