Why children should get checked…
We see a lot of people in practice who want to look after themselves, their recovery and their overall health and wellbeing. For women, this is especially the case during or after their pregnancy. But not many people know how Chiropractic can help their children. So here’s some information, to help you understand the importance and power Chiropractic can play, in the development of your little ones.
How can it help?
Stress and dysfunction in the spine alters the way in which our brains and our bodies communicate (via our nervous system). This in turn can cause a multitude of health issues or sub-optimal function. Chiropractic is a way of allowing your spine, nervous system and body to work at their best, to maximise your potential. Adults and children are similar in that they can both suffer with injuries or stress on the nerves which can lead to a decrease in potential. So from birth, all the way through to the end, adults and children alike can have amazing results with Chiropractic care – the only thing that changes is how we go about the treatment.
Why do Children need it?
Trauma or spinal dysfunction can occur in children right from birth. Recent studies have even suggested as much as 90% of newborns show effects of birth trauma. This trauma can, if left unchecked, impact a baby’s spinal and neurological development decreasing their growth potential. In particular things like nursing, sleep disturbances and a baby’s inability to soothe can be affected. Infancy is the time of greatest neurological/brain development, so it is key that their nervous systems work well enough to cope with this.
Then as they grow they start to crawl and bump into things. They start to walk and fall over. They learn to ride a bike and fall off it. Children are forever picking up bumps, bruises, knocks and scrapes. You/they rub it better and off they go again and very rarely do they complain about it again.
For teenagers who seemingly spend every waking second on their phones (along with studying at school or revising for exams) prolonged states of poor posture is often the culprit. Adolescence is also the most likely time that we would detect the presence of a scoliosis if there is one. Then there’s the increase in sports that they play throughout the year, normally resulting in more injuries – both spinal and otherwise.
Chiropractic has regularly been shown to improve a person’s immune system, and children are no different. They are constantly coming home with coughs, colds, runny noses and flu picked up at school, so they need a healthy, working immune systems to help them overcome these issues.
All of these injuries, stresses and problems can accumulate over time and start to cause stress on the spine and nervous system which can then lead to bigger problems later on in life. The majority of the time, symptoms (e.g. pain or stiffness) don’t present until the problem has been there for long enough to start to cause bigger issues, so leaving kids unchecked can often just prolong or embed these issues.
Is it safe?
Of course. The adjustments and treatments we perform with children is very different to that of adult. The pressure used is little more than what you can tolerate comfortably when pressing on your own eye, so there should be little to no discomfort during the treatment itself.
At what age can they start?
They can start Chiropractic care at any age. We see newborns and children of all ages – all the way up until the end of school.
So what now?
Well as I tell pretty much everyone……….the best time to get checked is now!
Mark Fairclough, MChiro, DC.