chiropractic adjustment

How’s the Latch? Top 5 Ways Chiropractic Can Help!

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Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is a great option when choosing how to feed your child. There are numerous neurological, nutritional, developmental, psychological, and immunological benefits that your baby can get throughout the process.  Due to this many mothers plan on breastfeeding, but give up early because of problems that have “no solution.” When you and your baby are first getting to know each other, it can be frustrating at times.  Many times mamas have trouble getting their baby to nurse. It’s hard!! It’s easy to be discouraged and want to give up. We’re here to tell you to stay strong. It’s not your fault that your little one isn’t latching properly, but there is something you can do to help support the relationship.

How Chiropractic Helps the Latch

In our office we see many infants presenting with latching problems, and after being evaluated and adjusted they are able to feed wonderfully. Specifically, we check children for vertebral subluxations. This occurs when the upper cervical vertebra or cranial bones are misaligned. This misalignment puts unnecessary stress on the nervous system, meaning the brain and the body may not be fully communicating as they should. It’s basically taking a dimmer switch and putting it on the nerves that come out at the level of the misalignment. This can cause numerous problems with the child’s health and development down the road.

The birthing process, no matter how natural and beautiful it is, can be hard on not just the mother but the child as well. In turn, this can result in misalignments that usually go undetected and unaddressed for years.  As chiropractors, we see infants presenting with difficulties latching firmly, inability to sustain suckling, only feeding in one position, chewing instead of suckling on the nipple, and a “need” to feed at all times. 

Benefits of Chiropractic for an Infant

When the C1 vertebra and cranial bones are properly aligned, neurological and mechanical problems resolve as shown below:

Helps baby turn head to go to both breasts equally

  • When the misalignment of the cranial and upper cervical vertebrae are present this will impinge the SCM muscle. This can cause extra tension in one side vs the other and in more extreme cases, Torticollis. When a baby has this, they will not want to turn their head to both sides equally and often favor one breast. Realigning the bones and allowing the nerves to communicate with the muscle properly, helps the baby to turn their head to both sides equally. In turn, they have easier positioning and access to breastfeeding.

Retraining muscle patterns

  • Another common difficulty we see, is that their suckle pattern is weak, irregular or using the wrong muscles. The communication into the muscles used primarily for sucking may not be firing correctly (weak suckle). This can lead to overcompensation and recruitment of muscles not originally needed for the motion. This can cause an irregular, or chewing like suckle. Again, realigning any misalignments will allow all the muscles to get the proper communication.

Helping to shape mouth properly

  • With improper tongue and oral use, the palate can lack the proper stimulation it needs in order to properly shape. We see many infants presenting with shallow or high palates which is going to affect the suckle itself. We help to identify and reshape the mouth when working with babies in order to regain proper oral function in nursing and into childhood.

Help Tongue Tie Release Heal

  • Another great way we can support oral function is helping tongue tie releases heal. After a baby gets a release, it is up to the parents to perform stretches for the body to heal properly. However, if there is a miscommunication in the nerves, we often see that the body takes longer to heal. We love working with babies that recently had tongue tie revisions to ensure that the body can heal to its full potential.

Bring your Infant to a Pediatric Chiropractor

If your infant is having trouble nursing and you feel as though you’ve tried everything to help them, bring them to a chiropractor. Infant chiropractic adjustments are gentle, safe, and extremely effective.  This could be one of the most important choices you make for your child, as breastfeeding provides many benefits to their health.

Make a new patient appointment today for your infant!

The Nervous System and Chiropractic

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What is the Nervous System?

The nervous system is the life source that controls every aspect of our body. It controls our ability to interact with the outside environment by taking in all forms of senses and interpreting them. It also controls our internal environment in order to help us know when to eat or use the restroom or even events that we can’t control such as digesting food and keeping our heart beating. All of this makes the nervous system the most important system in the whole body.

How Chiropractic Aids the Nervous System’s Function

Chiropractors are specifically trained to detect any nervous system disruptions that are present within the body. The spine actually encases the spinal cord and nerves come out at every single level of the spine. Misalignments in the spine can alter how the nervous system functions in many ways. It can alter how a sensation is perceived, how then the sensation is processed, and can alter the body response to be different leading to dysfunction and miscommunication in the body. Affecting all areas of the body including muscles, organs, and the ability to respond. The main goal of chiropractic is to relieve any stress on the nervous system in order to process information better and have a higher overall function level in the body. 

Why Kids Can Benefit From Chiropractic

The leading cause of this dysfunction in the nervous system is stress. When looking at kiddos there are three forms of stress that affect their body which include physical, emotional, and chemical. Physical stress is the most commonly thought of when looking at kids. Normal kids as they grow and develop are running around and falling down 20 times a day, which affects their spine and nervous system. Another physical stress that is not often thought about is birth trauma. The process can be beautiful and natural but can be a lot for a little baby’s body. Up to 60-120 pounds of traction is applied to the baby’s neck and spine during a natural vaginal birth with a doctor assisting head out.  This causes trauma in the spine and in turn the nervous system. Emotional stress includes any family, school, or relationship issues. Kids may not be able to know exactly what is going on but can get worked up and put their bodies into a stressed and sympathetic mode. Lastly, chemical stress is anything that kids eat or put on their bodies that the body in turn has to process. 

The Impact Chiropractic Way

At Impact Chiropractic we are a corrective care facility. The goal is to get to the root of the problem and work to restore the proper function of the body’s nervous system. Our doctors have created a 5 step corrective program that helps give our patients the best care possible.

Step 1: the cervical neck traction which helps to restore the curvature in the neck

Step 2: the proprioceptive wobble discs that help to hydrate the spine and prepare you for the adjustment

Step 3: the most important step is the adjustment. Each of our 5 adjusting rooms is equipped with a computer that allows the doctors to see the patient’s X-rays and give them an adjustment specific to them.

Step 4: the arthostim is a tool that aids in the manual adjustments that the doctors give

Step 5: the 5th and final step is the vibration plate which helps to hold in the adjustment for a longer time

Make a new patient appointment today to get started and prioritize the health of your nervous system.

What Actually Happens During A Chiropractic Adjustment?

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A chiropractic adjustment, also known as a manual manipulation, or spinal manipulation, is a common therapeutic treatment for neck, upper to mid-back, and lower back pain.  A chiropractic adjustment refers to a chiropractor applying a controlled thrust to the vertebrae that have abnormal movement patterns or fail to function normally. The objective of this chiropractic treatment is to reduce the subluxation while increasing range of motion, reducing nerve irritability and improving function. A chiropractic adjustment typically involves a high velocity, low amplitude thrust to a misaligned vertebra and can include an accompanying, audible release of gas (joint cavitation) that is caused by the release of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide which releases joint pressure. It should be known that joint cavitation (the sound) does not determine the success of an adjustment as the goal of the adjustment is to realign the vertebra not necessarily to release nitrogen and other gases from the joint.chiropractic adjustment fort collinsChiropractors adapt treatment plans to meet the specific needs of each patient. The most frequently used chiropractic technique, spinal manipulation, is the traditional high-velocity low-amplitude (HVLA) thrust. The manipulation can result in an audible “pop,” as chiropractors use their hands to apply a controlled sudden force to a joint while the body is positioned in a specific way. A more gentle approach is called a spinal mobilization which is a low force technique. Some conditions such as pathology, the patient’s size, comfort, preference or presence of osteoporosis can require this more gentle technique.

The most common reaction of a chiropractic adjustment is aching or soreness in the spinal joints or muscles. If aching or soreness occurs, it is usually within the first few hours post-treatment and does not last longer than 24 hours after the adjustment. Application of an ice pack in addition to drinking lots of water post adjustment often reduces the symptoms relatively quickly.

Seeing a chiropractor regularly maintains alignment in the vertebra and therefore keeps the nervous system in an overall healthy state. Make an appointment with our team at Impact Chiropractic to help get your spine and nervous system functioning at its best!