In recent months, there’s been a lot of discussion and controversy around chiropractic care for babies; reports of practitioners sneaking into hospitals to perform spinal adjustments on newborns, horror stories about broken backs (a claim which was proven to be false – read article by Andrew Frazer from The Australian newspaper).
The truth is: it’s completely inappropriate and unnecessary to manipulate an infant’s spine; its just not done! That doesn’t mean it’s inappropriate or unnecessary for babies to visit a fully qualified and licensed chiropractor; everyone, regardless of age, has the right to be checked for health issues and for those issues to be addressed in the best way possible.
Good, integrative chiropractic care looks at the child’s entire environment and system to address what might be causing any disorder or disease, offering up natural treatment options where harsh, chemical treatments might be avoided.
A good chiropractor will take the time to try and find that underlying cause, so your child can become happy, healthy and pain-free again. If the child is breastfeeding, your chiropractor may start by taking a look at the mother’s health and diet; if they aren’t taking good care of their own immune system, that low immunity is going to be passed on to the child. If the child is being formula fed or is having cow’s milk, a chiropractor may suggest switching to a non dairy milk instead (like goat’s milk); cow’s milk isn’t a good match for human babies’ stomachs, and can cause issues with their immune systems by interrupting their gut bacteria. Or, it may simply be worth asking about how the child is being bathed; water getting in their ears may be contributing to, such problems as Ear Infections.
When choosing a chiropractor as part of a dedicated health care team for you and your baby, it’s important to ensure that they’re a) fully qualified and licensed, and b) someone you feel truly comfortable with. If you’re in the Sydney area, we’d love for you to choose 3Ways; give us a call to find out more about who we are, and what we do.
