As a chiropractor that focuses on wellness and health optimization, I work with many families and children throughout the Ann Arbor area. When I meet people in the community, often they ask “why do children need to get chiropractic care?”
Children are one of the most important demographics to receive care.
The period of infancy through adolescence is filled with small physical trauma.
For instance, the birthing process is one of the most physically traumatic events that occur in our entire lifetime. The spine of the newborn baby is very malleable. During the birthing process forceps and other devices are used commonly to assist with the delivery of the child. These devices place a lot of force on the neck and spine of this little guy or girl.
Fast-Forward a Few Years
Your infant begins crawling, walking and entering the toddler years. These years are full of small tumbles, falls and accidents. These are all a normal part of the learning process.
However, these small traumas impact the spine of the child. These events may contribute to small structural shifts in the spine and pelvis of the baby.
A Structural Shift is a Bone Moving Out of Place in The Spine or Other Skeletal Structures
And when left untreated structural shifts can increase the rate of degeneration and arthritis later in life.
Children rarely feel the effects of their falls for a long period of time. However, the underlying spinal effects still exist. Correcting structural shifts in the spine is the most effective method to achieving correct spinal structure and ensuring that these shifts do not become a long term or permanent problem.
Of course, parents are always concerned with the safety of chiropractic adjusting on children. At our children’s chiropractic center in Ann Arbor, we never pop, crack, twist or snap the spine of a child.
In fact, we do not do any of those things with adults either!
Instead, we use a Very Gentle Instrument to Deliver a Specific Correction Into the Spine
This precise method of correcting structural shifts eliminates any fear of pain or discomfort that may be associated with a chiropractic treatment.
Parents seek care for their children for a variety of additional conditions as well. For instance, we will treat children suffering from bed-wetting, gastrointestinal problems, attention deficit disorder, sleep difficult, ear infections and anxiety. Many times these are complex and challenging issues for parents.
In future posts we will discuss some of these specific issues and how chiropractic can help.
