Pediatric Chiropractic at
Progressive Chiropractic
Our children’s health is of utmost importance to us as parents. As a husband and father of two young children, Victoria Chiropractor Dr. Mark Smith understands your concerns. Just like adults, health issues arise in kids, and when they do, they need to be addressed to prevent future issues.
Chiropractic care for children looks very different than it does for adults. It’s non-invasive and gentle, and may address issues the medical system and other alternative approaches are not always well-equipped to deal with. Dr. Mark has been providing care for infants, children, and teens for over 10 years.
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Ensuring Proper Development
Proper movement and alignment of the spine help ensure children develop as they’re meant to, and meet their milestones. Chiropractic care helps prevent children from having to compensate for issues like spinal dysfunction, injuries, and postural misalignments.
Children often fall as they grow. A fall on their backside may potentially create a misaligned pelvis (hips) and a temporary difference in leg length. If the pelvis is not realigned, the child will continue to grow, develop, and compensate for that leg length difference.
As a result, ALL the child’s movement patterns, activities, and postures adjust to this pelvic and spinal dysfunction, making normal movement and coordination impossible as they grow. Making chiropractic a regular and proactive part of the child’s overall healthcare plan may help avoid this scenario.
Since babies can’t verbalize when they’re having a problem, as parents, we need to look for cues that might signal an issue. Based on our experience, issues that we have had success helping infants with include
- Feeding difficulties, i.e. troubles turning the head and feeding on a particular side, spitting up frequently, or irritability while in the feeding position
- Physical challenges or delays with crawling, walking, raising one or both arms, etc.
- General physical pain or discomfort, or discomfort when touched on a certain part of the back, spine, or other parts of the body
- A proactive spinal exam after a particularly traumatic birth, such as a breach birth, or one that involved vacuum delivery, for example
Gentle Care for Your Baby
When working on infants, Dr. Mark mainly uses fingertip pressure to release muscles and subtly shift spinal vertebrae. He also uses a variable frequency adjuster at its lowest setting, which produces a gentle “tapping” to release and realign spinal joints and muscles.
Dr. Mark also uses his thumbs to provide very gentle-hands-on impulses to the spine. These techniques are applied with considerably lower force than older children and adults. Infants rarely fuss during or after their adjustment, and appear more relaxed afterward.
Wellness Care for Infants
A baby’s developing spine and nervous system constantly adjusts to the stresses it’s exposed to. Wellness checkups ensure their spine is properly aligned and moving freely. This allows the infant to move, develop, and grow as they should, and be at their best as they bravely explore the world around them.
The spine is key to coordination between the brain and the body, and spinal health is crucial to ensure proper communication between the spinal joints and the brain. After the initial phase of care, Dr. Mark will often recommend follow-up care for infants every several months or so.
As children grow, they are more capable of communicating when there’s a health issue. While kids CAN be good at telling stories or exaggerating their boo-boo’s, complaints should be seriously considered.
Parents should be mindful of
- Recent falls, accidents, sports injuries, etc.
- A child repeatedly complaining about a particular physical issue
- Strange movement patterns or difficulties and awkwardness with running, walking, jumping, climbing, etc.
- A child shying away from certain activities or physical play they have typically enjoyed in the past
Dr. Mark still works on young kids in a much gentler way than adults, but begins to incorporate the use of the drop-table. This table allows Dr. Mark to move, release, and realign joints and vertebrae in a way that “cushions” the adjustment using the gravity-assisted table. There’s no “twisting” or “popping” of spinal joints. The variable frequency adjuster is also used often to lightly tap on and release muscles and joints.
Typically, kids need fewer areas adjusted than adults. As long as children are open to and comfortable with the office environment, they respond positively and usually require fewer, and shorter, visits than adults.
Dr. Mark’s dog (and office greeter) Charlie is also a favorite with the children and helps keep kids company while they’re in the office.
By this age, the physical, mental, emotional, and postural stresses on the body and spine are more like those adults experience. More than any time in human history, this age group is experiencing an unnatural amount of technology-induced postural stress, the likes of which have never been seen before.
These stresses affect and cause misalignment and joint restriction in the neck and upper back—the most neurologically important parts of the spine. The human body was not designed to withstand the chronic postural stresses our modern society places on the spine and joints.
Why Should My Teen See a Chiropractor?
If spinal dysfunctions are not addressed when they occur, a teen may carry these issues into adulthood. In addition, teens who are active in sports or extracurricular work tend to suffer more accidents and physical stresses. All the more reason for teens to see a chiropractor, both when issues arise, and on a proactive basis for checkups.
Teens may be a little resistant to receiving care, but this age group typically responds to care faster than most adults, due to less accumulated stress and damage in the spine.
The Chiropractic Care They Need
Dr. Mark works with this age group similar to his adult clients. The adjusting instrument and muscular trigger point therapy is used like on the younger kids, but more adjusting is done with the drop table. Like the younger kids, teens typically respond quickly, and require fewer sessions and less adjusting than adults.
Continued care for teens helps them enter adulthood as healthy as possible, and without lingering injuries, postural compensations, and issues that might otherwise hold them back.
A Part of Your Child’s Healthy Development
Whether you choose to access it proactively, or strictly on an as-needed basis for your child, chiropractic is a powerful tool to ensure your child’s healthy development. With a properly aligned and functioning spine and extremity joints, their entire body and nervous system are able to function more optimally.
Chiropractic helps remove any roadblocks to your child’s normal development, and has a terrific track record for children. All the more reason a loving parent needs to bring their child to our office.
Schedule An Appointment
Give us a call and get your child on track to optimal health and wellness to last a lifetime. Contact Progressive Chiropractic today!
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