Children and Chiropractic

Give Your Kids the Gift of a Healthy Spine

The health of a child's spine needs to be taken very seriously.\r\n A healthy spine will decrease their chance of injury, improve their posture, improve their overall health and help to avoid spinal problems such as scoliosis. in fact, studies have shown

The health of a child’s spine needs to be taken very seriously. A healthy spine will decrease their chance of injury, improve their posture, improve their overall health and help to avoid spinal problems such as scoliosis. in fact, studies have shown that children who receive regular chiropractic care are less frequently sick, are able to concentrate better and are generally healthier. As parents, this is what we want for our kids, right?
Here are three things that you can do today to help improve your child’s spinal health:

• Regular chiropractic care. Just as children need good hygiene, dental care and sound nutrition, they also need regular chiropractic care. Chiropractic care will help to restore and maintain normal spinal function, allowing a child’s body to develop optimally.
• Limit backpack weight. One common source of spinal injury for children is their heavy backpacks. Limit the weight of their backpacks to 10% - 15% of their body weight. For example: A child weighing 50 lbs. should carry no more than 7.5 lbs, and a child weighing 80 lbs. should carry no more than 12 lbs. If children carry more than this, they have an increased risk of injuring themselves.
• Keep kids active. There is an epidemic of childhood obesity in this country as more and more children spend their day in front of the television and playing computer games. This not only increases their risk of developing diabetes and heart disease early in life, it is also very stressfull on the spine. More and more children suffer from back pain and headaches simply because they don’t get enough exercise.

Every child is different and has unique needs. Your Doctor of Chiropractic is trained in evaluating and treating the spines of all ages. Give your kids the gift of a healthy spine by getting them regular chiropractic care.

For Neck Pain, Chiropractic and Exercise Are Better Than Drugs

The headline above is from a January 7, 2012 article in the health section of the New York Times. This article, as well as a similar one from Medical Press on January 4, 2012, is based on research published on January 3, 2012 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The research studied 272 adults who were suffering with neck pain for 2- to 12-weeks duration. The subjects were divided into three groups, and received either chiropractic adjustments (called SMT or spinal manipulative therapy in the study), home exercise with advice (HEA), or prescription medication. The adjustments were delivered by one of five chiropractors while the medications were prescribed by medical physicians. The medications consisted mainly of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, acetaminophen, or both.

The care in each of the three groups lasted only 12 weeks in this study. The people in the study were asked to rate their pain initially and at various points thereafter up to 12 months later. The level of pain was recorded for each of the participants at the intervals of at 2, 4, 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks. The results reported that chiropractic adjustments did better in helping neck pain patients and showed "a statistically significant advantage over medication after 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks."

Even though the care rendered for each of these groups was only for 12 weeks, the long term follow-up showed that 53 percent of the people who had received chiropractic continued to report at least a 75 percent reduction in pain. The exercise group also had similar numbers. However, the group taking medication showed only a 38 percent reduction in pain overall.

Dr. Gert Bronfort, an author of the study and research professor at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minnesota, noted his reasons for the study included a lack of information on choices for people with neck pain. "There was a void in the scientific literature in terms of what the most helpful treatments are," Bronfort said. He noted that the results showed chiropractic superior to medications. "Even a year later, there were differences between the spinal manipulation and medication groups," Bronfort said.

Not only did the group taking medications not fair as well in pain reduction, there was also a problem with usage as people kept taking them in an attempt to get help. "The people in the medication group kept on using a higher amount of medication more frequently throughout the follow-up period, up to a year later," said Dr. Bronfort. "If you’re taking medication over a long time, then we’re running into more systemic side effects like gastrointestinal problems."

If you are having any of these problems and have questions, call TODAY at 309-793-7000, or visit completebalancechiro.com