For parents and legal guardians, having healthy, happy, and safe children is a primary goal. This includes eating healthy, getting daily exercise, going to doctor appointments, and getting adequate sleep. Like adults, children can suffer from pain, discomfort, and illness. According to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, 17 percent of chiropractic patients are under the age of 18 and 8 percent out of that group are five or younger. Indeed, these statistics show that more people are becoming aware of the benefits of chiropractic care for their children. Continue reading to learn about the benefits of chiropractic care for children.
Your Child’s Nervous System
The central nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. This essential system controls the body’s functions, which includes a child’s ability to grow and develop. If your child has a spine misalignment or subluxation, this can prevent effective brain to body communication.
Similar to adults, children of all ages can suffer from subluxations in the spine. For instance, babies may have a misaligned spine as a result of birth trauma or developmental stress. From birth to the age of 5, a child’s body produces more neural pathways than any other time during their life. Thus, it is imperative that this neural production is working properly. Indeed, the first five years of a child’s life are essential for their growth and development into adulthood.
Promote Healthy Habits
When you take your child to a chiropractic office, the chiropractor will perform a gentle, safe adjustment designed for treating children. By properly aligning their spine misalignments, the chiropractic adjustment will help promote effective nervous system functions and communication with the body.
If the spine misalignments are not treated, this places excessive pressure on the spine and nerves. This can lead to pain and neurological interference with the child’s brain to body communications. By treating the spine misalignments, the brain can then better communicate with the body and be able to heal itself naturally. Indeed, a child’s body depends on a healthy functioning nervous system to develop and grow into a healthy adult. Chiropractic care can help set your child up for lifelong healthy habits from an early age. When children adopt healthy habits like exercising, eating healthy, and going to a chiropractor at an early age, they are more likely to continue making healthy choices as adults.
Help with Breastfeeding
For new mothers and babies, it can be stressful and challenging to breastfeed at times. Some mothers find it difficult for their baby to stay or latch on, so the baby can get the proper nutrients from the mother’s breast milk. If a baby is suffering from a misaligned spine, neck, or shoulders, this can place excessive pressure on the baby’s body. Chiropractors can perform very gentle, safe adjustments designed for infants. This will treat the baby’s misalignments and thus, improve the breastfeeding process for both the mother and baby.
Decrease the Risk of Injury
No matter the age, children are going to get bumps, bruises, and other injuries. Children learn by doing and exploring, which can sometimes lead to accidents. Luckily, young kids have more flexible bones compared to grown-ups. This doesn’t mean they cannot become injured. One helpful way to decrease the risk of injury is to take your child to a chiropractor. These holistic doctors have the skills and knowledge to help keep your child’s joints and ligaments flexible.
As children grow, chiropractic care can help promote an easier, less stressful transition during each growing phase. This will also help prevent injuries because the body is properly aligned and the central nervous system can effectively communicate with the body. In turn, this optimal brain to body communication helps the child’s body continue on a path towards improved health and wellness into adulthood.
We hope you enjoyed this week’s article discussing the benefits of chiropractic care for children. Like adults, children can suffer from spine misalignments that affect their overall health and wellness. Contact Keystone Chiropractic today to learn how we can help your child get an early start towards achieving lasting health and wellness through our state-of-the-art chiropractic care. We would love to become your new Plano, Texas chiropractors!
