After reading that title, you are probably asking yourself, “why do children need to go to the chiropractor?” or “is that really safe?” The answer varies a lot, and is most often dependent upon many things such as age and what the primary complaint is and yes, it is very safe!

In babies, the most likely reason for a visit to the chiropractor is due to torticollis, which simply put means the child’s head and neck is “stuck” in one position and it is difficult for the child to turn its head side to side. While this alone may not be of much concern to the parent, it could bring along other complications. Feedings could become very difficult, especially when breastfeeding the child. The baby may like to nurse on one side more than the other or have trouble latching on the less comfortable side. It goes without saying, this is troublesome for the baby because he/she needs to eat plenty in order to grow and develop properly.

Other concerns such as colic, ear infections, reflux/spitting up, constipation, diarrhea, and asthma are also reasons that parents seek chiropractic care for their children. While chiropractors can only assess, diagnose and treat conditions that are apart of the spine, muscular system and nervous system, some parents report a positive impact in their child’s life with some relief of these conditions. The research is not strong in these areas, but if there is irritation to a nerve supply causing any of these complaints, chiropractic care may help and by no means is the chiropractic treatment replacing any medication that the child needs for one or more of their conditions.

Chiropractic manipulative therapy can be modified to treat any age level. In adults, manual therapy is the most common form. The force used for adults is far too much and not necessary in children, especially babies. For tiny ones, we use gentle touch, stretching, massage and exercises that can be given to mom or dad. As the child grows with their muscles and bones more developed, we transition to use the activator and the drop piece tables and eventually to manual adjustment.

Children, especially babies are very resilient and usually adjust and adapt very quickly. So if you are going to see results with this treatment, they will happen within a couple of visits. Call the office to schedule your little one an appointment and see how we can help you!