Chiropractic for kids?

“I didn’t even know that was a thing. Why would they need that?”

It's the most common question we hear when we say one of the focuses of our practice is pediatric chiropractic! While we could sit down and have a lengthy conversation about why kids need chiropractic, at the root of it all there are two key reasons why pediatric and prenatal chiropractic is vitally important:1. From the time of conception until the age of 2 years old, your nervous system goes from absolutely nothing at all to more than 50% of the nervous system fully developed. This means that these 2 years of life (plus time in mommy's belly) is a BOOM in nervous system growth! During this imperative period of nervous system development, it's crucial to ensure that it's developing and making connections properly! 
2. Quite simply put, birth is TOUGH! Whether you birthed vaginally or by the even tougher Cesarean section, it's all a rough ride for mom and baby alike and can greatly affect the positioning of a child's spine! Beyond birth, we know that accidental tumbles, spills, and bumps that are all a part of growing up can all have a detrimental effect on a child's spine if left uncorrected. Think about a car with poor alignment- what happens to your tires? They wear unevenly. Similarly, this happens with your spine when a misalignment is left uncorrected for an extended period of time. This misalignment doesn't just inhibit proper development of the boney spinal structure, but also the development of the nervous system itself, much of which is housed within the spinal column. When the nervous system isn't developing and functioning properly, we can see a variety of health concerns arise. And if a simple chiropractic "check up" can prevent from this improper development, why take the risk not getting checked?

THE SECOND MOST COMMON QUESTION WE GET: "IS IT EVEN SAFE?"

Simple answer: YES! 
Often times, babies (or tuckered out older kids) sleep right through their adjustments because it's just that gentle! Most parents don't even realize the difference between us feeling the spine and the actual delivery of the adjustment. 
You're probably used to seeing, or experiencing, much more dramatic adjustments for adults. The answer as to why we don't have to be this forceful with kids is two fold: 
1. The ligaments, tendons, and bones of each joint aren't fully developed yet in a young child. Because of this, they are much more easily "moveable" and therefore simply don't take as much force to shift back into alignment. 
2. The average age of a person's first chiropractic adjustment isn't until the age of 43. Bearing in mind what we said earlier, that a great deal of spinal misalignment and dysfunction begins as early as birth, then that means that these misalignments have now had 43 years to form a pattern in your body. This causes ligaments/tendons/muscles to become chronically contracted, making it more difficult to shift back into the position it should be in. But when we are able to catch these subluxations at a much younger age, we aren't having to fight against chronically-contracted soft tissues and therefore don't have to exert nearly as much force!