Many people believe chiropractors only treat adults, but children can also benefit from regular chiropractic care. Injuries children receive during their daily lives and while playing sports can cause many symptoms that can be treated by chiropractors. These symptoms may include soreness, discomfort, stiffness or neck pain.

Pediatric chiropractors — those that are trained to work with children — always adapt the treatment to fit the special needs of their young patients. They also provide highly skilled adjustments that are very gentle.

Why Chiropractic Care for Children

Children experience trauma at birth that may negatively affect their body and nervous system. Later childhood activities — like learning to walk, participating in sports or riding a bicycle — can also cause spinal health problems or make underlying conditions worse. Even if an injury appears minor – such as a fall off a bicycle – damage may have occurred to other parts of the body, such as the pelvis, skull, spine and/or limbs. This damage cannot be detected without a proper spinal check-up.

Chiropractors are uniquely trained to identify problems in these areas. They are also trained to determine if symptoms such as “growing pains” are signs of more severe health issues. Any number of these previously mentioned symptoms can cause problems throughout adult life, but it can be prevented or stopped through regular chiropractic care.

A Child's Health Journey

A popular care option for children experiencing back pain, neck pain and other spine-related issues is regular chiropractic care. Although, this information is commonly known, it is also important to understand that chiropractic care deals intimately with correcting nervous system pathways and, therefore, can help treat many other less known symptoms. Chiropractors can check children as young as newborns for spine-related health issues to ensure they grow up with a healthy, high-functioning nervous system.

Chiropractors may be able to help with childhood conditions, such as:

• Asthma
• Bedwetting
• Chronic ear infections
• Colic
• Difficulty nursing
• Attitude/Behavioral Disorders

How the journey begins....

Pediatric care begins with a chiropractic physical exam which includes a thorough health history, range-of-motion study, paraspinal muscle scan and thermography reading. These are compiled to reach a diagnosis and individualized care plan for each child. When chiropractors adjust children, they provide the same highly-skilled adjustment that adults receive, but it is tailored to be gentler and suitable to the age of the child. All chiropractic adjustments use a hands-on, drug-free approach that allows for natural healing.

Children who already see a regular pediatrician that provides medications and treats serious illnesses can also benefit from a pediatric chiropractor. Much of the work that chiropractors do with children is preventative wellness care that allows their spine to stay healthy as they grow.