Chiropractic Care for your Child

Parents bring their children to chiropractors for general health concerns such as colic, allergies, bed-wetting, pains, falls, latching difficulties, reflux, recurrent ear infections and many others. These parents want to ensure that there is no disruption to their child’s nervous system, impeding their ability to heal themselves before they seek further medical action

Babies and children are susceptible to trauma and injury of their spines, this can be due to the birthing process (1), intra-uterine constraint (2), or as your child learns how to do new things, such as crawling, walking, running or sports - they will fall and bump themselves often. 

As your pregnancy progresses, the curve in your lower back increases & your pelvis changes its shape. The hormone relaxin is released (3), increasing the risk of weakened core muscles (4). All this changes your posture, this could reduce the amount of room available in your womb resultting in intra-uterine constraint for your child. This can potentially affect the way your baby grows and may reduce your baby’s ability to get into an optimal birthing position (2). 

Caesarian births can be traumatic to a child, especially if there is a lot of tugging and pushing down on the tummy to get the baby out. Natural birth is highly recommended, however it can also be stressful to an infant’s spine and developing nervous system. Births with vacuum cups or forceps are extremely traumatic to your child (5, 6).

All of these ‘micro-traumas’ can cause stiffness and irritation of the joints in your children’s spine, which places pressure on their spinal nerves. These spinal nerves supply everything in your child’s body, and if they are not working efficiently, they decrease your child’s body’s ability to function optimally (7). The irritation caused to the nerves may manifest is many different ways; such as sleep disturbances (8), irritability, excessive crying, failure to thrive syndromes, lowered immune response syndromes (9), pain, or there may be no visible signs at all – these hidden problems may only manifest later on in life (10, 11).

Research has shown that chiropractic care for your children is very safe (12,13). Very gentle and specific techniques are used to care for your children. Infants need no more than a light finger touch to have an effect on their spine (7). You can bring you child for their first session within hours of birth. 

Chiropractors do not treat for diseases, they treat the spine to eliminated dis-ease/interference within the spine and the nerves affected by this - allowing the body’s natural healing potential to function at its best. Parents bring their children to chiropractors for general health concerns such as colic, allergies, bed-wetting, pains, falls, latching difficulties, reflux, recurrent ear infections and many others. These parents want to ensure that there is no disruption to their child’s nervous system, impeding their ability to heal themselves before they seek further medical action (14, 15, 16). 

*Please note, should your child be experiencing fevers or have an infection – it is best to consult with your paediatrician first before seeking chiropractic care.


References:

  1. 1. Gottlieb MS. Neglected spinal cord, brain stem and musculoskeletal injuries stemming from birth trauma. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1 9 9 3 O c t ; 1 6 ( 8 ) : 5 3 7 - 43.
  2. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Volume 25, July/August 2002
  3. Mens JMA, Vleeming A, Stoeckart R, Stam HJ, Snijders CJ. Understanding peripartum pelvic pain. Implications of a patient survey. Spine. 1996;21(11):1363–70.  
  4. DiMarco D.B. The female patient: enhancing and broadening the chiropractic encounter with pregnant and postpartum patients. J Am Chiropr Assoc. 2003;40(11):18–24. 
  5. Biedermann, H Manual Therapy in Children: Proposals for an Etiologic Model, JJournal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Volume 28, Issue 3, Pages e1-e15 
  6. Biederman, H. Kinematic imbalances due to suboccipital strain in newborns. Journal of Manual Medicine 1992; 6:151-156 
  7. Gutmann G. Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndrome in Babies and Infants. Manuelle Medizin. 1987; 25:5-10 
  8. Fryman VM. Springall P Effect of Osteopathic Medical Management on Neurologic Development in Children JAOA. 1992;92:729 
  9. McMullen M. Physical stresses of childhood that could lead to need for chiropractic care. Proceedings of the National Conference on Chiropractic and Pediatrics. Arlington, VA: International Chiropractors Association, 1991.
  10. Ohm, J. Chiropractic for infants: A look at the evidence. Australian spinal research foundation.
  11. Ohm, J. Why should children have chiropractic care? Childhood wellness articles.
  12. Blum K, Holder JM. Attention deficit disorders (ADD). Biogenic aspects. Chiropractic Pediatrics 1994; 1(2):21-23.
  13. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore: The Journal of Science & Healing View Abstract here: http://icpa4kids.com/research/ published_papers/Ped_Safety.htm 
  14. Vallone, S.A., Miller, J., Larsdotter, A. et al. Chiropractic approach to the management of children . Chiropr Man Therap 18, 16 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1340-18-16
  15. Cheryl Hawk, Michael J. Schneider, Sharon Vallone, Elise G. Hewitt, Best Practices for Chiropractic Care of Children: A Consensus Update, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Volume 39, Issue 3,2016, Pages 158-168, ISSN 0161-4754,
  16. Spigelblatt L, Laîné-Ammara G, Pless IB, Guyver A. The use of alternative medicine by children. Pediatrics. 1994 Dec;94(6 Pt 1):811-4. PMID: 7970994.