Babies, Children and Pregnancy
Babies, Children and Pregnancy
A child’s nervous system is the controller and regulator of all the other systems in their growing body. From blood flow, to brain function and bone growth, the nervous system plays a central role in keeping things working and healthy. Stress and misalignment of the spine can have serious impacts on your child’s overall health, behavior and development. Chiropractic care is a gentle and non-invasive therapy that works to correct underlying issues before they become hard-wired in during development, providing support for a pain-free and successful childhood.
It may be difficult to imagine that a child would need chiropractic care. They seldom complain of chronic pain the way adults do, and their bodies appear to be made of rubber in the way they bounce back from injury. The truth is children’s bodies are under a lot of stress while they are in state of development and keeping them healthy requires maintenance.
Baby
If your baby is colicky, then sleepless nights and restless days may have you feeling desperate for a solution. Crying is natural and almost all babies do it, but when something is not right the crying can be ceaseless. The lack of sleep and peace take a toll on a parent’s ability to feel sane. Watching a baby suffer is one of the hardest things in the world – actually, it’s the hardest. Perhaps you have tried traditional remedies to soothe your child and nothing seems to be helping. Have you considered the possibility that a headache, neck or back pain may be causing your child to cry? Chiropractors are having success treating colicky babies, and this article explains why and how they are doing this.
At one time infantile colic was thought to be the result of indigestion. Occasionally it is, but more often it is not a digestive issue and colic will not respond to remedies aimed at soothing the stomach. Today, infantile colic is typically described as unexplainable and uncontrollable crying that occurs for more than three hours a day, three days a week and for three weeks or more. The words “unexplainable” and “uncontrollable” leave parents feeling helpless to find anything to soothe their child, and to keep themselves healthy while dealing with this exhausting issue. If this is you or someone you know, don’t give up hope!
Through manual examinations chiropractors have found that a large majority of infants have spinal abnormalities. This is unsurprising given that an infant experiences an incredible amount of force and strain during the process of both natural and Cesarean delivery. Furthermore, the use of clamps and vacuums can easily lead to subluxations (spinal misalignment). Misalignments in the spine may be irritating your baby’s nervous system and causing the colic.
How Can Chiropractic Care Help Colic?
Even a very gentle chiropractic adjustment can clear up major subluxations in an infant. Sometimes, it will take several treatments to restore the alignment of the spine and ensure healthy development is on track. A properly aligned spine restores the nervous system to its optimal function, allowing the body to heal and thrive.
Many people have observed that even after a minor adjustment, their child’s capacity for breastfeeding is increased, and they cry less because they are more comfortable. Once the child’s nervous system is fully functioning, they are at a decreased risk for allergies, ADD/ADHD, colds, flus, ear infections, asthma and delayed development.
If you have a baby at home, or one on the way, call our team at Innovation Health today to receive a consultation and to start your child on the path of healthy development.
Children
It may be difficult to imagine that a child would need chiropractic care. They seldom complain of chronic pain the way adults do, and their bodies appear to be made of rubber in the way they bounce back from injury. The truth is children’s bodies are under a lot of stress while they are in a state of development and keeping them healthy requires maintenance.
Stress and trauma to the body and spine commonly begin with the birthing process. Infant’s spines can easily become misaligned from the intense pressure involved in both natural and Cesarean births. Unfortunately, other than crying, they have no way of communicating their pain, and its source, to us. Throughout infancy, they may sleep in awkward positions and occasionally take a tumble. As children, they grow into toddlers who strain and twist and fall while learning to crawl and walk. Luckily, they are very resilient and can take a lot of impacts, but it is not uncommon for these injuries to develop into patterns of movement that will pull a child’s bones out of alignment over time.
As kids, they may start to develop bad posture. Sitting in front of a computer or TV can have serious repercussions on the spine. Playing contact sports, wearing heavy backpacks (most likely the wrong way), even sitting at desks can all cause issues. As teenagers, they begin to deal with the stress of more daily responsibilities, such as becoming part of the workforce and using their bodies to perform physical labor such as painting houses, serving tables and the likes.
As you can see there are plenty of opportunities throughout development for a child’s body, and particularly their spine, to become out of alignment and to affect other aspects of their healthy nervous system function and development.
How Can I Tell If My Child Needs Chiropractic Care?
A child’s spine can become quite misaligned without any awareness on their part of pain or discomfort. Children have not always developed enough awareness of their bodies to identify a subtle chronic issue developing. Even when a child is experiencing pain, they may not be able to communicate it to you and it can come across as grumpiness, acting out or incessant crying. Issues with the spine can also be the source of many other childhood issues, such as colic, ear infections and ADHD.
Many people have observed that even after a minor adjustment, their child’s capacity for breastfeeding is increased, and they cry less because they are more comfortable. Once the child’s nervous system is fully functioning, they are at a decreased risk for allergies, ADD/ADHD, colds, flus, ear infections, asthma and delayed development.
If you have a baby at home, or one on the way, call our team at Innovation Health today to receive a consultation and to start your child on the path of healthy development.
How Can I Tell If My Child Needs Chiropractic Care?
A chiropractic treatment for a child begins with an extensive examination to determine the exact issue and the best route for treatment. Even if your child is too young to communicate, or too shy, a chiropractor has the skills to work with them to find out exactly what is going on before proceeding with treatment, if it is determined treatment is needed. Gentle and non-invasive adjustments are then made to the spine. Children will often become relaxed and even fall asleep following treatment, a good sign that it has been effective. If you are concerned about your child’s spinal health, call our team at Innovation Health to set up a consultation today.
Ear Infections
Ear infections in childhood are all too common, but that does not necessarily mean they are a normal part of the growing process. It is common to think that ear infections are caused by a bacterial infection and to run straight to your doctor or the hospital assuming antibiotics are needed. Even doctors find it difficult to diagnose the cause of an ear infection because the symptoms, including pain, loss of sleep and appetite, vomiting, difficulty hearing, and fever are often the same regardless of the source.
Proper diagnosis can require an expensive and invasive procedure, and many doctors end up just giving antibiotics. However, ear infections are only caused by a bacterial infection about half of the time, and those caused by viral infections will not respond to antibiotics.
If your child is experiencing chronic ear infections that do not respond to antibiotics, there may be an underlying structural problem, which could be corrected with chiropractic treatment. Read on to gain a better understanding of what may be causing the ear infection, and how it can be treated by a trained chiropractor.
Traditional Diagnosis and Treatments of Ear Infections
As mentioned above, an ear infection is occasionally a simple bacterial infection that will respond to antibiotics, but it is just as often caused by a viral infection and antibiotics will not help. Even if the infection responds to antibiotics, if the problem is structural it may still re-occur. The only way to accurately conclude which organism the ear infection is caused by is to take a sample of the fluid in the middle ear with a needle, and fortunately, most doctors do not subject children to this procedure because it is highly invasive and expensive to perform.
Many doctors, wanting to do something to help and being caught in a hard position, simply prescribe antibiotics knowing that it may not help. This practice is frowned upon now that we have a better understanding of the negative impacts of the overuse of antibiotics on both the body, as well as on the effectiveness of antibiotics in the general population.
Another common treatment for chronic ear infections is the insertion of “ear tubes”, also known as tympanostomy tubes. This is a highly invasive surgery requiring a child to go under anesthesia and unfortunately it is not always effective or necessary.
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Ear Infections
While it is difficult for doctors to diagnose a structural issue underlying ear infections, chiropractors are trained to find these issues and to treat them. Misalignments in the spine lead to muscle tightness in the neck and back which impedes the ability of the nervous system to communicate with various structures in the body, including the inner ear.
This can compromise the ear’s ability to protect itself from infections and to properly drain infected fluids. When drainage of the inner ear is blocked, these fluids accumulate in the ear, leading to recurrent infections. While the other previously mentioned treatments can sometimes provide relief of the symptoms, they never truly address the cause of them, leading to a childhood prescription of unnecessary drugs and surgeries.
Chiropractic care is a gentle and conservative approach that is a recommended first step to take if an ear infection is chronic. Chiropractic doctors perform a thorough examination and evaluate your child’s spine for any signs of nerve interference. If detected, our doctors will remove the source of the interference with a gentle and specific adjustment. Through the restoration of the nervous system, your child’s body will not only be better equipped to fight off ear infections but also to develop strength and overall good health.
Call our team at Innovation Health today if your child is suffering from ear infections.
Pregnancy
The physical stress of pregnancy can lead to a great deal of discomfort. It’s common for women to complain of low back pain while pregnant, as well as related issues, such as sciatica, leg cramps and constipation. This can lead to difficulty performing daily routines as well as difficulties in labor.
Chiropractic treatment for pregnancy can be an outstanding source of relief for back pain. Many women also comment that the birth process was easier after having undergone chiropractic treatments. The following article takes a more in-depth look at the discomfort caused by pregnancy and explains exactly how chiropractic treatment can help.
Prenatal Chiropractor
During pregnancy, a woman’s body is undergoing a number of different changes to accommodate the growing baby. As the baby grows, a mother’s center of gravity shifts to the front of her pelvis, resulting in added stress and discomfort in the low back and the various joints of the pelvis. At the peak of pregnancy and the associated weight gain, the curve in the low back (lordotic curve) can increase to the point of causing serious impact on the vertebral joints, the sacrum and the hip joints.
The nerves that travel to all other parts of the body have their origin in the spine. When the spine is compressed, these nerves can become irritated causing the pain to radiate to other areas of the body. Sciatica is a condition commonly stimulated by pregnancy, involving pain that radiates from the low back all the way down the legs.
If a previous issue exists with the alignment of the spine, and there has been a history of low back problems, pregnancy will often aggravate the condition. Pregnancy can cause the spine to become misaligned to the point that it does not simply go back into place once the pregnancy is complete. This can make the tasks that become necessary once the child is born, such as carrying a baby on your front or back, breast-feeding and bending over to lift and pick things up, painfully difficult.
Prenatal Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic practitioners can provide safe and effective personalized care throughout your pregnancy and in the postpartum period. A thorough examination will determine the best treatment to address your discomfort and prepare the body for the height of pregnancy and childbirth. There are specialized adjustment methods to accommodate pregnancy. These treatments may reduce the need for pain medications throughout the delivery as well as help to reduce labor time. Follow up treatments can assist in realigning the body after the pregnancy, speeding the transition to a healthy post-pregnancy body.
If you are curious about how chiropractic can help you with your pregnancy call our team at Innovation Health today. We are here to help.
