Kids and Chiropractic

This pediatric section of our website is provided so as to afford parents the information necessary to optimize their children’s chances of a healthy and full life.

I must first start off by stating, as a parent, I can fully appreciate the love and self-giving that the vast majority of parents have for their children. To knowingly expose their child to a potentially dangerous situation is not what a loving parent would ever do, yet too often it is what happens due to a parent’s lack of understanding or appreciation of such hazards.

I have prepared this section focusing on children’s health because of my own experiences with pediatrics. With the birth of my own children I began to realize just how difficult it could be to raise a child in a healthy manner, especially if a parent wasn’t aware of the underlying faults in our current health care concepts. As I obtained my Post Graduate certification in Pediatrics, the information that I was exposed to in the program, and the information that obtained during independent research of my own, convinced me that I had to make a conscious effort to educate the public as to the potential dangers awaiting their children. Current research supports my beliefs that if we do not take an active role in our children’s health today, the welfare of our future generations would be at stake.

For many of my patients, it initially strikes them as an unnecessary action to have their children evaluated for misalignments (Subluxations) of their spines, and in turn, interference of their nervous systems. When I have asked my adult patients as to why they feel they should benefit from Chiropractic care, and yet leave their children home to develop the same conditions that they themselves are in my office receiving treatment for, they usually don’t have an answer.

Only after they understand how a child may encounter misalignments of their spine, which enables interference to occur, do they appreciate just how important an evaluation of their child’s spine and nervous system really is. Evaluations of a “healthy” child, or well visits, are accepted within the medical pediatric community and also in the dental fields. The need to ensure a properly functioning nervous system in a newborn or a rapidly growing child is not to be underestimated or downplayed in the least. The need for proper body function and a healthy development can be greatly enhanced by the child’s regular Chiropractic check ups.

The Stressors
One of the greatest mis-understood concepts of Chiropractic is that, although it is very effective for the relief and elimination of spinal pain and dysfunction, it is far more valuable as a method of enabling your entire body to function to the best of its ability through an “interference free” nervous system.

When human beings are exposed to stress in the form of Chemical, Physical, or Emotional stress factors, our nervous systems react in a very predicable manner. The changes to our nervous systems may be very subtle in the ways of recognizable symptoms, yet devastating to our health in the form of dis-ease and loss of the quality of life. The vast majority of children DO experience such nerve interference, and as a result, impaired health.

Physical Stress
One of the most traumatic events of a child’s life is their actual childbirth. The forces encountered during childbirth are significant to say the least.

Medical studies have been performed which reveal just how susceptible to injury a newborn’s neck and spinal cord are. Due to the rather graphic nature of the study, I have made the details available when you on click this link: Childbirth Studies

Children can also be born with a condition known as Erb’s Palsy due to traumatic childbirth, during which their arms are pulled with enough force to damage the nerves exiting the neck.

The forces can be so significant that the balance of the baby’s upper cervical (neck) vertebra can, and most often, are affected.

A prominent medical doctor from Bas Sassendorf, West Germany has documented such findings. In his report, Dr. Gutmann documented that in his and other German studies, 80% of ALL children are not in autonomic balance when born (balance of the part of their nervous system that regulates body function). His colleague, Dr. Frymann reported that he examined a random group of 1250 babies post partum. 211 of these babies suffered from vomiting, hyperactivity, and sleeplessness. Manual examination revealed cervical strain in 95% of this group. Spinal adjustments of these children “frequently resulted in immediate quieting, cessation of crying, muscular relaxation, and sleepiness”.

Gutmann’s report concluded that after every difficult birth, it should be mandatory that the child be evaluated for motor development and manual control due to potential high risk of interference of the upper cervical vertebra and the nerves associated with such forceful childbirths.

Furthermore, he concluded that the upper neck “should be examined and if warranted, adjusted, since the success of adjustment overshadows every other type of treatment”.

The research focusing on the traumatic effects of childbirth is very compelling and such information should be taken into consideration when determining a child’s need for a Chiropractic assessment of their nervous system.

For those who have children who are active and into exploring their own little worlds, few will doubt the following statistic:

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has stated that by the age of 7 a child has already been involved in 2,500 traumas. That number sounds like a lot until you spend an hour watching a child. The falls, the jumps, the tackling of another or by another, the walking into a wall or door, falling off a bicycle or skateboard, sporting events, falling in dance class, tumbling about with a friend, getting hit on the head by another child with a toy,…..well you get the idea. When you count up the amount of “traumas” your child has in any given day, you come to realize 2,500 may not be that high a number after all!

Chemical Stress
Although the physical forces are substantial, so can the chemical factors. The mother to baby ratio is 10:1. This means that for every drug the mother takes, or is given, the baby gets the equivalent to 10 times as much. When you consider the various drugs a pregnant woman may take during her pregnancy, it should be pointed out that the baby is also exposed to the same chemicals. Evidence of this has been proven with the discovery of NSAID’s (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) in the merconium (initial waste material) of newborn babies. Examples of such drugs are Tylenol, Advil, and Pepto Bismol to name a few.

Pregnant women may take such readily available drugs without knowing exactly how much they may affect their unborn child, or just how long the drugs may remain within their baby’s system. These drugs have also been shown to damage the integrity of the newborns lungs.

Some pregnant mothers may also receive vaccinations (Flu) for example, and such chemical stress adds to the baby’s overall levels, and can initiate changes within their young developing bodies. Dietary concerns are also to be considered when assess the degrees of accumulated chemical stress on a developing fetus. Many foods that we consider to be “healthy” actually have unhealthy ingredients. These “safe” foods are given to the children to take to school as snacks and enjoyed after school.

One of the most well known “conditions” that school children are affected by in today’s day and age is ADHD/ADD, or otherwise known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

A study undertaken by Dr. Doris Rapp M.D. indicated that about 65% of hyperactive children on Ritalin could be helped by diet, and without the use of drugs. She commented, “If the kitchen faucet leaks, we don’t call for a demolition crew...Ritalin is not the only or the best way to quiet some unruly, inattentive children.”

Emotional Stress
It has been estimated that we experience more stress in one year than our grandparents did in their entire lifetimes. Technology, and sociological aspects of our society, has changed at such a rapid pace that human beings as a species have had difficulty coping or adapting to the change.

Our children feel the stress just as much, if not more. The pressures of increasing academic demands, interacting socially, the pressures involved with sports they are trying to succeed in, and the unfortunate pressures of original, divorced, and remarried families are but a few of the psychological stressors that affect the nervous systems of today’s children.

The effects of stress are devastating on the human body and the human nervous system. A much more in depth understanding of how stress affects our bodies can be obtained by reading the various articles and health reports pertaining to STRESS that are available on this site.

The greatest responsibility a parent has is the health and welfare of their children. We are dedicated to assisting parents in making the correct healthcare choices for their children.

As a standard policy of this office, there is NEVER a charge for a screening scan of a child. These accurate and insightful exams are completely painless and non-invasive. The section on Nervous System Scans gives a full description and also offers examples of the actual scans of some of our patients.

Some topics pertaining to children that you may wish to search our website database for, so as to learn more about and to offer your children additional health care choices are as follows:

• ADD/ADHD
• Colic
• Difficulty Sleeping
• Colds
• Immunity
• Ear Infections
• Asthma
• Vaccinations
• Posture
• Breast Feeding
• Childhood Fevers

Our database is extensive and we encourage you to search for any particular topic or subject that interests you. Should you have any additional questions please feel free to contact us.