Stars for Kids

Posts Tagged ‘chiropractic’

Did you know that one-third of children suffer from recurrent headaches that occur more than once a month? That’s an alarming statistic! But, as a chiropractor, though I’m alarmed, I’m not surprised. Children can get misaligned in many ways and headaches can often be the result. The active child can sustain a fall or sports injury. The sedentary, computer video child can occur headaches as the result of poor sitting postures.  But, another cause of headaches is surprisingly “seasonal.” As children and teens begin school each year, they are more susceptible to headaches and migraines. The change in schedule, new teachers, new friends and schoolwork can increase stress and, consequently, produce headaches.

In the case of the latter, there are quite a few things that you, as a parent, can do to help reduce these “seasonal” headaches.  For starters, enforce an earlier bedtime so that your child will be well-rested before beginning a new school year. In fact, in a new study published in Headache, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital found that sleep and emotional disorders were common in adolescents with migraines. You should minimize (or eliminate) your child’s caffeine consumption (there is plenty of caffeine in certain soda pops). Obviously caffeine can make getting to sleep more difficult.  Also, make certain that your child is eating balanced meals and regular snacks, as well as drinking enough amount of water. Dehydration can often cause a headache.

If your child does develop a headache, chiropractic care is an effective, drug-free alternative for headache pain relief.  Over-the-counter medications, even once a week, can potentially put your child at risk for gastrointestinal and liver problems.

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A Children’s Chiropractic Center in Oklahoma City, “Oklahaven,” announced the dates of their annual “Have-A-Heart” campaign, a worldwide event that is held during Valentine’s week each year. The purpose of the event is to increase the awareness of the healing power of chiropractic for very sick children and also to benefit the center.

“It is through the amazing generosity and support of people all around the world that allows us the opportunity to help children with their journey back to optimal health. I am extremely hopeful that our expanded campaign efforts to businesses in your community this upcoming year will not only increase the awareness of our mission, but allow us to provide more children with the chiropractic care they so desperately need,” says Dr. James O’Dwyer, Director of “Oklahaven” Children’s Chiropractic Center.

Pediatric Chiropractic has proved to be effective in improving the health of children through treatment that is natural and medication-free.  Oklahaven’s specializes in treating neurologically disorganized children, including failure to thrive, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, ADHD, and the autism spectrum.

To learn more about “Oklahaven“, sign up for the 2010 Have-A-Heart campaign, or to make a donation please visit www.chiropractic4kids.com.

Technorati Tags: ADHD, autism, cerebral palsy, chiropractic, developmental delays, failure to thrive, pediatric chiropractic

You may have been told that chiropractors treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Well, that’s just not the case. Chiropractors don’t “treat” ADHD. But, chiropractic care can definitely help children, and adults too, who suffer from it. The reason why chiropractic treatment is effective is that ADHD is a neurological disorder. Chiropractic manipulations are not only effective in reducing nervous system disturbances in general, but an adjustment can be intentionally directed to stimulate under-active areas of the brain and calm over-active areas as well.

Because a chiropractic approach to ADHD is natural and drug-free, a large number of parents choose chiropractic care over the conventional medical practice of giving children Class 2 psychotropic drugs that have intense side effects including personality changes and permanent alterations in the brain. The vast majority of parents who’ve opted for chiropractic treatment for their children have noted marvelous behavioral changes as a result.

Due to the differences between the manner in which boys and girls use the two hemispheres of their brain, ADHD seems to occur in more boys than girls and, additionally, for the same reason is often more  easily observable in the behavior of boys than of girls. Some of the symptoms that are most prominent include difficulty concentrating and sitting still, lack of ability to control impulsive thoughts and behaviors, easily distracted by noises and activities, constant movement of fingers, hands, arms, feet, or legs.

Quite a few children who manifest ADHD symptoms are hypersensitive to certain foods, such as dairy or gluten products, and sugars and artificial sweeteners. Furthermore, they generally have a hypersensitive reaction to additives in foods, herbicides and pesticides used to grow non-organic fruits and vegetables, and laundry products such as detergents, fabric softeners, and other chemicals. Often, the removal of these environmental agencies can go a long way in reducing ADHD symptoms.

Checking for spinal anomalies and certain responses to specific neurological tests are part of the thorough examination offered by your chiropractor.

You may be able to assist your child in getting his or her life back in balance through natural, safe chiropractic care. Before taking drastic pharmaceutical measures, if your child displays the symptoms of ADHD, call your chiropractor to make an appointment for a complete evaluation. Call today for the health of your child!

Technorati Tags: ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, chiropractic, chiropractor, drug-free, natural

As an Orlando chiropractor my practice includes pediatric chiropractor because I believe in the health benefits of chiropractic for children, and I think we’d all agree that giving children the very best foundation possible for their mind and body is vitally important. After all, growing into adulthood is difficult at its best, without having health issues to contend with. I meet a lot of parents who, among their other parental worries, are concerned about the height of their children, that is to say, if their children are short. I’ve been asked if chiropractic adjustments can help a child to grow taller. Well, the answer is both “yes” and “no,” depending on the reason for the child’s short stature. But, whether or not there’s a corrective solution, parents of short children should stop worrying. Here’s why:

A new study shows that short children are no more likely to be depressed, unpopular with their classmates, or have other social and emotional problems than their taller peers. Good news concerned parents! Apparently, the “traumas and dramas” of childhood happen to children of all shapes and sizes.

The study, published in Pediatrics, analyzed data on 712 sixth-graders. Twenty-eight children were classified as having short stature, i.e., they were below the 10th percentile on a growth chart; the remaining children were non-short stature (10th percentile and up). Average height was considered between 25th and 75th percentiles.

The social and emotional well-being of the study group was measured through a number of questionnaires answered by their teachers and the children, themselves. Short children reported slightly higher levels of being victimized or teased by their peers, but there was no difference on other measures of depression, behavioral problems, or popularity.

As soon as a baby is born, pediatricians start monitoring that child’s height and weight by percentile. Although low numbers may create anxiety in parents, that anxiety is likely unwarranted, the researchers write. The short children in the study “reported marginally higher levels of peer victimization … this was not associated with poorer adaptation,” said Joyce Lee, MD, MPH with the department of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues.

So, listen up parents of short children because the researchers concluded that short children may interpret the everyday teasing as more significant because their parents “verbalize concerns about their child’s height and its possible negative impact on social functioning.” The best thing that any parent can do for their children is to encourage them to feel confident and secure about themselves and to measure their “growth” from the inside out.

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, pediatric chiropractic

There is No “Magic Potion” When It Comes to Health and Longevity
by Guest Contributor Jamie G. Phillips, DC

I have noticed recently that the media has bombarded us with innumerable sensationalized articles hailing studies on the heart benefits of red wine (resveratrol), the memory loss benefits of coffee (caffeine), and the stunning benefits of a monumental amount of natural supplements that singularly “guarantee” to reduce or prevent every known cause of mortality. In deed, if the reports and advertisements are any indication of human focus, our quest for longevity has been supplanted by a desire for immortality.

To begin with, let me make it unquestionably clear that I unwaveringly believe that certain~particular things that we put into our bodies can be beneficial to our health. So, I’m definitely not opposed to taking supplements. Not only do I advocate them for my patients, but I listen to my own advice and take them as well. Secondly, if confession is good for the soul, and red wine is good for the heart, then I’d like to take this opportunity to help both by stating for the record that I enjoy drinking a glass of red wine. The suggestion that it might have heart-healthy properties, well, that’s like icing on the cake, so to speak. And, lastly, as far as caffeine’s ability to actually reverse or prevent Alzheimer’s disease goes, I believe that if that were commonly the case, life would be far less frightening and far more enjoyable for many people and their families.

However, before perhaps, acting irrationally, and indiscriminately adding more coffee to your morning habit, an extra glass of red wine to your evening meal, or an additional expenditure of your hard-earned cash on exotic herbs that promise to make you live forever, let’s rationally think about a couple of things.

For instance, let us think about the fact that we, humans, are dynamic, biological beings, free to enthusiastically interact with life. We have not been detained in a cage, and not one of us has been “propagated” to artificially develop the age-related debilitation and disease that lab animals are bred to do, conditions that are then “reversed” by resveratrol, caffeine, or some exotic herb.

Essentially, our being dynamic and biological means that we are not “robots,” and that we are more than the sum total of our parts. We are each organically unique in certain ways, which is to say, we respond differently to internal stimulating factors and external instigating influences. For example, though generally, smoking cigarettes is harmful, there is a small minority of people who appear to be able to smoke and live to be ninety years old without any obvious ill effects.

Scientific studies isolate certain variables in order to achieve particular outcomes. That’s scientific inquiry! But, because the results occur through such isolation, and due to the fact that they are generally done on animals, when it comes to translating such results to humans, it can be said that what may work for some of the people all of the time, won’t work for all of the people all of the time, and sometimes won’t work at all (to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln!).

Each day you make deliberate decisions about what you’ll eat and how much activity and rest you’ll get. Even though you know what “feels” nutritious for your individual system by the way your body responds, not all the choices you make may be beneficial for your health and longevity. In fact, perhaps few of the choices you’ve been making lately are actually healthy ones.

Then, a report comes out asserting that researchers have finally found the “missing link” between we, humans, and immortality, that they’ve uncovered, in fact, THE THING that has the amazing power to reverse all of the overindulgent and unhealthy things you may have been doing to your body on a daily basis, and you, like many others, may want to jump on the bandwagon. Talk about “magical” thinking!

Your human body is an elegantly complex, homeostatic system. In other words, every operation is interdependent and sensitively balanced. When you choose an unhealthy lifestyle, your fastidiously-responsive system gets “off balance.” Sooner or later, the imbalances created by choosing unhealthily, result in diseases and a shortened lifespan.

As a chiropractor who supplements daily, I suggest that you supplement, too, if they help you to feel vigorously healthy. I agree, as well, that if it feels like the thing to do, an extra cup of coffee might actually be personally beneficial for you. And, if it truly feels healthy, have a little more red wine. Just keep in mind, however, that the only authentic way that you can prevent or reverse age-related health problems is by changing an unhealthy lifestyle. You won’t become healthier or live longer by waiting for the discovery of a “magic potion.”

Dr. Jamie Phillips, a Santa Barbara Chiropractor, has been a practicing chiropractor for 24 years. She is also a consultant for Bloczone Marketing, a chiropractic internet marketing company specializing in chiropractic websites that attract new patients.

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