Kids and chiropractic

Occasional back pain is normal in kids, especially among those aged 10 years or younger. However, a persistent back pain warrants the attention of a pediatric chiropractor to examine the kid immediately.

Kids, just like adults, have spines and nervous systems. A misaligned spinal cord can cause serious health issues. However, the good news is that a pediatric chiropractor can help.  

A proactive action in preventing and treating the spine can enable healthy growth of the nervous system. This can prevent health issues related to the spinal cord and subsequent need to have corrective measures of rectifying spinal misalignments in the future.

Pediatric chiropractic care has been in existence for the last 10 decades. Pediatric chiropractic care has an excellent reputation for being safe in preventing and treating kids with spinal misalignment.

Any slight effect on a kid’s nervous system could make a child:

• Wet the bed
• Colic
• Constipate
• Have ear infections
• Have trouble falling asleep or experience interrupted sleep
• Become fussy
• Reflux and
• Suffer from torticollis.

Pediatric chiropractors are trained and skilled in helping kids overcome childhood conditions associated with spinal misalignment.

Types of back pains in kids

Here are two main types of back pains experienced by kids:

• Muscular back pain – mainly caused by an injury and result into muscle and ligament strains, injuries stemming from overexertion or overuse, and posture related problems
• Spinal pain – injury to the spine, which could be caused by a herniated disk or a stress fracture. It is important to consult a pediatric chiropractor for specialist diagnosis and treatment

Can kids get chiropractic care?

The answer is definitely yes. Kids can get treatment from specialized, trained and skilled pediatric chiropractors using gentle but effective techniques. Pediatric chiropractic is medication-free, safe and non-invasive while complementing well with regular medication for kids.   

Pediatric chiropractic is considered to be among the safest form of managing back pain in kids caused by trauma in the spine.

The benefits of pediatric chiropractic are numerous and range from improved behavior of the child to better sleep, which can potentially assist kids in a variety of ways.

Causes of back pain in kids may include but not limited to:

• Carrying heavily packed backpacks on their backs  
• Carrying incorrectly packed backpacks on their backs
• Incorrect backpack lifting
• Incorrectly fitted backpack
• Carrying the backpack over one shoulder
• Holding the backpack by its straps in one hand
• Lack of exercise or inappropriate exercise
• Injuries from sporting activities
• During birth
• Obesity in kids and poor posture
• Sedentary lifestyle
• chemical stressors

Minor injuries during normal sporting activities and games can cause muscle spasms, which could result in fatigue and a painful back.

Sedentary lifestyle such as sitting down for long hours while watching television or lying down when working on computer can cause back pain.

In addition, a kid who encounters chemical stressors such as antibiotics, vaccines, and medication; and emotional stressors such as fear, can cause protective responses resulting in tension within musculature which supports the spine. The tensed muscles in kids can misalign the spinal column and result in subluxation. A kid with a misaligned spine caused by trauma can be corrected through effective and safe chiropractic adjustments.

Sporting activities and kids’ back pain

Many kids love sporting activities like:

• Rugby
• Football
• Soccer
• Other highly active sports

Unfortunately, sports like these involve falls and rough impacts. The kids’ body may get twisted, turned and hit the ground. These falls may cause the spine to misalign, with back pain being the primary symptom.

Kids who engaging in vigorous sports like horse-riding, football, flexibility-dependent sports like dance or gymnastics, and power sporting activities such as rowing or weightlifting can easily get injuries that could trigger lower back pains. Participating in competitive sports, which demand intense training can cause back pains in kids.

A better way of preventing injury from sporting activities is to seek the help of a competent pediatric chiropractic care giver. A pediatric chiropractor can help to keep your kid’s ligaments and joints supple. This can lead to reduced injuries.

When your kid’s spine is misaligned, the kid experiences the following symptoms that could affect their optimal performance during sporting activities such as:

• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Balance issues
• Tingling in the arms, feet, or hands
• Limited movement of legs, back or neck

A skilled pediatric chiropractor can easily determine the causes of these symptoms. More often, they could be associated with herniated back or bulging disc in the neck. When these symptoms are not treated immediately, they may progress to more severe symptoms and become difficult to manage.

A pediatric chiropractic care provider can help your kid with regular treatments such as stretching and low back pain techniques. This can tremendously improve your kid’s strength and help them recover quickly from their injuries.

Also look at our article on The Use of Chiropractic During Childhood Development.

Heavy backpacks and kid’s back pain  

Kids who have recurring back pain may require pediatric chiropractic diagnosis at the soonest opportunity.  There is a prevalence of neck and back pain among school-going kids using backpacks.

Kids experience rapid growth and development in their earlier years. As they begin going to school, they carry backpacks that often cause spinal misalignments. Maintaining a healthy spine for your kid involves limiting the amount of luggage and avoiding an ill-fitting backpack.

Elementary, middle, and students in high schools may carry heavy backpacks on their backs that could cause recurring back pains. Carrying an overloaded backpack may cause your kid to hunch forward while walking, resulting in abnormal posture, disturbing the natural curve of spine and causing back pain.

Heavy backpacks may cause muscle tension and compensation in the hips and back. This compensation can lead to injury and pain as a result of overexertion or overuse over an extended period of time. Heavy backpacks pose risks such as muscle strain, rounding of muscles and distortion of the spine and cause skeletal healthy issues leading to pain and affecting growth of your kid and developmental.

If your school going kid experiences persistence back pain suspected to have been caused by carrying backpacks, feel free to contact our Tacoma Chiropractic clinic. Spinal adjustment coupled with routine checkups can help address alignment issues caused by carrying of heavy backpacks through school hallways.

Falls, injuries and back pain

Kids experience bumps and bruises on a daily basis. Minor injuries are much harder to notice. The micro trauma resulting from tripping or falling accidents pose a danger to the kid’s healthy growth and development in the long-term as it may lead to subluxations. A pediatric chiropractor is a skilled expert in locating misalignments or subluxations in kids, and taking remedial measures.

Kids sleep patterns and back pain

Kids experiencing back pains may find it difficult to sleep for the recommended number of hours for their age, hindering their ability to operate optimally. This can be due to misaligned vertebra as the source of discomfort.

Poor spinal health as a result of tight muscles caused by carrying backpacks cause back pain, which often affect a kid’s sleep patterns and contribute to insomnia. Misalignment of spine can cause bedwetting in kids resulting into sleep interruption.

Gentle pediatric chiropractic adjustments can help to remove the misalignments causing nerve interference in kids and enable them to have sound and adequate amount of sleep.

Medical conditions associated with back pain in kids

If your kid complains of a persistent back pain, always make an appointment with a pediatric chiropractor for diagnosis, and professional treatment. Medical conditions associated with back pains may include:

• Sciatica condition is associated with pains that radiate down the kid’s buttock and leg. It is likely caused by compressed sciatic nerve, though it is a rare condition in kids
• Fibromyalgia condition causes neck and back pains, with fatigue and muscle spasm
• Scheuermann’s kyphosis disease that may cause humpback curvature
• Spondylosis can be worsened by hyperextending spine during gymnastics

Why Pediatric chiropractic care at infancy?

Intrauterine constraints, c-section, birth trauma, birth intervention can jeopardize a kid’s spine resulting into some varying degree of trauma as the process is often aided by suction or forceps.

Ideally, chiropractic care ought to begin with the expectant mother before the baby is born. An expectant mother with a misaligned spine, tend to have misaligned pelvis, resulting into health problems associated with birth, making unborn infant experience trauma on its spine.

Even in cases, where the birth is regarded as normal, without complications, may have stress on an infant’s spine, consequently resulting into stressed nervous system of the new born infant.

Later on, as the kids start to crawl and walk, they fall and bump resulting into substantial stress on the spine leading to misalignment and affecting body balance. Pediatric chiropractic care can provide kids with the relief they need from these stresses and help their bodies to grow stronger and better to withstand physical strain in their adulthood.

Normal children are always in a dynamic state of play while anxiously working to discover new things; they are easily susceptible to trauma. As they learn how to explore their surroundings, they fall and bump more often, throwing their spine’s alignment out of the whack.

A gentle, safe non-evasive chiropractic adjustment is all that is needed to relief the kid from these symptoms.

Thankfully, a well-trained and skilled pediatric chiropractor can help the kid to recover from the damage caused, so contact Discover Life Chiropractic today.