Due to everyday stresses associated with walking, sitting, working, and living our lives, our body’s structure becomes misaligned through tightening of the tissues or faulty movement of our skeleton.  The purpose of a chiropractic treatment is to find areas of your skeleton that are not moving properly and to restore normal movement through a spinal adjustment.  Improper spinal motion causes irritation of the underlying nerves, which control every function of your body through your brain and spinal column.  When misalignment is corrected along the spine via an adjustment, not only is your structure restored, but your body’s functioning is also improved.  This is a result of the underlying nerve irritation being relieved.  When the spine is moving properly, your brain is best able to communicate with your body, which leads to improved health in all areas of your body.  By concentrating our care on helping the brain and spinal cord carry all of their signals properly to the rest of the body, we are able to offer an alternative method of treating certain disorders.

More and more parents are seeking chiropractic care for their children. Many spinal problems seen in adults began as early as birth. Even so called 'natural' birthing methods can stress an infant's spine and developing nerve system. The resulting irritation to the nerve system caused by spinal and cranial misalignment can be the cause of many newborn health complaints. Colic, breathing problems, nursing difficulties, sleep disturbances, allergic reactions and chronic infections can often be traced to nerve system stress.

Since significant spinal trauma can occur at birth, many parents have their newborns checked right away. As the infant grows, learning to hold up the head, sit, crawl and walk are all activities that affect spinal alignment and are important times to have a child checked by a Doctor of Chiropractic.

As the child begins to participate in regular childhood activities like skating or riding a bike, small yet significant spinal misalignments (Subluxations) may occur. If neglected, the injuries during this period of rapid growth may lead to more serious problems later in life. Subtle trauma throughout childhood will affect the future development of the spine leading to impaired nervous system function. Any interference to the vital nerve system will adversely affect the body’s ability to function at its best.

One of the most common reason parents seek care for their child is trauma from an injury of some sort. These misalignments may or may not result in immediate pain or symptoms. Regular chiropractic checkups can identify potential spinal injury from these traumas, make the correction early in life and help avoid many of the health complaints seen later in adults. Proper spinal hygiene is an important key to better health.

Another sought out reason for care is the resolution of a particular symptom or condition. Parents seek care for conditions such as colic, ear infections, asthma, allergies and headaches (to name a few) because they have heard from other parents that chiropractic care can help.

It is important to understand that the doctor of chiropractic does not treat conditions or diseases. The expertise of the chiropractor is in checking the child’s spine for misalignments that impair nervous system function therefore affecting overall body function. The bones of the spine, the vertebrae, house and protect the spinal cord. The spinal cord is an extension of the brain and carries information from the brain to the body parts and back to the brain again. Subluxations interfere with the nerves’ ability to transmit this vital information.

Improving control and coordination

The nerve system controls and coordinates the function of all the systems in the body: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, hormonal, eliminative and immune system. Any aspect of health may be impaired by nerve interference. The chiropractic adjustment restores nerve system function allowing the body the ability to express a greater state of health and well-being.

www.icpa4kids.org

The doctor of chiropractic will take a case history and perform a chiropractic exam to determine if spinal subluxations exist. Chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified to fit a child's size, weight, and unique spinal condition. They are both gentle and specific to the child’s developing spinal structures. Most parents report that their children enjoy their chiropractic adjustments and look forward to subsequent visits. They also report that their children experience a greater level of health while under regular chiropractic care.To enhance your child’s ability to function in a greater state of health, we recommend having your infant, toddler or child be evaluated Dr. Scott A Dubrul who is dedicated to serving children with the utmost of care.

How Can Chiropractic Add Comfort?

Jeanee Ohm, D.C.

Chiropractic care in pregnancy is an essential ingredient to your prenatal care choices. A large percent of all pregnant women experience back discomfort/ pain during pregnancy. This is due to the rapid growth of the baby and an interference to your body’s normal structural adaptations to that growth.
Preexisting unnoticed imbalances in your spine and pelvis become overtaxed during these times. The added stresses lead to discomfort and difficulty while performing routine, daily activities. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can relieve and even prevent the common discomforts experienced in pregnancy. Specific adjustments eliminate these stresses in your spine, restore balance to your pelvis and result in greater comfort and lifestyle improvements.

Comfort For Your Baby, Too.

Preparing for a Safer Birth

Dystocia is defined as difficult labor and is something every woman wants to avoid. In addition to the pain and exhaustion caused by long, difficult labors, dystocia leads to multiple, medical interventions which may be physically and emotionally traumatic to both you and your baby. Some of these interventions are the administering of pitocin, the use of epidurals, painful episiotomies, forceful pulling on the baby’s fragile spine, vacuum extraction, forceps and perhaps even c-sections. Each of these procedures carry a high risk of injury to you, your baby or both! However, all of these procedures used to hasten the delivery process can be avoided if delivery goes more smoothly to begin with. When reviewing the obstetric texts, the reported reasons for dystocia are caused by pelvic imbalance and its resulting effects on your uterus and your baby’s position.
Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy restores balance to your pelvic muscles and ligaments and therefore leads to safer and easier deliveries for you and your baby. Additionally, the chiropractic adjustment removes interference to the nervous system allowing your uterus to function at its maximum potential. Published studies have indicated that chiropractic care does in fact reduce labor time.
We, at Powersource Chiropractic offer specific analysis and adjustments for your special needs in pregnancy. You and your baby’s continued safety and comfort is primary in our care. This pregnancy, offer yourself the best! Include the many benefits chiropractic offers in your prenatal care choices. Call for your individual consultation. Give you and your baby the opportunity for a more comfortable pregnancy and a safer, easier birth.

Originally Published by I.C.P.A. Newsletter May-June 2002 References available here.

Jeanne Ohm, D.C.

Birth is a normal, natural process that's been around since almost the beginning of humanity. As with any other task the body was created to perform, when you support normal functioning, you have your best chance at success.
 

The road down the birth canal and out into the world can be a trying one, particularly in the case of medical intervention and high-tech births. (You may recall a JAMA study showing the United States ranked last in neonatal mortality, infant mortality and for the health of newborns.) As a result, there has been an ever-increasing occurrence of traumatic birth syndrome. Traumatic birth syndrome describes the presence of trauma-induced skull and spinal damage and spinal misalignment as a result of the birth process. As tough as birth is, going through it with the woman lying on her back, working against gravity, on medications to increase the intensity of labor, numb to the delivery muscles, and often accompanied by surgical interventions, makes it exponentially more traumatic. When you think about this, it's no surprise vertebral subluxation in infants is so common.

How the Birthing Process Injures Spines

• Colic Sleep disorders
• Symptoms of lowered immunity
• Poor development  

The Infant Adjustment

• Congenital torticollis "Growing pains"
• Infantile scoliosis
• Bronchitis tonsillitis
• Restless sleep
• Disturbed motor responses with repetitive falls
• An inability to thrive  

"If the indications are correctly observed," states Dr. Gutmann, "chiropractic can often bring about amazingly successful results, because the therapy is a causal one. With developmental disturbances of every kind, the atlanto-occipital joints should be examined and in each case be treated manually in a qualified manner. The success of this treatment eclipses every other attempt at treatment, including especially the use of medications." (7)

Most people would not consider Chiropractic care for infants and children. However, the fact of the matter is, children are very, very prone to misalignments of the spine. Their vertebra are not fully formed, nor are their ligaments and tendons fully strengthened. This, along with the fact that a child falls enough times in a day to hospitalize an adult, makes it clear children should be evaluated by a chiropractor for spinal abnormalities. And, don't question the safety rating for Chiropractic treating children. The process is strictly AAA and cannot even be compared to the safety of medicine. Nevertheless, countless children suffer from the side effects of modern medication each week, causing malpractice insurance for pediatrics and obstetrics to be astronomical -- reaching into the tens of thousands. Chiropractors, on the other hand, pay as little as $300-$500 annually for malpractice coverage. Chiropractic makes good scientific, factual and common sense for your child. I urge you not to wait until they hurt or get hurt.

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Chiropractic is a conservative and natural form of health care that concentrates on maximizing the function of the whole body without the use of drugs or surgery.  Doctors of Chiropractic (D.C.) attempt to get to the cause of a health problem, rather than just treat the symptoms.  They focus especially on the fact that the structure of the body, particularly the spine, has a powerful effect on the underlying nervous system and therefore on virtually every aspect of heal.

Chiropractic's Role in Your Nervous System

Most patients seek chiropractic care primarily for pain relief. But what is chiropractic's role in regulating our nervous system? How can aligning spinal bones affect brain messages?

Brain messages govern the thousands of functions that keep a body healthy and functioning properly. When the bones are not aligned properly the healing messages do not get from the brain to the corresponding part of the body in an efficient manner. The brain contains 100 billion active neurons that store information and transmits this information to other cells and all parts of the body by way of electrical and chemical impulses that travel along the nervous system.

All nerves in the body connect to the brain by way of the spinal column.  If the bones of the spine are out of alignment, putting pressure on the nervous system, this disrupts vital communication between your brain and all the other parts of your body”, Dr. Dubrul explains.  

How is vertebral misalignment and nerve pressure determined? If medically necessary, precise X-rays are taken to help develop a formula for correction. There are also several signs: head tilt, restricted head movement, low shoulder, abnormal spinal curvature, pelvic distortion, bilateral body weight differences, raised hip and short leg syndromes. The treatment can be done almost immediately.