It’s something everyone wants: to be healthy, happy and living their best life. Parents want their families to be healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. While parents make sure kids eat well, get enough sleep and visit the doctor and dentist for routine check-ups, could regular visits to the chiropractor help to achieve optimal health?

Right from the start

The word chiropractor might conjure up images of adults with lower back pain, headaches or neck pain. Yet chiropractors aren’t just about helping adults alleviate pain. They actually help children, from infancy to the teen years, as part of wellness care.

While the birth process is a normal and essential part of life, it can be stressful for mom and also for a newborn. Sometimes the birthing process puts stress on a baby’s spine and neck. This stress can directly affect a child’s nervous system, a challenge to proper growth and development. It can affect things like breastfeeding, a baby’s digestive system, reflux or even colic, and that’s where a chiropractor can help.

“A chiropractic adjustment focuses on muscles, ligaments, bones and the nervous system — the biggest system in our bodies, ” said Dr. Nick Goin, a chiropractor at Innate Health Chiropractic in Perrysburg who focuses on pediatric care. “If we can help with the proper function of the nervous system right away, kids can thrive from an early age.”

Brittanie Kuhr is a busy mom with two kids under the age of two. Routine visits to a local chiropractor for both kids has been something she’s done from an early age. “My daughter is almost 2 and my son is 3 months. They’ve each been going to see a chiropractor since they were about 2 weeks old. We are all on a monthly adjustment rotation, so they continue to go regularly for preventative care.”

Wondering how a chiropractic adjustment would be done for a newborn? Dr. Nick says his practice specializes in gentle techniques. “It’s such a light pressure on an infant — it’s like what you would do to check the ripeness of a tomato or avocado — but it makes a difference for that baby.”

Specialized care for each patient

Dr. Nick realized kids were a population not being served well: “I saw an opportunity to help kids and influence their health. If we can raise healthy kids, it means we’ll have healthy adults.”

Dr. Nick treats each patient with a specialized plan, tailored for his/her specific needs and health goals. He does this with the help of a non-invasive neurological scan, which is the first step for any new patient. The surface level rolling scan starts at the bottom of the hips and goes to the top of the spine using a highly sensitive temperature reading to pick up different levels of imbalance or inflammation in the spine. “The entire scan takes about 20 seconds, but it gives us the information we need to create a tailored treatment plan and to offer the best recommendations to reach a patient’s health goals,” Dr. Nick explained.

Because chiropractic care can help children heal, function and feel better, it’s used to help children with cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, allergies, sensory processing and more. “We can help create balance and better function of the nervous system, which helps set the tone for success overall,” said Dr. Nick.

Kuhr echoes this thought for overall wellness: “We have been very fortunate to have two healthy children. We credit our regular chiropractic care…for preventing a number of common illnesses and boosting our immune systems,” Kuhr added. “At two years old, our daughter has been sick only once. Our son, who originally was spitting up after almost every feeding, has improved significantly…rarely spitting up now. He’s also sleeping much better overnight. We have supplemented chiropractic care with a well-balanced diet for our children and believe that the combination is the most effective medicine for their fragile bodies.”

Not just child’s play

Chiropractic care isn’t just beneficial for kids. Adults can see many positive changes in their health, too, with regular adjustments.

“My wife and I have both experienced many benefits, including mental clarity, better sleep, reduced anxiety, and overall improved functioning as a result of chiropractic care. We have learned a lot about the benefits of alignment and a properly functioning nervous system, which is why we made chiropractic care a priority for our children,” Kuhr said.