By: Adam Renelt, DC
Updated 5/21/24
I sometimes will be told by a parent at our Sioux Falls chiropractic clinic that their children don’t complain of any pain so they don’t think that they would need chiropractic care. In reality, children bump and jar their spine constantly in the first five years of life, and after that their normal everyday activities can cause the vertebrae that protect the spinal cord to lose their normal motion or position. Each of these spinal traumas may cause lasting effects that could include:
-delicate nerve tissue can be damaged and result in interference with the brain’s ability to send nerve impulses to organs
-tissues and muscles, discs, blood vessels and other soft tissues can swell and become inflamed
-the body may respond with bone spurs and other abnormal bone growth
-various systems through the body may malfunction.
In each of these examples, pain or other obvious symptoms may not be present at the time, yet optimum health and well-being could be compromised.
The Developing Spine and Children
There are three windows of time in which your child’s spine will go through major stages of development. The first of these is birth through age five. This is a critical time since it is during this period that the child also has the most minor traumas and repetitive stress injuries to the spine as they struggle with coordination.
The second window of development is five to ten years of age. During this time your child will begin school and spend recess climbing on monkey bars, sliding down slides, playing organized sports and generally leaving themselves open to repeated falls and tumbles resulting in their own spinal injuries. Finally, at ages ten to fifteen-years, your child’s spine will go through its last stage of development. During this final stage, your child’s spinal growth will be greatly affected by most, if not all, of the following:
- improper backpack loading and carrying
- poor posture
- an inactive or sedentary lifestyle
- repetitive sports movements
- typical sports injuries
- hit in the head with a ball
- tackled on the field
- falling off a skateboard or rollerblades
It may be possible that you missed the first window of opportunity for care, but it’s not too late; your child or teenager can still benefit from chiropractic care at any stage of life.
The Benefits of Chiropractic Care
Even as the public is becoming more aware of the benefit of early detection and care of the spine, most adults seek chiropractic care for the first time due to pain or other symptoms. During an initial examination it’s possible that some sign of spinal degeneration may be detected. If mild degeneration is found, then original damage to your spine was likely ten to twenty years ago. If the degeneration is more advanced, the original damage to your spine was probably about twenty to forty years ago.
If you are a chiropractic patient, you’re already aware of the benefits of visits to a chiropractor. You’ve experienced for yourself the relief that comes from having a properly aligned spine. Give your child the opportunity that you perhaps weren’t given: to benefit from the body’s innate ability to heal itself and grow up with a healthy spine and nervous system.
Please reach out to our Sioux Falls chiropractic office you have any questions about chiropractic care for children or if you are interested in scheduling an appointment to have your child’s spine checked. We’d be happy to help!