Chiropractic: Can it help with Neurodevelopmental Disorders?

I always get excited when we have new kids come into the office. In today's world, more and more of these kids are coming in with significant challenges - everything from being on the spectrum, to having ADD/ADHD, PANDAS, or sensory processing disorder.

I want to be very clear that chiropractic is NOT a cure for autism, ADD/ADHD, or any of the neurodevelopmental challenges that children face nowadays.

With that being said, we have had children come in with a wide variety of symptoms, diagnoses, and presentations that have responded tremendously well to the care in the office; to the point where the improvement seems nothing short of miraculous.

When a child comes into the office, we are looking for a very specific structural disruption called a vertebral subluxation. A subluxation is a misaligned vertebra that disrupts the healthy communication pathways between the child's brain and their body. 

When a child has one or multiple vertebral subluxations, their neurological function and proper structural development become compromised. The brain is no longer able to optimally receive and communicate the proper messages to various parts of the body. If the brain cannot communicate optimally with the body, the child will not be able to perform at their highest potential.

Additionally, when a child has a vertebral subluxation, irritation throughout their nervous system is created. This typically results in higher levels of stress hormone being produced in the child, as well as an inability of the child's brain to dampen the stress response. The neurological mechanism behind this is complex, but it has to do with the fact that vertebral subluxations cause certain pathways between the spine/musculature and brain to become irritated, while simultaneously reducing the ability of the frontal cortex of the brain to inhibit primal, stress centers.

For children, we can see the effects of this in many ways. Often these children will bump into things frequently, they might have difficulty with hand-eye coordination or balance. They are often constantly on-edge, have difficulty sleeping, suffer from anxiety, and also have difficulty focusing in school and in social situations.It is well established that the nervous system is the master control system of the body, and in order for a child to function optimally, it is essential that the nervous system is able to function properly (vertebral subluxations impair the function of the nervous system).

Whatever neurodevelopmental disorder the child comes into the office with, by correcting any vertebral subluxations that are present, that child's nervous system will be better able to adapt and function at its highest potential.We use specific testing in our office to determine if a child has a vertebral subluxation.

To learn more, please call the office at 978-462-2971 to schedule a free consultation.

Sincerely,Dr. Sean Carey