Happy New Year, and welcome to 2021 on Petett Chiropractic blog. We’re back for another year of insightful and inspirational posts, to help you holistically get in tune with your health. One of the main reasons we put these posts out every month is to keep our readers informed about how they should be pursuing their health goals. Education is key for us, and this month we’re looking at a very important question: is chiropractic care safe for children?
The Benefits of Chiropractic Care
The benefits of chiropractic care are wide-ranging, and this is a great reason for parents to want their children to experience chiropractic care as often as possible. Whether in treating lower back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash, headaches, or much more, chiropractic care views your health as that of a comprehensive person, not the sum of your parts.
Chiropractic care triggers your body’s ability to heal. It focuses on maintaining your health naturally to help your body resist disease, rather than simply treating the symptoms of disease. From this forward-looking, high vantage point, chiropractors recognize that many factors affect your health, including exercise, nutrition, sleep, environment and heredity.
Are There Safety Issues for Children?
So, now that we’ve examined the benefits of chiropractic care, let’s dispel some myths. Many parents worry that chiropractic care might be unsafe, harmful, or even deadly for their children.
Back in 2015, Michelle Barber and a team of educators and researchers from Palmer College of Chiropractic dove into the literature to see if they could answer our question.
By combing through all of the available evidence, Barber and her team got to the bottom of this issue. They found that “cases of serious adverse events in infants and children receiving chiropractic, osteopathic, physiotherapy or manual medical therapy are rare.” There have been several serious incidents involving children and manual therapists, but none related to chiropractic care were found in the literature.
What should you do with this information? The same thing you would do with any other activity that carries a negligible but non-zero risk. Do your research to ensure that chiropractic care is right for your child. Make sure the chiropractor you choose has a strong reputation, and other parents to vouch for their services. You know what’s right for your child, and being informed about all your options is the best way to have confidence in your intuition.
If you’re looking for a great chiropractic partner in the Pacific Northwest, contact the Petett Chiropractic team today!