If you are a parent, you want to maximize the health of your child. To achieve that goal, as much as possible, you try to feed your child a healthy diet of nourishing foods, maintain a bedtime routine to allow adequate sleep, and ensure that your child gets plenty of exercise. These are all ways to help a child grow up healthy and strong. In addition to these measures, regular chiropractic adjustments are a natural compliment to your parenting routines. In fact, most parents state that their children experience a better level of health while receiving routine chiropractic care.[1]
Your child will benefit from regular chiropractic care at any age starting from infancy. Beginning with birth, the milestones of a baby’s early life, including gaining mobility, learning to sit, and taking first steps (and falls), can all cause stress on a child’s spine and nervous system, which can manifest in many ways, including colic and sleep disruptions. Chiropractic adjustment can alleviate the stress on the spine and improve on these issues. In addition, a Doctor of Chiropractic can also help care for more acute childhood issues, such as ear infections, allergies, and asthma. While your chiropractor does not diagnose or treat specific conditions, she can help locate and correct misalignments of the spine that affect the body’s ability to function optimally, helping to improve many of these conditions naturally.
As your child ages, she or he is likely to become more active, whether hanging from the monkey bars with friends, biking through the neighborhood, or running around the soccer field. While these activities are fun and healthy, the routine bumps and jostles that your child receives while playing may cause misalignments in the spine. Often, a child may show no signs of pain or discomfort, but the stress on the spine may affect her body’s ability to function now or in the future. By visiting a chiropractor regularly, your child can receive adjustments that will relieve tension in the spine and allow her body to continue to grow and develop properly.
You or your child may be nervous about her first visit to the chiropractor, but there is nothing to worry about. In fact, most parents state that their children enjoy and look forward to their adjustments.[2] During your child’s first visit, your chiropractor will take a case history and then perform a chiropractic exam to determine where stress may be affecting the spine. If the doctor determines that an adjustment is needed, the procedures will be tailored to your child’s size, weight, and spinal condition. Whether you are the parent to a newborn or teenagers, regular chiropractic care can help maximize your child’s potential.
[1] Ohm, J. (2005). Why should children have chiropractic care? ICPA. Retrieved from http://icpa4kids.org/Wellness-Articles/why-should-children-have-chiropractic-care/All-Pages.html