Infant Chiropractic Care
What is infant chiropractic care?
Chiropractic for babies, fundamentally, is like chiropractic care for everyone else. The job of the chiropractor is to evaluate the body looking for changes to the muscles and joints. These changes can be an increase or decrease in the muscle tone on one or both sides. It can be more or less movement in a joint than what is expected. It can be changes to normal mechanics (the way they walk, crawl, roll, or move) as well as an increase or decrease in the overall range of motion of a region of joints.
So no matter the size of the spine, as a chiropractor I am evaluating for the same type of changes. It is the techniques that we use, the evaluation methods involved, and the skill of the practitioner that really differentiates adult chiropractic care from infant & pediatric chiropractic care.
How is what you do different? What will the adjustment be like?
While all chiropractors are educated in the fundamentals of pediatric chiropractic care only a very small percentage of us go on to specialize in pediatric care. The evaluation methods, adjusting techniques, and expectations I have for pediatric care come from my doctorate of chiropractic (DC) degree, my post-graduate Certification by the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics (CACCP), and the many years I have in practice.
The type of chiropractic care I use in infant care is called “sustained contact” adjusting. This is a manual, or hands-on, chiropractic technique that relies on being specific and precise. On the surface this looks more closely like a baby “massage” than what most people think of when they imagine an adjustment. There is never any “cracking” or “popping” in infant adjusting.
These adjustments are performed mostly with a baby laying on their back while my hands move and work beneath them. When I find an area that requires adjusting I use either my smallest/pinky finger or my second/ring finger to apply gentle pressure to that area. In fact, the amount of pressure it takes to perform an infant adjustment is the same amount of pressure you can comfortably press on your closed eyelid and many of our babies who start their adjustments asleep remain asleep at the end of their appointment.
Why would a baby need chiropractic care?
There are a number of reasons to have your child evaluated to see if they are eligible for chiropractic care. Some common ones include:
- Difficulty breastfeeding or bottle feeding
- Torticollis
- Reduced Cervical Range of Motion (Baby isn’t turning their head fully to one side or the other)
- Preparing for and/or Recovering from Lip or Tongue Tie Revision
- Colic
- Reflux
- Constipation
- Changes to Sleep
While chiropractic care can be the missing piece for a lot of families struggling with these conditions we know that it takes a village to keep our children healthy. We are proud to be a part of your baby’s care team and are happy to work with you and your other providers to make sure your family is getting the most out of your care.
Do you have more questions?
We know that there’s a lot to learn and we are happy to help however we can.
Dr. Brooke Crandall, DC, CACCP will go through all of this information and more when you have your visit. At the end of your first visit she’ll talk with you about what you can expect for care- how long it will take, what results you can expect, etc. You can read more about her here.
Questions about insurance?
Check out this page here.
You can also give our office a call at:
(248) 893 – 7019.
Still not sure if we’re the right fit for you? ‘
You can give our office a call at (248) 893 – 7019
or send us an email with more information at info@endeavorchiro.com and one of our staff members will be in touch with you soon!
Ready to Schedule Your Child’s Visit?