Remember the childhood story of a Native American Indian going through the forest and bending a young sapling to mark his path? And how years later, that same sapling grew into a tree that was all twisted and bent? If our children have uncorrected structural neck and back problems, doesn’t it make sense that they can grow up “twisted and bent?” As a chiropractor of many years, I can’t count the number of times a young adult has come to me with “lifelong” scoliosis, having suffered for years, thinking nothing could be done. Did you know that both the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and the International Chiropractic Association (ICA) endorse chiropractic care for children? There are even child chiropractic physician specialists called DICCP’s or Diplomats’ in Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics.
Is your Salt Lake City, Utah home often dominated by the cries of a child that may have back problems? Did you know that there has been an increase in public support for adjusting children? In fact, an American Chiropractic Association press release in January of 2009 stated, “Survey data indicates that the percentage of chiropractic patients under 17 years of age has increased at least 8.5 percent since 1991.” In the American Academy of Pediatrics January 2007 issue of Pediatrics (an official M.D. journal) chiropractic was described as the most common complementary and alternative medicine practice used by children. It was estimated that there were thirty million visits to U.S. chiropractors in 1997. And in 1998, children and adolescents constituted 11 percent of patient visits to chiropractors.
Do we adjust children with back problems at The Joint in Sugar House? A resounding yes! Chiropractic adjustments reduce many physical stressors children endure throughout life. Our child-friendly clinic is located in the heart of the Salt Lake City, Utah metro area.
The youngest child I’ve ever adjusted was 2 minutes old; the oldest is about 98 years old. However, keep in mind that a child (or elderly patient) is NOT adjusted the same way as an adult. There are some significant differences. Beginning at birth, children go through many different micro-traumas and frequent falls as they learn to crawl, walk and run. A child’s spine is developing rapidly in the first 10 years of life. Apparently innocent events, such as wearing backpacks, increasing use of the computer, having poor posture and getting injured playing sports, can create spinal misalignments in the child’s back. Subluxations (misalignments) can put pressure on the child’s nervous system and cause musculoskeletal system (bio-mechanical) changes. When the nerve isn’t functioning correctly, it can result in symptoms related to organs, muscles and various systems of the body. Chiropractic adjustments are also often used in conjunction with traditional medical care.
Chiropractic care is an excellent choice when looking for a noninvasive, drug-free approach for children and families in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Many people do choose chiropractic care for their children to address acute and chronic back problems, as well as a preventive approach to many health challenges.
-Michael Lindstrom, D.C.
Chiropractic Physician
