INFANTILE
COLIC
o
What is colic? Colic is a term used to describe
a seemingly healthy baby who cries persistently
and often violently for no apparent reason. This
distressed behavior is believed to be a reaction
to pain.
o
Medical studies have proven that chiropractic treatment
on infants with colic has proven to be a more effective
treatment for the condition than using drug therapy.
Avoiding dairy products, like cows' milk, has been
shown to be effective, but chiropractic may be a
better solution.
Source:
For the Love of Children, Dr. Louis R. Briegel,
II & Stacey A. Stefanski
Infantile
Colic responds well to Chiropractic Care
Infantile
colic is commonly described as persistent and often
violent crying for no apparent reason in seemingly
healthy and thriving infants.
The
August, 1989 issue of the Journal of Manipulative
& Physiological
Therapeutics reports that 94% of a group of 316
children with infantile colic responded very favorably
to Chiropractic care.
The
study involved infants with an average age of 5.7
weeks at the beginning of the study and included
reassessments at 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks.
The
infant's mothers were provided a diary and kept
track of the babies
symptoms, intensity and length of the colicky crying
as well as how comfortable the infant seemed.
94%
of the children in the study showed a satisfactory
response to Chiropractic care within 14 days from
the beginning of care.
"The
results occur shortly after the treatment has been
initiated and show both a reduction of the daily
length of the colic periods and a reduction of the
number of colic periods per day."
Colic
and Chiropractic Treatment
If you have a colicky baby, and other forms of treatment
don't seem to be helping very much, you may want
to investigate taking your baby to a chiropractor.
As your child is being born, the neck and back vertebrae
can go out of alignment due to the stretching and
compressing of the body as it emerges into the world.
If your delivery included a prolonged pushing stage,
forceps or vacuum extraction, or other form of assisted
delivery, the chances of a misalignment are great.
If
the misalignments, called vertebral subluxations,
are big enough, the functioning of major systems
in the body can be compromised. The digestive system
can be affected and ineffective digestion of breast
milk and formula can cause major discomfort in your
baby, leading to colic episodes.
The
adjustments that a chiropractor will do on your
baby is basically
applying gently pressure with the finger to areas
on the neck and back. You may see your baby totally
relax before your eyes as the misalignments are
corrected.
As
with selecting any health care provider, you need
to ask questions first. In this case, "Have
you adjusted other infants?" would be most
important. Ask for referrals that you can contact
if you are unsure.
Chiropractic
care can be very valuable in helping to calm the
colic tendencies.
Reference:
2000
- 2004 ColicHelp.com
