Children and Chiropractic Care

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Children and Chiropractic Care

Questions Parents Frequently Ask

About Children and Chiropractic Care:

Why Should I Bring My Child to a Chiropractor?

Children are very susceptible to trauma in their spines from various activities and events. When learning to walk, children fall a lot ....and directly on their rear ends, creating trauma to the lower spine. Children play rough and tumble around like a rag doll. Children bounce down the stairs on their bottoms like a bouncing ball. Children fall off their bicycles and skate boards. I could go on and on. These small and large traumas can misalign or subluxate the vertebrae of the spine, placing pressure on the spinal nerves and therefore decreasing the bodies’ ability to function at 100% of its normal capacity. Although symptoms, such as pain and malfunction may not show up for years, injury to the skeletal structures and the vital nervous system can have a lifetime of damaging effects.

When Should I Bring my Child to a Chiropractor?

Children should be checked as soon as is practical after birth because of the potential damaging effects of the birth process. Even the most natural births are somewhat traumatic to the infant and may have “hidden damage.” In 30 years of adjusting children I find that many children who experience symptoms of colic, ear infections and asthma have spinal subluxations (misalignments), especially in their neck, impairing their nervous system function. Early detection and correction can prevent damage from occurring in the child's vital nervous system and help the child's body to function at 100% of it potential. Accumulated damage will have lifelong consequences ...which we see in our adult patients who were never checked as children.

Does it Hurt to Have My Child Adjusted by a Chiropractor?

Chiropractors like myself, experienced in adjusting children use very specific, gentle techniques to care for children. On the very young, the adjustment by hand can be as light as a finger touch. In most cases I prefer to use a specific adjusting tool called an "Activator" or another called an "Arthrostim". Both are very gentle and do not involve and popping or cracking to the child's spine.

If children have fear or apprehension about seeing a Chiropractor it is typically because they associate their visit with that of previous visits to their MD where they may have been given shots or experienced other traumatic procedures like an ear exam during an ear infection ...OUCH!.

Once they realize that being adjusted by a Chiropractor is a painless and fun procedure they very willingly get on the adjusting table in anticipation of a good experience.

What Childhood Conditions do Chiropractors Treat?

It is important to understand that the Doctor of Chiropractic does not treat conditions or diseases. The expertise of the chiropractor is in checking the child’s spine for misalignments that impair nervous system function therefore affecting overall body function. The bones of the spine, the vertebrae, house and protect the spinal cord. The spinal cord is an extension of the brain and carries information from the brain to the body parts and back to the brain again. Subluxations (misalignments) interfere with the nerves’ ability to transmit this vital information. The nerve system controls and coordinates the function of all the systems in the body: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, hormonal, eliminative and immune system. Any aspect of health may be impaired by nerve interference. The chiropractic adjustment restores nerve system function allowing the body the ability to express a greater state of health and well-being.

Chiropractic Care Helps the Immune System

Immune Boost: This Is Spinal Zap

Give your immune system a leg up through chiropractic care. By Katie Gilbert, published on August 24, 2006 - last reviewed on April 13, 2009

It came to the point where something had to give. Lilian Garcia's pollen, dust, and food allergies were getting her down. Her allergies were even affecting her job. The recording artist and World Wrestling ringmaster's voice wasn't achieving optimal performance. But that soon changed. While she was cutting a record with singer-songwriter Jon Secada, he suggested chiropractic care. Though the recommendation struck her as unconventional, Garcia was desperate for a solution. She set up an appointment.

The test of efficacy came soon after she started regular chiropractic treatment, during a moment of weakness in the mall. "I saw an ice cream cone and I went for it," Garcia remembers. "I ate two and I had zero complications. It was my first ice cream cone in 12 years." The connection between her allergies and chiropractic care seemed natural. "Something's flowing better."

Terry Rondberg, president of the World Chiropractic Alliance, explains that the spine does play a role in wellbeing. He notes that many factors affect the body's ability to maintain optimal balance. Nutrition, posture, exercise, stress, fatigue are important, but so is the health of your spine.

Chiropractic care was first linked to improved immunity during the deadly flu epidemic of 1917 and 1918. The funny thing was: Chiropractic patients fared better than the general population. This observation spurred a study of the field. The data reported that flu victims under chiropractic care had an estimated .25 percent death rate, a lot less than the normal rate of 5 percent among flu victims who did not receive chiropractic care.

In the years since, studies are finding that chiropractic care is a way to improve immunity. One study, from the National College of Chiropractic in Lombard, Illinois, found that disease-fighting white blood cell counts were higher just 15 minutes after chiropractic manipulation was applied to the back. A similar study investigated the immune system response in HIV-positive patients under chiropractic care. After six months of treating spinal misalignment, the group receiving the chiropractic treatment showed a 48 percent increase in white blood cell counts. Conversely, the group that did not receive chiropractic manipulation experienced a 7.96 percent decrease in immunity cells.

Time—and more studies—will show whether chiropractic treatment is a necessary addition to your immune system's arsenal. Lilian Garcia, however, has all the proof she needs. "I see my chiropractor every week," she says, "and there's no way I'm going to stop."

Case Studies

Chiropractic Care of Five Children with Headaches

Anderson-Peacock, ED, Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics, Vol.1, No.1, Jan. 1996.

In this case series, five children presented with varying types of head-aches to a family-based chiropractic practice. In each case, spinal subluxations were present. Following reduction of those subluxations through chiropractic adjustments the child's chief complaint remised. Adjunctive therapy (education on diet, posture and exercise) was not given until the headaches remised. Thus, it was felt that the headache reduction may have been due to the restoration of nervous system function through the chiropractic adjustment. Chiropractic management of headaches should be further researched in children.

The Effect of Chiropractic Adjustments on the Behavior of Autistic Children: A Case Review

Sandeful, R, Adams E. ACA Journal of Chiropractic, Dec 21:5, 1987.

The authors reported that 50% of all subjects under chiropractic care experienced reliable behavioral improvements, as recorded by independent observers. It is reported by those working with autistic children than any change in behavior in an autistic child is considered to be significant. Behavioral improvements were observed in such diverse areas as picking up toys, use of sign language, reduction of self-abuse and appropriate use of language.

The Effect of Chiropractic Care on an Infant with Problems of Constipation: A Case Study

Marko, S. Chiropractic Pediatrics Vol. 1 No. 3 Dec. 1994.

Infant began having constipation at age 6 months when solid foods were introduced. In order for her to have a bowel movement she had to be in a warm bath with her legs up and her abdomen massaged. At one point, the baby actually became impacted and emergency care was needed. Was not uncommon for her to go a week to ten days between bowel movements. After the second chiropractic, adjustment patient had a bowel movement all by herself. Within two weeks began having regular bowel movements by herself every two or three days. At 23 months, the patient began to walk and she has at least one totally normal bowel movement every day.

The Role of the Chiropractic Adjustment in the Care and Treatment of 332 Children with Otitis Media (Ear Infections)

Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 1997; Volume 2, No. 2:167-183.

A promising study published in the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics indicates that there is a strong correlation between chiropractic adjustments and the resolution of ear infections. 332 children with chronic ear infections participated in the study. Each child, ranging in age from 27 days to 5 years, was given a series of chiropractic adjustments. The results show that close to 80% of the children did not experience another ear infection within the six-month period following their initial visits. The six-month period included maintenance treatments every four to six weeks. Joan M. Fallon, D.C., the author of the study and the chiropractor who treated the children in the study, states that this pilot study can serve as a starting point from which the chiropractic profession can begin to examine its role in the treatment of children with chronic ear infections. She asserts that large-scale clinical trials need to be undertaken in the field.