“Is chiropractic care okay for kids?”
We get asked this question a lot. You might be surprised to hear that our answer is a resounding yes!
Of course, we don’t use the same methods on a 10-year-old as we would on an adult. We modify our approach to fit their body size. Our chiropractic care is always geared toward the individual.
When children have pain problems, it’s common for their parents to start by going to certain specialists and having tests done. And, unfortunately, many times that approach can lead nowhere. What’s not very widely known is that an integrated approach using chiropractic techniques, muscular therapy, and corrective exercise can provide a solution to a fairly common problem when those other methods don’t seem to produce results.
Take Katie, for example.
When she first came to see us, she was 12 years old, and had been sidelined with back pain for almost a year. She was also complaining of neck pain and headaches. Her pain had started progressively, and unfortunately, eventually ended up being disabling.
By the time we first saw her, the pain had caused her to have to stop playing soccer (at an elite club level), and forced her to pull out of Irish step dancing.
Before coming to see us, Katie had been to some of the best pediatric specialists and orthopedic surgeons in the area. And they just weren’t able to give her answers. The multiple tests they performed had come back inconclusive. And, a course of physical therapy had only given her very temporary relief.
This once joy-filled young lady just wasn’t herself. She was missing out on the activities she loved because of her pain.
During our initial evaluation of Katie, we identified some significant weaknesses and imbalances in her postural muscle support system, which were creating that physical stress on her spine when she participated in soccer and dancing.
So, from there, we provided an integrated treatment plan including chiropractic treatment to her spine, and muscular therapy (to help reduce tension in certain key muscle groups). Eventually, we began to rebalance those muscles with corrective exercises.
After two weeks, we were already seeing significant improvement that she hadn’t seen with any other treatments.
Within a month, she was experiencing significant periods of pain relief, and we were able to identify notable strength returning to her areas of weakness.
At six weeks, she began an exercise program under the supervision of fitness trainer Sheri Hoitt. Sheri’s job was to build on our previous treatment and continue strengthening her back so that she could return to all of her sports and activities.
By month three, Katie began returning to her normal life. And eventually, she completely recovered from her back pain, neck pain, and headaches, and was able to return to all of her favorite activities.
The great thing? This isn’t a one-time success story. We have countless stories like this about both kids and adults that have come to see us at our practice.
While we may not be typically seen as the first to go to in situations of such extreme pain, for us, these situations are exceedingly common, and lead back to a very straightforward problem. And the proof is in the result of the treatment.
So, is chiropractic care okay for kids? You bet!
