Great News Article on Chiropractic and ADHD

Here is a video of a news article on how chiropractic can help children with ADHD. Dr. Rosen is a wonderful doctor, he was one of my instructors when I was studying with the ICPA.

The point that is being made is that if there is spinal misalignment that is irritating the nervous system, the results of that can look like what is commonly called ADHD. The child is irritable, agitated, cannot sit still, has a hard time concentrating, all of the classic symptoms of ADHD. Think about how annoying it can be to have something caught between your teeth. It is all that you can think of and your tongue just continues to go to that spot almost without thinking about it. Now just imagine how you would behave if there were always something that was irritating the nerves in your back. That signal of irritation continually being transmitted to your brain over and over again.

Often parents think that the nervous system cannot be the source of their child's distracted or hyperactive behavior because they never complain about pain in their back or any where else for that matter. One of the biggest misunderstandings about chiropractic care is that it is just for the relief of pain. The focus of chiropractic is not the relief of pain. That is often a pleasant side-effect, but not the main result. What we are trying to do is to remove spinal misalignments so that the nervous system can function the way that it was designed. What are some of the functions of the nervous system? Sensory (everything that we think of with the five senses, including pain), motor (provides the stimulus to contract muscles, both muscles like the biceps and also the muscles in the stomach), and autonomic (which means that it controls all of those bodily functions that we don't think about but are necessary for us to live). The pain sensing fibers of the nerve only make-up about 10% of the nervous system. In other words approximately 90% of the time that a nerve is being irritated by a spinal misalignment there is no pain involved.

A child may have no pain at all, but yet be experiencing irritation on their nervous system that is effecting other parts of their body.

Chiropractic Care and ADHD

I just came across a great case study demonstrating the connection between the misaligned structure of the spine and the function of the nervous system. To summarize the study, a 5 year old who had been diagnosed with ADHD and unsuccessfully treated with Ritalin, Adderall and Haldol presented to a chiropractor. Upon x-ray examination it was revealed that the curve of the 5 year old's neck was reversed from what it should have been. After 27 visits with the chiropractor, the young boy's pediatrician stated that he no longer displayed behaviors associated with ADHD. Follow up x-rays, after 35 visits over 8 weeks, show that the normal curve was restored to the neck.

This is a great example of the kind of results that chiropractors see when we care for children. Imagine the difference that chiropractic care has made in the life of that little boy and his family.

Here is the article for you to read if you like.

Breech Pregnancy Help

Did you know that chiropractic care can be used on expectant mothers with their baby in the breech position? Certified pediatric chiropractors are trained in the Webster Technique, which is a technique that addresses specifically the alignment of the pelvis and therefor also the ligaments that are attached to the pelvis. Some of these ligaments are also attached to the uterus to help support it within the pelvic cavity. When those ligaments become torqued they alter the shape of the uterus. With the uterus twisted the baby inside finds the most comfortable position possible with the space available. Often that will be a position that is commonly called a breech position. Gentle chiropractic adjustments can correct the misalignment in the pelvis and relieve the torque on the ligaments allowing the baby to find a new position of comfort.
The official definition of the Webster Technique from the ICPA is that the Webster Technique is a specific chiropractic technique designed to help correct sacral misalignment, balance pelvic muscles and ligaments which in turn removes torsion to the woman's uterus, its resulting constraint to the baby, and allows the baby to get into the best possible position for birth.

What is FICPA?

So, what does the FICPA stand for after my name? Good question. FICPA is the acronym for Fellowship in the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. The ICPA is a non-profit organization developed for the training of chiropractors and the promotion of chiropractic care for children and expectant mothers. They formed to provide doctors of chiropractic with the highest quality training to best equip them to care for children. To earn a fellowship standing with the ICPA, I attended an extra year of training (120 hours) and completed an evaluation of competency. This is often referred to as being a certified pediatric chiropractor. I then completed an additional 240 hours of training over 2 years with the ICPA. Check out the website for the ICPA at www.icpa4kids.org

Welcome to my blog!

Hello~

Welcome to my new blog. The focus of this blog is to provide parents with the information that they need to raise strong healthy children. More information will be coming very soon. Add yourself to my followers list for updates.

Healthy living,
Dr. Ryan