Is chiropractic care safe for a child?
Chiropractic care for kids is different from that for adults. At Priestley Family Chiropractic, we tailor our chiropractic adjustments to your child’s age and weight. Their adjustments require no more pressure than you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato. Children seem to innately enjoy their chiropractic care and look forward to their visits. It’s essential to find a well-trained, reputable pediatric chiropractor.
At what age should a child start seeing a chiropractor?
We believe a child should have a spinal checkup within an hour of birth. The pulling, forcing, and twisting of a baby from the birth canal are standard practices in the birthing process. Cesarean section, forceps, suction extraction, or eager hands can do unseen damage. Even “natural” birthing methods can cause subluxations. With vital neurological signals compromised, your child’s health may be impaired from his or her very first breath. We have sophisticated technology to determine if your child’s nervous system is compromised. Allow the doctors of Priestley Family Chiropractic to perform gentle but effective adjustments on your child’s body to restore normal body functions. When we address these issues early on, you can ensure your child’s body thrives.
When should you take your child to a chiropractor in Newport Beach?
At Priestley Family Chiropractic, we believe a child should be checked as soon as possible after the birthing process to ensure your baby will develop optimally. The birthing process – even in the best case – can cause trauma to the newborn that can interfere with the nervous system, affecting your child’s health. This may present as trouble breastfeeding, reflux, colic, constipation, or excessive crying. As the child gets older, this might lead to issues with crawling, walking, speech and motor coordination, ear infections, autism, and ADHD. Chiropractic adjustments for pediatric patients focus mainly on increasing the function of the nervous system.
What are the signs my child should see a chiropractor?
If you have a concern there is an issue with your child, trust your instinct. Young babies are usually flexible and resilient. Throughout childhood, kids take a lot of falls and bumps without much difficulty. These micro-traumas can cause misalignments of the spine that can affect your child’s health. Here are some of the signs that chiropractic care can be an effective pediatric treatment option:
- Incoordination
- Speech delays
- Excessive crying
- Constipation
- Complaints of continued or recurring neck or back pain
- Limited head or neck mobility
- Poor posture, uneven shoulders
- Irregular sleep patterns
- Bedwetting
Should a child see a chiropractor for ear infections before putting tubes in their ear?
Yes, definitely! Ear infections are a common childhood issue that infants go through. This happens when fluid builds up in the ear’s eustachian tubes and fails to drain, leading to ear pain or infection. Chiropractic care can help prevent minor injuries on the infant’s nerves, mitigating their chances of developing painful ear infections. At Priestley Family Chiropractic, we can achieve this by dilating the muscles in the ears to drain the eustachian tube, relieve pressure, and unblock fluid.
Is pediatric chiropractic care the same as chiropractic care for adults
Not quite! Chiropractors treat patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly, to restore proper nerve flow from the brain to the body and back again. A pediatric chiropractor is trained to fit their chiropractic knowledge to the needs of younger, smaller patients. The adjustments are very gentle in delivery and sometimes utilize no more pressure than what is applied to test the ripeness of a tomato. Adult patients usually require a greater force to move the spinal bones in a better position to relieve pressure from the spinal nerves and the spinal cord.
