Chiropractic for Kids? Really?

Yes, really!

What does chiropractic do?

The bones of the spine help to protect the spinal cord – a system of nerves that connect the brain to every part of the body in order to control normal body functions. When the bones of the spine go “out of place”, it causes swelling of their joints. When this happens, the muscles that surround these joints go into spasm. This spasming causes the disc between the bones to deform. All of this together irritates the delicate nerves. This irritation prevents the nerves from sending signals normally between the brain and body. Chiropractors correct the alignment of these bones to remove the irritation.

What does this have to do with kids?

Watch any birth video and you will need no convincing that the process of being born (even by C-section) is one of the most physically traumatic events our bodies will endure. Falls from change tables, off beds or down stairs add insult to injury. The trials of learning to walk, ride a bike, or master a sport continue to stress the delicate structures of their still-growing bodies. The potential to create misalignments in the spines of these little ones is seemingly limitless.

Let’s think about that. If we have a newborn with a misaligned spine from his or her birth, we have a brand new person who is functioning at less than full potential from day one! A child with a misaligned pelvis from a stumble during toddler years has decades of life to muddle through without the capacity to fully express his or her true abilities!

Parents spend years agonizing over which programs to enroll their children in or which diet to follow or diapers to buy but aren’t told to have their loved one’s spines checked to make sure that their child’s ability to properly take in information from the outside world and purposefully respond to it through a vital and unhindered nervous system isn’t disrupted. It’s a shame. Colic, reflux, ear infections, “growing pains”, clumsiness, trouble concentrating as well as complaints of aches and pains may all be signs that your child’s body is struggling to perform at its full potential because of irritation to the nervous system.

What if there are no noticeable symptoms?

I believe that a child with a well-aligned spine will be better off at 5 days old, 5 months old or 5 years old than a child with a misaligned spine. Communication, through our nervous system, between our brain and body, forms the basis of our ability to understand, adapt and respond to the world around us.

Isn’t that something worth protecting?