4 Benefits of Pediatric Chiropractic You May Not Have Known
At Sioux Falls Chiropractic, we are finding that more and more parents are recognizing the power of pediatric chiropractic care. Chiropractic care is safe for children (and adults) of all ages, and the benefits to the child and parents are extreme. Our doctors are all trained to work with children as young as a day old. So if you are looking for a pediatric chiropractor, here are 4 common benefits you may see in your baby or child.
1. Better Sleep
We have countless stories of kids who never slept through the night until a chiropractic adjustment. While your child's results may vary, good spine alignment is crucial to good sleep patterns. Pediatric chiropractic treatment can help your baby or child with any underlying pain that may be causing sleep disturbances such as ear pain from neck misalignment (have you seen the way your baby sleeps in a carseat!) or even lingering back pain from the frequent falls of early childhood.
2. Fewer Ear Infections
Did you know that by the age of three, over two-thirds of all children have had one or more ear infections? Parents are trained to recognize the symptoms of an ear infection (more crying than usual, especially when lying down, trouble sleeping, hearing issues, fever or headaches, fluid draining from the ears) and seek traditional medical treatment such as antibiotic therapy; but growing research on the subject shows that children treated with antibiotic therapy and untreated children have similar outcomes at the 10 day mark.
What does this mean? Many children can fight ear infections on their own, and with increased concerns about drug-resistance, the wait-and-see approach is recommended by most professionals including the American Academy of Pediatrics. Chiropractic care can help realign the neck allowing the middle ear to drain properly so that children have a better chance of fighting their infection without the use of antibiotics. As always, please contact your pediatrician for specific information on what they would recommend for your child based on their age and unique situation.
3. Improved Overall Development
We aren't trained to think of childhood as overly physically traumatic, but when you really stop to think about it, a child's body goes through a lot in just the first year of life. From the contortions and squeezing of birth to the falls and tumbles of learning to crawl and walk, being a baby is hard! When a child's body goes through trauma, their spine also goes through trauma. Pediatric chiropractic care can help fix misalignments (subluxations) of the spine. If those misalignments aren't adjusted, the spine can learn bad patterns and habits that are harder to undo later in life. Study after study show that improper alignment contributes to conditions such as constipation, colic, ear infections, torticollis, sleep issues, acid reflux, hyperactivity, allergies, asthma and sensory issues. When the spine, the information-highway of the body, is aligned, brain signals can travel freely, allowing children to grow and develop properly.
4. Effectively Treat Colic
If you've ever had a baby with colic, you know that it can make life miserable for them and for anyone around them. colicky babies are fussy and irritable, beyond the scope of normal infant fussiness. Some little ones cry for hours a day and nothing can console them. Gentle chiropractic adjustments help fussy babies regain alignment which in turn helps manage their colic. We have had many parents who swear by pediatric chiropractic at Sioux Falls Chiropractic as an effective colic treatment. And it is not painful or uncomfortable for baby!
Whether you're nervous about pediatric chiropractic or a seasoned enthusiast of chiropractic care, we would love to talk to you about your child's unique situation. We offer free initial consultations if you are interested in learning more. Click below to get started!