I was fascinated to find a chiropractor who proudly listed ‘the most common conditions chiropractors help kids with‘:
- Vision problems
- Skin conditions
- Bedwetting
- Sinus problems
- ADD/ADHD
- Stomachaches
- Asthma
- Allergies
- Loss of hearing
- Ear Infections
- Hip, leg, or foot pain
- Constipation
- Poor coordination
- Breastfeeding difficulties
- Arm, hand, or shoulder pain
- Anxiety and nervousness
- Colic
- Scoliosis
The birth process, even under normal conditions, is frequently the first cause of spinal stress. After the head of the child appears, the physician grabs the baby’s head and twists it around in a figure eight motion, lifting it up to receive the lower shoulder and then down to receive the upper shoulder. This creates significant stress on the spine of the baby.
“Spinal cord and brain stem traumas often occur during the process of birth but frequently escape diagnosis. Infants often experience lasting neurological defects. Spinal trauma at birth is essentially attributed to longitudinal traction, especially when this force is combined with flexion and torsion of the spinal axis during delivery.” ~Abraham Towbin, MD
Growth patterns suggest the potential for neurological disorders is most critical from birth to two years of age, as this time is the most dynamic and important phase of postnatal brain development. Over sixty percent of all neurological development occurs after birth in the child’s first year of life. This is why it is so important to bring your child to a local pediatric chiropractor to have them checked and for your child to get a chiropractic adjustment during the first year of their life. Lee Hadley MD states “Subluxation alone is a rational reason for Pediatric Chiropractic care throughout a lifetime from birth.”
As our children continue to grow, the daily stresses can have a negative impact on an ever growing body. During the first few years of life, an infant often falls while learning to walk or can fall while tumbling off a bed or other piece of furniture. Even the seemingly innocent act of playfully tossing babies up in the air and catching them often results in a whiplash-like trauma to the spine, making it essential to get your baby checked by a pediatric chiropractor every stage of his/her development as minor injuries can present as major health concerns down the road if gone uncorrected.
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On the Internet, similar texts can be found by the hundreds. I am sure that many new parents are sufficiently impressed by them to take their kids to a chiropractor. I have yet to hear of a single case where the chiropractor then checked out the child and concluded: “there is nothing wrong; your baby does not need any therapy.” Chiropractors always find something – not something truly pathological, but something to mislead the parent and to earn some money.
Often the treatment that follows turns out to be a prolonged and thus expensive series of sessions that almost invariably involve manipulating the infant’s fragile and developing spine. There is no compelling evidence that this approach is effective for anything. In addition, there is evidence that it can do harm, sometimes even serious harm.
And that’s the reason why I have mentioned this topic before and intend to continue doing so in the future:
- There is hardly a good reason for adults to consult a chiropractor.
- There is no reason to take a child to a chiropractor.
- There are good reasons for chiropractors to stop treating children.
But let’s be a bit more specific. Let’s deal with the above list of indications on the basis of the reliable evidence:
- Vision problems – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Skin conditions – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Bedwetting – some evidence that chiropractic manipulations are ineffective.
- Sinus problems – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- ADD/ADHD – some evidence that chiropractic manipulations are ineffective.
- Stomachaches – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Asthma – some evidence that chiropractic manipulations are ineffective.
- Allergies – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Loss of hearing – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Ear Infections – some evidence that chiropractic manipulations are ineffective.
- Hip, leg, or foot pain – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Constipation – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Poor coordination – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Breastfeeding difficulties – no good evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Arm, hand, or shoulder pain – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Anxiety and nervousness – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
- Colic – some evidence that chiropractic manipulations are ineffective.
- Scoliosis – no sound evidence that chiropractic manipulations are effective.
I rest my case.
22 Responses to The most common conditions that chiropractors (cannot) help kids with
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It makes me shudder! I have a grandchild in North America and right after birth the midwife recommended a chiropractic consultation. Luckily, the parents have a friend who is a doctor who persuaded them otherwise.
“The most common conditions chiropractors help kids with.”
No doubt a true statement as far as it goes, but inevitably, this chiropractor fails to tell us whether the ‘help’ provided is of any value beyond the placebo value of having someone pay attention, offer compassion – and make cracking sounds.
Is this chasp deluded or deceitful?
Prospective patients must be the judge.
I dare say that it is quite impossible to tell if chiropractic treatment of children has any (positive) effect on their health and development. So I don’t even think that prospective patients can be the judge of this.
I’m also still waiting for any evidence that chiropractic treatment in general has any added value over what physiotherapists and family physicians have to offer. After all, they charge twice to three times the amount that physios charge, so they should be able to name at least a few things that they do significantly better than trained healthcare professionals.
Yet even in the veritable deluge of comments from our resident chiro DC no good answers to this can be found.
Which to me says that any ‘added value’ of chiropractic treatment is strictly financial, and ends up in the pockets of chiropractors.
RR: After all, they charge twice to three times the amount that physios charge
I’m sure it depends on the region but…
“The findings showed that the total average cost in the chiropractic group was $48.56 lower than the PT group. The findings also showed that the daily adjusted life years (DALY) in the chiropractic group was 0.0043 higher than the PT group. Chiropractic care was shown to be a cost-effective alternative compared with PT for adults with at least three weeks of LBP over six months.”
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/8/1/44/htm
RR: I’m also still waiting for any evidence that chiropractic treatment in general has any added value over what physiotherapists and family physicians have to offer.
Not an easy question to answer as there are many variables as to what each group offers and which outcome measures one uses.
Perhaps the question is: does spinal manipulation have any added value? The results are mixed. Here are a few papers that looked at this question.
https://chiro.org/LINKS/Exercise_and_Chiropractic.shtml
EE: I have yet to hear of a single case where the chiropractor then checked out the child and concluded: “there is nothing wrong; your baby does not need any therapy.”
OK. In the past ten years I have seen three infants. In each case they were brought to me because the parents prior chiropractor convinced them that infants need to be “checked out”.
In all three cases, after confirming that the infant was under the care of a pediatrician, I “checked them out.”. In all three cases I informed the parents there was nothing wrong with the infant from a “chiropractic view point.”
Some may ask why I even saw the infant. Simply: because if I didn’t they probably would have taken the infant to another chiropractor who may have used a different approach.
I occasionally see these children in the community, all appear to be doing just fine.
As far as the chiropractor in the original post, it appears to be a board violation regarding advertising. I will notify the state board.
(There are a few of Ernst’s comments that should be addressed, clarified and/or corrected but I doubt he would acknowledge it).
DC, What specifically are you referring to w.r.t advertising violation? Is it the YT video on their page: https://apexchiroco.com/services/pediatric-chiropractor/ or the list of conditions?
I plan on going thru his page. But one cannot claim to treat or help those (most) conditions. One could claim to help with some of the MSK symptoms that may be related to those (some) of those conditions.
If I recall Colorado has very detailed rules on advertising.
Unfortunately if the board forces him to make changes it will just be how it’s worded.
DC,
I don’t know the rules in other states, but I checked a few Pediatric Chiropractor websites and almost all sites I happened to land on claim to treat a similar list of conditions i.e., conditions unrelated to MSK. Here is how I searched: I picked the largest city within a state and googled “pediatric chiropractor” followed by the name of the city. For example, for the state of PA I searched “pediatric chiropractor Philadelphia”. I then reviewed the top results until I find a practice that claims to treat at least one condition unrelated to MSK. You’d be surprised that for all 10 states I searched, I found such a practice within the top two results returned by google. It is possible that all 10 states I listed don’t regulate advertising by chiropractors, but the fact that the most popular (as per google) chiro within each region I searched seem to be not bothered by lack of evidence. ADD/ADHD seems to be the most popular pediatric condition they are advertising for.
Here are the results for 10 different states in USA:
PA: https://www.drdawncutechiropractic.com/pediatric-chiropractor/
VA: https://www.drjassy.com/blog/what-is-pediatric-chiropractic-and-how-can-it-benefit-my-child.html
FL: https://thrivechirohealth.com/how-pediatric-chiropractic-care-helps-in-child-developement/
DE: https://deintegrativehealthcare.com/what-does-a-pediatric-chiropractor-do/
CA: https://www.dwlchiro.com/services/pediatric-and-family-chiropractic/
WA: https://www.treeoflifeseattle.com/pediatric-care
OR: https://laurelhurstchiropractic.com/chiropractic-care-for-children/
MA: https://drslak.com/pediatric-chiropractor-boston-dr-linda-slak.html
NY: https://www.craniosacraltherapyny.com/pediatric-chiropractor-new-york-city/
NC: https://davischironc.com/pediatric-care/
Of course, you are going to say: MDs, dentists, physios make similar claims. And I am going to respond: regardless that doesn’t absolve chrios.
1. It comes down to wording if it’s a violation or not.
2. Some states are more specific on their rules on advertising than others.
3. Boards respond to complaints, they don’t actively look for violations.
I understand how boards work, DC.
EE blogged about one such chiro, I found 10 with ease in 10 different states in US. The point I am trying to make is that it is very easy to find a pediatric chiropractor who claims to treat conditions beyond their realm of expertise and false advertising appears to be widespread in the field of pediatric chiropractic, at least in those 10 US states.
It would seem apparent given the growing evidence, that the governing Chiropractic Watchdog Agencies overseeing things down south, is comparable to what we have here up in Canada.
If the current system in place is to monitor and enforce the rules of conduct and advertisement for the Chiropractic Community, and these “rules” are not being adhered to, what’s the solution?
RD: false advertising appears to be widespread in the field of pediatric chiropractic
They are their own worst enemy.
No, they are quacks, like all the other chiros who make claims not supported by evidence.
DN: If the current system in place is to monitor and enforce the rules of conduct and advertisement for the Chiropractic Community, and these “rules” are not being adhered to, what’s the solution?
The current state board system is not in place to monitor advertisement. It is designed to respond to complaints. To my knowledge this is true of all healthcare professions in the USA.
The solution is, as you mentioned, a watchdog organization at the state level. I have brought this up several times over the years to chiropractors. There are several barriers. Until then, the best option is to report violators to their respective state board.
“what’s the solution?”
train chiros properly in medical ethics
EE: “what’s the solution?”
train chiros properly in medical ethics
It’s a little more complicated than that…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_ethics_cases
yes, I know – evidently too complicated for chiros!
I am trying to wrap my head around (NO PUN INTENDED) why anyone would take an infant to a Chiropractor!
This Chiropractor should definitely be reported. That’s quite the list of “cures”!
yes, quite a list – but by no means an exception!
The following lists are ‘impressive’, but even better, the website highlights the deployment of electronic gizmos on children:
https://www.congruentchiro.com/who-we-help/neuro-developmental-challenges/
Marvellous!
Thank you, R. Daneel, for bringing this to light!