#1 To enhance overall health and wellbeing.
It’s true! Once our adult patients are educated about the importance of spinal structure, many ask, “My child doesn’t have any symptoms, would it still be beneficial to get their spine checked?” Our answer is always, “Absolutely!”.
There’s an age old saying that goes “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults” (Frederick Douglass, 1817-1895) and this still rings true today. One of our doctors favourite visits in the office is a wellness visit with a child. Our examination on a child (no matter the age) consists of:
(1) STRUCTURAL 3D ANALYSIS- this is where we look at your child’s posture for any deviations away from normal. We look for a head tilt, anterior head translation, if one shoulder or hip is higher than the other and whether the toes point in or out.
(2) THERMOGRAPHY- Simply put, Dr. Jennifer or Dr. Shamira will be checking for abnormal temperature readings along your child’s spine. The purpose of Thermography is to look for stress on and interference of your nervous system. Irregular thermography readings are caused by significant temperature imbalances along the spine and are indicative of nerve pressure and improper brain-body communication.
(3) PRIMITIVE REFLEX TESTING - The presence and strength of a reflex is an important sign of nervous system development and function. Primitive reflexes should disappear as your child ages. We will check and track presence of your child’s primitive reflexes.
If your child does need to be adjusted, our paediatric adjustments are gentle and involve absolutely no forceful twisting or cracking. The firmness we use to adjust a child is the same firmness you would use to see if a tomato is ripe, so just a gentle squeeze.
#2 To strengthen immunity and reduce the incidence of colds, earaches and general illness.
You read that right! A chiropractic adjustment actually strengthens your immunity. It’s the perfect all-natural defence during cold and flu season. In fact, if our patients are feeling up to it, we actually encourage them to come in for their regularly scheduled adjustment when they feel a cold coming on to help strengthen their immunity.
Spinal adjustments have been shown to boost immune function because they serve to correct the spinal misalignments (or structural shifts) that cause envois system dysfunction. Nervous system dysfunction decreases the natural functions of your child’s body, which may lead to a weakened immune system and lowered response to a foreign body, such as the common cold.
This goes for adults, too!
#3 To help with colic and irritable baby syndrome.
Aside from wellness visits, this might be the number one reason why parents bring their babies to our office.
“The nervous system is the master controller of our body and if its communication channels become fuzzy, distorted or damaged then we may experience all sorts of communication errors. For babies this ineffective communication may play out as colic or irritability, an inability to suckle and breastfeed or poor sleep habits. For a child poor nerve communication may result in developmental delays, an inability to concentrate, behavioural problems, digestive issues, asthma, headaches – the list is endless.”Dr. Jennifer Barham- Floreani, Author of Well Adjusted Babies.
Once we detect and gently correct spinal misalignments which may have been interfering with normal nervous system function, all body functions of your child can return to normal.
Moms say their colicky baby is a “totally different baby” after their gentle adjustments.
#4 To improve spinal posture.
Increased technology usage, heavy backpacks, and sitting at a desk all day long has impacted the posture of children today. Posture is our most neglected aspect of health.
Research from Harvard Medical School has shown that poor posture not only contributes to neck and back pain but can lead to decreased balance, headaches, breathing difficulties, constipation, acid reflux and slowed digestion.
In our office, we not only provide gentle chiropractic adjustments to help correct postural and spinal misalignments, we also teach our patients about better spinal positions and postural habits that they (and their children) can implement on a daily basis.
#5 To help alleviate digestive problems.
Is your child all backed up? The good news is that research shows that gentle and specific chiropractic care can help increase parasympathetic nervous system activity, which is responsible for proper digestion.
Take a look at what one of our parents had to say about his daughter’s constipation: “I love my adjustments so much that my 3 year old daughter also sees Dr. Jennifer for constipation issues and in a very short time we have seen excellent results with her too!”
If you have any questions about how gentle chiropractic adjustments could benefit your child, we encourage you to reach out and schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Jennifer or Dr. Shamira.
Dr. Jennifer and Dr. Shamira have been granted Certification by the Academy Council of Chiropractic Paediatrics (CACCP) in the International Chiropractic Paediatric Association’s (ICPA) renowned Certification Program.
This certification enables our doctors to expand her range of care to individuals throughout pregnancy and childhood with excellence and in accordance with evidence-informed practice.
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Sources: Journal of Paediatric, Maternal and Family Health- 2009-2012, Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 2009.