"As the twig is bent, so grows the tree" is a quote from the developer of Chiropractic, Dr. BJ Palmer, that was painted in the hallway of my Chiropractic University. A poetic way to remind us, that if your supporting structure is not aligned during childhood, it creates difficulty to have good posture, and an ideal functioning spine later in life.
When should the first Chiropractic examination begin? When should the first examination of your teeth begin? While most would agree it would be unthinkable and negligent to only address our teeth when we are decades old and finally have a pain that we cannot ignore, allowing decay and deformation to quietly and slowly degenerate our teeth, when we could have easily prevented this by early periodic examinations, that is exactly the way the public largely addresses the health of their spines. .
Every type of medical care is valuable, every part of our bodies needs to be maintained and treated in ways that lead to its proper functioning. The benefits and availability of preventive care in this era, are something our ancestors would have been so fortunate to have, and yet, still today, many choose to ignore their bodies care, unless it has a pain that catches their attention. Preventative screenings available to us go largely unused, creating unnecessary future dependencies on expensive surgeries to replace and repair our parts, dependencies on pain medications to get thru daily living in relative comfort, and early death from cancers that could have been prevented. Our brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerves, the outer peripheral nerves that innervate every part of our body, coordinate and control all our bodily functions. Our spine is the protective container of this most vital system. Such a vital part of us, deserves our attention early, and ongoing throughout our lives.
Understand, infants, and children are not adjusted in the exact same way as adult bodies are. There are whole systems of pediatric techniques that we are educated in during our training, as well as postgraduate seminars, and post graduate certifications available in Pediatric Chiropractic.
The second branch that creates an avoidance of preventative Chiropractic screenings I discovered the answer to in my first year of practice. I asked every new patient for an entire year the same question. Why do you think a person wouldn't go to a chiropractor, even if they knew they needed one? My intention in asking this question, was to determine each new patients hidden fears towards treatment, so I could address it before we began. I was STUNNED to find, that EVERY SINGLE PATIENT gave me the same exact answer over a year!! That answer was: "Because they would be afraid the Chiropractor would either hurt them, or make them worse". I said to myself in amazement, Oh my God! they are AFRAID of us!!! Okay, you can laugh at me being incredulous at the time, because NOW I know, that as part of the general public, this is a no brainer to you! But to those of us who live in this Chiropractic world, this is how we have taken care of ourselves and our children for decades, we have all this understanding and education so we have no cause to distrust it, and all this personal experience with feeling so much better when we get adjusted, and all the experiences as practitioners of the patients we have helped, we largely as a profession do not grasp that this was not the understanding and experience that YOU live in, so from the outside looking in, we are somewhere in the public's eye at the time of the early scary dental procedures when the barber pulled your bad tooth out with pliers! Without Novocain!! Compounded by the picture in the public's mind of just one type of chiropractic technique that may look scary, and thinking it is the only type of treatment available, NO WONDER we don't have more compliance for preventative screenings!
Every Chiropractor, needs to do public education to address these fears and misunderstandings, so that we can be of greater service to the public.
It was upon this discovery, that I chose to became educated on the low force techniques, and I continue to only use them to this day almost 40 years later, having seen their efficacy, and the ease they put in my patients minds, and how it is so much easier for my my patients to convince others to come in and experience Chiropractic, when they explain exactly how I apply my craft. New patients tell me all the time, " I came to you, because I heard you don't twist the neck.".
So the answer to the question, when should the first adjustment take place? Ideally, while the mother is pregnant, to create room for the developing child as it begins to grow and find a way to be comfortable in less and less space. Spinal adjustments during pregnancy help alleviate morning sickness in the mother, as the top 3 bones in the neck many times are displaced from swelling due to hormonal changes in the body, which then creates pressure upon the brain stem and upper spinal cord often leading to nausea It is usually the second neck vertebra which is the culprit . As the child begins to grow, depending on the shape of the mothers frame, it can literally get a bit caught up in the lower rib cage, or place undue pressure on the mothers stomach or lungs, causing digestive issues, and difficulty breathing and sleeping for the mother. The growing child can cause sciatica problems due to lying unevenly if it isn't able to move freely and presses on the lower spinal structures of the mother. Very common towards the last trimester, that the weight and size of the child pressing down lower into the mothers pelvis will cause the sacroiliac joints to become a looser joint, which then creates difficulty walking or rising from a chair or getting out of the car or bed for the mother. It creates a waddling walk, which many believe is normal during pregnancy. It is not! My pregnant patients do not waddle! They develop strong sacroiliac joints, they are supported in that area towards the end by proper pregnancy support belts, and they are taught to walk daily during pregnancy in order to keep those joints as strong as possible to support the weight that will be coming! If the mother has loose sacroiliac joint ligaments due to prior injuries, and misaligned lower structures it will be more difficult to have a comfortable pregnancy without addressing these preexisting issues prior to the weight gain of the child. Keeping the mothers pelvis, lower spine, and lower rib cage lined up allows the baby to settle into the most beneficial position for delivery and get deep down into the pelvis where it needs to be, which only helps to ease delivery time. A baby lying in a breech or transverse position may be assisted in settling properly before birth thru spinal and pelvic techniques applied to the mother. It is very important not to wait to close to delivery however, as it becomes more challenging as the baby becomes more confined in it's ability to move around.
Once the child has been born, it is imperative to screen for any injuries that may have occurred during the birth process. I have discovered over the years on my newborn infant patients issues such as; misaligned jaws, ribs, neck bones, sternums, skull plates causing malformed heads, displaced humeral heads of the shoulder. In one case a baby was sent home from the hospital with a left arm that had NO movement, and the parents were simply told, oh he will be ok. No examination! Well, that baby had a dislocated collar bone!! One little low force tap with a specialized adjusting tool, and instantly, the baby's arm just came up in the air, and started waving around. I recently ran into the mother at a wedding,where she spotted me in the crowd, came over, and thanked me again, for helping her baby years ago. I asked if he was there, and she pointed him out, and there he was, on the dance floor grinning away, dancing, with that arm still waving around! Precious!
A Chiropractic adjustment is the primary chiropractic treatment, and many Chiropractors will sometimes support the adjustment with either sport taping, bracing, therapeutic exercise, foot orthotics, hot and cold therapy, specific types of massage therapy or acupuncture, laser, muscle stim or tens machines. I have given away my therapy machines, as I found over time that the reiki worked better and faster at decreasing inflammation and pain, with far less treatments necessary. If I feel the patients have a need for either ultrasound, electric stimulation, laser, epidural shots, or tens machines, I refer them to either trusted physical therapists or pain management doctors. I do use orthotics, sports taping, reiki and specific manual massage techniques, to support the adjustment, and am stickler for pointing out the right shoes! I have found for the majority of patients, this combined with my very specific adjusting technique, directed by their neurology, specific supportive exercises to strengthen weak areas, an evaluation of habits, and dietary choices that may be causing systemic joint inflammation, will be all that is really needed.
A chiropractic adjustment relieves pressure on spinal joints, reduces inflammation, and improves nerve function. It has been a trusted form of treatment since the ancient Greek Hippocrates documented manipulative techniques in his writings back in 1500 B.C. Chiropractic was rediscovered in our modern times in 1895, and evolved into what it is today, thru the initial hard work of discoverer, DD Palmer and his son, BJ Palmer, who formed the first Chiropractic school in Davenport Iowa, Palmer college of Chiropractic, that still exists today.
How Does Spinal Adjustments Work?
A chiropractic adjustment is intended to restore or enhance joint function in the spine, with the objectives of reducing pain and resolving joint inflammation and restoring proper nerve communication and flow to the body. When vertebrae shift out of place, there is an overall systemic response from the muscular system to the central nervous system. Without proper alignment and flow, our nerves, our organs, our immune system, and our minds, and our balance, cannot function at their highest peak.
Overall, spinal adjustments are an excellent way to keep the body functioning at its highest level. When the body is adequately aligned, it becomes able to respond and perform as it was built to do.