There’s nothing more beautiful and precious than bringing a new life into the world. But pregnancy can of course also be a physical burden on mothers, the incredible changes that the body goes through causing all sorts of aches and pains all over.

Caitlyn Doenges always suffered from back pain, and it only got worse when she was carrying her first child. Once her daughter was born, Caitlyn expected her pain to get better. Now that she wasn’t pregnant, wouldn’t her back have less strain on it? However Caitlyn soon realized that her baby brought many more physical challenges—holding the growing child, pushing her in a stroller, taking her in and out of car seats, etc. The day-to-day rigors of child care include lots of stretching, reaching, and straining—for someone who has a history of back pain, raising a child can often make it even worse. Eventually, Caitlyn’s pain took an even worse turn.

“All of this combined with my already bad back led to the herniation of a disc in my lower back,” she wrote. “The pain from this herniation radiated all the way down my leg and caused such severe nerve damage that three years later, a large part of my leg is still numb. I had to do something to get better.”

That something, for Caitlyn, wasn’t surgery or medications, both options she could have taken. Instead, she went down a holistic path that she had previously known nothing about: acupuncture.

Caitlyn initially was treated three times a week for the first few months, then eventually went down to at least once a week continuously for the past three years. Now that Caitlyn has two children, she certainly is doing plenty of lifting and stretching and pulling – but she’s living a much more comfortable and pain-free life. 

“Those tiny little needles have saved my mom body by allowing me to put away the pain meds and focus on being present with my kids.”