What Happens When Babies & Kids Get Adjusted?
When you think “chiropractic” what do you think of? Let me guess…lower back pain, neck pain, headaches/migraines or maybe sciatica. So why would a baby or kid get adjusted?
So many times we have heard, “Babies don’t have back pain” and, “Kids don’t get frozen shoulder” and the ever popular, “How do you crack a baby’s neck?!” While all of these conditions may be what chiropractors are known for, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
We all know that babies and kids are cute little sponges that are literally soaking up every interaction, observing and changing neurologically at an exponential rate. In order to understand what really happens when babies and kids (and adults) are adjusted and what chiropractic is really about, we’re going to deep dive into how a baby’s and kid’s brain works. This blog post is going to explain exactly how 1) Kids learn things at a crazy fast rate, 2) How you as parents can help them excel at school and whatever other interests and hobbies they have and most importantly, 3) How to keep your kids healthy.
BABIES & KIDS
Your baby starts developing their brain circuit or “neural connections” before birth and that plays a crucial role in what their health, behavior and social tendencies are like as they get older. The old “nature vs. nurture” debate has always been of great interest not just to parents but to researchers around the globe. Which is it: parenting style and techniques or a child’s innate personality and genetic predisposition? Well, we’ve got the answer and it has everything to do with those neural connections.
As your baby gets older and they grow, those neural connections continue to develop, strengthen and most importantly change. This is called neuroplasticity or the ability of the nervous system to change. If you haven’t heard of neuroplasticity before, it’s basically the brain's ability to modify, change and adapt both in structure and function throughout life in response to different experiences. Even as neurologically focused chiropractors, it still blows our minds that the body is so intelligent that the brain’s structure and function can change at such a fast rate. And as pediatric chiropractors, we know that baby and kid brains are the most “plastic” which is so important because infancy and childhood sets the stage and foundation for all future learning, behavior and health.
We talked in our very first Whiteboard Wednesday, “Baby Brain Development,” about how building the proper foundation lays the necessary groundwork for the development of the “Fancy Finishings.” These Fancy Finishings like speech, cognition, social tendencies, emotional regulation and behavior really rely on the strength of the “Basics” we talked about in that video. You can watch “Baby Brain Development” on our Instagram or YouTube.
What’s important to note is that not only does the brain and nervous system have the ability to change but your kid’s genetics (or DNA) itself has the ability to change what is being expressed and what isn’t. Many people have related their personality, health conditions and even little quirks to their genetics saying, “it’s just genetic.” It is true that we are all given a set of specific genes from our parents but that’s only part of the story. Yes, each of us is dealt a certain hand of cards, or set of genes, but we actually have more control over which “cards” we play than we think. This is true for every single person, from a newborn to a 120 year-old. Something called “epigenetics” determines which cards we play and which ones we keep in our hands. The study of epigenetics looks at how the environment influences gene expression. Research in this field has debunked the thought that genes are “set in stone” which means that the “nature vs. nurture” debate is over. It’s almost always BOTH!
What’s more is research has shown early experiences have lifelong impacts on health, behavior and so much more for children through their genes. Experiences leave a chemical “signature” on genes that determines whether and how the genes are expressed. Collectively, those signatures are called the “epigenome.” Research done by Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child shows adverse fetal and early childhood experiences can—and do—lead to physical and chemical changes in the brain (think neuroplasticity!). And those changes can last a lifetime. These “biological memories” can increase the risk not only for poor physical and mental health outcomes, they can also impair future learning capacity and behavior.
This is really where the heart of pediatric chiropractic lies and why babies and kids should be adjusted.
WHY SHOULD MY CHILD BE ADJUSTED?
While maternal stress during pregnancy has major implications for mom’s and baby’s health, the tone setting moment in a baby’s life and what will really kickstart their epigenome outside the womb is their birth. Was it chaotic, stressful and traumatic? Was labor too fast or too slow? Was there a cascade of interventions after induction where pitocin led to an epidural which led to a Cesarean delivery? How was baby cared for after birth? Were they allowed skin to skin time with mom immediately after? The birth and the moments immediately following are really the defining moments where a baby’s young brain learns what the world is like and how they should respond to it. I should say that birth trauma not only affects babies but also moms, dads and entire families because of its long term effects.
What we see in practice is a kid’s mental, emotional and physical wellbeing stems from that pivotal birth moment and it defines so much of their teenage and adult years. Constipation, reflux, colic, chronic ear infections, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, sensory processing disorders, chronic illness, allergies and eczema - these are just a few of the reasons parents bring their kids in to see us and the common thread among most of their health histories is some sort of stress early in life. Unfortunately, many parents have exhausted every avenue in search of answers and most of them have seen specialist after specialist. It’s not the parents’ fault for not knowing what’s wrong. And to be honest it isn’t the medical doctor or the specialists’ fault either. In reality they just simply aren’t asking the right question: What is the cause of my kid’s struggles? This is what pediatric chiropractic and chiropractic adjustments address.
CHIROPRACTIC AND BABIES & KIDS
As pediatric chiropractors, we go beyond symptoms and ask, “what is the root cause of your child’s health issue?” Our 3-Step Clinical Process allows us to assess what’s really going on with your child so we aren’t doing short term fixes but instead we are making a long lasting, positive impact on their health. Gentle and specific pediatric chiropractic affects the chemistry around a child’s neurological wiring, genes, health and development. This is done by restoring and rebalancing their brain and nervous system - instead of being in a stressed out/“fight or flight” or sympathetic state, they are able to shift over to a calm/”rest & digest” or parasympathetic state. Our baby and kid patients all come in for different reasons: general wellness, torticollis, constipation, motor and speech delays, focus issues, but they all heal because of exactly what we talked about earlier - neuroplasticity. Many times our little patients actually heal FASTER than our older patients because their brains are so plastic. If you look at how massive the brain’s ability to change is at 2, 4, 6 and 8 years old and how little effort it takes on the chart above, it is no wonder the kids in our practice get through their care plans faster, with the most improved results, and with more ease. Each of our patient’s care plans are individualized based on their health story, their chiropractic exam and neuro-scans called INSiGHT Scans. These scans are incredibly important because as pediatric chiropractors we can’t depend on what our patient (your child) is able to communicate or verbalize. Insight scans allow us to visualize the full picture of what is going on with each of our patient’s health.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO BRING MY BABY IN?
What’s so cool about when babies and kids get adjusted is their neurological patterns haven’t rooted as deeply, which means every adjustment allows their bodies to establish healthier patterns, faster and earlier. The rate at which the brain is making connections at an early age is unmatched and the first 8 years of a child’s life build a foundation for future health and life success. This is why we recommend getting a child checked as early as possible because of what we discussed earlier - early childhood represents a period of growth that lays the foundation for successful learning, development and health. Parents see the night and day differences when their little ones are under chiropractic care in how their child behaves, expresses themselves and is presenting health-wise.
WHAT IF I WAIT TO GET MY CHILD CHECKED?
Just like babies, we all have the ability to rewire our brain; everyone from teenagers to adults, we have the ability to change how our brain operates. Think back to a time you learned a new sport, a new language, or instrument, your health is the exact same. With every adjustment our body learns new neurological patterns and with enough time and consistency we as adults can use neuroplasticity to our advantage too. But it takes more time and repetition when we are older because the patterns are more deeply set in our brain, but we can still do it! It’s just a matter of how plastic we are at that time that is going to determine how much effort we need. It is easier and takes less effort to form strong connections during the early years than it is to “fix” things later because of the cumulative and lifelong impact early experiences (both positive and negative) have on a person’s development.
GETTING STARTED!
Building a strong foundation for your child’s health is crucial to set them up for success for the rest of their life. To learn more about Pediatric Chiropractic, give us a call or schedule an appointment for your child. We’ll walk you through everything, explain our Care Plan Process and answer all of your questions. We can’t wait to be a part of your child’s health team!
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References:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01657/full
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/
Council on Community Pediatrics. Poverty and child health in the United States. Pediatrics 2016;137:e20160339.
Daelmans B, Darmstadt GL, Lombardi J, et al. ; Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. Early childhood development: the foundation of sustainable development. Lancet 2017;389:9–11.
Halfon N, Hochstein M. Life course health development: an integrated framework for developing health, policy, and research. Milbank Q 2002;80:433–79, iii.
Thompson RA. What more has been learned? The science of early childhood development 15 years after Neurons to Neighborhoods. Zero to Three 2016. Epub March 9, 2016.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Parenting matters: supporting parents of children ages 0–8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2016.