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While a doctor of chiropractic doesn't treat or cure illnesses, many common childhood disorders may be the result of nervous-system interference or malfunction caused by spine-related problems, such as a weak immune system and digestive, hormonal, respiratory or learning disorders. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but appropriate chiropractic care can help locate and correct these problems and restore normal spinal and nervous-system function.

Children bump and jar their spine constantly in the first five years of life, and after that, even their normal everyday activities can cause vertebrae that protect the spine to lose normal motion or position (known as vertebral subluxations). Each of these spinal traumas causes lasting effects:

• Delicate nerve tissue can be damaged, resulting in interference with the brain's ability to send nerve impulses to organs, tissues and muscles.
• Discs, blood vessels and other soft tissues can swell and become inflamed.
• The body may respond with bone spurs and other abnormal bone growth.
• Various systems (immune, digestive, respiratory, etc.) throughout the body may malfunction.

In each of these examples, pain or other obvious symptoms may not be present at the time, yet optimum health and well-being have been compromised.

Your Child's Developing Spine

There are three windows of time in which your child's spine will go through major stages of development. The first is birth through age 5. This is definitely the most critical time, since it is during this period that the child also has the most minor traumas and repetitive stress injuries to their spine.

The second window of development is from 5-10 years of age. During this time, your child will begin school and spend recess climbing on monkey bars, sliding down slides, playing organized sports, and generally leaving themselves open to repeated falls and tumbles, resulting in spinal injuries.

Finally, from age 10-15, your child's spine will go through its last stage of development. During this final stage, your child's spinal growth will be greatly affected by most, if not all, of the following:

• Improper backpack loading and carrying
• Poor posture
• An inactive or sedentary lifestyle
• Repetitive sports movements
• Typical sports injuries

It may be possible that you missed the first window of opportunity for care, but it's not too late. Even your 7-, 10- or 15-year-old son or daughter can benefit from chiropractic care.