Pediatric Chiropractic: What Are The Benefits?
With all of the known and obvious benefits for children receiving regular chiropractic care why would a parent not take their child to see a family chiropractor? Most often the answer boils down to having no information or incorrect information.
The three most common reasons why parents don’t take their children to a structural chiropractor:
They don’t know anything about structural chiropractic care
They don’t know about the benefits of structural chiropractic care for children
They think that corrective chiropractic adjustments might be too rough for a child and cause pain or damage.
Once a person finds out about structural chiropractic and begins to understand its benefits, it is point number 3 that must be understood and dispelled, as apparently, some parents think that a chiropractic adjustment will be “too rough” for their youngster.
Structural chiropractors understand that all bodies are different and tailor their corrective adjustments and the amount of pressure required based on the individual they are treating. A big football playing man in his 20s, a little old woman in her 70s and a child of 10, will all be looked at and evaluated for their individual needs.
In this way, it could be said that a structural corrective chiropractic adjustment can be as individual as a handshake. A strong man shaking hands with another strong man will give him a lot more pressure than if the same man was shaking hands with his grandmother or the child. When parents realize this and bring their child in for an assessment and corrective adjustment, the results can be quite remarkable. Consider this case of a 7-year-old girl.
This child had been suffering from asthma since the age of 4. By the time she came to see a structural chiropractor, she had been treated medically with 10 different medications. Attacks of coughs and wheezing were daily occurrences. Physical activity was almost out of the question. Emergency room visits sometimes reached 5 per year. A test of lung capacity revealed she was operating at about 50 percent of her lung capacity.
A careful examination by her chiropractor revealed spinal dysfunction of the vertebrae in the middle of her spine. An individual program was tailored to handle these restrictions. With just one adjustment, some of the tightness in her chest disappeared and her coughing was reduced. After just 4 weeks of care, she was able to put aside her inhaler and get back to participating in swimming and running sports. After 3 months, her lung capacity was just about normal and all medications were stopped.
Had her parents avoided taking her to a chiropractor because of a fear that an adjustment might be too rough and cause her pain, the child might well be on her way to a dozen more medications, further restrictions of activity and even worse breathing problems.
Is structural chiropractic for children too? By all means. Miracles can occur each and every day in chiropractic with the right approach to care, tailored to the individual’s size, age, shape and need.
As your family chiropractors we are committed to helping you and your entire family achieve and maintain optimal health. Realistically, the people that have the best chance of achieving their full functional potential in regards to their structure, nervous system and overall health is today’s children. However, today’s lifestyle puts all children at significant risk for not achieving their full potential. Today’s research suggests that adolescent onset chronic back pain (that’s right – chronic) which historically was a conditioned reserved for adults, is now rising at an alarming rate. Over the last decade the reported cases are up over 500% as compared to the previous decade, which was up over 300% on the decade before. This doesn’t bode well for the next decade unless we take action today.
The first step is to get your childrens structure fully evaluated by a qualified family chiropractor that is confident and comfortable working with children and we can promise that at our office we are. Once we determine the current health of your childrens structure we can develop a corrective program that is suited to their current lifestyle. We will of course encourage them to be an active participant in their health and to become more conscious about their health decisions.
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