Chiropractic care focuses on treating spinal injuries or conditions, as well as other musculoskeletal traumas or disorders, through the use of spinal adjustments, manual manipulation, and occasionally, a set of recommended exercises and stretches. Chiropractic treatment can benefit people with a variety of complications and, just the same as it’s recommended for many adults, chiropractic can also be used with children. Children can benefit from chiropractic care just as much as adults can, after all, spine health is essential for people of all ages to function to their fullest capabilities.
Infants, for example, can often experience trauma on the
head and neck during birth through the normal procedures of labor. Chiropractic
adjustments in a growing child can help align their spine in the case of early
subluxations, or spinal misalignments. Properly aligning a child’s developing
spine can help prevent the development of various ailments as well as maintain
a normal formation of the bones in the spine. Chiropractic has also been shown
to help small children who often experience ear infections by aligning the cervical
spine, or neck, which allows the Eustachian tube to function properly, reducing
the frequency and intensity of infections. Regular adjustments can also be
especially useful for both younger and older children because of the increased
number of falls and/or accidents that may occur through their normal physical
activities on the playground or in the sports arena.
Chiropractic care can be especially useful for correcting
abnormal spinal development disorders such as scoliosis in children. Scoliosis
is characterized as a lateral curvature of the spine, most frequently resulting
during the growth spurt of a child just before reaching puberty. When a child
grows rapidly, the bones in the spine may develop and align incorrectly,
causing an abnormal formation of the spine. Through early diagnosis and treatment
of a child with scoliosis, a chiropractor can use regular spinal adjustments
along with an appropriate follow up of exercises to properly align the spine of
a child and allow the spine to develop appropriately, improving their overall spinal
health in the future.
When it comes to chiropractic treatment for children, the
spinal adjustments used by a doctor on a child’s spine can be applied using a
gentle technique which differs from the usual type of adjustments associated
with chiropractic. Chiropractors are also specifically trained to implement
adjustments especially designed for babies and young adults. Chiropractic care provides a safe and natural way that is
effective towards children to prevent and treat many different injuries and conditions.
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
