Chiropractic care for school aged children!
Hey everyone! In my previous posts I have talked about Chiropractic benefits for little ones. Today let’s talk about our school aged children!
The world keeps getting crazier for our school kids! Kids (and parents… and teachers!) Are under immense stress with the constantly changing format of school. No one was designed to look at a screen for 8 hours a day, especially our kiddos!
Being on the computer for virtual school plus additional TV and video games adds up to a lot of screen time for these kids! This affects their spines and developing muscles due to the less than ideal posture they sit or lay in while engaged in screen time. However, maybe even more critical is the effect it has on their brains and neurological development.
Many people think of Chiropractors as ‘bone doctors’ or ‘back doctors’, but we are also nervous system doctors, which means I am very concerned about the brain as well!
My goal as a Chiropractor is to find a bone that may be “stuck” and restore motion. When we balance the spine, the nervous system can also function better. These adjustments not only improve the health of the spine, but actually do a mini “reset” to the nervous system which floods the brain with new information.
Nearly every parent has said to their child “stand up straight!”. And maybe they do for a few seconds, before returning to the same slouched posture as before. Parents often complain to me that their child’s back problems must be caused by their poor posture.
I usually ask the question: “Is their posture causing the issues in their spine, or are the problems in their spine causing the poor posture?” The answer is: yes to both. However, the reason you can tell your child to stand up straight every 5 minutes for the entire day without success is because once they are not consciously thinking about it, their brain takes over again. And it is their brain telling them that this slouched position is the right position to be in.
Chiropractic adjustments help improve posture instantly, not because the structure of the spine changes instantly, but because we flood the neurological pathways with new information that changes the way the brain is processing.
If it seems crazy to believe “cracking your back” can have a powerful effect on your brain, let’s take a mini anatomy lesson really quick…
Your nervous system is made up of:
- Brain
- Spinal cord
- ALL your nerves
When your nerves branch off of the spinal cord they travel from the spine to every single muscle, organ, and system in your body! Your movements and sensations? Controlled by your nerves. Your heart beating, lungs breathing, and stomach digesting? Controlled by your nerves! When we realize that your spine actually houses the pathway between our brain and our body, we can understand why Chiropractic adjustments can change the neurology of the brain!
Chiropractic doesn’t seek to treat symptoms or cure any conditions, however when the nervous system is functioning optimally the body can do amazing things to heal itself!
Patients sometimes report improvements in managing the following issues with regular Chiropractic care:
- ADD
- ADHD
- Learning disabilities
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Autism
- Sensory processing disorders
If your child has any of the issues mentioned above, poor posture, back pain or headaches, or gets too much screen time, consider bringing them in to have their spines checked. A balanced spine is a more balanced nervous system!
