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Does Your Baby Need Chiropractic Care?

Does Your Baby Need Chiropractic Care?

Birthing isn’t just tough on moms. Emerging from the “ring of fire” is no easy feat for newborns!

“We think of babies as being fresh and perfect, but just like us, they can have trouble with their spine,” claims Vancouver-based chiropractor, Roger Barnick. “When a baby is born, hospital doctors and nurses check the heart, lungs, eyes, digestion, temperature. But nobody is checking the spine.”

“We had an idea our baby was going to be fairly substantial [in size],” confesses Vancouver mom, Bethanne York. “It just made sense [his] little bones [might] not be in the ideal position after [his] trip through the birth canal.” So, York sought out a chiropractor who could help. “At one week old, Jethro received his first ‘out-of-the-womb’ adjustment.”

There is growing evidence encouraging the practice of routine newborn spinal checks.

In the mid 1960s, when doctor of osteopathic medicine, Viola Frymann, examined 1250 newborns:

Dr. Roger Barnick, of Barnick Chiropractic in Salmon Creek, adjusts an infant.
  • 88 percent showed some identifiable mal-alignment in the form of cranial bone strain patterns
  • 73 percent had at least one asymmetry (10 percent had more than one)

In a more recent study of 100 newborns, 99 percent showed at least one sphenobasilar synchondrosis (skull bone) strain pattern   That strain can impact hormones, which control growth, development, metabolism, reproduction, mood, and other functions.

Chiropractic care focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, and their effect on general health. Chiropractors are specialists trained to assess spinal problems; they are generally well-suited to conduct routine newborn spinal checks.

Is Chiropractic Care Effective?

To read more, pick up a copy of the September 2019 issue at any of these locations, or view the digital archive copy here.


Find the Right Chiropractor for you and your baby

Parents can find an American Chiropractic Association (ACA) provider at: www.acatoday.org and an ACA Pediatrics Council member at www.acapedscouncil.org.

Health Grades www.healthgrades.com and Chiropractor Directory www.chirodirectory.com are other easy-to-use listings to find a chiropractor near you. 

This article is intended for information purposes only, and not as medical advice.

Dana Greyson is a freelance writer and a frequent VFM contributor on health, travel and relationship topics. She’s writing her first memoir about her tropical sailboat escape, due out later this year. For a sample chapter visit DanaGreyson.com. She blogs about her sailing adventures on Galley Wench Tales.

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