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Pediatric Care

As many parents know, when it comes to health, knowledge truly is power. Here you will find specific information designed for parents who take an active interest in raising a healthy family. Most habits, healthy and not-so-healthy, are learned and deeply engrained at an early age.  We support and encourage you, as a parent, to take a hands-on role in the health of your child.  We also encourage you to help your child learn using the most effective and beneficial method possible: by teaching through healthy example.  

Be sure to check back regularly while we update and make improvements to our site.  If you have any helpful suggestions or comments you would like to share, please send them our way.

Chiropractic Care
Infants, children, and adolescents just like yours enjoy the health benefits of regular chiropractic care.  The health benefits of Chiropractic care extend far beyond effectively treating common symptoms such as adult back pain.  Chiropractic care offers a safe, effective source of health for all members of your family.  Health benefits include pain relief, correction of conditions which affect the bones, connective tissue, and the nervous system. Optimizing overall health for all ages is a benefit of regular chiropractic care.  Providing safe, effective treatment for “chiropractically responsive” conditions in the young is well documented. These conditions include back pain, scoliosis, and headaches.  

We can also provide effective care for many other childhood conditions. A few examples of childhood conditions which have responded very favorably to chiropractic treatment include asthma, ear infections, and infantile colic..  Effective and safe chiropractic care is a holistic approach to treatment of health conditions.  Chiropractic medicine comprises a comprehensive range of safe, natural, and noninvasive treatments.  These treatments include, but are not limited to, spinal adjustments, exercise and stretching routines, specialized diet and nutritional modifications, and soft tissue techniques. Expressed through the hands of a caring and experienced chiropractor, chiropractic care can provide your infant, child or adolescent a lifetime of quality health and happiness.  Please peruse the links located below and learn how chiropractic care can safely and effectively improve the health of your child.  

Chiropractors routinely and caringly practice natural treatment of common childhood ailments.   If you have additional questions, or would like more information, contact our office and we will be pleased to have you speak with the doctor personally, or schedule an appointment. 

The Growing Spine  Spinal Length and Growth Development of an Infant's Spinal Curve Spinal Trauma What is the impact, over time? Is your child’s spine healthy? 
Spinal Length and Growth Typically, the spine of a newborn child represents 40% of the child’s total length.  This is the same proportion found in an adult.  The difference is that the spinal column of a newborn child will experience rapid changes in the first few years of the child’s life.  The length of the spine will experience a dramatic growth, starting at a mere 9.6 inches and growing to 14.4 inches during the first year of the child’s life (24 cm to 36 cm).  This explosive growth eventually slows, reaching an average of 20.4 inches (51 cm) by age 5.  Between 5 and 10 years of age, the spinal column typically grows another 4 inches (10 cm).  From the onset of puberty until approximately age 18,  the spinal column will typically grow another 8..1 inches (20 cm) in males, and 6 inches (15 cm) in females.

Development of an Infant’s Spinal Curve
The curvature of an infant’s spinal column shifts dramatically between birth and 3 months of age.  As the child is born, the spine shape resembles the alphabetic character “C”.  By 3 months, however, as the baby begins to raise its head, the cervical spine assumes its “lordosis”, which is a curve of the reversed “C” letter shape.  By 6 months, the child has assumed a seated and standing posture and the lumbar spine (or lower back) also adopts a lordotic shaped curve. 

Spinal Trauma
The infant passes through a very small area in relation to his or her size during the event of birth.  Intense and physically unnatural forces are are often applied in order to minimize pain and discomfort for both the mother and her child.  Commonly this results in the infant’s spine being injured - with increased likelihood of injury to the cervical spine.  With the passing of time, the spine endures phases of rapid growth and develops at an accelerated pace.  When the child enters the phases of crawling, and eventually walking, inevitably a series of falls will occur.  These collisions and falls, although they seem minor in nature, will continue as the child’s balance and gross motor skills are still in the early stages of development.   While the young child progresses through  childhood, the small, innocuous collisions increase in both frequency and intensity of impact.  The physical trauma the child experiences will endure as the child begins the transformation into adolescence.  The trauma will be especially prevalent in athletic, physically active children.

What is the impact, over time?
A child’s spine is subject to numerous traumatic injuries, and stressful impacts.  These traumas start at birth and continue into adolescence.  For this reason, chiropractic doctors recommend regular chiropractic care and treatment for infants, children, and adolescents.  The high volume of stresses on the spine of a child, in comparison to adults, suggest that regular chiropractic care is every bit as important for children as it is for adults, if not more so. 

Is your child’s spine healthy? 
The health of your child’s spine depends on having it checked for problems.  Examining your child’s spine is at the very least as important as checking for cavities in your child’s teeth.  Examining your child’s spine may clearly be even more important, when you consider that your child doesn’t have a second spine ready to grow in place of the first one! 

While our interest takes priority in your child’s health, we do not wish to irresponsibly or unprofessionally scare parents into bringing their children in for spinal checkups.  We do, however, feel compelled by a responsibility to inform parents of the importance of appropriate spinal care and hygiene.  If you are interested in making an appointment for your child, or if you have further questions, do take the opportunity to call us. We will be pleased to help you, and we can schedule a consultation with the doctor either by phone, or on site at our office.  We think you will agree: your child’s health is worth it.