Here’s something a lot of people don’t realize: chiropractic care isn’t just for adults. When children get adjusted it can also benefit them greatly! Did you know that subluxations, misalignment of the vertebrae, can happen as early as birth? Starting chiropractic care early offers your child a solid foundation for wellness throughout life. Here are some examples of what pediatric chiropractic can help with: 1. Preventing spinal degeneration.
As with adults, subluxations can lead to problems with the way organ systems function and overall health. The difference is that with children their bodies are still developing and growing. Misalignments in the spine can not only interfere with their system’s function, but also their development. Since subluxations can happen through even small physical trauma, it makes sense that children would be highly susceptible to subluxations. Just think back to your own childhood – climbing trees, playing tag, and usually running into things or falling off things from time to time. Accidents with enough force can cause a subluxation. Getting it corrected quickly helps your child recover and prevents longer lasting problems. Many people were never taught the importance of a healthy spine.
2. Help alleviate ear infections in children
Otitis media, also known as ear infections, are a common complaint in children. The Eustachian tubes are smaller and more level in children than they are in adults. This makes it difficult for fluid to drain out of the ear, even under normal conditions. Typically when seeing a medical doctor, the normal treatment for ear infections starts by giving the child antibiotics. If the ear infections are frequent or severe, doctors often resort to having a tube placed in the ear. However, there have been cases studies where children that have had adjustments to remove the subluxation causing in the inflammation in the tissue surrounding the ear canal and the neck, and a majority of patients have reported a decrease in symptoms. There is one case study in particular with a 2 year old girl that had a history of recurrent ear infections accompanied with fever. The first ear infection occurred when the patient was one month old, and since then, the patient had been under regular antibiotic use. The child was recommended for chiropractic care in hopes of avoiding tubes. Over a span of 36 visits to the chiropractor the ear infections were able to resolve on their own and no surgery was needed to help the ears drain.
3. Helps children learn how to walk
The process of neurological learning or programming of the central nervous system with respect to locomotion, posture, proprioception, and body kinetics begins within a few short months after birth. So, bringing your child in for regular adjustments can not only help reduce ear infections, but also their balance. If your child is having coordination problems, part of this could be because of inner ear problems. As mentioned before, inflammation of the inner ear can affect balance. Their balance as a whole can be thrown off if there is a subluxation in their spine, and particularly their top vertebrae (atlas) that houses the brain stem. The brain stem controls our balance, so if a lot of pressure is applied because of a misalignment in the top vertebrae balance can be altered. Imagine trying to learn how to walk if your nervous system wasn’t working at 100%. Or if one of your extremities, like an ankle or a hip, were out of alignment. When children get adjusted it can help your little one to move easier! Balance is much easier to master when everything works together properly.
4. Helps lessen the frequency of pediatric headaches
Even children get headaches! Simple subluxations through normal activity is common, and can bring on headaches. Allergies are also very common, and the inflammation they cause in the neck may also cause head pain. It also doesn’t help that technology is becoming more prominent in society causing most of us to look down a lot of our days. Text neck, the cranking of one’s neck in a downward position as we stare at a small screen, is beginning to happen younger and younger as we give children our tablets and phones to play on. With this comes an increase in headaches because we are holding our heads at an angle that they were not meant to maintain for long periods of time. No matter the cause, regular chiropractic visits where children get adjusted can help relieve the pain from headaches.
5. Boosts immune function, so children don’t get sick as often.
Just like in adults, children can adjusted and boost their immune system! In fact, a study was done on about 650 children of varying ages with visceral, somatic, and immune complaints at young ages. The study found 96% of the children had subluxation of the SI joints. This can cause the hips to shift and produce improper alignment throughout the spine. Early detection and correction is key in these children’s development and maintenance of long term health into adulthood. By relieving subluxations and helping inflammation to subside within the body, it allows your child’s immune system to run at optimal performance. This, in turn, lets our body do its job so we are better able to fight off illness. Here is more information about a children and chiropractic. The most important thing is to get your child checked by a chiropractor early in life! Call our office today to schedule a complementary Spinal Health Screening 970-377-3557.
