You’ve probably heard of the medical practice called “chiropractic”. Maybe you or someone you know has been to a chiropractor. You might even be one of the millions of people who subscribe to chiropractic-based YouTube channels to watch videos of others receiving adjustments. No matter your prior experience with chiropractic, one thing is certain: most people view chiropractic care as a treatment exclusively for back and neck pain. Whether the complaints stem from normal wear and tear, poor posture, or because of a car accident or work injury – chiropractors are great at helping manage a variety of musculoskeletal problems. But chiropractic care is SO MUCH MORE than just helping people through pain.
Chiropractic care is a unique approach to health that focuses on the spine, but it goes further than the diagnosis and treatment of muscles or joints. I like to tell patients that the spine is like an information superhighway that carries information from your brain to your body and back again – controlling every single system in the body. Misalignments in the spine caused by physical, chemical, and emotional stressors can create traffic jams within this system, resulting in dysfunction affecting general health. A chiropractic adjustment works to restore alignment and balance in the body, allowing you to feel, move, and live better naturally.
In my office in central Massachusetts, we are best known for our care of expectant moms and children. The reasons that moms and babies come to the chiropractor are very different than regular adult patients. You read that right, kids can get chiropractic care too! While there are numerous off-label conditions that chiropractic care can help, the four most common we see in our office in Worcester are:
Constipation
There are several reasons why chiropractic care can positively help a child struggling with constipation. Misalignments in the lower back and pelvis create spasms in pelvic floor muscles, making it difficult for a little body to relax enough to have a bowel movement. Certain areas of the spine connect to the digestive system. Through gentle adjustments, we can reduce pelvic floor tension and restore neurological connection to this system allowing the body to do what it should do naturally but with greater ease.
Ear Infections
Ear infections are the number one reason for pediatrician visits in children and babies. What if there was a different way to manage ear infections? While chiropractic care is NOT a treatment for ear infections, many children benefit from chiropractic care for this specific problem. Misalignments in the neck may create spasms on certain muscles that attach to the auditory tube preventing proper drainage. Gentle spinal adjustments to the neck and soft tissue management can release muscle spasms and allow the fluid to drain.
Breech Presentation
Pregnancy causes a unique set of changes that create the perfect opportunity for misalignment in the body. Hormone shifts affecting structural stability, weight gain, changes to your center of gravity, and postural and gait changes all contribute to imbalance. The resulting tension on various uterine muscles and ligaments caused by skeletal misalignments may affect the baby’s ability to move freely in utero contributing to a less than ideal baby position. The Webster Technique is a unique approach to balancing the pelvis during pregnancy that looks and feels very different from regular chiropractic care. While we cannot say that chiropractic care treats breech presentation, many expectant moms see restoration of normal fetal position after only a few visits at the chiropractor.
TMJ pain
As a chiropractic physician, we are considered non-surgical spine specialists, but we are trained and capable of treating any joint in the body including the temporomandibular joint (aka the TMJ). Whether it’s a baby that struggles with nursing and opening their mouth wide enough, or a busy mom of three kids struggling with headaches from stress and clenching their teeth – chiropractic is a non-invasive way to treat TMJ pain.
While chiropractic adjustments are our main method for helping patients with these various disorders, sometimes our role is to empower patients outside the office by recommending supplements or other strategies to support their care, naturally. We love helping families in any way we can!
I know it might be difficult to believe that receiving chiropractic adjustments can help these conditions, but we see it every day in our office! By removing spinal misalignments and restoring balance in the body we find that the body works more optimally – and that often means fewer ear infections, having bowel movements with greater ease, or a baby in a head-down position. If you or your child are struggling with one of these concerns, and you haven’t tried chiropractic care yet…what are you waiting for? Chiropractic may be the piece of the puzzle you’ve been missing.
If you are considering chiropractic care for yourself or a family member – we would love to take care of you!
If our central Massachusetts office is not convenient for you, you can visit ICPA and locate a Webster Technique certified doctor or a pediatric chiropractor near you.
