Chiropractic Exam for Baby

Getting a newborn baby started right in life includes a chiropractic examination as soon as possible. The exam takes only a few minutes,  is as easy  to complete as ABC and most chiropractic doctors are happy  to make this critical evaluation of  the new baby’s skeletal structure – particularly the shoulder and hip joints and, of  course, the baby’s spine.

WHY AN EXAM FOR BABY? 
Why, you may ask, does a newborn baby need a chiropractic examination?

The baby should be seen by a chiropractic doctor right away following birth for two main reasons:

#1 — Undetected spinal misalignment caused by birth. 
The birthing process itself may cause some spinal bones to become misaligned. Even in the easiest delivery, birth proceedings may bring on a misalignment somewhere in the chain of spinal bones – a vertebral subluxation which does not correct itself.

When a chiropractic examination does reveal vertebral misalignments in the baby’s spine, usually the chiropractor can easily adjust the misaligned vertebras back into place.

#2 — Inherited joint or spinal weaknesses. 
Just as babies inherit visible facial and bodily characteristics, sizes and shapes, they also inherit strengths and weaknesses inside the body – in its organs and systems – such as the heart, lungs, stomach and blood vessels.

The body’s bony structure, including the spine, is no exception. As many as five in a hundred babies come into the world with inherited spinal defects, deformities and anomalies ranging from very minor to very serious. Some such problems may seem to bear little significance on the baby’s current health, but may cause serious health problems as the baby grows into childhood, adolescence and beyond.

The sooner inherited structural problems are detected by chiropractic examination, the sooner treatment can begin minimizing or nullifying their negative consequences.

CRUCIAL INITIAL EXAM 
For those pressing reasons then, it is crucial that parents take the time and effort to have their newborn baby examined by a chiropractor as soon as possible following birth.

FOLLOW-UP EXAMS 
Later, when the baby starts standing and walking, a chiropractic doctor should check the baby’s pelvic and hip joints to be sure they are functioning properly and not causing a short leg problem.

From then on, ideally, a chiropractor should check the baby once a month — at the  least three or four times a year — and always immediately after any hard tumbles or falls.