Chiropractic for Children
Why children need Chiropractic Care
Have you watched children as they run, and fall? Jump and fall? Play and fall? On average children will fall 2500 times before the age of 3. Of those falls, three of them will be more serious like falling off the changing table, off the bed or down the stairs. Often this will be in the first year of their life. And as they get older the falls add up. They fall from bikes, play equipment, trampolines and also the poor postures from computers, screens, or school bags. Just as adults need to be checked for poor movement, postural asymmetry, and neuromusculoskeletal irregularities, so do children.
Chiropractic for Children
In Australia, chiropractors provide care to more than 30,000 paediatric patients (0-18 years old) every week.
As a Chiropractor I have had 5 years of university training and was taught a range of techniques to care for patients and modify all care to suit the age, presentation and development of the patient. I have also completed post-graduate pediatric studies to supplement my university studies.
If you choose to bring your children for chiropractic care I will begin with a detailed health history from their time in the womb through to the current day. Then I will make an assessment of your child which will include primitive reflexes, developmental milestones, spinal structure and function and appropriate orthopaedic and neurological tests. This helps determine the need and or type of chiropractic care suitable for your child.
Chiropractic Techniques for Children
Chiropractic techniques for children can appear quite different from chiropractic for adults. I often call chiropractic ‘tickle time’ for my younger clients. Some of the points are quite ticklish, so many adjustments contain lots of giggles. The pressure used is only as strong as what you would press on your own eyeball. (So it is very gentle). A child’s spine and joints are much smaller and often not fully calcified, so techniques are adapted to cater to size and structure.
Chiropractic care for children will also include lifestyle advice. Just as it is for our fully grown adult clients. But instead of set stretches or exercises I like to prescribe play. For example, I advise kids on certain sports or activities that may help improve their spinal and neurological health. Monkey bars are a great activity to increase upper body strength and extension of the head. We talk about what the child likes and dislikes and try to find what will be fun. This may be their diet, sleeping patterns and movement.
Referral is not required to see a chiropractor, you are welcome to book in your child at any time for an assessment to see if chiropractic care is suitable.
Contact Dr. Anthea Holder to book an appointment today.
How to Make an Appointment
You can book online for a free 15-minute chiropractic discovery call. You can ask any questions you might have and find out if chiropractic may be able to help your shoulder pain. Or you can book online as a new chiropractic client.
As a chiropractor and nutritionist, I see patients, both adults and children, daily that breakthrough aches and pains, and live life at their fullest with chiropractic care. With help, they can turn their lives around to a healthier version of themselves. Make yourself and your family a priority today, and get back to living life at your best.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Anthea Holder
(Chiropractor and Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner)
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