If you're looking for a non-invasive way to foster your child's health and growth, then you've come to the right place!

Chiropractic can help a wide variety of health issues in both children and adults, and the effectiveness of chiropractic is not restricted to pain or the musculoskeletal system. Children, partially owing to their accident-prone nature as their bodies grow, accumulate as many (if not more) bumps, bruises, and injuries as adults. Children who are failing to thrive at age-appropriate rates may even have nervous system problems that date from the birth process itself.

In fact, it may be even more important for children to have their spines and nervous system regularly checked than adults for one simple reason: children are growing. The amazingly rapid growth that we see in children ("How'd you get so tall?!") has to be carefully and perfectly coordinated by a properly functioning brain, spinal cord, and nerves. If the communication between your child's brain and body is disrupted in any way, it is possible that his growth might be stunted? That she might have difficulty absorbing nutrients? That his immune system might develop abnormally?

Chiropractic Is Safe For Children

Many parents wonder if the chiropractic adjustment is safe and effective for their child. The good news is YES: chiropractors are well-versed in finding problems in children and delivering a modified adjustment that is appropriate for the age of the child.

For example, the chiropractic adjustment for adults usually involves a very specific low-force high-velocity movement in order to affect the relationship of a joint and its surrounding muscles and ligaments. In a one-year-old baby, however, a high-velocity movement is not necessary due to the elasticity of the baby's ligaments. In older children, the chiropractic adjustment is also modified to use much less force than in an adult.

Because a gentle low-force chiropractic adjustment is often beneficial to help your child's health, Dr. Kyle Johnson, of Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, uses the Activator Methods analysis and instrument adjusting. The Activator instrument is widely recognized as providing a gentle and effective adjustment for the most delicate of patients: infants, children, and the elderly.

Dr. Andrew Weil, MD, writes: "The Activator method has undergone clinical trials that demonstrate its efficacy. Dr. Weil has found these low-force treatments to be reliable and safe, and recommends them to his patients, particularly for use in the pediatric population and in the elderly."

Research also verifies the safety of chiropractic care for children. One retrospective study showed a child has a better chance of being struck by lightning than being injured while under chiropractic care. The World Chiropractic Alliance painstakingly illustrates the safety of chiropractic care for children. Dr. Joel Alcantara, DC, a well-published researcher, compares chiropractic safety and medical safety in treating children. Dr. Peter Fysh, DC, describes the lack of malpractice suits for injuries to children, highlighting the safety of the chiropractic adjustment for children.

How We Can Help Your Child

At Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, we provide gentle forms of chiropractic adjusting to help your child grow up as healthy as possible. When your child's nervous system is working properly, then growth and healing will occur naturally.

Dr. Johnson also takes an active interest in the children who come to Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, because health is multidimensional. Modern childhood can be very stressful, and that stress often manifests in physical ways, such as sleeplessness, bedwetting, appetite changes, nutrition absorption changes, and so on. Some parents like to think of the chiropractic adjustment as pushing the "reset" button on your child's nervous system, giving your child a place of relaxation and refuge while relieving their stress.

Dr. Johnson enjoys working with and treating children, and definitely considers the children of Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria to be his youngest patients. Contact Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria today to join the family!

Conditions

Beyond the normal chiropractic checkups for children's growth and health, chiropractors may help many conditions that arise in children, including:

- infantile colic
- congenital torticollis
- adolescent scoliosis
- children's sport injuries
- asthma
- ear infections
- chronic strep throat
- children's headaches
- nursemaid's elbow

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Sitting

   "The single most important modern health issue for children and adolescents," says Dr. Kyle Johnson, a chiropractor in Peoria, Illinois, "is a sedentary lifestyle. Young people need to move to grow, to help their muscles and joints and senses thrive. Sitting at televisions, computers, and desks? Those sitting activities need to be countered with a greater amount of time at play."

   Dr. Johnson points to a study from the peer-reviewed Spine journal which reports that over a third of all adolescent boys and girls have neck, head, or shoulder pain.

   Dr. Johnson emphasizes the importance of the chiropractic adjustment for the health of young people, especially when they sit in school for many hours per day. "I also teach young people how to balance their lifestyle so they can still enjoy reading and texting, but without the neck pain."