When do children need chiropractic care?
A lot of people wonder why kids would need Chiropractic care and most people think about it for a trauma or car accident but you are born with stress and children can become misaligned. In my practice I find most often infants up to 2 only have one misalignment which is a upper cervical from their neck being delicate at that age. In fact even a dramatic birth such as a C-section or vacuum extraction can result in a new born being misaligned from the first day in this world.
What does Chiropractic have to do with the birthing process?
Chiropractic care can play an important role both during pregnancy and after birth of the newborn for mother and child. During pregnancy, changes in the spinal biomechanics and postural weight-bearing can adversely affect the lower back and sacroiliac joints. In one study, 84% of women receiving chiropractic adjustments reported relief of back pain during pregnancy. During long labors, many women are advised to speed the labor up with intervention. Following birth it is not uncommon for the child to have unsustained birth trauma and the subsequent injuries associated with a difficult birth.
Many women believe that if their baby is in a breech position, their is little that can be done and they will certainly be having a cesarean section birth. The “Webster Technique” of chiropractic of balancing the pelvic bones, joints, ligaments, and supporting musculature are key to allow a baby to move from breech to the vertex position.
The pressure on the nervous system is known as a vertebral subluxation Vertebral subluxations are the result of neurological trauma, and have negative effects on almost every tissue in the body. In a newborn, the vertebral subluxation can result in colic, reflux, irritability, lack of sleep, constipation, and a myriad of other conditions ranging in level of severity.
How many kids are at risk for vertebral subluxation? In 1987, the German medical journal, Manuelle Medizin, a group of 1,250 babies were examined 5 days after birth. Of this group, 211 suffered from vomiting, hyperactivity, or sleeplessness. It was found upon examination that 95% of these infants had spinal abnormalities, and following adjustment to the subluxations, they became calm, stopped crying, and went to sleep.
Chiropractic care has been shown to help women at each stage of pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Unwarranted medical intervention can be expensive and expose mother and child to unnecessary additional risk. Chiropractic care may just allow you to have the birth you always wanted, and could also reduce your costs by the tens of thousands in terms of surgeries avoided.
“Children do not grow out of problems they grow into them”
The next common stage of life commonly being a problem is 2-7 when kids are learning to walk, run, jump and play around.
Symptoms:
- Chronic ear infections
- Bed wetting
- Asthma
- Neurodivergent disorders
How many times a day does your child sit down for, and when they are sitting how is their posture? Michelles son Xian enjoys playing video games and when playing he’s slouching, looking straight at a screen for hours it can affect how he feels. Now they are kids and we still want them to be kids. Just not with headaches that are ruining their fun and interrupting their life.
Now we know kids don’t want to take a class or do more chores so make it fun with your kids by doing stretches and make up different names if you want or follow the ones I have chosen.
Look how the children above are sitting, their necks are tucked in so their breathing is less which effects the brain, and their back is curved which effects the spine. Slouching earlier in life can lead to a curved spine which can be much harder to fix later in life.
Symptoms your child needs a chiropractic exam:
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Uneven shoulders
- Irregular sleep schedule
- Limited head or neck mobility
- Reoccurring neck or back pain
Some may say, “oh my child is too young and scared”. While working with children during an adjustment they will be gentle adjustments. You can start bringing your child in at just a few month old.
The next stage we see is kids going to school 7-12 years old. Their facing new stresses sitting at a desk for hours, carrying a backpack, learning to read. School have been taking away physical education for years and we are finding it harder to get our children out their moving. At this age we see the symptoms above but more symptoms are accruing and kids are starting to have the same symptoms as you will see in adults.
Symptoms:
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Mid back pain
- Lower back pain
Hyper link to low back pain blog.
Then we have the next stage which is teens to young adults. 13-19 year olds and in the teenage years, many adolescents are playing more contact sports, spending increasingly time with social media and educational pressures. Even at this age we can start to see spinal differences or misaligned vertebral subluxation complex. Click here for more on Lower back pain.
Symptoms:
- Migraines
- Vertigo
- Numbness and tingling
- Sciatica
Backpacks can be a common trigger for back pain in children, most have to carry one around to school, during and after to walk home. Depending on how much you keep in your backpack like multiple books, a computer and other accessories. That weight can be detrimental to your kids posture.
Fortunately its not doom and gloom there is hope for the future of our children, there bodies have only had stress and and it easier to correct the alignment of a childs spine to an elderly spine and that’s why were passionate about helping families with corrective care, Click here for more information. Its different for each case and the history but regardless they go through neural structural which may include evaluations
If your interested keep us in mind or give us a call.
This is just the beginning we are going to be following along a 12 week process so about 6 visits and will be showing the differences between now and later. Our process will be with a 9-year old names Xian, that is currently having headaches, numbness in hands. These symptoms are affecting his everyday life, playing games at home, and doing homework. It takes time for results but at Koru Chiropractic we are here to help you feel better and heal your body back tot where it should be normally.
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