Pediatric Chiropractic Becoming More Popular

Some parents are turning to chiropractors to treat their infants and children for ailments ranging from colic to earaches.

When Alisha Bauer's daughter, Avery, was suffering from severe reflux, Bauer said she didn't get the answers she wanted from doctors. "Avery had been spitting up a lot," said Bauer. "It was to the point that we even wondered if she was getting enough to eat. They just kept saying, 'She'll grow out of it. It's fine.' And I'm like, 'No. It isn't."

So Bauer's mother suggested that she try a chiropractor.

Avery was 5-months-old when she got her first adjustment.

Chiropractors we talked to said they are seeing more parents like Bauer looking for help with everything from reflux to colic to earaches.

"Chiropractic is not a treatment for disease," said Dr. Kristina Ring with Botha Chiropractic in Denver. "However, when the baby's body begins to function better, we do see improvements in those."

Ring has checked out children for seven years, but lately, she said, pediatricians have even started referring patients.

She said the treatment is nothing like the back-cracking, bone-popping image people might have of chiropractic care. "The amount of pressure to adjust an infant spine is about the same amount as on a ripe tomato without piercing the skin. It's very, very gentle," said Ring.

She said it is effective, though, and pointed to a 2009 study funded by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association of hundreds of children in chiropractic care. "They found the only adverse affect was mild discomfort," said Ring. "The majority of doctors and parents reported the kids were sleeping better, better behavior and improved immune function."

However, many doctors are still wary. "I think with infants there is particular reason to be cautious," said Dr. Steve Federico, president of the Colorado chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "There's very little research that has been done with infants relative to chiropractors." He said, in general, children under 2 years of age are particularly at risk of injury, and that if he had an infant, he would not take the child to a chiropractor. "I think that I would be concerned about the lack of evidence to support the care for pediatric patients in this area," said Federico.

But parents such as Bauer said as long as chiropractic care seems to work when mainstream medicine falls short they believe opinions about it will continue to "adjust."

"This week, I've seen a significant improvement," said Bauer. "So many kids are medicated that don't need to be, so it's great to be able to think about other options."

Copyright 2011 by thedenverchannel.com.

New Research Shows: Chiropractic Care for Children Is Safe and Effective

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) assessed pediatric chiropractic by surveying chiropractors and parients of pediatric patients, 18 years of age and younger. The survey revealed high overall satisfaction and almost nonexistent complications and adverse events. The study entitled "The Safety and Effectiveness of Pediatric Chiropractic: A Survey of Chiropractors and Parents in a Practice-Based Research Network," has been published recently in the prestigious biomedical journal, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing.

Survey of Chiropractors: Data came from 577 pediatric clinical cases, with patients ranging in age from less than 1 day to 18 years. Average age was 7.45 years. All patients received spinal manipulative therapy at each visit for a total of 5,438 office visits.

According to the study, wellness care was the primary reason indicated for care [46 percent of patients, 25 percent of whom reported a specific complaint during their presentation (e.g., colic)]. For condition-based presentations, musculoskeletal conditions were the most common presentations seen (26 percent of patients), and diversified with the most common techniques utilized. Other reasons for care included digestion/elimination problems (7 percent), ear, nose and throat problems (6percent), neurological problems (6 percent), immune dysfunction (5 percent) and other (4 percent).

In terms of safety, no treatment-associated complications were indicated by chiropractic or parent responders, and chiropractors indicated only three adverse events in 5,438 office visits involving treatment of 577 children: "muscle stiffness," "spine soreness" and "stiff and sore." The treating chiropractor's response to such treatment-related aggravations was to re-examine the child and apply a different technique, modification of the manipulative technique originally used, or modification of the spinal segment to which the manipulation was applied.

Survey of parents/guardians: Data was derived from 239 children representing a similar number of children (average age: 6.16 years) who made 1,735 total visits to chiropractic offices. In this survey, 47 percent of parents/guardians reported bringing their children in for "wellness care" and musculoskeletal complaints were again the most common condition-based presentation.

Parents indicated two adverse events following chiropractic care: soreness of the child's knee following care to address a knee complaint, and cervical spine stiffness following spinal manipulation therapy (SMT)to address the child's cervical spine dysfunction.

With regard to effectiveness, both chiropractors and parents indicated high rates of improvement following chiropractic care for the children's presenting complaints, as well as "salutary effects unrelated to the children's initial clinical presentation." The most common treatment-associated improvements noted were decreased pain, improved mood and increased immune function. Improvements unrelated to the patients' initial presentation included immune-system improvements, improved sleep and improved emotional state/mood.

In their conclusion, the authors note: "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind addressing the safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic SMT in a practice-based research setting. The results of both our practitioner and patient surveys demonstrate a highly perceived effectiveness for pediatric chiropractic care as well as a high level of safety. We advocate continued research in this area with larger numbers of children being followed over time and incorporating the co-variates of safety and effectiveness of pediatric SMT."


Information adapted from Dynamic Chiropractic and the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.