Chiropractic For Babies
My baby doesn’t have back pain, so why does she need a chiropractor?
As a new parent ( or maybe this is your 2nd or 3rd go at it) there is legitimate concern when thinking about bringing your child to a chiropractor. Why would my baby need an adjustment, they don’t have back pain. Do they adjust kids the same as adults? Is it safe? These are all questions that we hear often and we encourage you to have them. Hopefully we can address some concerns here.
Birth Trauma
First lets address the most common issue, Birth Trauma.
Often we hear moms or dads say “ no there was no trauma, we had a normal vaginal birth”. You may be unaware but during a so called “normal” vaginal birth there can be up to 30-40 lbs of pressure applied to a babies head & neck to assist in getting them out of the birth canal. In one study by Dr. Viola Frymann, 1250 newborn babies were studied and it was found that 78% of the babies presented with membranous articular strains, while 10% had severe visible head trauma. Now what does this mean to you as a parent, what symptoms could be presenting in your baby from this trauma at birth? These strains in the head and neck can present as irregular breathing patterns, difficulties in sucking, vomiting, torticollis and colic in newborn babies. Commonly after these muscular strains on the the spine are relieved through a gentle chiropractic adjustment the presenting symptoms start to subside.
The Adjustment
Now your probably thinking “well how gentle can an adjustment be?” When it comes to newborn babies we generally use the tips of our fingers to administer the adjustment. Babies bones are not calcified and are easier to move back into alignment therefore we do not need to elicit any type of push component. As babies develop into toddlers and onward we are able to use our instrumentation to facilitate the adjustment if needed.
Beyond Birth
As your baby grows they will go on to develop more motor skills and hit developmental milestones. Some of these include head control, sitting up unassisted and taking their first steps. We want to be there along the way to check your growing child's spine for any mis-alignments that may occur with those falls and tumbles that are in their future. Along with that we want to assess the development of the cervical and lumbar curves that go on to make the S shape of the spine into adulthood. Considering your spinal column is a direct connection to your nervous system we want to make sure that your child is able to develop without any unnecessary stressors to their nervous system.
Chiropractic has been around for over a century and while chiropractic for babies may be a new concept for you and your family there are volumes of research available to address the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic care for children. In our office we pride ourselves with having providers who have taken extra coursework specifically tailored to caring for the youngest members of your family. A part of that includes being members of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Here you can find more valuable information regarding chiropractic care for babies and children http://icpa4kids.org
