CHIROPRACTIC AND KIDS

 

Why should I bring my kid to the chiropractor?

Parents know the importance of regular dental, eyesight and hearing check-ups for their kids, but usually they forget one which is probably the most important: the spine check-up. There is no need to wait that our child complains of back pain to bring him/her to a chiropractor.

Children and babies need a spine and nervous system working at 100% of its potential. Their brain has to be constantly aware about their body and their environment, just as our brain does.

How could a little baby have problems with his spine and nervous system?

The child’s first subluxation could happen in the uterus as a consequence of the position of the fetus in it. Then the labour, depending on the process of giving birth, could provoke interferences that irritate the baby’s nervous system.

We shouldn’t forget that kids can get out of alignment due to falls (when they learn to walk or to ride a bike), bad postures (texting neck, videogames, etc), heavy backpacks, and so on.

As a silent tooth decay, the misalignment of the body alters the whole baby organism without showing any symptom at the beginning.

 

Which are the common symptoms that have to make me think about chiropractic care for my kid?

It has been seen that parents bring their kids to the chiropractor for multple reasons:^1-2

• Healthy development and prevention
• Infant Colics (a baby that cries for more than 3h/day)
• Sore ears,
• Bad posture,
• Back and neck pain,
• Breathing or sleeping problems,
• Cranial asymmetry (the baby always looking at the same side or sucking the same breast)

Most importantly, kids should go see a chiropractor to make sure they grow up healthy and prevent long lasting, annoying issues.

 

Chiropractic care provides health in a natural way and it has a preventive function of utmost importance for our kids’ quality of life in the long run.

 

How do you adjust kids? Is it safe?

Of course we as chiropractors do not adjust children in the same way we adjust adults. That is because the children’s bones are softer, not fully mature yet. We evaluate the global function of the body, localise areas that need an adjustment, then apply a very gentle pressure on the joints or the segments in order to get them back to the right place.

Before you ask, chiropractic is not risky at all; actually the research says that there has not been one single serious adverse event caused by chiropractic care for a child anywhere in the world for the past 20 years.³

 

1. Miller JE, Newell D, Bolton JE. Efficacy of chiropractic manual therapy on infant colic: a pragmatic single-blind, randomized controlled trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2012 Oct;35(8):600-7.
2. Groenewald CB, Beals-Erickson SE, Ralston-Wilson J, Rabbitts JA, Palermo TM. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Children With Pain in the United States. Acad Pediatr. 2017;17(7):785-793
3. Doyle MF. Is chiropractic pediatric care safe? A best evidence topic. Clinical Chiropractic. 9//2011;14(3):97-105.