After a recent post on our Facebook page about infants receiving chiropractic care, we received many questions.  Many asked what conditions chiropractic care can help, how it helps, is it safe and if we see infants and children. With this newsletter I hope to clear up those questions and improve the understanding behind children receiving chiropractic care.

Our introduction into the world is one of the most traumatic events we experience in our entire lives, ask any mother and she will tell you.  The strain placed on the child’s head and neck is astounding and even with cesarean delivery there is no guarantee of reduced strain.  Due to the strain on the head and neck we check these areas specifically for the need of structural and muscular care. For preventative care, we recommend every child be examined for chiropractic care as soon as possible. It is especially important to get care when the child shows signs of postural imbalances in their neck and head. These can be noticed while the child is sleeping if they sleep with their head in one position consistently. 

Proper development is regulated by neonatal reflexes, which will be discussed in our next newsletter, and the child’s interaction with the environment, called proprioception.  The area where our head and neck meet is an important area of proprioception. This is where we take the information from our environment by using our five senses (touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste) and send it to the brain. This area is protected by the top two vertebrae in the neck and the base of the skull.  The protective structures (muscles and vertebrae) around this area are unstable in infants because they have not developed entirely and are a common area where chiropractic care is beneficial in improving stability. Brain development, which continues on through adulthood, depends on our brain receiving information from the outside world. Much of this information comes from proprioception. Who better than a chiropractor to help with the vertebrae and muscle development around this important area so the child receives proper proprioceptive input and develops correctly?

Besides proper brain and nervous system development, chiropractic care has been shown to help with many other problems in infants (1,2,3,4,5). Conditions shown to benefit from chiropractic treatment include colic, or excessive crying with no apparent cause; enuresis, or urinary incontinence in children; asthma, as addressed in our last newsletter; and ear infections, typically within three visits. An additional study showed the ability of chiropractic care to help with GERD and “latching on” to promote feeding, digestion, and subsequently proper growth. Scoliosis is a spinal problem in which many people seek chiropractic treatment. To get the largest reduction of the curve, treatment is most effective while the child is still developing.

Finally, we want you to know that chiropractic care is safe and effective for infants and children.  In our office we see many children for a variety of symptoms and disorders that may include ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Because of their complexity, there are a number of areas we examine before we decide how to proceed with treatments. While chiropractic care alone has been beneficial in these disorders, we also look at other possible issues such as food sensitivities, environmental and heavy metal toxicities, digestive problems, and brain imbalance.

As always, if you would like more information out how our office can help you, your family and your friends, contact us!