Research Soundly Supports Regular Chiropractic Visits for Children 

Many chiropractic (and medical) offices receive questions about the value and necessity of children receiving chiropractic care. Some older ideology still connects chiropractic visits to back and neck pain and people tend to think that children tend to be free from those symptoms. Modern research proved many years ago that chiropractic adjustments amplify health and body function, and newer generations understand that no populace benefits more than infants and children.

A study conducted in 2015 performed MRI scans on over 3000 people under the age of fifty. Over one-third of the test subjects (37%) in their twenties revealed spinal disc degeneration. None of these subjects displayed outward symptoms of pain while their bodies silently suffered the same way high blood pressure, cancer, and other ailments form without advanced warning. Research repeatedly confirms a connection between disease and abnormal spinal function that begins without pain and symptoms. Spinal degeneration does not occur overnight. Years of misalignment and trauma resulting from childhood play, athletics, and normal daily activities contribute to a need for spinal care. Small misalignments called vertebral subluxations in the spine interfere with nervous system function and normal body function. Most newborn babies even present with vertebral subluxations that interfere with optimal function during the most vulnerable time of their lives. Chiropractors thoroughly evaluate and improve function of the spine and nervous system for all ages.

Parents who question needing spinal care for their children tend to rationalize a comparison with their own childhood and the lack of chiropractic care available in most communities. Children did not need chiropractic care back then, so why would they need it now? Chiropractic care falls into a category of preventative care that tends to be much more common in the proper context. Seatbelt use, children’s car seats, and protection from cigarette smoke serve as common sense implementations that people support as both beneficial and expected forms of child care. Health studies prove the benefits of these measures beyond a doubt, yet none of them existed as recently as fifty years ago. Regular chiropractic care gives children one of the most significant advantages to achieving health and optimal function today.

Chiropractic care offers much more than protection against early disc degeneration. Adjustments also engineer positive influence on the brain and autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system responds to the brain and controls all autonomic processes. Functions like immunity, breathing, heart rate, pulse, digestion, concentration, and fertility all relate to the health of the central nervous system. Few things influence the central nervous system more than the spine.  Improved autonomic functions serve as a primary reason many parents make chiropractic part of a healthy lifestyle for their children.

The spine consists of 24 moveable vertebrae sharing an intimate connection with the central nervous system. Regular spinal check-ups and adjustments help children reach their full potential by removing interferences in the nervous system and maintaining healthy function throughout the entire body. Children directly benefit from the assistance chiropractic brings to childhood conditions like ear infections, allergies, asthma, autism, ADHD, growing pains, and immune system issues. Chiropractic care addresses the root cause of these problems and frees children from the unhealthy cycle of using dangerous drugs to mask an unhealthy condition. A healthy childhood begins with chiropractic. 

American Journal of Neuroradiology
 December 2015 36(12):2394-9
“MRI Findings of Disc Degeneration are More Prevalent in Adults with Low Back Pain than in Asympotmatic Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.”
W. Brinijiki, F.E. Diehn, J.G. Jarvik, C.M. Carr, D.F. Kallmes, M.H. Murad, P.H. Luetmer