Chiro Kiddos
Here at NGFC we love our chiropractic kids! From very early on it was a dream of ours to able to treat children and mothers every day. That dream has quickly become a reality! We are proud to say that nearly half of our patients are under the age of sixteen! We are in the top 10% of all chiropractic offices in the country when it comes to treating children. We recognize how much trust and faith in us it takes to allow us to take care of your family so I thought that I would explain why it is so important for kids to be under regular chiropractic care.
Kids are amazing! It still blows my mind how quickly children grow and develop. Every day they are taking in the world around them, learning from mistakes, listening to every word (often repeating those words, good or bad!). As they grow their small bodies are taking in the foods that they eat and turning them into human cells! Its crazy that the broccoli you gave them yesterday could be turned into a skin cell today! Now we often talk about the brain being able to tell the body what to do, how to function, and how to heal, and with children it’s the same but its also more complicated. You see not only does a child’s brain tell their body how to grow and develop, but the BODY has to be able to tell the BRAIN what is going on in the world around it!
The brain is blind. Not only is it blind, it has no senses at all. It can’t smell, hear, feel, see, or taste. It requires your organs for those vital functions. As the eyes see or the fingers feel they tell the brain what is going on in the world. With that information the brain makes decisions! Pretty cool huh? But what happens if the eyes can’t see? Lets say child is born blind. The brain never receives information from the eyes thus that part of the brain never develops. Lack of information from the body leads to lack of development in the brain. It makes sense. In this scenario of a blind child that lack of brain development is no big deal because they would never be able to see any ways. But what if the child has perfectly functioning eyes? What if the issue was that the eyes were UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE with the brain properly? The brain still WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DEVELOP properly. That’s why kids need to be adjusted!
In chiropractic we check spines. But we check spines BECAUSE the spine is directly related to the nerve system! God designed your spine to surround and protect your brain stem and spinal cord. Plus, every nerve in your body starts at your spine and then branches out. So as a chiropractor I am in constant battle with your spine in an effort to protect the all important nerve system! You’d think we’d love spines but actually they frustrate me to no end. Because when your spine moves out of its normal alignment it impinges and affects the nerve system. In adults that misalignment can create malfunctioning organs and some times pain. BUT IN KIDS if their spines are out of alignment, the body cannot tell the brain what is happening in the world! If the brain doesn’t receive the proper information from the body it CANNOT GROW AND DEVELOP, as it should. All of a sudden your kids are delayed in speech, crawling, coordination, struggling to read, have weak immune systems, digestive issues, or any host of neurodevelopmental problems all because of a simple misalignment in the spine.
How does this happen? How do kids spines get so screwed up? Well have you watched a child play?? They fall 200 times a day! They run into things, they bump their heads, they fall out of bed, the list is endless. Even the positions we put them in as babies affect their spines. Strapping them in car seats all day with their heads kinked to the side, sitting up right in bouncers before their spines can handle the load, all these things impact their spines. Then, as they are getting older they play outside, fall from trees, trip and fall playing sports, the list continues. BUT the number one thing that affects children’s spines is birth.
87% of children have a spinal misalignment following birth. While C – sections are the worst, with hospital births being a close second even a natural birth, done at a birthing center or home still affects the child’s spine. The pressure alone is enough to cause an issue, but its when the child’s head is grabbed (often with forceps), rotated, then pulled up and down to get the baby’s shoulders out that is the main culprit. SO needless to say we check and adjust children on day one! Because when would you want your child’s brain to be growing and developing at its highest potential??
All chiropractors are taught how to adjust children. We take long courses on the subject in school but very few even touch a child before graduating much less become proficient with it. So, with our dream of owning a family based practice Dr. Lauren and I decided to do a bit of extra training. She trained under Dr. Erin Zovath in Jacksonville, FL for over a year (while living with my grandparents!) Dr. Erin is one of the most successful female chiropractors in history. While working for her, Lauren was taught every aspect of children’s chiropractic care. But from there we both went on to train under Dr. Tony Nalda (Dr. Erin’s mentor). Dr. Tony has a master’s degree in scoliosis and another master’s in spinal correction. Under Dr. Tony we learned not only how to adjust children, but how to correct their young growing spines. The adjustments often look similar to an adult adjustment but I assure you they are not. Sometimes we mimic adult adjustments on kids so they feel more comfortable doing what you as their parents are doing. So while many chiropractors can give very good care to your children, it is literally our specialty.
If you are one of the many families with the kiddos under care rest assured that your children are growing and developing just as God intended! If your kids haven’t been checked yet lets get them in as soon as possible. If nothing else just to be check and see if there is an issue that you can start planning for in the future! See you and your kids in the bay!
In Health and Faith,
Dr. Marc
