Some Important Thoughts on Children and Chiropractic

Common Questions From Parents
• How early should children be adjusted?
• Is it safe?
• Aren’t their bones still soft?
• Why do they need adjustments?
• What if they cry?
• How can we afford it?

All of these questions and more go through the minds of parents who are considering chiropractic care for their kids. Some parents are hesitant about getting their children adjusted, even though they are under care themselves.

Our kids are so special to us that sometimes, in an effort to protect them, we become overprotective and deprive them of necessary and valuable experiences.

If chiropractic care is necessary to your good health and for reaching your full potential in life as an adult, then it logically follows that it is even more necessary for a child. After all, they have nerve systems that control and coordinate all of their body functions just as you do. And they, like you, can get subluxations that will interfere with the full outward expression of their life force.

The only difference is that they still have an entire lifetime ahead of them in which to manifest the results of what they do today.

It’s never too soon

Spinal misalignments (subluxations) and misalignments of the feet, knees, hips and arms can occur at any time. The first one may very well have occurred at your baby’s birth. That is why parents who understand the importance of being subluxations-free have their newborns examined by their chiropractor as soon after birth as possible.

By correcting subluxations at an early age, the damage that inevitably comes from functioning at less than optimal levels can be prevented. The longer a subluxation is present, the greater the damage. In addition, the longer a subluxation is present, the longer your child’s body will continue to “reproduce itself” (i.e., grow) in the wrong way!

“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree!”

Many people who come into a chiropractor’s office for the first time as adults would have had far greater potential for regaining their health if they had received regular chiropractic care as children.

Kids make great patients

Adjusting a child is not a difficult procedure. In fact, in most cases, a child’s spine is much easier to adjust than an adult’s. They have not had the long-standing subluxations, their muscles are usually not as tense, and they are usually more relaxed in general than adults.
Not only are kids easier to adjust, but in most cases, they hold their adjustments for longer periods of time and their corrective adjustment plans are almost always significantly shorter than the average adult. However, with the falls, accidents, and generally active lives most kids experience, regular check-ups are vital.

It’s worth the effort

Chiropractic adjustments are generally painless. Children may, on the first visit or two, be somewhat reluctant. However, they rarely hesitate to get on the table to be adjusted, especially when they see that visiting the chiropractor is a family affair. When they see their mom, dad, brothers and sisters getting adjusted, they are usually more than willing to be checked for body misalignments too.
We will work with you so that your children become accustomed to their adjustments. In fact, in a very short period of time, most kids really look forward to their regular chiropractic visits.

Those children that are reluctant at first should be lovingly told that they must be adjusted, and why it is so important (to keep their power on!). As parents, we realize that our children are not going to like or enjoy everything that is good for them. Spinach is not enjoyable for most kids, and naps aren't much fun either.

Chiropractic adjustments are vital to their good health, and the few tears that may occur on the first visit (usually because of fear of the unknown), are well worth the benefits to our precious little ones.

Children who are adjusted regularly from infancy think of their visits to the chiropractor as a regular part of their lives and they are not the least bit hesitant to climb onto the adjusting table.

Lastly, it is of great importance that parents not think of adjustments for their children as “something they might as well do since their kids have come along to the office with them anyway.” Chiropractic care for your children is vital to their health and is an absolute necessity to their development and for actualization of their full potential in every area of life.