Etherton Chiropractic

Healthier Children with Chiropractic

"Chiropractic care for my child? Why? Her back doesn't bother her." Often chiropractors have encountered parents who appreciate the importance of regular checkups for their children's teeth, hearing and vision but draw a blank when it comes to a spinal checkup. That is distressing because a spinal checkup could be one of the most imporant checkups your children will ever have! The reason it's so important is because your children's spines protect their spinal cords, an extension of their brains. The spinal cord contain billions of nerve fibers that send messages and energy to every part of their bodies.

Blockages in the Spine

If there is blockage of any of the nerves along the spinal cord, any nerve damage at all, then a state of "dis-ease" can develop. Dis-ease is a state of disharmony in the body which can lead to lowered resistance to disease, organ malfunction, sickness and disease. Blockage of nerves in the spinal cloumn is usually caused by tiny misalignments of the spinal vertebrae called vertebral subluxations.

The First Subluxation

How can your child's spine lose its natural alignment and develop subluxations? Vertebral subluxations have many possible causes, some of which may occur as early as labor. Injuries can occur to a baby's spine at birth due to a breech presentatioon or a difficult delivery that puts too stress on the child's body. Health problems in childhood or even adulthood have been traced back to spinal damage at birth.

Immediately after birth, damage can occur if the baby is dangles by the feet. As the famous French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer has written in Birth without Violence:

We know very little about our bodies, so little that we forget the importance of the spine... Why, when the vulnerable spine has always been curved, do we insist on holding the newborn upside down and jerking the back straight?

Toddlerhood Through Childhood

Toddlerhood through childhood is a very "physical" time. Those first hesitant steps soon evolve into jumping and running, and falls and accidents are all part of a normal childhood. While most falls are minor, at times they can cause spinal and nerve-damaging vertebral subluxations with serious long-term consequences. For that reason all children need periodic chiropractic spinal checkups.

A Family Affair

Doctors of chiropractic love to see the whole family, from babies to grandparents, coming in for spinal checkups. Many "chiropractic families" report having more energy. improved health and less dependency on drugs and medication. It is not unusual to hear parents state that since getting under chiropractic care their children get sick less frequently, less severely, have less ear infections and take less (or no) antibiotics and other drugs than their classmates.

Physical and Psychological Benefits

For decades parents, clinicians and researchers have noticed positive changes in not only physical health, but have also seen behavioral and emotional improvements in children under chiropractic care. Among the observed benefits are improvements in children with hyperactivity, autism, anxiety, low mental stamina, lack of concentration, asthma and discipline problems. Improvements in grades and IQ have also been recorded.

The mechanisms explaining these results are varied. There is evidence that subluxation correction imrpoves blood flow to the brain.

Spinal Checkups Are Vital

If your child is suffering from any of the following common conditions, it is essential to get his/her spine checked for vertebral subluxations; not as a treatment for these conditions, but because all children, especially if they are ill, need halthy spines. Being free of blockages to the flow of energy and information over his/her nervous system can make a big difference in your child's physical and emotional health.

Warning Signs

Because your children (and you) may have subluxations in their spines and not know it, all children need periodic spinal checkups. There are, however, certain warning signs indicating that the spinal column may be out of alignment.

Fatigue
Shoulder blades flared out
Hyperactivity
Frequent falling
"Noisy bones"

Conclusion

More and more families are finding that periodic chiropractic spinal checkups for their children make a big difference in their health.

Why not include chiropractic checkups as part of your family's health care?