Children & Infants

What Is Chiropractic Care for Children?

Chiropractic is a natural method of health cave that treats the causes of physical problems rather than just the symptoms. Chiropractic is based on a simple but powerful premise: With a normally functioning spine and nerves and a healthy lifestyle, your child’s body is better able to heal itself. The nervous system controls movement, feeling, and function throughout your child’s body.

Help For Little Kids with “Big” Problems

A 1989 study of colicky infants in Denmark reports a success rate of 94% among the study group following a program of chiropractic care. More than two-thirds of all children will have one or more episodes of ear infections by the age of three.

A 1996 study of a group of children with ear infections and discomfort found that 93% of the study group reported improvement with chiropractic care. Thousands of children have found relief from bedwetting with chiropractic.

Nerve interference due to spinal misalignment can cause the communication between your child’s brain and bladder to break down. Chiropractic care can remove the interference that can cause loss of bladder control.

Spinal Adjustments

Spinal adjustments for children are usually different from adjustments for adults. Your chiropractor gently presses on the spine to restore proper motion of the vertebrae and relax the muscles. Your child should feel no pain. Your child’s chiropractor applies light pressure with the fingers during an adjustment.

Physical Exam

Dr. Khalid will observe your child’s posture and movements, check reflexes and range of motion in the joints, gently palpate the spine, and check for scoliosis (curvature of the spine). The exam should not be painful for your child.

Diagnosis

Based on the results of your child’s exam, your doctor of chiropractic may recommend a treatment program to correct any abnormal curvature of the spine, joints or bones that are not moving properly, or loss of flexibility in the spine. If needed, your child’s chiropractor also consults with or refers you to other medical specialists, such as a pediatrician.

Why risk your child’s good health during these critical years of development? Now is the time to schedule your child’s spinal exam! You can have confidence that chiropractic is safe and effective care for your little one. When spinal misalignments go untreated, your child’s body continues to grow. An injured spine will simply grow misaligned, leading to degenerative or permanent conditions later in life.

Regular adjustments are an essential ingredient for healthy children! With gentle, expert hands, we can restore your child’s spinal health. Children of all ages can benefit from our expertise in dealing with spinal problems. We see infants dealing with spinal stress from the birth process and toddlers learning to walk. We also see school children active in sports and adolescents going through “growth spurts.”

Can Chiropractic Care Help My Child?

A child’s spine can be stressed or injured during birth. As children learn to walk and run, they fall and can suffer strains and sprains. Periodic checks by a doctor of chiropractic can help identify any developing weaknesses in your child’s spine. To help determine whether your child needs treatment, your chiropractor asks questions about your child’s birth and development, such as: Did anything unusual happen during birth? At what age did your child begin to crawl? Stand? Walk? How do you hold your child? Does your child have unexplained pain, discomfort, or crying? What are your child’s physical activities? What falls or injuries has your child had?

How Does My Baby’s Spine Develop?

Adults have three natural curves in their spines that help support their bodies. At birth, an infant has only one curve. The other curves develop as the child begins to hold up his or her head and learns to crawl and stand. How Does a Chiropractor Treat My Child? It’s important for your child to grow up with a healthy spine. Early spinal exams by a doctor of chiropractic may help prevent many health problems later in life. A chiropractor is trained to help maintain or restore the health of your child’s spine through adjustments and other gentle treatments. Children usually respond quickly to treatment.

How Can I Help My Child?

You can help your child develop a healthy spine by scheduling regular chiropractic exams, just as you make regular dental appointments.

Can Chiropractic Help?

Chiropractic is based on the scientific fact that the nervous system controls the function of virtually every cell, tissue, organ and system of the body. The skull and spinal column are designed to protect these vital nerve pathways. Since the bones of the spinal column are movable, they are especially vulnerable to the Vertebral Subluxation Complex during the birth process. Conservative chiropractic care can improve the function of a spine that has been traumatized by birth or a disease process. Parents often observe the resulting improved neurological function.

A newborn’s spine traumatized? How?

The newborn that knew only the warmth, softness, darkness, quiet and comfort of the womb is suddenly exposed to a cold, noisy, hard, harsh, blinding world. Separated from mother, often dangled from its heels and struck on its rear, these procedures can cause permanent physical trauma and emotional scarring. Many studies have shown home birth to be safer for both mother and child. The following study conducted by Lewis E. Mehl, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin Infant Development Center reviewed 2,000 births, nearly half of which had taken place at home. There were 30 birth injuries among the hospital-born children and none among those born at home. Fifty-two of the babies born in the hospital required resuscitation versus only 14 of those born at home. Six hospital babies suffered neurological damage compared to one born at home. The best way to avoid hospital horror stories is to consider home birth as an alternative to hospital birth.”‘

Children & Infants