Ep 16: Small Spines, Big Responsibility

What role does chiropractic care play in a child’s development?

In this episode of Before the Scalpel, the doctors discuss pediatric chiropractic care and why spinal health begins at birth. Through personal experiences and years of clinical practice, they explain how early spinal stress can affect a child’s development and why caring for young patients carries such an important responsibility.

You’ll also hear:
 • How the birth process can impact a baby’s spine and nervous system
 • Why early spinal evaluations may be beneficial for infants
 • Common pediatric concerns chiropractors encounter in practice
 • The connection between spinal health and healthy development
 • How gentle chiropractic techniques are adapted for children
 • Why helping kids thrive is one of the most rewarding aspects of chiropractic care

From newborns to growing children, this conversation explores the importance of supporting healthy structure and function during the earliest stages of life.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Welcome back. So in our previous episode, we talked about precision in chiropractic and some of the changes and some of the technology we have here in our clinic. Today we're going to elaborate on treating children, pediatric care. And as I was mentioning earlier, with one of my aha moments getting me myself into chiropractic, was my own daughter, Julia, when she was an infant having uh issues with colic.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Right.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

And so seeing that my child get treated was revolutionary for me. Sure. And so, of course, we all know adults have spinal problems and have aches and pains, but uh but children need it just as much, if not more. So that's something that people don't know about. So that's what we were here to discuss today.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Right.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

So a lot of times patients say, Well, why would you adjust a child? So I explained to them it explained it to them this way. So in utero, the baby's in a bag of water.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Then the water leaks out, and that bag becomes a muscle. So the muscle contracts, and the purpose of the contraction is to push the baby towards the opening. And the opening's closed for the most part. They they use the term dilation, she's not dilated. So what they're talking about is the opening has to open inside, has to soften. And how it does that is that there's mechanical force, the contraction pushes the baby's head against the inside of the bag, is where that muscle is, and that head pushing down on that muscle helps soften it from the inside. As that uh hole dilates and the baby's head uh is coming through the birth canal, typically the obstetrician will deliver the head and then turn the head to purposefully align the shoulders with the opening and then complete the birth process. So the baby has hours of compression, distraction with rotation, all within those few first hours of birth. So the trauma that occurs with the skull, the cervical spine, the thoracic spine during the birth process, they call birth traumas, and it's very, very common.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

So uh it used to be uh when obstetricians, you had M D obstetricians and you had DO obstetricians. So a DO for an easy explanation is like a chiropractor and an MD blended together. Now that's back way back in the day. And so those DOs used to actually adjust the babies immediately after birth. That was part of their training, is being an obstetrician DO. Well now DOs are very similar to MDs, they they don't adjust the spine. Chiropractors adjust the spine. So our number one responsibility is to get every baby checked, and I haven't ever found a baby that doesn't need an adjustment.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Amen. And you might you know you talk about the birthing process, um, the baby getting compressed, distorted, rotated, twisted. Aren't those the same things we treat adults for? Yes. So it's a very common, commonly found condition, but not commonly understood with children because it's never been explained in quite that manner.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Right.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

You take a larger head, you come through a smaller hole, you add a doctor pulling. I'd also like to elaborate on uh C-section births.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

Right.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

So in school, uh when the C-section operation happens, there's a small incision created just above the pubic bone when the mom is delivering, and the incision is nothing more than a couple of inches. And so when they open up the incision, the body's natural tendency when it contracts is to try to close that hole. So they have a very short period of time when they open up to grab onto the baby and pull through. So not only is there a traction and twist to pull the baby out, there's an excessive amount of force on the neck.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Even more so than a than a natural delivery process that you were just describing.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Very common.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

So in school, they showed us videos of this and they they equated the trauma to a C-section birth to a child's neck to being five times that greater than a car accident, a whiplash car accident for an adult. So what does that do to the neck? What does it do to the upper back? What does it do to the low back? Because the baby's spine is very compact. So you impact the neck, you're impacting the entire spine.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

So those are those are situations why you're mentioning why they used to check babies, I guess with orthopedics, but why chiropractors want to check babies right from the start.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Right. So and uh when all three of my kids were born at Altman Hospital, I was able to adjust the baby on the delivery table at birth.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

And when the nurses found out that I was a chiropractor, um, they all gravitated to the room because they couldn't wait to see what this looked like because they had heard about it, but they're not taught it. See, that's the difference. In chiropractic college, we are taught pharmacology, we are taught differential diagnosis, and so we learn medical terminology, we learn medical practices, we have a better understanding of what our medical brothers and sisters do. Unfortunately, they don't get any chiropractic training in any of their classes at any university or any specialty. So if they choose to get exposure to it on their own, and typically what it is, what we've seen, is those nurses are patients of ours, absolutely, and those doctors are patients of ours. And so when they experience it firsthand, then they understand what we are doing. You know, we're not competition to medicine in any way.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Right. Well, and you bring up a good point. I mean, it's all about education.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Uh, and if they weren't provided that education, why would they ever consider it? Right. You know, and of course, as part of our education, we like you say, we know about medicines, we know about disease processes, the physiology, and how uh you know, pathology can be there. That's why we exam, that's why we do X-ray. We it's called differential diagnosing. So as much as we understand that and refer, uh, it's just our part to try to educate them so they can understand that as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

And they give us a pediatric class or course in our curriculum to be a chiropractor.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Now, not all chiropractors choose to treat children because it is a specialty.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

We have chosen to do that, uh, and I they're one probably the most rewarding patients that I see because they respond so quickly.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

So very quickly.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Uh, and I have seen a multitude of different diagnoses like we talked about earlier. So you have failure to thrive where the baby just simply is not growing. Uh asthma, um birth traumas, tortocolis, uh misshapen cranial bones, all of that is spinal bones and skull bones that we actually adjust.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

And it's amazing the results that we get.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

One of the things that we see a lot of too is uh when the mothers are breastfeeding, many times the baby will have uh what they call latching challenges.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

So part of that can be due to the positioning or the uh abnormal positioning of the baby's neck.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Because when the mother has to position the child sideline, if the baby's neck is not positioned correctly, it's not going to be able to latch correctly.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

And many times you'll have them describe, well, they'll feed just fine on one side, and then when we try to do the other side, it won't work. And so many times we've been able to help that. And it's something that's very simple but overlooked.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

What's interesting, and being in practice 30 years, um there's lactation consultants in town. They figured out who we are.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

So I have moms that are not chiropractic patients bringing an infant to a chiropractor for the purpose of having the pay the baby latch properly. Yeah. And it was instructed by the lactation consultant, which I thought was just amazing.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

Well, because when you're not getting sleep and you're tired and you're about ready to go insane, you'll try anything, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

That's right. So, yeah. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

Now that brings up excellent points. So when we talk about adjusting babies, we alluded earlier to our impulse IQ.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Um, and so when we talk about the techniques we use for babies, it's going to be a little bit different uh than what we would normally adjust an adult.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Right.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Obviously, with bigger people, we use we have to use, you know, stronger methods, I suppose, but with child children, it's very, very gentle, very specific. Oftentimes just pressure points, right? Pushing one way, pushing another, and oftentimes when you adjust a baby, a baby that may otherwise be restless relaxes and melts right in your hands because you've restored function in their neck or their back, wherever the problem may be.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Right. So um at the clinic, babies that come with colic, we see this so often that we'll do our work on the lumbar spine, pelvis, and then some soft tissue on on the on the belly and the abdomen.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

They typically have a bowel movement before they leave the clinic. To the point where we had to put signs over the trash can, mommies, please take your dirty diapers home with you, because the diapers left in our trash cans were uh offensive to everybody else, and so the staff was constantly changing the bags because they were full of dirty diapers. Absolutely of colic babies that weren't pooping.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

So talk about a happy mommy.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

It's amazing how you could celebrate over a poop.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Right. So I know that's funny, yeah. Well, and you know, we can go on and on about kids, and I know they're typically the ones that respond the fastest. And now you're setting up a lifetime of care that changes their lives.

SPEAKER_02 10:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:16

So the earlier you start, the better life they'll have as adults.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:19

And so again, it's part of the education process.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

And not just spinal adjustments on the kids, cranial, uh, shoulders, hips, knees, as they're crawling, learning to walk, fall, hit the coffee table, fall off the bed. These are traumas, no different than an adult falling. But typically, they pa patients don't typically think of the baby having um misalignments, if you will, from a fall, because the baby doesn't say, hey, my back hurts, or hey, my shoulder hurts.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Right. They become, they just cry, or they're moody, or they're, you know, uncomfortable. Sure. Won't eat, and they're like, what's wrong with this child?

SPEAKER_02 10:54

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

So, anyways, excellent points. Well, and you know, there's nothing more gratifying than treating children.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

So there are chiropractors that are just pediatric chiropractors.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

They don't see adults.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Now in our community, uh, we have a general practice. We see them uh from uh birth to burial is something that we have coined the phrase. My president of my school used it.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

But the reality is that if they're able to get them in here, we'll do everything we can to get that body back in alignment and have it heal itself.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

Well, and I have to mention another point while we're talking about the babies, pregnant moms.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

I mean, that's the whole process. I mean, we have them come in all the time because how many moms have back pain, have sciatic pain, which is pinch nerve in the back that goes down the back of the leg? Because as they develop with their pregnancy, the stress on the front puts stress on the pelvis and the lower back, the hips, the knees, and so most of the time, in most cases, they don't want to take any pain relievers because it's not good for the baby.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

They can't.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Right? So, what's the most natural method? Chiropractic care. And so we have a lot of pregnant mamas that come in and not only does it relieve their pain or eliminate their pain, but it prepares them for a better uh delivery.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Right. So uh when the when the baby's uh conceived, the process begins. And there's a hormone released by the attachment of the placenta to the inside of the uterus.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

And the hormone is called relaxin. And the purpose of the relaxant hormone is to take a ligament and loosen the ligament fiber so that the ligament can stretch. The purpose of that is so that the pelvis opens up to allow the birth canal to uh have that uh process happen.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

It couldn't do that if the ligaments were taunt.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

The problem is that that hormone that's released affects every ligament in the body, not just the ligaments of the pelvis. So a lot of our pregnant women will say, My shoulder hurts and my knee hurts, and my pelvis and my back and my neck. Correct. They're aching because of misalignments because the ligaments are loose.

SPEAKER_03 13:09

Correct. Yeah. Well, and you always get the question is how often, you know, should a pregnant mom see see their chiropractor? Sure. Great question. And so typically we'll see them at the same frequency that they're seeing their obstetrician.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

So if it's once a month early in the stages, we see them once a month.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:25

Naturally, as they get closer to delivery, we adjust them more frequently and right up to the end, sometimes daily until they deliver. Right. Yeah. So and how often have you had an adjustment spur labor pains, and then the next thing you know, the baby's in the office the next day?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

I've even had had to the point where there's OBs in town will say, hey, go get your adjustment from your chiropractor, it'll probably get this birth going because it's time.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

And the the body needs a little uh stimulus to get this move this you know show on the road.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

Well, before we end this session today, maybe you could tell the story about your dad and and the and the pregnant mom. So this is great.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Uh there's a pediatric patient, she was about 14 or 15, heavier set, and she wore big uh clothing to hide the pregnancy from her mom and dad. So she has back labor, tells her dad that she has back pain. So her dad knew of my dad, brought her to the clinic to get a chiropractic adjustment for back pain, not knowing his daughter's in labor. So dad sees the new patient sticker, goes in the room, when he opens the door, she's on the exam table, the baby is crowning on the table, dad walks in to a beginning of a birth process, immediately calls the paramedics, which by the time the paramedics got to his lake cable office, dad had delivered the baby. So they come in, the baby's on the mom, and in the state of Ohio, only a paramedic or an MD or DO can cut the cord. So they had everything ready to cut the cord. Uh dad said that he had no idea how incredible that process is or how messy that process is. So the exam room was completely renovated afterwards.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

But he said it was one of the most spectacular moments in his career. They put a front headline page photograph, uh, no bones about it, chiropractor delivers baby on the local newspapers.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

And I think the cleaning crew quit that next week.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

I believe the cleaning crew quit that next week.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

So what a wonderful experience. That's certainly a day that takes a change.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Oh, and when dad goes into the waiting room where her dad is and says, Congratulations, it's a boy.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Oh my.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

And he says, You got the wrong patient. My daughter came in with back pain. So that's when dad understood the dad had no idea that the girl was pregnant, and so there was a conversation to be had after that.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Just one of the many great stories of the history of Powell.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Oh, incredible.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

Yeah, thanks for sharing that. I thought that was pretty great. So, for our next episode, we'll be moving into uh strength protects healing, talking about our MedX equipment and the advancement of technology in uh rehabilitation for the spine.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Cool. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

See you next time.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Powell chiropractic clinic introduces discovery, the alternative to back surgery. The advanced discovery protocols created in 2006 by the doctors at Powell Chiropractic Clinic are healthy and effective ways to avoid surgery and relieve pain. Innovators in chiropractic care, Dr. Jim Powell and Dr. Walter Null invite you to live pain free, drug free. Call today for a free no cost consultation and preliminary examination. Powell Chiropractic Clinic, located on Munson Street Northwest in Belvin Village, and at Powellchiropractic.com.