Children and Chiropractic
Why Should Children Have Chiropractic Care?
Spinal problems that affect adults often begin in childhood, sometimes as early as at birth. Even natural birthing methods can stress an infant's spine and the developing nervous system.
Colic, breathing problems, nursing difficulties, poor sleeping patterns, allergic reactions and chronic infections can all be caused by spinal and cranial misalignment, which creates irritation to the nervous system.
Since significant spinal and cranial trauma can occur at birth, a newborn should be checked immediately. As an infant grows, lifting the head, sitting, crawling and initial walking are stages where injury may occur and spinal alignment can be adversely affected. These are important times to have a child checked by a Doctor of Chiropractic.
Childhood activities such as skating or riding a bike can cause spinal trauma, specifically small yet significant misalignments called subluxations.
The injuries during this period of rapid growth can lead to more serious problems later in life. Spinal trauma can affect future development of the spine and lead to impaired nervous system function.
The most common reason parents seek care for their child is trauma from an injury. These misalignments may or may not result in immediate pain or symptoms, but regular chiropractic checkups can identify potential spinal injury. If a correction is made early in life, it can help avoid many of the health complaints seen in adults. Spinal hygiene is an important key to better health overall.
Parents seek care for specific conditions such as colic, ear infections, asthma, allergies and headaches (to name a few). Chiropractic care can help in many areas.
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. These impair nervous system function and therefore affect overall body function because the bones of the spine, the vertebrae, house and protect the spinal cord.
The spinal cord carries information from the brain to all parts of the body and back to the brain again. Subluxations (areas of the spine not working properly) interfere with the nerves’ ability to transmit information.
Any aspect of health may be impaired by nerve interference. The nervous system controls the function of all the systems in the body: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, hormonal, eliminative and the immune system. Chiropractic adjustment restores nerve system function allowing better general health.
The doctor of chiropractic will take a case history and perform a detailed chiropractic exam to determine if the spine is working properly. This will eliminate any pathologic problems that would warrant a referral. Chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified to fit a child's size, weight, and unique spinal condition. They are both gentle and specific to the child’s developing spinal structures.