Chiropractic Care for Babies
Ensuring Your Baby's Optimum Development
by Jason A Deitch, D.C.
The idea of chiropractic care for babies is new for many people, but such treatment has actually been going on for nearly 100 years. In part one of this two-part article, Chiropractor Jason Dietch describes the advantages of chiropractic care for infants and children.
Is chiropractic care safe for infants?
The first thing that most parents feel when they think of chiropractic for babies is fear: "Can that be dangerous for my baby?" parents ask. What many parents forget is the degree of force and trauma that is often used during the birth process. Some studies suggest anywhere from 30-90 pounds of pressure can be used in a normal birth, and vacuum extraction and forceps can add additional stress. In comparison to the light contact adjustments used by most chiropractors who care for newborns, chiropractic care clearly appears to be much gentler. The chiropractic adjustment that most people think of with the twisting and popping is not the same adjustment that is used with newborns and infants. In fact, the amount of pressure used is comparable to the amount of pressure you could press on your closed eyelid without any discomfort.
Will my pediatrician suggest that my baby get checked by a chiropractor?
This is a very important question, because we look to our pediatricians to be the experts of our babys health. The reason many pediatricians do not suggest that babies get checked by a Chiropractor is simply because it is not part of their training in American medical schools.
Medicines approach is based on the inductive research of specific conditions and the associative factors related to the condition. The data is then categorized to identify the high-risk groups and activities that are considered to be causative factors. The medical approach is a mechanistic and allopathic viewpoint focused on the elimination of suffering. Medical doctors are extremely qualified to diagnose and treat disease and provide emergency first aid medical care. Their training is based on the use of medications and surgical procedures to treat and cure medical conditions.
Chiropractics approach is based on deductive logic of how the anatomical structure of the spinal column relates to physiological function or the expression of health. The chiropractic approach is focused on allowing for optimum expression of a persons genetic potential. Chiropractors are trained to analyze the bio-mechanical and physiological function in order to improve a persons growth, development and regulation of homeostasis.
These are very different approaches. They are not in conflict or competition. They are simply different. The medical approach is to treat and cure injury and disease to ensure health. The Chiropractic approach is reduce neurological stresses that interfere with optimal development and the expression of natural health.
Why would my baby need to see a chiropractor?
The birth process can be a traumatic process for babies -- even in a natural, drug-free delivery. The risk of trauma in hospital births may increase the amount of stress to the baby depending on the position of the mother during delivery as well as the use of epidurals, forceps or other interventions. Health care professionals have termed this condition "Traumatic Birth Syndrome" (TBS). It is possible for TBS to produce a wide variety of symptoms. Your baby may have wide variety of symptoms ranging from general discomfort to internal, emotional or neurological dysfunction or may even be asymptomatic. Studies have indicated possible associations between learning disabilities, lowered immune response, and even SIDS with trauma to the spine and nerve system.
Your pediatrician is trained to treat symptoms and conditions with drugs and surgery while your chiropractor is trained to assess to spine and nerve system for neurological stress commonly referred to as the Vertebral Subluxation Complex (VSC). Chiropractors are specifically trained in the detection and reduction of the effects of VSC. This is a specialty that requires specific training in the analysis and adjustment of the spine. You bring your children to a dentist to check their teeth, an optometrist to check their eyes and a chiropractor to check their spine. Just as it is wise to see a dentist to check and keep your teeth healthy -- not neglect them until you have pain, it is wise to have your spine checked while it is healthy -- not wait until there are symptoms to which you must react.
Demi Moore, Marla Maples, Maria Shriver, Catherine Oxenberg and many more celebrities bring their children to receive regular chiropractic care. For specific research studies, refer to http://www.4icpa.org.
