Chiropractic care for infants and children is an important step for the health of your child. As your child grows, their bones model in response to outside physical stresses placed upon them and proper joint motion is needed to distribute these forces for optimal bone development. There are periods of time when skeletal growth is accelerated, such as during growth spurts, during which balance in the muscles and joints is especially important. Just like the bones of the skeleton, your child’s nervous system is also developing at a rapid rate. The nervous system includes the brain, the spinal cord, and all the millions of nerves that serve every inch of your body and control most of its functions. 

Research studies verifying the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic care for kids. The amount of force used to adjust an infant is comparable to the amount of force you use to test a ripe tomato at the grocery store.Generally, children respond much faster and more profoundly to chiropractic care than adults do. They have not subjected their bodies to the same years of abuse that adults have. Another major difference is that pain is not typically their primary symptom. This can make it more difficult for parents to know when their child may need to visit the chiropractor. There are certain “clues” that we can watch for to gain more understanding in this area, such as postural changes, only wanting to breast feed from one side, being off-balance, and walking or running with a limp. Other times that your child may need chiropractic care include immediately following birth, following major milestones such as crawling or walking, after a trauma or fall and/or if you notice any imbalances such as limping or head tilting. 

Chiropractic care for children will vary as much as chiropractic for adults. As mentioned above, it is often difficult to know when your child may need to see the chiropractor because they do not always communicate pain. To help with this issue, we recommend setting regular check-up visits, the same way you would with your dentist and pediatrician. These check-ups help to catch minor issues before they turn in to major problems and allow kids to truly maximize their healthy potential.