Chiropractor - Wellness - Port Washington

Why Chiropractic For Children?

I am a chiropractor. So we will begin by admitting my bias: I am biased toward natural health, love, creativity, and relationship. And I am biased toward a health care system that allows for this without adding potentially harmbufl substances into your child's body.

Chiropractic is simple. It offers no magic solutions for the ills of today, just plain, simple common sense. I wonder when people will tire of the next great magic solution comuing from the drug industry. There is no such thing as a guarantee of safety when it comes to drugs.

Chiropractic offers something different. for over 100 years, doctors of chiropractic have said that your body is capable of healing itself. It's as simple as that. Drugs and surgery cannot heal you. they can only cover your syptoms so that you are fooled into thinking that you are well. At times, it can be a true blessign to give your child an antibiotic and watch their sufferent diminish. But when that single antibiotic becomes another and then another, soon enough your child has had more drugs in their short life than may be healthy.

Here's what chiropractors have been sayingfor the past 100 years:

1. Every single function of your body is governed by an inner wisdom (we call it Innate Intelligence or sometimes just Innate)
2. When inner wisdom is able to connnect with each and every part of your body, you experience optimum health.
3. The nervous system is the network through which your Innate Intelligence communicates its messages to every part of your body.
4. Interference in your nervous system can and does occur when you have an overload of stress (physical, mental or chemical)
5. The result is a particular type of nerve interference I call nerve stress (other chiropractors call them subluxations).
6. The goal of chiropractic is to correct this nerve stress so that your body can heal itself...just like it was designed to do.

It is as simple as that. No pills. no magic potions. Just common sense. In our office we use a particularly gentle form of chiropractic called Network Spinal Analysis. Because it is so gentle, it is perfect for kids (of all ages!)

Why chiropractic for kids? Because by the time they are one year old, they have probably had dozens of stresses that have had an impact on their growing spines and nervous systems. Because it is safer and more natural to try first to help your child heal him or herself before resorting to potentially toxic drugs Because it works.

Did you know that one of the greatest minds of our time could not talk before the age of four and could not read before the age of seven? I am referring to Albert Einstein. It is also known that his teacher said he was "mentally slow, unsociable, adrift in his foolish dreams and had severe temper tantrums". In today's world, he would be on Ritalin.

Ritalin is a very dangerous and highly addictive drug. Under Federal Law, Ritalin is classified as a schedule II controlled substance, the same rating given to cocaine and morphine. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe and include depression, fatigue, paranoia, increased dreaming, irritability, bedwetting, and even suicide. The United States has the highest use of Ritalin in the world. In fact, we consume 95% of the total amount of Ritalin used in the world, in a country where only 5% of the total population live.

The side effects of Ritalin are numerous and severe. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the side effects include stunting of growth, depression, insomnia, nervousness, skin rash, anorexia, nausea, psychosis, dizziness, headaches, abdominal pain, blood pressure and more.

A well-known criminal attorney, Melvin Nash, from Marietta Georgia, indicated that approximately 60% of the people he defends from everything from DUI to armed robbery have been on Ritalin at some point in their life.

So what are the ADD criteria? Here are just a few of them: often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly, often talks excessively, is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor", often has difficulty awaiting turn, often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat. In order to be classified as ADD, you must have the majority of these characteristics. I'll bet that most children could be described this way at some point or other! I asked an ADD-diagnosed teenage patient in my office what he thought about school. He said he was bored and didn't feel challenged. What an answer! How far will we go to control, mold, and conform our children to somebody's made-up "normal"? Are we turning our geniuses of tomorrow into drug addicts?

Chiropractic can be a safe, natural solution for children (and parents!) suffering from ADD or ADHD.

Ear infections (otitis media) are the most common cause of pediatric visits and subsequent antibiotic use during the first two years of a child's life.

Ear infections can be a complication of the common cold, sinusitis or a sore throat, especially if the child's resistance is low.

Use of antibiotic therapy for treatment of otitis media has become quite controversial.  Research shows that antibiotic treatment of otitis media is no more effective than a placebo.  It also can increase the risk of reoccurrence (Cantekin, 1994).

If the upper vertebrae of the neck are misaligned, it may cause muscle spasm.  These tight muscles may block drainage from the inner ear, creating an ideal environment for infection.

It has been found that 93 percent of all episodes of ear infections treated improved with chiropractic care. 75% of the cases improved in 10 days or less, and 43% with only one or two adjustments (Froehle, 1996).

Chiropractic achieves results like this because it goes directly to the cause of disease.  Rather than attempt to treat yet another symptom, chiropractors address the nerve system because we understand its role in regulating the entire body.  Chiropractic ... get to the cause.

Chiropractic: Can it help ease colic?

Almost all infants develop periods of fussiness. This is often referred to as colic. It has been defined as periods of irritability, fussiness and inconsolable crying in a healthy baby (that lasts for at least three hours a day, at least three days a week). But colic can often be an overused diagnosis. Pain from sources other than the gastrointestinal tract can be improperly diagnosed as colic. If a baby is crying inconsolably, it is very difficult to know if he is actually suffering from a digestive disturbance.

Many infants are suffering from a condition known as nerve stress. This is a very serious condition, causing tension on the child's nerves and interfering with the basic functions of their body. Often, nerve stress in infants is found in the upper neck area. There is a strong possibility, especially when there has been a history of birth trauma, that these babies are suffering from head and neck pain due to nerve stress in this area.

In a study looking at babies receiving chiropractic care, 94% of parents saw improvement in their baby's behavior within two weeks of initiation of care. A little over half of these babies had already been unsuccessfully treated, usually by pharmacological means (Klougart et al., 1989). Another study found 91 percent of babies experienced a reduction in colicky behavior following as little as two chiropractic adjustments (Nilsson, 1985).

Chiropractic care offers a safe, gentle approach to your child's healthcare. We believe in your child's God-given ability to heal themselves if there is no interference to that healing. Chiropractic removes the interference to healing.

Asthma and Allergies

Although the traditional methods for controlling asthma and allergies are numerous, sickness and death from asthma appear to be increasing. As stated in The New England Journal of Medicine in February of 1992, this trend is as least partially due to side effects from regular use of inhaled medications.

A New Approach

In a recent study, children with asthma showed an overall improvement in lung capacity after only 15 chiropractic adjustments. Stoddard stated that many diseases are due to mechanical lesions (vertebral subluxations). There is ample research documenting the intimate connection between the spinal column, the nervous system, and the respiratory system. Nerve Stress, or tension on nerves, in the neck and upper back can produce associated muscle spasms, which cause a restriction and stasis of the lymphatic drainage from the head and neck. As a result, the body is unable to wash out the bacteria, debris, and foreign material to which it is exposed. As this vital process is slowed, the phagocytic activity within the lymphatic chain (drainage of waste, bacteria, etc.) is interrupted, and invasion of the offending bacteria multiplies. Chiropractic adjustments in many cases will produce immediate relaxation of the neck musculature responsible for obstructing the lympahtic (neck) drainage. These adjustments improve respiratory function by restoring normal nerve function, which in turn may result in symptomatic improvement in bronchitis and asthma.

The phrenic nerve (C3, C4, C5 - neck nerves) powers the diaphram. If the nerve supply is interfered with, such as in nerve stress in the neck, the diaphram weakens and breathing becomes impaired. Restoring nerve supply by correcting nerve stress not only improves muscle tone, but actually aids in overall body function, especially in the immune response. Chiropractic is safe and natural. It does not try to treat the symptoms of a poorly functioning body. Instead, the chiropractor addresses the important role of the nervous system in the healing process.

The results can be dramatic, as in a 1989 Danish study of 115 families with children ages 0 to 7 years suffering from asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy. One third of the children underwent chiropractic adjustments, after which 93 percent of the parents surveyed reported improvement in their child's asthma condition. Many childhood illnesses may be manifested in the child and adult due to abnormal body function caused by nerve stress. In light of this, your chiropractor may be the best doctor to help your child improve his/her health.