Our Chiropractor

We provide chiropractic care for the whole family (mommies, daddies, expecting women, toddlers etc)

Chiropractor Services

What is Chiropractic Care?

Chiropractic care has been around for over 100 years. Chiropractic means ‘by hand.’ It is a type of care that works specifically with the nervous system to ensure it is working optimally. Chiropractic assumes your child to be born health and not sick. We work within this premise and assume that your baby is a self-regulating, self-healing individual. This regulating function is controlled by the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves of the body which are housed by the spine. If there are misalignments in the spine, meaning that it is not moving optimally, then not only does this affect the muscles, nerves and potentially organ systems around them but can actually alter the function and development of the spine and alter the brain-body connection.

Chiropractors use a gentle, natural non-invasive approach unique to each individual using various techniques that gets your child’s body to work the way it is meant to.

Is it safe?

The risks of a child suffering notable injury from a spinal adjustment are extremely minima and rare. Chiropractors have been adjusting children’s spines for more than 100 years and have an excellent safety record.

Does it hurt?

In general, chiropractic care for children is painless, except in cases where the child has an actual injury. In these areas, the child may be sensitive to touch; however, once the adjustment has been made and the area is able to heal more effectively, the sensitivity is alleviated. Overall, most parents report that their children enjoy their spinal adjustments, and that they look forward to their next visit.

Why Chiropractic for BABIES?

One of the first things to develop in the mother’s womb is the nervous system (spinal cord, brain, brain stem, peripheral nerves). At 11 weeks everything is ready to go followed by the development of the other organ systems. The process is perfect as long as nothing interferes with it such as traumas (physical stress), toxins (chemical stress), and life challenges (emotional stress).
Being born is tremendously tough work for your baby. Every birth process is different. Your baby went through many types of forces to travel down the birth canal. Although beautiful, the birth process is the first trauma your baby will go through. Different types of traumas may or may not occur during labor such as vacuum or forceps extraction, C-section, cord around baby’s neck, long or short labor, failure of the cervix to dilate, baby delivered forcefully through pulling and twisting etc. Even natural births can result in undetected traumas.

Harvard University Pathologist, Dr. Abraham Towbin, found evidence of spinal injury common as a result of the birthing process. He said that ‘Spinal injuries are so common with the normal birthing process that he considers it normal.’ Further to this, Dr. Goddfrey Guttman, medical doctor and researcher examined over 1,000 infants and found that approximately 80% had some form of nerve dysfunction. He stated that’ The trauma from the birth process remains an under-publicized and therefore significantly under-treated problem.’

In the first year of life, the spine grows by about 50%, at no other time will the spine grow so rapidly, the cervical and lumbar curves also develop at this time and 65% of neurological development (brain and nervous system) occur all in the first year. Because the spine is flexible it is also very vulnerable. By the age of two children have had over 2000 falls with 200 of them being major falls.
Chiropractic care starting early on in life may help and prevent certain childhood conditions such as asthma, ADHD (behavioral issues, acting out), bed wetting, colic, difficulty sleeping, digestive issues (constipation), ear infections, chronic sickness (colds, weakened immune system), acid reflux and most importantly support your baby’s early development and put them in an optimal position for a lifetime of health.

Why should you see a chiropractor?

EVERYONE INCLUDING BABIES can benefit from chiropractic care. From infant to the elderly. The techniques used are adapted to each individual patient. The amount of force to adjust an infant (checking a tomato or avocado at a supermarket) is much less than it would be for a 20-year old athlete. Pain is the last symptom to appear and the first to go away. So even if your baby/child is well and thriving they can still benefit from chiropractic care.

How?

Chiropractic adjustments are gentle and non-invasive. Specifically, with infants and pediatrics there is not much force and additional instruments may be used such as spring-loaded instruments, drop pieces (depending on age and if the child is weight bearing) and infant specific toggle boards. As long as the joint is moved in the same way and the biomechanics are the same it does not matter the way the adjustment is done. Everybody and every BODY is unique and therefore treatment and adjustment styles will differ between individuals.

References:

1- Neglected spinal cord, brain stem and musculoskeletal injuries stemming from birth trauma Gottlieb MS. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1993 (Oct);16 (8):537-543

Towbin, A. MD Latent spinal cord and brain stem injury in newborns and infants. Develop, Med., ChildNeurology 1969, II, 54-78

3-Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children: United States, 2007 . CDC National Health Statistics Report #12. 2008.

4- Bronfort G, Haas M, Evans R, et al. Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence report . Chiropractic & Osteopathy. 2010;18(3):1–33.

5- Dagenais S, Haldeman S. Chiropractic . Primary Care. 2002;29(2):419–437.

6- Durant C, Verhoef MJ, Conway PJ, Sauve RS. Chiropractic treatment of patients younger than 18 years of age: Frequency, patterns and chiropractors’ beliefs. Paediatr Child Health 2001;6:433-8.

7-Lee AC, Li DH, Kemper KJ. Chiropractic care for children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2000;154:401-7.