Before we say more, let’s talk about helmets. Wearing a helmet protects your head. It doesn’t protect the neck or the rest of the spine from jarring collisions or whiplash-inducing impacts. Our own Dr. McLaughlin watched the cringe-inducing action at Mount Pakenham a couple of weeks ago. In one tubing incident, a father rolled over one of his kids and they had to call in a medic.
We’ve talked before about text neck, when people lose the natural curve in their neck due to too much time hunched over their smartphone or tablet. This is an increasingly chronic problem among our kids as they huddle over their devices. It can lead to chronic pain, recurring muscle spasms, even arthritic degeneration of discs and vertebrae that is irreversible and can lead to other health issues down the road.
Winter Activities Take A Toll
But let’s not forget the physical stresses of everyday life aside from the lure of digital technology. This is the season of winter sports that can cause all sorts of trauma for the spine, from tubing and skiing, to hockey and even a slip and fall on an icy sidewalk.
Kids are not immune to this, despite the common perception that they “bounce back.” Yes, kids do recover faster from many injuries than adults, but they are not invincible. You could say their resilience is compromised by the fact they often take greater risks with sports and other physical activities.
As we will discuss in our next post, we see the evidence all the time here in our office when we x-ray and examine kids. The same spinal issues that affect their parents, caused or aggravated by lifestyle habits and risky activities, impacts them, too.
Ask Yourself These Questions
So is Chiropractic for kids? That’s not really the question to ask. Instead, let’s ask, does my child have a potential spinal subluxation that may be affecting their body’s proper function, and could it be addressed through Chiropractic care? Answer this question the same way you would for yourself:
- First, let’s start by having an initial consultation and examination with a Chiropractor.
- Second, review your consultation and examination findings with your Chiropractor in order to determine if there is a subluxation in your spine, how it is impacting the proper function of your body, and whether or not it is correctable.
- Third, if it’s correctable, you need to consider the long-term effects of not engaging in care.
If you have any questions or concerns, just ask us. We are here to help. Ultimately, it is your decision and we will gladly provide you with any information you need so that you can make an informed decision in regards to your children’s well-being.
In our next post, we will look at the stories of our own patients and their children.