Some people are puzzled when I say that I take care of a lot of kids in my practice. Well, why some are puzzled... is not at all puzzling to me.
The chief reason for this puzzlement is the popular conception/confusion of Chiropractic as some part of “alternative medicine” for back and neck pain. Nothing could be further from the truth. Firstly, Chiropractic is not “Medicine,” alternative or otherwise. Medicine is the diagnosis and treatment of disease. In other words, name a disease (like “bacterial otitis media,” or bacterial middle ear infection), and attack that disease in a process called treatment. It is a mechanistic “outside-in” approach.
“Chiropractic care for my child? Why? His/her back doesn’t bother him/her.” I see many parents that tell me the importance of regular checkups for their child’s teeth, hearing, eyes, ears, nose, and throat, but draw a blank when it comes to a chiropractic checkup. This is so important because running through the spine is the spinal cord, a delicate structure that contains billions of nerve fibers. The spinal cord allows communication between the brain and the body, which controls proper function.
A blockage of, an interference to, any of the nerve fibers along the spinal cord, a Vertebral Subluxation (VS), will cause a general weakening of your child’s body and a lowered resistance to disease resulting in body malfunction and sickness.
The Vertebral Subluxation Complex can have many causes. A baby’s head is very large and heavy compared to the rest of the body, and special care must be given to the way the head is handled during the birth process. Injuries to the spine called Traumatic Birth Syndrome can be caused by obstetrical procedures. Babies were meant to be pushed and guided out of the birth canal, not pulled and yanked out.
Childhood is a very “physical” time for all of us. Although they are all part of normal childhood, running, jumping, falls, and accidents can all cause VSC and nerve damage, with serious consequences.
It only makes sense for parents to have their children’s spines checked regularly throughout the growing years. The most gratifying thing I see in my office is an entire family coming in for regular spinal checkups.
The vanBreda study in 1989 compared 200 children under medical care with 200 children under Chiropractic care. The health of the children receiving regular chiropractic care was far superior to that of children brought up under standard medical care. The chiropractic children had fewer ear infections, fewer allergies, fewer cases of tonsillitis, and of course, less medical treatment in the form of antibiotics, medications, and immunizations.
Two studies in Texas in 1974 and 1975 confirmed that spinal adjustments could help children with emotional, behavioral, and neurological problems. The problems that were helped included: asthma, anxiety, low mental stamina, inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, discipline problems, and even low grades and low I.Q.
Just as you could have a cavity in your teeth and not know it, you could have a Vertebral Subluxation Complex in your spine and not know it. That is why I recommend that all children have regular chiropractic spinal checkups. Without spinal health, true health is impossible. That is why more and more families are finding a regular chiropractic spinal checkup for their children as natural as any other regular childhood checkup. You get your child’s hearing, vision, and teeth checked regularly, it is now time to include a regular chiropractic spinal checkup to help assure your child’s good health.
