In our practice, we have cared for many children over the last 15 years. We can say without hesitation that chiropractic care is extremely safe for children, babies and especially newborns.There has never been a study published in the entire 100-plus years of chiropractic medicine that reported harm to a newborn, baby or young child as a result of a chiropractic adjustment.To understand the safe factor of chiropractic care, take a look at malpractice insurance, which can measure the relationship between a given health care profession and the risk associated with the care rendered. The truth is that chiropractors pay a fraction of what medical doctors pay. Why? Because chiropractic care is safe. There are many known side effects to medications and surgeries. Why not try an all natural, non-invasive approach first?Chiropractors are concerned with the areas of the spine that need attention – areas in which we find misalignment and altered movement that thereby cause the body undue stress and dysfunction. We do not adjust areas of the spine that are in alignment or moving normally.Even during the gentlest of births, the baby’s head as it passes through the birth canal has quite a bit of physical pressure exerted on it as mom pushes. If the presentation is not just right, this can result in bending of the neck or twisting, resulting in misalignment of the upper cervical vertebrae. Sometimes, there are additional problems that can occur if the practitioner has had to pull or twist the head to assist with delivery. And that is a “normal” birth.Can you imagine the force exerted with a more difficult birth, such as a forceps-aided delivery, vacuum extraction or cesarean section? There can be an incredible amount of force to a baby who doesn’t yet have the strength and musculature to hold up his or her own head. A chiropractic adjustment requires just a few ounces to a couple of pounds of carefully directed pressure in the proper direction to remove interference in the spine. The amount of force required for an adjustment differs greatly from the amount of force experienced at birth. If a baby can go through the birth process, it is completely safe to adjust the baby.Dr. Godfrey Gutmann, a German medical researcher, discovered that more than 80 percent of the infants he examined after birth were suffering from cervical spine (neck) injuries, causing many types of health problems.Many problems can occur as a result of an injury to the upper neck area; however, they may not show up for months to years after a baby’s birth. Some of the more common symptoms we’ve seen include colic, recurring ear infections, difficulty sleeping, headaches, asthma, chronic colds and flu, digestion problems, growing pains, torticollis, scoliosis and many more.In addition to the regular visits to your child’s pediatrician, have your child examined by a chiropractor to determine if there is any interference to your child’s spine and nervous system. Proper correction of these misalignments will play an important role in the growth and development of your child.
