It is common for me, or my staff, to be asked: “Do you adjust children? Is it safe for them? What do you actually do when you adjust my baby?”
Pediatric chiropractic has been around a long time, and not many people know about it still. It is my belief that it is because people haven’t been educated about it, or truly being terrified of the “pop” coming from your child. Chiropractic adjustments for children are non-invasive and gentle due to the different techniques that are used and are safe and well tested. So, you may ask: “What does an adjustment involve for a child? What are the benefits? What should they expect? How do I know my child needs chiropractic care!?”
The Benefits
If you have been adjusted, you know the feeling and may think it maybe too harsh for your child. While that is correct, an adjustment for a child is applied with less force and delivered more quickly, so there is as little of discomfort as possible. Children’s joints are still forming and growing every day. An adjustment helps keep everything aligned, and it promotes healthy nervous system flow and communication throughout the body. Misaligned points on the spine can put excessive pressure on nearby nerves, causing pain to interfere with brain communication and a child to have less focus.
Most importantly, a child’s body depends on a healthy nervous system with it growing and changing every day. An adjustment for a child benefits them more than aligning the spine. It is known to help with ear infections, digestive issues, allergies, sleep issues, as well as headaches. The same reasons we would go see a chiropractor for our aches and pain, our children can benefit as well.
The most common type of injuries I see are sports injuries. The development of a child’s body during this time is fragile. Their bones aren’t as strong, their muscles aren’t yet developed, and when you mix sports and play time in with that, they could get really hurt. There are different extremity and spinal manipulations, so getting the correct type of therapy to heal and recover their muscles and bones from their playful injuries are key. Most importantly to help prevent sport injuries I recommend a maintained routine adjustment to help them as they continue to grow.
What to Expect?
Should you choose chiropractic care for your child, whether they are a few months old, or all the way up to their teen years, you could see several different benefits. With everything aligned, your child is going to sleep better. This is due to the relieving of tension, discomfort and dysfunction. With more sleep and less discomfort, you may notice your child to be a little happier and less behavior issues, as well as a stronger immune system.
Our kids are the most active when they are young and playing with their friends or trying out every single sport that they can. It really takes a toll on their body. I have seen a number of different people who still have injuries or aches and pains that they are confident came from an injury that they sustained when they were little. It could be just falling off their bike or jumping on the trampoline and landing wrong… any number of scenarios can really mess a kid up. Listen to their complaints. Teach them to listen to their body. If something is off, they will know!
As kids develop and grow, especially these days when kids have their cell phones or tablets to play games, read or talk to their friends, they can get into the habit of always looking down at their phone or tablet, and can get very bad posture. That is something we can fix with chiropractic adjustments, but I would like to teach kids from a young age how that can be prevented. Playing contact sports, wearing heavy backpacks, even sitting in desks at school can all cause issues. Their daily lives are always on the go. Sitting down for a consultation and going thoroughly through an exam would be what I recommend… I know kids do not like to listen to their parents, but maybe together we can get them to learn these good habits from a young age!
If you still have questions please do not hesitate to reach out to the office, on Facebook, Instagram or even sending us an email at henrychiropracticcenter@gmail.com. If there is a question you have always wondered about, or some topic that just always confuses or interests you, LET US KNOW! We are here to help, and love to help teach you more about anything help related, even if it is lending a helpful hint or recommendation.