Increasing number of children receive pediatric chiropractic care

February 2, 2009 — A growing number of parents are adding pediatric chiropractic care as an integrative component of their children’s healthcare regimen.

Survey data indicates that the percentage of chiropractic patients under 17 years of age has increased at least 8.5 percent since 1991, says the American Chiropractic Association (AMA). Further, a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study indicated that nearly 3 percent of children in the United States were treated with chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation in 2007, making it the most common form of doctor-directed complementary or alternative medicine used by children.

According to Elise Hewitt, DC, a Portland-area doctor of chiropractic and president of the American Chiropractic Association’s Pediatrics Council, chiropractic care isn’t just for adults. Infants and children can benefit from spinal manipulation and other forms of chiropractic care just as much as their parents and grandparents.

Studies are beginning to show that chiropractic can help children not only with typical back and neck pain complaints, but also with issues as varied as asthma, chronic ear infections, nursing difficulties, colic, and bedwetting.

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a highly skilled treatment, and in the case of children, very gentle. Doctors of chiropractic — commonly referred to as chiropractors—practice a hands-on, drug-free approach to healthcare that includes patient examination, diagnosis, and treatment. Following their undergraduate education, doctors of chiropractic obtain a four-year degree consisting of more than 4,500 hours of study and clinical experience. Pediatric specialists receive additional post-doctorate training.

Source: American Chiropractic Association, www.amerchiro.org