Why Should I Take My Child to the Chiropractor?

Have you ever wondered why you should take your child to a chiropractor? Between birth and five years of age, your child will encounter many injuries and accidents, most of which occur at home or at day care. A recent study showed that over 1 million children under the age of 5 visit the hospital emergency room every year! For children aged 5 to 18, most injuries occur at school, often as the result of unorganized sports with improper supervision. A reported 3.5 millionchildren under the age of 14 seek medical treatment each year for their sports injuries. Most injuries in children result from falls, small and large, unilateral sports and activities and poor postural habits. These normal life occurrences lead to minor (or major) injuries and strains, causing interference on the normal development of the spine and nervous system. Keeping our children healthy with proper spinal alignment using chiropractic care is extremely important in preventing life-long injuries and joint degeneration.

Recently, the Consumer Product Safety Commissioner identified that approximately 250,000 children under the age of 15 are injured using playground equipment and received treatment for their injuries. Of these injuries, 50% involved trauma to the head and neck.

Below are several statistics regarding the occurrence of injuries due to common playground equipment, childhood activities and sports.  (Numbers represent the prevalence of injuries per year)

-         - Swings: 87,000
- Monkey bars: 68,000- Slides: 49,000- Seesaws: 11,000- Other: 22,000- Roller skating: 29,337
- Inline skating: 16,479- Football: 368,229- Basketball: 308,627- Soccer: 140,410- Baseball: 120,543- Wrestling: 33,535- Horseback riding: 24,803- Skateboarding: 110,462- Bicycling: 297,852 (50,000 report head and neck trauma from not wearing a helmet)

If accidents are truly the leading cause of death and severe injury in children, we can assume that far too many children have suffered some level of spinal injury and trauma during their childhood. 

To keep your children healthy and well, make sure that they are receiving chiropractic care and have at least gotten  spinal check up to rule out spinal injury and allow their bodies to function  at 100% so they may live life to the fullest!