Tag Archives: pain relief

Yoga Positions for Early Labor

The other day my doula visited our home to show us some techniques we’ll use for pain management during early labor.  Our goal is to do as much of the labor at home as possible – we’re more comfortable at home, and thus more likely to be relaxed here – and so these are some moves and positions Jon and I can do to help me get through the pain. If you get a book like The Birth Partner or other books about/that have sections on natural childbirth, these positions might be familiar to you.  I don’t know exactly what they’re … Continue reading →

What is a TENS Unit?

One option for managing pain is a TENS unit. TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation… a scary name (electrical what now?) for a helpful therapy. How it works, in brief: electrodes are stuck to the skin in the area where a patient is experiencing pain. The TENS unit delivers an electrical current to the skin and tissues. Intensity of the current can vary; users generally report feeling tingling or pins and needles in the area. Why it works: experts believe that the electrical current disrupts the pain by giving a different sensation to the skin and tissues. The current … Continue reading →

We Need To Feel Pain

There is a reason that the body feels pain. Pain is our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong or that we’re in danger of something being wrong. We feel pain after a workout because we’ve done damage to our muscles. The muscle damage is necessary to build muscle strength because when torn muscle fibers repair themselves they are stronger than before. The repair job also burns more calories, that is part of the reason strength training helps in not only muscle building, but also in weight loss. You may experience your muscle soreness after the workout in … Continue reading →

Keep Yourself Fit: Get a Massage

A massage benefits your health, physically and mentally. A massage sounds so decadent and luxurious that it is often associated with pampering the rich and the famous. However, the fitness benefits of massage are so profound that even health insurance companies are getting involved to help cover the bills. If you have ever been injured, massage can help you heal your body because it smoothes the flow of the body’s fluids and helps muscles to relax. Massage can decrease the tension in muscles that are sore from a workout or that have lost vitality after being bound up in a … Continue reading →

Types of Epidurals

Posted on by

For some women, epidurals are a life saver. In an induction or very long labor, an epidural can allow you to rest and save your energy for the delivery. There is no longer just one option in epidural anesthesia. Several options are available to laboring women. Ask your doctor or the anesthesiologist about your options before the big day. The traditional epidural is a continuous dose of a combination of medications, generally an anesthetic and a narcotic. This is the most common type of epidural used. You are numbed from the waist down. It takes about twenty minutes to feel … Continue reading →

The Effects of Epidurals on Pushing

Epidurals are the most popular form of pain relief among laboring women. For some women the epidural is a good thing and helps relieve the pain of labor. However, in many women the epidural can lengthen the pushing stage of labor. This can lead to other interventions, such as forceps, vacuum extraction or even a c section. The epidural is administered by a needle being inserted into the epidural space between the vertebrae in the lower back. A catheter is then inserted and the needle removed. Anesthesia is then administered through the catheter. This can be done continuously or controlled … Continue reading →