Babies & Children
The ICPA has initiated a ground breaking study on the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic care for children. The preliminary results are outstanding and show that chiropractic care is safe for children. Even more significant is that parents reported three unexpected improvements with their child’s care:
- Improved sleeping
- Improved behaviour and attitude
- Improved immune system function
It’s never to early to start chiropractic care.
Many spinal problems seen in adults begin as early as birth, physical and mechanical stresses on an infant’s spine can affect the overall health of the nervous system and spinal structure. The resulting irritation to the nerve system caused by spinal and cranial mis-alignment can cause many symptoms in children such as reflux, breathing problems, breast feeding difficulty, delayed developmental milestones and chronic infections.
Part of growing up is learning to balance, ride bikes, climb trees etc. It is a very physical time and all of this activity is part of brain, spine and muscle development. Any imbalances in a child’s spine can alter the child’s development and place forces on the nervous system and the mechanics of the spine. This has been attributes to many learning, behavioural, social, relationships and health problems. The nervous system controls growth, healing, learning and development, a body free of nervous system interference will have the best possible chance to function and develop to the highest level.
Babies
Physical and chemical stress of the birth process on a baby’s delicate spine, usually cause the first subluxation. The signs of this usually manifest as the fussy or difficult to settle baby, these are the ones that we most commonly see in the practice with a very tired parent, usually mum, where there baby is not sleeping, feeding or settling after the first few weeks. Often we observe there will be a head tilt, a poor suck reflex (difficult to attach to mums breast) Often they have colic, there has possibly been a traumatic birth such as a ventoux suction, forceps delivery or caesarean section, we often see babies presented with a distortion to their skull (Plagiocephaly) which can be a result of difficult pregnancy eg: Uterine constraint, neurological changes or babies continuously sleeping in one pattern.
The first twelve months involves exponential growth of a baby’s brain, which is what makes all the new memories, both motor and sensory function within the nervous system. As a baby reaches various stages we expect to see changes in reflexes, muscle changes and strength. This is an essential time for abnormal developmental milestones to be identified, so corrective care can be implemented early, not just for mum and baby to have a happy health bond, importantly for the spine to develop to its full potential.
Paediatric chiropractic is a specialty area for the practitioner to be able to identify and correct postural and neurological development differences as children develop. At One Chiropractic Healthy your practitioners have extensive studies, training and knowledge in the areas of children and baby’s as well as all stages of pregnancy care.
The technique specifically designed for children and babies adjustments is the same pressure you would place on your eyeball with your finger. Chiropractic care is not a cure, it is about allowing the nervous system to develop without nerve interference, to work to its maximum potential and possibly reduce symptoms.
