Healthier Children with Chiropractic
“Chiropractic care for my child? Why? Her back doesn’t bother her.” Often chiropractors have encountered parents who appreciate the importance of regular checkups for their children’s teeth, hearing and vision but draw a blank when it comes to a spinal checkup. That is distressing because a spinal checkup could be one of the most important checkups your children will ever have! The reason it’s so important is because your children’s spines protect their spinal cords, an extension of their brains. The spinal cord contains billions of nerve fibers that send messages and energy to every part of their bodies.
Blockages in the Spine
If there is blockage of any of the nerves along the spinal cord, any nerve damage at all, then a state of “dis-ease” can develop. Dis-ease is state of disharmony in the body which can lead to lowered resistance to disease, organ malfunction, sickness and disease.(1) Blockage of nerves in the spinal column is usually caused by tiny misalignments of the spinal vertebrae called vertebral subluxations.
The First Subluxation
How can your child’s spine lose its natural alignment and develop subluxations? Vertebral subluxations have many possible causes, some of which may occur as early as labor. Injuries can occur to a baby’s spine at birth due to a breech presentation or a difficult delivery that puts too much stress on the child’s body. Health problems in childhood or even adulthood have been traced back to spinal damage at birth. Immediately after birth, damage can occur if the baby is dangled by the feet. As the famous French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer has written in Birth without Violence. We know very little about your bodies, so little that we forget the importance of the spine…Why, when the vulnerable spine has always been curved, do we insist on holding the newborn upside down and jerking the back straight? (2)
Toddlerhood through Childhood
Toddlerhood through childhood is a very “physical” time. Those first hesitant steps soon evolve into jumping and running, and falls and accidents are all part of a normal childhood. While most falls are minor, at times they can cause spinal and nerve-damaging vertebral subluxations with serious long-term consequences.(3) For that reason all children need periodic chiropractic spinal checkups.
A Family Affair
Doctors of chiropractic love to see the whole family, from babies to grandparents, coming in for spinal checkups. Many “chiropractic families” report having more energy, improved health and less dependency on drugs and medication. It is not unusual to hear parents state that since getting under chiropractic care their children get sick less frequently, less severely, have less ear infections and take less ( or no) antibiotics and other drugs than their classmates.(4)
Physical and Psychological Benefits
For decades parents, clinicians and researchers have noticed positive changes in not only physical health, but have also seen behavioral and emotional improvements in children under chiropractic care. Among the observed benefits are improvements in children with hyperactivity, autism, anxiety, low mental stamina, lack of concentration, asthma, and discipline problems. Improvements in grades and IQ have also been recorded.(5-10) The mechanisms explaining these results are varied. There is evidence that subluxation correction improves blood flow to the brain.(11)
Spinal Checkups Are Vital
If your child is suffering from any of the following common conditions, it is essential to get his/her spine checked for vertebral subluxations; not as a treatment for these conditions, but because all children, especially if they are ill, need healthy spines. Being free of blockages to the flow of energy and information over his/her nervous system can make a big difference in your childÂ’s physical and emotional health.
Warning signs
Arm, hand or shoulder pain Poor concentration Vision problems
Loss of hearing Skin disorders Ear infections Painful joints
Eye problems Stomachaches Skin conditions Sinus problems
Poor coordination Hip, leg or foot pain Asthma and wheezing
Breast-feeding difficulties Poor posture Constipation Sore throat
Numbness Bronchitis Arthritis Croup Colic
Allergies Scoliosis Irritability Backaches Neck aches
Headaches Bed-wetting Nervousness Fatigue Joint aches
Shoulder blades flared out One arm looks shorter Hyperactivity
Neck tilt Frequent falling One leg looks shorter “Noisy bones”
A foot turned in or out One hip or shoulder higher than the other
Because your children and you may have subluxations in their spines and not know it, all children need periodic spinal checkups. There are, however, certain warning signs indicating that the spinal column may be out of alignment.
Conclusion
More and more families are finding that periodic chiropractic spinal checkups for their children make a big difference in their health. Why not include chiropractic checkups as part of your family’s health care? Your children need a healthy spine for a healthy life.
References
1. Dystonia associated with atlantoaxial subluxation. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2001; 102 (4): 233-235
2. Leboyer F. Birth without violence. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1984: 21,28
3. Eleraky MA, Theodore N. Adams M, et al, Pediatric cervical spine injuries: report of 102 cases and review of the literature. J Neurosurg. 2000-92(1suppl) 12-17
4. Van Breda WM, van Breda JM. A comparative study of the health status of children raised under the health care models of chiropractic and allopathic medicine. Journal of Chiropractic Research Summer 1989: 101-103
5. Giesen JM, Center DB, Leach RA, An evaluation of chiropractic manipulation as a treatment of hyperactivity in children, JMPT, 1989—12:353-363
6. Walton EV, Chiropractic effectiveness with emotional, learning, and behavioral impairments. International Review of Chiropractic September 1975; 29 2-5: 21-22
7. Gorman RF. Chiropractic Medicine for Rejuvenation of the Mind Darvin, Australia: The Academy of Chiropractic Medicine, 1983
8. Gibbons, PF, Gosling CM, Holmes M. The short term effects of cervical manipulation on edge light pupil cycle time: a pilot study. JMPT 2000—23(7)
9. Mathews MO, Thomas E. A pilot study of applied kinesiology in helping children with learning disabilities. British Osteopathic Journal—1993—XII
10. Ferreri Ca. Breakthrough for Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities –Expostion Press of Florida, Inc. 1986
11. Carrick FR, Changes in brain function after manipulation of the cervical spine. JMPT---1997—20(8)529-545
