Both of these studies point out the many advantages of using complementary and alternative treatments like chiropractic care when helping a son or daughter cope their chronic condition. It offers an alternative that doesn't create detrimental problems and focuses on complete body wellness, making it optimal for children with chronic ailments.

Proper sensory information builds a healthy brain. So what carries that information from all of our bodies (to tell the brain what's happening in the environment)?  The back part of the brain and top of the spinal cord. As a chiropractor, we detect and correct neurostructural shifts, or subluxations, in this upper part of the spine. 

Very often, when children are having trouble with higher executive function, or we see "unwanted" behaviors, this very behavior gives us a clue to where their brain is at in its development.

In my almost 20 years of experience, colic or reflux is almost always related to tension in baby’s body; either from oral tethers, or from misalignments related to birth or in utero positioning. The discomfort in infancy looks very different than an adult in pain - arching back, screaming at the breast or troubled latch, painful gas, tight jaw, head or neck stuck in one direction, an arm or leg that can’t relax.

SOOO, if that nervous system stress goes uncorrected, baby is bound to grow INTO it. 

We work to create freedom in your infant’s body and cranium so that their little bodies can do everything with comfort : turn their head all the way in each direction, roll to each side, lie on their tummy, etc. This freedom from interference allows proper information to get through to build the brain healthy and whole from the get go. We love to teach parents skills to work through the struggles we know come in a more complex infant, but we will also teach you what to look for in normal development and how to take appropriate action BEFORE your child becomes stuck… either in their body or in a stage of development.

While it would seem that this would affect only matters of feeding and eventual speech, the ties also create pulling in the soft tissues to which they attach. This tugging can affect almost every aspect of a small infant’s life: tightness in their jaw and cheek muscles means baby sucks in extra air which can look like reflux, digestive issues, and excessive crying or colic.  The tethering of the tissues affect the shape of the inner part of her head and can cause restrictions in the airway (this can look like mouth breathing, sinus/adenoid issues, and baby snoring). Your baby may prefer to turn their head only one way (torticollis) which can create imbalances in the head (plagiocephaly) if he or she is constantly lying in the same position. 

When a child has a problem with behavior, learning, or socialization, I ask myself two basic questions… 1. Which tools is the child using to explore and engage and process their world? 2. Is there anything interfering with that child’s ability to send, receive, or process information in the brain (sensory processing, which largely occurs within the spine)?