Colic + Chiropractic
First of all, what is colic?
Colic is defined as a healthy and nourished baby that is crying inconsolably three hours a day, for at least three days of the week, for at least three weeks.
Colic is a condition with no known cause and effects around a third of the population of infants. Parents can try every variety of play, breastfeeding/bottle feeding, sleeping and still find no relief for the baby or themselves.
Babies presenting with colic can be found with a variety of signs including:
Violently crying with no relief
Extreme Fussiness
Muscle tension found throughout the body that can present as tight fists, arching backwards, or drawing their knees into their chest
Reflux
Constipation
Burping/Gas
These are only signs of colic if the child has all of their physiological needs met.
Potential Causes of Colic:
Earlier in the blog we stated that there is no known cause for colic within the medical community. This only leads to more stress for our families who are trying everything they can to help their child. We are empathetic for those who have felt like there is no answer for their child!
Despite this information, we are here to bring HOPE! As neurological pediatric chiropractors, we take satisfaction in diving deep into you or your kiddo’s story to get to the root of the issue.
There are suggested causes of colic all over the internet ranging from gas, constipation, allergies, lactose intolerance, or structural weaknesses. These are all great options to explore, but as neurological chiropractors we want to assess the nervous systems of these infants struggling with colic.
The ideas above are a part of your child’s story, but we have found early and often maternal stress and interventions such as C-section, vacuum extraction, forceps, epidural, and induction to be major components in your child’s struggle with colic.
This stress from utero and birth causes interference in the nervous system of our newborns. This neurological interference is called subluxation. It causes a disconnection between your brain and the body. This disconnection leads to a term called dysautonomia, which opens the door for dysfunction such as constipation, immune struggles, latching/feeding, gassiness and etc. to set in.
A lot of parents are told their children will grow out of colic. They just need to wait it out. We have found that children who struggle with colic are unlikely to phase out of it, but rather grow into the next struggle. We commonly see children struggle with ear infections, immune struggles, constipation and more as they develop into toddlers.
How can chiropractic help my child?
We begin this whole process by sitting down with your family and learning the whole story. We dive deep into their case history to learn about the potential stressors in your child’s life. There is a root cause to each case, and it takes time with each patients to understand where it could be coming from. We commonly follow issues all the way back to birth!
Pediatric, neurologically based chiropractors are experts at finding stress that is locked in the nervous system. Through gentle adjustments we allow the body to communicate back to itself as it is intended. This allows the body to function as it is designed. This results not only in symptom relief, but a nervous system that is optimized for growth and development. We are excited to help you and your family become resilient and adaptable rather than reactive to stress!
