Chiropractic Care for Children

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. Advanced Integrated Medicine offers 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.

PEDIATRIC CHIROPRACTIC

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 it’s a 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 impact, 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), and even sitting in desks can all cause issues. As teenagers, they begin to deal with the stress of more daily responsibilities, like becoming part of the workforce, and use their bodies to perform physical labor such as painting houses, serving tables, and the like.
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 which will 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.

WHAT IS CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR KIDS?

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 to set up a consultation today.

Pregnancy

The physical stress of pregnancy can lead to a great deal of discomfort. It’s common for women to visit a chiropractic office regularly for low back pain, as well as other related issues, such as sciatica, leg cramps and constipation. This can lead to difficulty performing daily tasks 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 birthing 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 CHIROPRACTIC

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 lower back and the various joints of the pelvis. At the peak of pregnancy, resulting from the associated weight gain, the curve in the lower 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 lower 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 lower 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 and speed up the transition to a healthy post-pregnancy body. If you are curious about how chiropractic can help you with your pregnancy call our team today. We are here to help.

Wellness Care

Just because you don’t feel sick, does not mean you feel as great as you could. Far too many people wait until they are sick to begin taking excellent care of their health. It is common in our culture to accept a slow decline in health as we age, but it is also unnecessary. We now have information and the advances in the field of health and wellness to live a life of optimal health which, contrary to popular belief, can actually get better as we grow older. This article will walk you through some of the common beliefs about health and discusses how chiropractic medicine can be an important part of your preventative, wellness care plan.

How Lifestyle Affects Overall Wellness

The decisions we make and the actions we take in each moment of our day affect our bodies and can slowly produce problems that may not show symptoms. What we eat, how we sit, the work that we do with our bodies and even the way we emotionally react to a situation, can have long term impacts on our wellness. If you spend your days sitting at a desk, the way you hold your head or place your arms can have a major impact, not only on your neck and shoulders, but also on your whole body.

This is because the bundle of nerves that sends messages to every other part of our body, originates in our spinal column. When vertebrae become misaligned there are dozens of possible impacts upon our health. This also goes for how we hold emotions in the body. If we are chronically tensing our shoulders due to stress or anxiety, this can once again impact the spine and the rest of the body. As you can see, even if we don’t feel sick, we may be in need of a little extra care to prevent daily activities from becoming more severe problems.

Why We Need Wellness Care

Health can be defined as the body functioning properly rather than just feeling good. You may not feel sick today, but if your nervous system is being impeded from sending messages to other organs and systems in the body, things may not be working as well as they could be. Through a regular wellness care program that works to restore spinal health and mobility, people often find that they have more energy and do not get sick as often. When the nervous system is functioning properly, the benefits are endless. Digestion, blood flow, lung capacity, heartbeat, skin tone, and overall mobility are just some of the body’s functions that are positively impacted by a spine that is properly aligned.

Chiropractic Treatment as Part of a Wellness Care Plan

Chiropractic treatments work to keep the integrity of the nervous system intact and are an excellent choice as a part of a wellness care plan. Regular, gentle adjustments can ensure that the daily impacts of your life are not wearing your health down over time. By performing a thorough evaluation of your health history, and current physical state, a chiropractor can help you detect problems before they develop into a more serious issue, keeping you at peak function and feeling great. Call to set up a consultation with our team at Advanced Integrated Medicine and start on the path of chiropractic wellness care today.