Children’s Health & Chiropractic
Children often respond quickly to chiropractic care and seem to prefer our natural approach.
Children are some of the biggest beneficiaries of chiropractic care. Surprised? Those who think of chiropractic as primarily a solution for neck and back problems are surprised to learn that chiropractic can be helpful for many types of childhood health problems.
Nervous System Disturbances
The nervous system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord and all the nerves of the body, controls and regulates the entire body. Many childhood health problems are merely the result of nervous system interference, usually along the spine.
My gentle adjusting techniques help reduce these disturbances so your child’s body can resume working as it was designed. Better health is the natural result when the brain and body have clear communication pathways.
Ear infections
Biomechanical restrictions in the upper spine can compromise the nervous system and immune system, making your child’s ears a breeding ground for viral infection.
Colic
Birth trauma, even from so-called “natural” birthing experiences can often produce a child’s first nerve compromise. Lacking the ability to communicate, your baby cries. And cries.
ADHD
For some reason, ADHD seems to afflict boys more often than girls.
However, since ADHD appears as a neurological disorder and chiropractic care attempts to reduce nervous system disturbances, many parents who want a natural, non-drug solution for their child have found chiropractic care helpful. Addressing Nutritional changes and well as Lifestyle changes are shown to be very effective.
First Things First
Begin by making nutritional and lifestyle changes. Rule out environmental factors by reducing your child’s exposure to substances that are increasingly common these days:
- Remove food dyes, preservatives and additives from the diet.
- Focus on natural, organic foods grown without pesticides or herbicides.
- Determine if an allergy is involved such as dairy or gluten and eliminate.
- Eliminate all sugars and artificial sweeteners.
- Reduce the use of cleaning agents, detergents, fabric softeners and other chemicals.
These are wise choices whether your child has the symptoms associated with ADHD or not!
Chiropractic: Pure and Natural
Instead of treating the various symptoms of hyperactivity, we look for disturbances to the child’s nervous system. We often find problems caused by spinal distortions in the upper neck. In fact, this link between the spine, brain stem dysfunction and ADHD is common. A thorough chiropractic examination can reveal noticeable spinal distortion, even a reversal of the normal neck curve. That’s why we often recommend a schedule of safe and natural chiropractic adjustments, nutrition and lifestyle changes.
Bedwetting
Lack of bladder control can cause shame, guilt and impaired social skills.
Bedwetting takes a tremendous toll on children. Embarrassment. Alarms. No sleepovers.
Plastic mattress covers. Frustration. Unable to fit in. Even diapers.
Up to the age of four or five, most children have poor bladder control at night. But after that, the inability to stay dry at night may be a sign of an underlying problem. While chiropractic is not a treatment for bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis), countless children have been helped with safe and natural chiropractic care.
Bladder Physiology: Two key muscles control the emptying of the bladder. Their technical names are the detrusor and trigone muscles. Nerves that exit the spinal column in the lower back and sacrum control these muscles.
During the early years of life, the sacrum has five separate segments. Later, they fuse together to form the triangular-shaped bone that adults have at the base of the spine. If these segments misalign (falling, learning to walk, ride a bike, etc.) they may compromise nerves that are responsible for bladder function.
We look for these sometimes subtle misalignments during our examination. When these misalignments are reduced with safe and natural chiropractic adjustments, nervous system control and regulation of the bladder may often be restored.
Published Reports
The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics document many studies showing the positive benefits of chiropractic care.
A study of 46 children received chiropractic care for a 10-week period. A quarter of those receiving chiropractic care had 50% or more reduction in the wet night frequency, while none among the control group saw a reduction. (JMPT 1994 (Nov-Dec);17 (9): 596-600)
Children with a history of persistent bed-wetting received eight chiropractic adjustments. Number of wet nights fell from seven per week to four. (JMPT 1991 (Feb);14 (2): 110-115)
The lumbar spine of an eight-year-old male bed wetter was adjusted once and at a one-month follow-up. There was a complete resolution of enuresis. “This happened in a manner that could not be attributed to time or placebo effect.” (JMPT 1994 (Jun);17 (5): 335-338)
Asthma
By reducing neurological compromise to the bronchial tubes, lungs and diaphragm with chiropractic care, attacks can often be reduced or eliminated with chiropractic care. Improved immune system function as well as diet changes can also be helpful in combating asthma.
Growing Pains
Pain of any type is a warning that something isn’t right. While considered a “phase they’re going through,” it’s usually a sign that biomechanical stress to the nervous system is present. Proper alignment of the bones and joints, along with the associated muscles can be very important to development. Also nutritional supplementation may be helpful and necessary to aid in proper development. For example, Vitamin D, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Essential Fatty Acids are just a few necessary elements that aid in development.
Scoliosis
Instead of crude bracing or the all too common “wait and watch” approach, chiropractic care has helped countless children with this common disfigurement. Through proper alignment of the spine and pelvis; along with strengthening exercises change at a young age is possible.
Reference link: www.clear-institute.org
Wellness
An obvious symptom isn’t required! Enjoy the peace of mind of having your infant or child checked to uncover structural or neurological problems before they become serious. Prevention over crisis is the key.
Many of the hard-to-correct problems we see in adults are long-standing problems that began, and remained undetected in childhood.
Email Us
If you’re the cautious type, click here to email Dr. Brenda to discuss your questions or concerns. We appreciate the opportunity to field questions, clear up concerns and put prospective patients at ease before their first visit.
Call or Text
You don’t need a referral to begin chiropractic care. Dr. Brenda can personally speak with you to answer any questions and schedule your appointment.
No-Obligation Consultation
Still have questions or concerns? We can talk over the phone and personally discuss your case and how I can best serve you. Call or text (615) 719-6131!