Chiropractic Care for Children
Children need chiropractic too!
You may wonder why children may need chiropractic care or how chiropractic care can help your child. Children's spines experience interferences everyday during play. However, children do not complain of pain or discomfort the way adults do. When a child is in pain, they generally cannot express verbally, rather it comes out as crying, grumpiness, or acting out. If the underlying issue is ignored for too long it can cause complications throughout the body. This is a problem because the nervous system is the master controller of our bodies, it controls how we think, speak, walk talk, our breathing and heartbeat, to name a few. If our nervous system is not functioning at it's best, we are not functioning at our best and therefore not able to fight off illness and stress.
10 reasons parents take their children to see a chiropractor:*
To encourage good neural plasticity (brain & nerve development).
To support their child's overall health and wellbeing.
To help stregthen their child's immunity and potentially reduce the incidence of colds, ear-aches and illness.
To assist with colic and Irritable Baby Syndrome.
To help with Asthma, breathing difficulties and allergies.
To encourage good spinal posture.
To improve their child's ability to concentrate.
To assist with behavioral disorders (ADHD)
To help alleviate digestive problems
To assist with bed-wetting and sleep issues
*Barham-Floreani, "10 Reasons Parents Take Healthy Children To Chiropractors"
Beginning in utero and through the birth process our bodies experience stress. Childbirth is one of the most traumatic events our body goes through. The strain and force on the baby's neck and spine, during both natural and cesarean deliveries, can cause misalignments of the spine.
After birth, the stress and trauma continues as babies grow into toddlers and become mobile. The strains of walking, twisting, climbing and falling are all stressful on the developing nervous system. Moving into the preschool and school ages, the stressors continue as children play without limits, begin sports and start developing bad posture. With how active we are here in Bend, OR, chiropractic can be a great benefit.
Once children reach middle and high school, the stress of school (i.e. sitting for extended periods of time at a desk, carrying heavy backpacks improperly), sports and daily life all impact the still developing nervous system. It is easy to see how a child's spine can become misaligned and why proper maintenance is so important.