09/16/2017

Chiropractic care for Infants and Children

Babies and children are susceptible to trauma and injury of their spines, this can be due to the birthing process, intra-uterine constraint, or as your child learns how to do new things, such as crawling or walking, they will fall and bump themselves often.

Intra-uterine constraint is defined as any forces external to the developing foetus that obstructs normal movement of the foetus. If your pelvis was slightly unbalanced and your developing baby could not move around freely, then this may irritate or stiffen joints within your baby’s body.

Caesarian births can be traumatic to a child, especially if there is a lot of tugging and pushing down on the tummy to get the baby out. Natural birth is highly recommended, however it can also be stressful to an infant’s spine and developing nervous system. Births with vacuum cups or forceps are extremely traumatic to your child.

All of these ‘micro-traumas’ can cause stiffness and irritation of the joints in your children’s spine, which places pressure on their spinal nerves. These spinal nerves supply everything in your child’s body, and if they are not working efficiently, they decrease your child’s body’s ability to function optimally. The irritation caused to the nerves may manifest is many different ways; such as sleep disturbances, irritability, excessive crying, pain, or there may be no visible signs at all – these hidden problems may only manifest later on in life.

Research has shown that chiropractic care for your children is very safe. Very gentle and specific techniques are used to care for your children. Infants need no more than a light finger touch to have an effect on their spine. You can bring you child for their first session within hours of birth.

Chiropractors do not treat specific diseases. They free the nervous system from spinal stress, allowing the bodies natural healing potential to function at its best. Parents bring their children to chiropractors for general health concerns such as ear infections, colic, asthma, allergies, bed-wetting, pains, fall, latching difficulties, reflux, colds, sore throats, and many others. These parents want to ensure that there is no disruption to their child’s nervous system, impeding their ability to heal themselves before they seek further medical action.

References:
• www.ipca4kids.org
• www.infantrefluxdisease.com
• Ohm, J. Chiropractic for infants: A look at the evidence. Australian spinal research foundation.
• www.chiro.org
• Pathways magazine
• Ohm, J. Why should children have chiropractic care? Childhood wellness articles.