When a newborn or young child is suffering from any one of a number of physical difficulties or illnesses, the best possible place to start the diagnosis and correction process could be with a visit to the chiropractor.
A child goes through a great deal of trauma in making its way into the world. The birthing process can put a huge amount of stress on a child’s head and neck, and when a physician gets involved with a set of forceps, unnecessary and long-term damage can occur to the child’s cervical (neck) area.
One study published in the Journal of Manual Medicine shed a good deal of light on the importance of a Chiropractic exam for a newborn child. In it, 119 out of the 1,000 newborns examined had imbalances in the area of the spine and nerves just below the skull.
“The upper cervical spine is one of the most vulnerable areas of the spine and is a critical area to keep from nerve interference,” stated Dr. Julie Mayer Hunt, a chiropractor who specializes in the upper cervical area of the body. She points to a review of literature which examined 58 articles in a study published in the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics where newborns were helped with a myriad of problems with Chiropractic.
One of the most interesting points from this study was that in many cases, children were helped with just one to three treatments. Just a partial listing of cases on record show children with specific conditions like infantile colic, tonsillitis, sinusitis, allergies, in addition to curvature of the spine, sleep disorders, asthma, ADHD, headaches and seizures.
The evaluation process for a child is really quite simple. We start with an examination of the child’s legs in relationship to each other. Leg-length difference will signal the possible need to adjust the spine. It will generally be noted that postural corrections will begin to take place quite quickly following the adjustment. Basically, what will occur is that the child’s head will now be centered nicely over the developing spine. Stress on the body that was caused by a head that was previously off center will be eliminated.
It would only make good sense for all children to receive a Chiropractic exam soon after they are born. It is important that more and more parents learn that Chiropractic could offer simple solutions to handle a child’s physical difficulties. Permanent help could be just one, two or three treatments away.
Source: Dynamic Chiropractic. “Upper Cervical Care and the Pediatric Patient.” October 2006
