Chiropractic Care for Children
Chiropractic care is as helpful for children as it is for adults. In addition to strengthening the immune system and treating certain injuries and diseases, in children chiropractic care promotes proper alignment during growth and development. Chiropractic care is used as an adjunct to primary medical care, often enhancing medical treatment and sometimes providing effective relief of symptoms where typical medical remedies fail. In addition to assisting with the neuromuscular conditions so central to adult chiropractic care, chiropractic care for children has frequently proven helpful in solving common childhood complaints typically resistant to treatment.
Chiropractic Well Care for Children
Chiropractors recommend that babies be seen as early as possible, usually within the first month of life, and every 3 months during their first year. Chiropractic care should then continue once or twice a year or after any known trauma or sign of abnormality, such as head tilting or limping. Most of the time, children do not present with adult complaints of back or joint pain, but may have other conditions that respond well to chiropractic care.
Otherwise healthy Infants may be brought to the practitioner with after effects of birth trauma, or because they are having difficulty nursing. Commonly, chiropractic care assists in resolving plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome) or colic, both common, usually benign, conditions of infancy. Because chiropractic care is non-invasive and uses no medication, it is a safe and often pleasant, relaxing treatment, relieving stress for both mother and child as they adjust to one another. The amount of pressure exerted on an infant during an adjustment has been compared to the slight pressure used in testing a tomato for ripeness.
Chiropractic Care for Childhood Ailments
Chiropractors who work on children are extremely gentle. Such delicate manipulations, however, can make substantive differences in a child's health and well-being. Chiropractic care in children, as in adults, assists in maintaining proper joint and neurological function.
Conditions in children reported to be effectively treated by chiropractic care include:
- Headaches
- Ear infections
- Common colds
- Constipation
- Enuresis (bed wetting)
- Growing pains
- Sports injuries
Adjustments to the neck or the back of the skull help to promote the ear drainage necessary to treat an ear infection (otitis media). Chiropractic manipulations can also help children's spines stay in proper alignment as they grow and have been anecdotally reported to improve the curvature of scoliosis. Children with certain neurological disorders, such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorders have also responded well to chiropractic treatments.
Chiropractic care can be helpful in diagnosing physical problems before symptoms occur and can, at times, prevent disease by keeping the immune system in good working order. Chiropractic care for children is especially helpful during growth spurts.
For more information about Chiropractic Care for Children, Call J.C. Morris's office at