Should your child receive chiropractic care? News about chiropractic care for children from Fletcher Chiropractic Center, Boise ID
September 21, 2015 | By Jillaine W | No Comments
Should my child be getting chiropractic care?
With your child recently back in school, you might be familiar with their complaints of “too much homework” or “not enough time for fun”. However, there is one complaint in particular that parents need to pay attention to, which is “my back hurts”. It is not uncommon for children as young as five or six to report upper and lower back stiffness or soreness. Back pain in children and young adults can be especially bothersome when school is in session, but why?
School-aged children can spend as many as six or seven hours in a desk or seated position. This puts stress on the spine and surrounding muscles, straightening the necessary curvature of our low back and neck. Students also carry heavy backpacks before, during, and after the school day. A recent scientific study showed that carrying a heavy backpack increases the risk of back pain in children, and possibly even the risk of back pathology. ¹ Knowing your child is in pain can be disheartening and somewhat scary. So, what are some things parents can do to help?
There are some tactics that you can do at home to help prevent back pain in your child. For instance, teaching your child good postural habits (sitting upright, focusing on keeping their shoulders back, and sitting with legs uncrossed) is a good start. It has also been recommended that a child’s backpack not weigh more than 10-15% of their body weight. Ensuring that your child’s backpack is not too heavy can help avoid unnecessary strain to their spine and surrounding muscles. However, sometimes even the best preventative strategies aren’t enough to avoid back pain. When this is the case, what is the best option?
Your best option for treating back and neck pain and discomfort is chiropractic care. Chiropractors are trained in the evaluation and treatment of the musculoskeletal system, and have been doing so as a profession for over a century. A Doctor of Chiropractic is trained to find misalignments in the spine which have occurred due to repetitive stress or recent injury. When a misalignment is bad enough to put pressure on the nerves in the back, it is called a subluxation. These subluxations are uncomfortable and can cause feelings of tension, soreness, and pain. A chiropractor’s primary job is to gently and precisely move the bones of the spine back into alignment, thus removing the subluxation, and removing discomfort.
Children of all ages can benefit from chiropractic care. Whether it is a newborn child being checked for spinal misalignments which occurred during the birthing process or a thirteen year old athlete competing in challenging sports and activities, chiropractic can help. Keeping your spine free of subluxations at an early age can prevent degenerative changes and poor spinal health in later years. The benefits of regular chiropractic care are not only beneficial but necessary to the optimal wellness of your child. The gentle, safe, and effective techniques that a chiropractor uses can assure that your child stays healthy and pain-free.
- Rodriguez-Oviedo, P., Ruano-Ravina, A., & Perez-Rios, M. (2012). School children’s backpacks, back pain and back pathologies. Arch Dis Child, 97(8), 730-2. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2011-301253