Chiropractic Care for Children is Safe and Effective

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association’s (ICPA) ground breaking study, “The Safety and Effectiveness of Pediatric Chiropractic: A Survey of Chiropractors and Parents in a Practice-Based Research Network,” was published in October 2009 in the prestigious, biomedical journal, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. The objective of this study was to describe the practice of pediatric chiropractic, including its safety and effectiveness.

 The results of the study determined that the indicated primary reason for chiropractic care of children was “wellness care.” The most common reasons for parents seeking symptom relief care were muscles conditions, ear, nose, throat, respiratory and digestive disorders. Out of 577 children, doctors reported only 3 adverse events. Out of 239 children, parents reported only two adverse events. These events were minor discomfort after the adjustment and were readily resolved with continued adjustments. All children remained under chiropractic care. Both parents and doctors indicated a high rate of improvement with respect to the children’s presenting complaints. In addition to these improvements, respondents reported better sleeping patterns, improvements in behaviour and improved immune system function while under chiropractic care.

 Dr. Joel Alcantara, ICPA Research Director and presenting author said, “This paper shows the preliminary results of the ICPA’s Children’s PBRN – Phase One. Phase two is well under way and we have initiated similar research pertinent to pregnancy. We are pleased that a major CAM Journal respects the importance of chiropractic care for children and we foresee greater collaboration with the CAM community on the importance of chiropractic care for children.”

Dr. Jeanne Ohm Executive Director of the ICPA says, “I am pleased to be affiliated with an organization dedicated to chiropractic family wellness research. It is wonderful to see research substantiating the safety of chiropractic care for children and the overwhelming satisfaction of parents with children under care.”

The ICPA is the oldest and largest pediatric organization in the chiropractic profession. Their mission is Research, Training and Public Education on behalf of family wellness. To find out more about chiropractic and children or to locate a doctor who cares for children visit www.icpa4kids.org

Reproduced with permission from: http://www.icpa4kids.com/Press_Releases/2009_Sept_Childrens_Phase_1_Press_Release_.html

Copyright © 2009 International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) all rights reserved. All or part of this message may be retransmitted for information purposes, but may not be used for any communal purpose, posted on a website, or used in any non-ICPA publication (other than that of an ICPA affiliate) without the permission of the ICPA.

Chiropractic Table Modification for Pregnancy

Short answer – yes! Chiropractic techniques need to be modified for comfort and to accommodate the growing belly. Additionally, certain techniques should be avoided so you should see a chiropractor trained in the techniques that address in utero constraint or mal-presentations, who will check for misalignment of the pelvic bones, pubic bones, misalignment of the sacrum and vertebrae, and spasm of the ligaments that support the uterus and help hold the pelvis together (such as Webster Technique or Bagnell Pregnancy Technique).*

How can visiting a Chiropractor be beneficial to a pregnant woman?

Labour Helper Technique

Chiropractic care during pregnancy helps with the typical pregnancy backache, it ensures the pelvis is working and moving properly prior to and during labour. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can relieve and even prevent the common discomforts experienced in pregnancy. Specific adjustments eliminate these stresses in your spine, restore balance to your pelvis and result in greater comfort and lifestyle improvements. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy restores balance to your pelvic muscles and ligaments and therefore leads to safer and easier deliveries for you and your baby. Additionally, the chiropractic adjustment removes interference to the nervous system allowing your uterus to function at its maximum potential. Published studies have indicated that chiropractic care does in fact reduce labour time. According to recent studies, chiropractic care may result in easier pregnancy including increased comfort during the third trimester and delivery, and reduced need for analgesics (pain medication). In one study, women receiving chiropractic care through their first pregnancy had twenty-four per cent shorter labour times [than average] and subjects giving birth for the second or third time reported thirty-nine per cent shorter labour times. In another study, the need for analgesics was reduced by fifty per cent in the patients who received adjustments. In addition, eighty-four per cent of women report relief of back pain during pregnancy with chiropractic care! And because the sacroiliac joints of the pelvis function better, there is significantly less likelihood of back labour (contractions and sharp pain felt in the lower back during labour) and dystocia when receiving chiropractic care through pregnancy. Chiropractic care has also been shown to increase breast milk production and breastfeeding comfort.

What common aliments do you see most when working with pregnant women?

The preventative check-ups, typical pregnancy backache, lower ribcage discomfort, pubic bone discomfort, upper back ache from increased breast size, breech presentation, in utero constraint, and delayed maturity (past due date).

At what age can children start seeing a Chiropractor?

My children were both checked within one hour of delivery. And even with their natural, non-invasive, midwife-delivered births, both had small misalignments in the upper neck area. Studies show that infants showed signs of nervous system injury and birth trauma in up to 40% of natural, non-traumatic births. A German physician (M.D.) found upper cervical (neck) misalignments and dysfunction in over 90% of neonates (newborns).

“The birth process and eager hands pulling and twisting can put a great deal of pressure on the spinal nerves and muscles of the infant’s neck (up to eighty pounds in some studies). In a difficult delivery, damage to the delicate tissues of the spine may occur, especially when vacuum extraction or forceps are used. While forceps injuries may be less common today, vacuum extraction can do just as much damage—up to 120 pounds of pressure goes through the baby’s head and neck to literally suck the baby out of the mother (decapitation can occur at 140 pounds of pressure, to give you an idea of the high forces involved).

Changing diapers may also place undue stress on the baby’s mid-back (thoracic spine). Raising the infant’s legs with one hand to place the diaper underneath can cause repetitive stress to these spinal joints. Spinal problems can also occur as a result of the frequent falls suffered by young infants in the first months of life. A fall from a bed, a sudden stop in an automobile, or any significant unsupported movement of the head and neck in an infant can induce excessive movement in the spine causing subluxations. At the other end of the spine, the act of learning to walk, and the number of simple falls encountered in this way, can induce trauma to the lower spinal segments and to the large sacroiliac joints of the pelvis.”*

NB: Adjustments for children and babies are safe and take into account the delicate nature of the pediatric spine. The amount of pressure used to check and adjust a child’s spine is very small, approximately the same as you would use to check a tomato for ripeness.

How could seeing a Chiropractor be beneficial to a child?

Unless a child has an obvious problem, it can be difficult for parents to recognize when a child has spinal subluxations (misalignments causing nerve interference). There are some signs, however, which parents may look for which can be an indicator of an infant with a spinal problem including: the child’s head consistently being tilted to one side; restricted head or neck motion to one side; disturbed sleeping patterns where the child sleeps for only an hour or two at a time; feeding difficulties in the young infant, for example, the infant may have difficulty nursing at the breast on one particular side; and the presence of any of the symptoms of ill-health mentioned previously. Nerve interference from subluxations is implicated in many common childhood health problems such as: sucking dysfunction, colic, irritability, reflux, unexplained crying, recurrent ear infections, frequent colds, headaches, asthma, lack of appetite, poor digestion, constipation , stomach aches, so called ‘growing pains ‘, back aches, bed-wetting , poor general health, and fatigue.*

*(From Natural Pregnancy, Natural Baby – Natural Remedies for Pregnancy, Birth and Post-Partum Discomforts)

[This article was originally posted in the October-November 2008 edition of Coastparents.ca Online Newsletter Parent Profile of Dr. Rosenberg]