Do children need chiropractic care?  Yes, they most certainly do, and not only when they hurt, but on a regular basis!  To many chiropractors it is sad to see children who are denied the opportunity to experience regular chiropractic care.  Children who are not experiencing chiropractic, who are continually drugged for pain and disease, is a sad and in many cases alterable situation.. 

 

In our practice, we strive to care for children, as we well know the benefits of chiropractic care for the little ones.  The so-called growing pains, leg aches, earaches, bed wetting, tonsil and adenoid problems that children suffer so greatly from, usually respond very favorably to chiropractic spinal adjustments.  Allergies, frequent nosebleeds, hyperactivity, hay fever, skin rashes, asthma, stomach troubles, scoliosis, heart arrhythmia’s, constipation, all find help under the chiropractor’s hands and the correction of spinal misalignments we call subluxations. 

 

You see, thirty one pair of nerves emit directly from the spine, they come forth through openings formed between the vertebrae.  The arch of one vertebra and the arch of it’s partner make openings for the nerves, thus any misalignment between the vertebrae can stress the nerves that emit from between them.  It is a recognized medical fact that the spinal nerves can influence all of the tissues, muscles, bones, glands and organs of the human body.  Pressure on these nerves alters tissue function which can cause malfunction, weakness, lowered resistance and the resulting symptoms that man calls “disease.”  When such problems go uncared for, recurrent “disease” problems pester the human body and can lead to life long suffering.

 

Medicine today mainly treats a patient’s symptoms, pain with pain killers and muscle relaxers, infections with antibiotics, anxiety and stress with tranquilizers, and organic breakdown with surgery.  Many of these problems have their origin in the spinal problems of youth.  Children, more than adults, are subject to unusual jolts, falls and strains from their many playful activities.  Such activity can at times subluxate the spinal vertebrae.  “As a tree is bent, so shall it grow” is an old adage true of trees and spines.  Spines that grow with misalignments are difficult indeed to straighten in later life and chronic, nerve pressure related, health problems can be the result.  

 

Remember, chiropractic care doesn’t “cure” the health problems called “disease.”  Oh no, only the body cures, that is why the chiropractic profession has never held forth a cure for any “disease.”  Chiropractors adjust the spine to restore proper nerve supply.  The return of normal body function creates the body’s own cure.  In the end, it is recognized by all healing arts that only nature heals, all that any doctor can do is remove an obstruction to healing. 

 

Chiropractors, by analyzing a patient’s spinal x-rays, can point out areas of probable nerve interference.  By palpation of the spine (feeling of the spine) chiropractors can identify areas of nerve encroachment and correct spinal problems with an adjustment before they become chronic and difficult to correct.  With children, a palpation examination is sometimes all that is needed, at other times x-rays are necessary.

 

Children should be healthy and free of unusual pain and the joy of health is evident in the exuberance of youth.  That is why it is so pitiful to see a hurting or sickly child, we want them to be able to laugh and play like normal children.  But remember that sickness and it’s symptoms, such as fever and pain, are nature’s warning signals that something is wrong in the body.  If these signals go unheeded, the problem persists until something is done about it.  Pain killers only turn off the body’s Innate (nature’s) warning signals. Certainly a bruise, a scrape, muscle fatigue, etc., will give children pain, but… Persistent pain and recurring symptoms should not be ignored and just turned off by pain relieving drugs…take the child to a chiropractor.  Chiropractors will suggest when other medical care is needed, but specific spinal adjustments can solve a host of childhood problems.

 

Statements by research scientist Dr. Ronald Pero, Ph.D., have indicated that regular chiropractic care enhances healing and increases the body’s natural immunity.  Gutmann in Germany reported adjusting 1,000 infants for infectious problems such as ear, nose and throat infections; tonsillitis, enteritis, conjunctivitis, colds and ear ache.  His conclusion stated that impairment of the upper cervical vertebral joint complex (subluxation) was involved in these problems.  When involved, Gutmann said, the baby “should be examined and, if required, specifically adjusted… the success of the adjustment over shadows every other type of treatment.”

 

 

 

Yes, chiropractic care is for the entire family.  Most certainly you should bring your children to a chiropractor when he/she hurts, but you should also bring them in regularly, to ensure that the body is functioning free of nerve interference caused by spinal subluxations.  You take your car in regularly for maintenance care, you have your heating system in the house checked regularly, why?  You don’t want a problem…so why wait for your child to be sick to see a doctor.  But you say, what could my medical doctor do for my child if I did take the child to him once a  month?  Good question.  Chiropractors, however, can do something.  By checking your spine and adjusting the vertebrae when necessary, they can help keep the body functioning at a high rate of efficiency.   A normal functioning body wards off most common disease problems, that is the reason some people seem always healthy while others are continually sick.  The well person’s immune system is functioning at peak efficiency while the sick person’s resistance is commonly low.  Chiropractic maintenance care helps ensure proper body function and peak immune system efficiency.

 

In the words of Dr. Robert Aldrich, M.D., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Colorado, “…The maintenance of health should take precedence over the treatment of  disease…”  

 

Let me leave you with my final, firm personal conviction.

 

 

Children need chiropractic care.  Children love chiropractic care.  Bring your child to your chiropractor and once they experience chiropractic’s benefits, they will ask  to come again!

 

Enjoy the increased heath benefits of chiropractic health maintenance care, for your children, yourself and your entire family.