It seems that daily I get the very familiar question by parents and patients of “Do children need to be adjusted? How early in age should my child start seeing a chiropractor?” I understand why this is such a popular question, considering it seems that more and more parents are taking their children to see chiropractors for everything from asthma, allergies, neck pain, headaches, autoimmune disorders, general health, or countless other things. Therefore, my response always very simple “Does your child have a nervous system and spine? Don’t you think that even the smallest spines need to be functioning correctly and alleviated from any type of nerve interference?” With this being said I wanted to outline the benefits of chiropractic care for you child in their growth process to help them reach a state of optimal health.
Sometimes I have parents come in that are excellent patients. They come in once or twice a week to get their adjustments and get feeling better so they can continue to live their lives pain free, but for some reason they never see the benefits of doing the same for the rest of their family. I just want to scream at them “Why haven’t you had your child’s spine checked yet?!” For babies and children, they should be checked immediately due to the simple fact that the birthing process puts immense stress on a baby’s little spine and brain, especially with the use of epidurals, c-sections, forceps, and pitossin. No wonder why it is so common for children to easily acquire symptoms of colic, irritability, poor breastfeeding, poor sleep, developmental issues, ADHD, digestive disturbances, asthma, heaches, etc. This list of common symptoms of children these days is endless, and it’s disturbing to me! Regardless of the symptom, it is important to always realize that the road to Optimal Health is all routed in to a properly function nervous system! While chiropractic may be able to help with a number of health issues, our focus is not treating or curing ailments; our focus is ensuring the nervous system has every opportunity to work efficiently and effectively.
How do little kids get nerve irritation?
Nerve irritations occur as a part of normal daily life. They may result from physical, chemical and emotional stressors to our health, such as bad posture (Think how heavy those book bags are on your child’s little spine), knocks and falls, poor food choices (How many times did you go to McDonalds this week?), dehydration, exposure to chemicals and toxins, and stress and anxiety. Some research suggests that even before these lifestyle stressors have an impact, nerve irritation may occur in the uterus from awkward positioning, restriction of movement, and exposure to toxins. Subluxations or nerve irritation may also occur from birth complications such as long labours, very fast labours, or forceps or caesarean delivery.
While research to support how effective chiropractic for children is not yet extensive, parental satisfaction with results achieved is compelling in its own right.
10 reasons parents take their children to see a chiropractor:
- To encourage good brain and nervous system development
- To support their child’s overall health and wellbeing.
- To help strengthen their child’s immunity and reduce the incidence of colds, ear aches, flu, and viruses
- To assist with colic and Irritable Baby Syndrome.
- To help with asthma, breathing difficulties, respiratory issues, and allergies.
- To encourage good spinal posture, increase time to crawling, and increase time to walking and running
- To help improve their child’s ability to concentrate
- To assist with behavioral disorders such as ADHD, concentration difficulties, and learning issues
- To help alleviate digestive problems
- To assist with bed-wetting and sleep issues
