Chiropractic and Children
Why would a child need to see a chiropractor?
The birth process can put a great deal of pressure on the spine. In a difficult delivery, damage to the delicate tissues of the spine may occur especially when vacuum extraction or forceps are used. As children develop, they suffer falls and tumbles while learning to crawl, walk, climb and run. Consequently these everyday childhood activities can cause subluxations (an area in the spine that is out of alignment that is causing nerve interference and may influence organ system function and general health) which may result in a variety of unhealthy conditions. Chiropractic care will help your child’s body keep itself healthy which can lead to a lifetime of good health.
Health conditions that infants and children may respond to with chiropractic care:
Colic,
constipation,
recurring ear infections,
bed wetting,
frequent colds,
headaches,
poor concentration,
postural problems,
Learning disabilities.
The parents of children under chiropractic care often report that their children seem healthier than other kids their age.
Featured Patient
Our featured patient in this issue is a 1 year old little girl. Medical tests confirmed that she had kidney reflux. The medical treatment is long term antibiotic therapy. The parents were told that a voiding cystogram (medical test that checks for kidney reflux) would be performed yearly and if the test was positive the little girl would have to continue taking antibiotics for up to 4 years. If after 4 years the test was still positive, surgery was going to have to be considered. In her history her mother stated that her daughter was also constipated (averaging 1 bowel movement per week). I found this very unusual since the child was being breast fed. During the second month of care she started having 4 to 6 bowel movements per day. This continued for 4 weeks and then she was having 1 to 2 bowel movements per day.
During the period that she was having up to 6 bowel movements per day I reassured the parents that when a patient starts care and their body starts responding I trust what the body is doing, in this case I felt her body was naturally detoxifying. I was also excited for her since the innervation from the spine to the large intestine and kidneys are adjacent to each other, so what the mom was reporting to me was supporting in my mind that the nerve flow to the large intestine was normalizing and at this point I felt that the nerve flow to the kidneys should also be normalized. I explained this to the parents and they subsequently went to the pediatrician and requested her to order a voiding cystogram. The pediatrician agreed and the results came back normal.
This is a classic example that health comes from the inside out and when the body is subluxated and the flow of energy from the brain to our spinal cord and out to our body is disrupted our body cannot function at its best. When this energy flows uninhibited the healer within us is released and our body functions that way it was meant to work.
9 Secrets to Highly Happy Children
In addition to chiropractic care, the following are 9 secrets of highly happy children
1. Healthy eating- they eat whole foods that have not been processed or altered from their original state and no chemical additives. Kids with mood swings and depression are usually found to be associated with a heavily processed food diet.
2. Eating on time.
3. Regular, high quality sleep. Children 5 to 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep.
4. Free play- unstructured play time to build imagination.
5. Express Emotions-Encourage and allow your children to vent and express his or her emotions in healthy ways.
6. Make choices- Let them decide what to wear or what activities they would like to do.
7. They feel heard- A child’s happiness and self-confidence will soar when he feels that his parents truly listen and respond to what he’s saying.
8. Unconditional love.
9. Be happy yourself!
Adapted from: mercola.com