Chiropractic Care for Children: Are they too young?

Summary

There has been recent debate about the role chiropractic healthcare should have in the care of children. Recently, as a means of cutting expenses in state government, the North Carolina General Assembly has proposed legislation in the Senate that would make chiropractic coverage under the state health plan only for children greater than 5 years of age. This is absolutely absurd, insane! Are children under 5 years old now considered invertebrates?

Are you familiar with “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” or SIDS? This is where an infant will die in his bed at a very early age and for no known cause. Why would I bring that up in a column about chiropractic health? They are probably more closely related than you may think.

What causes SIDS? The answer is not that simple, but some of the research to date focuses on a very credible possible cause; atlanto-occipital hypermobility. In one study the authors describe the phenomenon of “atlas inversion.”1 This is where posterior arch of the atlas (or C1 – the upper-most vertebra in the spinal column) enters the foramen magnum (the hole in the bottom of the skull). Try to imagine two rings one over the other with a rope almost the size of the inner circumference of the rings running down through both of the rings. The bottom ring represents the atlas while the upper ring represents the foramen magnum of the skull, just below the brain. The rope represents the spinal cord. Now imagine the lower ring, instead of being in its normal horizontal position is instead positioned into a nearly vertical position with part of its surface extending into the inside of the ring above it, putting a kink in the rope. (Remember that the rope represents the spinal cord.)

Anatomically, the atlas is situated at the level of the brain stem (the part of the brain that controls such things as breathing and heart function). Other nerves also run through this area and it is location the greatest convolution of the vertebral arteries – the primary blood supplies to the posterior brain.

You can see the potential for great damage in this area due to forceful deliveries during childbirth!-(See Note below)

Dr. Abraham Towbin2 , Dr. Floyd Gilles3 and many others have contributed greatly to our understanding of birth trauma and their implications in SIDS deaths. Chiropractic pediatric specialists believe that the subluxations in newborns should be analyzed and corrected as soon as possible after birth to prevent ongoing problems in the growing child.4

In yet another study, fifty deceased infants were x-rayed and it was found that all cases of atlas inversion5 were SIDS cases, but not all SIDS deaths exhibited atlas inversion. This means that atlas instability, a key feature of the Vertebral Subluxation Complex, is a possible cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Death would have to be, in my estimation, the most serious complication of a vertebral subluxation. But while it is not THE cause of SIDS, subluxation certainly is strongly implicated. It is also plausible to conclude that other, more conventional, diseases in the survivors of birth trauma could have this as their root cause.

Of course, birth trauma is not the only source of childhood subluxations. Other traumatic events of childhood may include motor vehicle accidents (MVA’s),6,7 sports injuries, slip and falls, etc. Interestingly, the authors of one study on children in MVA’s noted that the younger children (ages 2 to 4 for the study) sustained more severe injuries.8

Any parent, or anyone who has ever been a child (that would include most of us) knows that accidents happen and they are not always auto accidents. Not only birth trauma and motor vehicle accidents cause childhood spinal trauma, but falls from the trees, contact sports, those “double-dog-dares” like, “I dare you to stick your tongue to that frozen flagpole.” Or, I dare you to “jump that ravine (that looks like a canyon) with your bike.” (Until after I tried it, mine was a 1-speed with extended forks, banana seat and a sissy bar to which I would occasionally tie mom’s umbrella to act as a parachute. Sorry, mom.) All this makes up part of being a kid, though.

The Council on Chiropractic Practice Clinical Practice Guideline states, “Since vertebral subluxation may affect individuals at any age, chiropractic care may be indicated at any time after birth.”9

To not include children in chiropractic care is down-right irresponsible!

NOTE: Please do not misinterpret the author’s intention. In no way are we advocating for cesarean over natural delivery as there are inherent dangers to not only the mother which is obvious, but also to the child. C-section infants have been found to have abnormally lower blood pressure measurements than those born naturally and have a lower metabolic activity of certain immune factors which may leave the child open to allergies or infectious disease.