Why Kids Need Chiropractic

99 out of 100 Babies Need To Be Checked by a Chiropractor, study says.

If you hang around the Rubin Family Chiropractic community long enough, you will see many, many pregnant women and infants get adjusted. We love to watch little babies smile and laugh after their adjustment. At some point, you may have asked the question, how can a chiropractor help all these babies? We hope this post illuminates why chiropractic care is so important for infants and newborns.

A study published in 2015 shows us how important it is for infants to get checked by a chiropractor, no matter how seemingly healthy.  Titled “Incidence of Somatic Dysfunction in Healthy Newborns”, the study looks at the incidence, or percentage likelihood, that a newborn will have dysfunction in their spine. The doctors examined the spines of 100 healthy newborns, including cranium (head), cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), lumbar (low-back), and sacral (base) regions of the spine. 51 of these newborns were male, and 49 female, all about 6 hours old.

The results of this particular study were astonishing. It found that 99%, or 99 out of 100, of these newborns had at least one somatic dysfunction, either in the cranium (or skull), the cervical spine (neck) or sacral spine (base of the spine). The study also found that the number one correlating factor to the amount of spinal dysfunction found was labor time. The longer the mother was in labor, the more spinal dysfunctions the baby would have. We chiropractors call somatic dysfunction: subluxation.  What this study tells us is that almost every child born today needs to be seen by a chiropractor, so we can address their somatic dysfunctions or subluxations!  No one escapes being born without needing their spine checked by a pediatric chiropractor.

These numbers are eye-opening, and show the importance of having a baby and pregnant mother checked. Literature has shown us that chiropractic care helps reduce labor time by as much 31%. This now shows the impact that a diminished labor time has on the health of a baby’s spine and nervous system. This 2015 study helps us understand the physical toll the delivery process has on the baby’s spine. Each of these spinal dysfunctions contribute to a less than optimal brain and nervous system in every newborn. Having your newborn checked for spinal dysfunction, or vertebral subluxation, can make an incredible difference in you and your family’s life.

Dr. Rubin is a board certified pediatric chiropractor, with a special emphasis on newborn and infant care.  We see so many babies with colic, reflux, nursing issues as well as torticollis and plagiocephaly (or flat head syndrome).  Dr. Rubin is also certified in the Melillo Method, so sees lots of children with Neurodevelopmental challenges like Autism and ADHD. 

Link to study: http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2466228

1. Waddington DL, Snider KT, Lockwood MD, Pazdernik VK. Incidence of somatic dysfunction in healthy newborns. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2015;115:654-665.
2. Borggren CL. Pregnancy and chiropractic: a narrative review of literature. J Chiropr Med. 2007;6(2):72-74.