Children

Why do children need Chiropractic Care???

You get their teeth, eyes and ears checked. Did you forget their spine?

The brain and the nerve system control the function of all other cells, glands, organs and systems in the body.  The skull protects the brain, the spine the spinal cord.  Misalignments in the skull or spine can be caused by even minor incidents, and can upset the very delicate balance in the brain and nerve system. These incidents can follow on from intrauterine constraint, abnormal positioning in the uterus, the forces and stresses of birth, especially if forceps, suction or caesarean has been performed. If you then add the daily stresses from falls and knocks, sport and tussles with siblings it is easy to see how their system can become unbalanced and not function as well as it should.

Children often don’t develop pain the way adults do, due to the way their nervous systems work. They may, however, suffer symptoms such as colic, reflux, sleeping difficulties, asthma, ear infections, tonsillitis, bedwetting, tummy pains, scoliosis and even learning and behavioural problems.

Gentle chiropractic adjustments help alleviate the misalignments of the spine and skull to allow the nerve system to work as well as possible.  Ideally, babies should be checked soon after birth to prevent the onset of symptoms.

Research to support this comes from many sources:

Guttman, prominent specialist in manual medicine from Germany,, studied 1,000 infants and found that more than 80% had some form of nerve dysfunction following the birth process.  He mentioned that many health problems can arise due to this nerve dysfunction such as lowered resistance to infections in ears, nose and throat.  He went on to say that adjustments, using the lightest pressure of a finger, could normalise the infant's clinical picture.

Fryman, a colleague of Gutmann's form USA, examined 1,250 babies five days after birth and found 95% of them had strain of the vertebrae at the top of their neck.  She also noted immediate relaxation and better sleep after a gentle spinal adjustment.

ICPA, International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, has recently published a study in the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic care for children.  Out of 5,438 office visits only 3 minor aggravations were reported, such as minor discomfort, following the adjustment.  In the study over 90% of the chiropractors and parents reported improvement in the child's presenting complaint.  Both also reported improvement in the child's behaviour, sleeping pattern and immune function.

Chiropractic is a safe and gentle way of enhancing your child's health, naturally.

Dorte has undertaken extensive postgraduate studies in chiropractic care for children including a Certificate in Chiropractic Paediatrics through the University of Wales.

So why don’t you bring your kids in for a checkup today?

Contact the front desk for an appointment.

 

Learning, attention, behaviour and coordination difficulties

If you follow the news, you will be bombarded with how poorly our children are performing at school:
Almost 30% of yr 3 and yr 5 students don’t pass the Basic Skills Test.
10% of school children are on psychotropic medication to help them perform at school (Ritalin is a Class II Narcotic).                               It seems that every day there is a new combination of letters that describe a set of symptoms a child may present with:  ADHD, PDD, OCD, ADD, ODD, PDD-NOS, LD, DCD, CD, ASD, MPD, DAMP, DDS as well as Aspergers, Autism, sensory integration difficulties, sensory processing disorder.......When a child is diagnosed, we as parents initially feel relieved, as it has finally been figured out what is wrong with our child.  Then we get disappointed, because too often, there is no solution, no help in sight.We may be advised to use certain types of medication.  Many of us don’t feel there are any alternatives to this path. But there may be:

Research is starting to indicate that all these children with lots of different symptoms, lots of different difficulties actually have something in common: dysfunction in the central nerve system.

At family Chiropractic Centre - Charlestown we specialise in care for these kids with "Developmental Delay" a term used as a catch all phrase.

Reaching full potential

Our potential for functioning optimally in all areas of life is determined shortly after conception. In utero the nervous system starts developing three weeks after conception.  At about five weeks it develops some patterns to protect foetal development, aid in the birth process and enhance our chance of survival. These patterns, also known as Primitive Reflexes, later become integrated as the nervous system matures, to be replaced by more selective responses. Failure of these reflexes to integrate properly can result in learning difficulties, behavioural problems, low attention and concentration, poor posture and altered visual or auditory perception.

There are 5 major primitive reflexes:

Fear Paralysis: Symptoms may include hypersensitivity to noise, fear of new things, shyness, anxiety and difficulty learning to speak.

MORO: also known as the startle reflex.
The child is often labeled ADD or ADHD, may have poor immune function such as recurrent colds/flu/tonsillitis/ear infections or hay fever/asthma, be aggressive, over-reactive and have difficulty relaxing.

Tonic Labyrinthine: Helps develop a sense of balance. Symptoms may include travel sickness, problems with balance and coordination, delayed walking, decreased vision and hearing.

Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex: Helps develop hand-eye coordination and depth perception. Child may have difficulty learning to crawl properly, have poor hand-eye coordination, messy hand writing and be easily distracted.

Spinal Gallant: aids in birth process and is associated with posture and bladder control. Symptoms can include bedwetting, difficulty in sitting still and posture or gait problems.

When we assess your child we will ensure that your child’s nervous system is functioning optimally and that these reflexes have been properly integrated.  If not, specific structural correction will be advised, along with special exercises and nutritional counselling to allow your child to fully develop to his or her innate potential.

Primitive Reflexes are developed in the brainstem of the fetus from about the 5^th week in utero and are survival reflexes of the neonate.  A reflex is a behavior that just happens, without us having to think about it, like a knee jerk reflex or withdrawal from heat. They are called primitive because they happen in the reptilian brain, meaning they go so far back in evolution that all animals have them in some form. 

 

 

Assessment of the reflexes in babies gives us information about the integrity of the brainstem and the spinal cord.  Absence, asymmetry or delayed integration may indicate developmental delay or neurological disorders.  As the brain develops higher centers in the brain inhibit the stereotypical survival primitive reflexes to allow for unconscious control of posture, balance, coordination and voluntary movements in gravity.  This means that if we find primitive reflexes still present past the useful age, we know that the higher centers in the brain have not taken over its responsibility and that the function of these centers are compromised in some way. 

This gives us a nonspecific tool to asses overall brain fxn and predict learning ability of the child.

 

 

There are 12 primitive reflexes: 

 

Fear Paralysis Reflex (FPR): also known as the withdrawal reflex. 

Emerge: 5 weeks after conception.

Inhibited:  9^th week in utero

 

This is the immediate withdrawal of the embryo in response to gentle touch, an amebic-like response (look at baby's response to ultrasound).  As tactile awareness develops, the withdrawal gradually lessens. 

 

Retained FPR may result in the child being hyper-sensitive to noise, afraid of new things (sometimes screaming/obnoxious no), having difficulty learning to speak, panic disorders, shy, ‘scaredy cat’, etc.

 

 

MORO startle reflex

Emerge: 9-12w in utero, present at birth

Inhibited: 2-4 mos

 

A loud noise, bright light, rough touch or sudden mvmt will cause the baby's arms to abduct and extend, his spine will extend, open the hands and breathe in rapidly.  After freezing momentarily everything will flex and he will cry.  It is a survival mechanism, to alert, arouse and summon assistance. It is also thought to play a major role in developing the baby’s breathing in utero and facilitating baby's first breath. 

This is a fight/flight reaction: The sympathetic nerve system will respond by releasing stress hormones which causes increased rate of breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

 

If the startle reflex is not integrated properly the child will be in a continual state of fight/flight.  He may be very easily distracted.  He may be aggressive, over-reactive and have difficulty relaxing.  He may be labeled ADD or ADHD.  Due to continued exposure to stress hormones his immune system tends to be stretched: and may get every cold/flu going, and will tend to be sensitive to allergens in the air or in food.

 

 

Palmar Reflex and Plantar reflex/ grasping reflex

Emerge: 11 weeks in utero, is fully present at birth

Inhibited: 2-3 months should be replaced by pincer grip by 36 weeks

 

There is a direct link between the palmar/plantar reflexes and sucking: Sucking can elicit reflex hand and foot movement as if milking mum and kneading the baby's hand can elicit sucking movements of the mouth and tongue.  Both hands and mouth are major sources of exploration in this age group.   

Failure of inhibition of these reflexes can cause poor manual dexterity, poor pencil grip, hypersensitive palm, poor individual finger/thumb mvmt, speech and articulation problems.  Mouth movements when writing and drawing are often observed.

 

ATNR:

Emerges: 18 weeks in utero, fully present at birth.

Inhibited at 6 months

 

When the baby’s head is turned to the side, the same arm and leg will straighten.  This is thought to assist the baby’s active participation in the birth process.  It is also important for the baby to discover his hand, develop hand eye coordination and judge distance (depth perception) as well as vestibular integration.   

If this is not integrated properly the baby may experience difficulties crawling and walking, may appear uncoordinated and unbalanced, be easily distracted and have messy hand writing and pencil grip problems.  Using both sides of the body simultaneusly may be difficult, and the child may momentarily loose the visual image at the midline with head turning.  This can obviously cause reading poblems.  Classroom hand writing can be very difficult since the arm and hand will want to extend when the head is turned.  Writing may slope up/down, and the child will often turn the book by up to 90 degrees to accommodate position.

 

Rooting reflex/Sucking reflex

Emerges: 24-28 w in utero, present at birth

Inhibited: 3-4 months

 

Searching, sucking and swallowing reflex, related to grasp reflex.

Stimulation of the mouth or cheek, will cause baby to turn head open mouth with extended tongue ready to suck.  Sucking then happens with tongue pulling back and swallowing. 

If uninhibited the child may be hypersensitive on the lips and mouth, may dribble, have the tongue too forward in mouth causing difficulty chewing and swallowing, have speech and articulation trouble and poor manual dexterity (related to palmar/plantar).

 

Spinal Galant Reflex:

Emerge: 20 weeks in utero, present at birth

Inhibited: 3-9 months

 

Stimulation of the muscles on one side of the spine in the lower back will cause contraction of those muscles and hip flexion on the same side.  This reflex appears to help with the birth process.  StimuIation on both sides of the spine simultaneusly is associated with a reflex which causes urination.   

Failure to integrate may cause bedwetting, difficulty sitting still (ants in pants) and possibly related in adults to irritable bowel syndrome.  If one side fails to integrate it may affect posture, gait and cause scoliosis. It may interfere with segmental rolling reflexes affecting fluency and mobility in physical activities.

 

Tonic Labyrinthine reflex:

Present at birth

Inhibited: flexion: 4 months, extention: up to 3 yrs

This reflex deals with the vestibular system and its interaction with the other senses.  It is about where the head and body is in space, and is designed to develop our sense of balance.  The reflex causes the limbs to bend when the neck is flexed and to straighten when the neck extends.    

Retained flexion may cause a floppy child, stooped posture, whereas retained extension may result in a rigid jerky sort of child, who walks on tippy toes.  Failure to integrate at the right time means it will continually disturb the vestibular system and its interaction with the senses.  You may see a child who is slow learning to walk, having balance and coordination difficulties, “the clumsy child” and experiencing decreased hearing and eye function (can’t judge space, distance, depth or speed) as well as suffering motion sickness. 

 

Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex

Emerges: 6-9 months of life

Inhibited: 9-11 months of life

 

Not a true primitive reflex since it’s not present at birth. Related to TLR – helps baby defy gravity and get up on hands and knees.

On all fours:

Neck flexion causes arms to flex and legs to extend and it fixates eyes at near distance.

Neck extention causes arms to straighten, leg to flex, and eye focus far distance.

Reflex makes rocking movement, precursor for crawling.  STNR needs to be inhibited to allow proper cross crawling, otherwise: bottom hop, bear walk or straight to walking.

STNR appears to be for developing visual skills and integrate them with other sensory information. Crawling is essential for eyes crossing midline by focusing from one hand to other.  Also crawling combine vestibular, proprioceptive and visual systems for first time to learn balance, space and depth.

 

Failure to integrate:

Poor posture

Slumped when sitting esp at desk as arms collapse when neck flex

W sit

Difficulty changing eye focus, black board to book

Clumsy

Poor hand-eye coordination

Messy eater – don’t know where body parts are.