Children and the Chiropractic Lifestyle
Prenatal Checkups
Infants
Children
Ear Infections
Tonsils and Adenoids
Learning Disorders
Can It Help My Child?
Adjustments
Health begins sooner than birth! Infants can benefit from Chiropractic care before they are born by having a mother who recieves prenatal Chiropractic checkups, a healthy diet, proper exercise, and a stress-free environment. Chiropractic care can benefit the developing baby and help reduce the complications of labor.
Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D., was one of America's leading pediatrician's and a vocal advocate of home delivery. In his conscious-raising book, "Confessions of A Medical Heretic", he discussed how babies delivered in the hospital are 6X's more likely to suffer distress during labor and delivery, 8X's more likely to get caught in the birth canal, 4X's more likely to need re-suscitation, 4X's more likely to become infected, and 30X's more likely to be permanently injured.
A study conducted by Lewis E. Mehl, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin Infant Development Center reviewed 2,000 births. Nearly half were home deliveries. Fourteen of the home-born children had to be re-suscitated as compared to fifty two of those in the hospital-born category. One home-delivered baby suffered neurological damage compared to six of the hospital babies suffering the same.
Although these figures reveal the benefits of home delivery, the focus is to provide insight on how traumatic the birthing process can be in any situation. Given that information, it is important for children to recieve Chiropractic treatments to minimize the short and long-term effects of birthing.
In 1987, Manuelle Medizin, published a report in the German Medical Journal of a study which examined 1,250 babies five days after birth. Of this group, 211 suffered from vomiting, hyperactivity and sleeplessness. Upon examination, 95% of these children had spinal abnormalities. The report also found over 1,000 infants with nerve interference in the upper neck area which caused a variety of clinical conditions ranging from central motor impairment to lowered resistance and infections of the ear, nose, and throat.
The entire family can benefit individually and as a whole by having spinal checkups from your Chiropractor. Children under maintenance care will have a healthy nervous system providing a superior immune system and therefore benefit by having fewer infections, allergies, "growing pains", etc.
Every parent has been awakened at some time during the night by the sound of a child crying from the agony of an ear infection. Usually, the culprit being a very painful condition called acute otitis media, more commonly known as an ear infection.
Treatment for ear infections:
Most pediatricians will treat ear infections with an antibiotic such as ampicillin, penicillin or an oral decongestant. Placing a tube in the ear and/or surgery on the eardrum (myringotomy) are used in severe cases. Each form of treatment comes along with their share of unpleasant side effects.
In the book "How to Raise a Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor", Dr. Robert S. Mendehlsohn cites a double-blind study in which 171 children with acute otitis media were divided into four groups. The severity of the condition ranged from one to both ears being involved. The first group received a myringotomy. The second group was given antibiotics and the third received surgery and antibiotics. The final group received no chemical nor surgical treatments. The authors of the study found that there was no significant difference between the four groups in terms of pain, temperature, discharge, or otoscopic appearances of hearing loss. Furthermore, no one group suffered recurrences more than any other. In short, recovery was about the same for everyone, whether or not any treatment was involved.
Another study revealed that when antibiotics are given for ear infections, especially on the first day of onset, the disease is not shortened by any measurable clinical standard. Antibiotics not only fail to cure the problem but they fail to prevent recurrence as well. In fact, recurrence rates were higher in children treated with antibiotic therapy. Tympanotomy, another common treatment, is a surgical procedure involving a tube inserted in the ear of the child. A British study examined patients who had received the tube in one ear but not in the other. Researchers found that the eardrum with the tube tended to develop scar tissue with the potential of leading to future hearing loss while the untreated ear healed normally without any problem.
Although Chiropractic does not treat otitis media, it will address the nerve interference which prevents the immune system from healing the infection. An 18 year study of 4,600 cases of upper respiratory infections in a core group of 100 families found that when spinal motion was maintained or re-established, complications usually did not develop
If your children have ear infections, chances are they have nerve interference and you may need to get them to a chiropractor for treatment. Treatment will promote better health and help avoid adverse drug reactions, side effects and allergic responses from medical treatments.
Having a major role in the human immune system, the tonsils are two small lymph glands that sit at the back of the throat to help protect the body from infection and disease. When the body fights infection, the tonsils can become enlarged and inflamed and covered with a white material (tonsillitis). If tonsillitis is part of an upper respiratory infection, it will be accompanied by a mild fever, cough, congestion and a runny nose. If it is the result of strep bacteria, there is a high fever involved and the lymph glands of the neck become swollen and tender.
It is known that the body is a host for certain bacteria without becoming ill. When free from nerve intereference, children will be better able to maintain a high level of natural immunity. A 1976 study had shown that 70 to 76 children suffered from restricted movement in the upper neck area and later received adjustments which resulted in correction of nerve interference and allowing the children to fight off infection naturally and return to good health without complication.
Current statistics indicate that 8 million school children in the United States have a learning impairment, which can be traced back to some sort of malfunction in the nerve system.
When children have trouble learning, their frustration adversely affects their relationship with everyone around them. The child often develops self-esteem problems and are prone to emotional and psychological impairments which may continue into adulthood. Recently, the directo of Psycho-educational and Guidance Services of College Station, Texas, noted that out of 10,000 hyperactive children referred to him in the preceding decade. The children with the most improvement had received Chiropractic care. This prompted the organization to refer students to Chiropractors for adjustments to monitor the effects of care. Out of 24 students with learning impairments, 12 had been adjusted by a Chiropractor and the remaining 12 received no care at all.
The study concluded that Chiropractic was 20-40% more effective than known medications. It follows that average students benefitted from the similar treatment advancing to become above average.
"Chiropractors correct abnormalities of the intellect as well as those of the body." D.D. Palmer (Founder of Chiropractic)
Can Chiropractic Help My Child?
It is recommended that all children be checked regularly for nerve interference, even without symptoms present. Parents who are aware of the importance of a properly functioning nerve system automatically want their children checked by a Chiropractor.