Colic In General - What can a chiropractor do to help colic?

Colic In General

Infantile colic is the term commonly used to describe persistent and most often violent crying for no apparent reason in otherwise healthy and thriving young infants. Accompanied with crying, babies often bend their knees to their stomachs and arch their backs and heads backward.

Colic often occurs in most cases at 1-4 weeks of age and most often the symptoms spontaneously end at 3-4 months old. However, this is not always the case and the colic can obviously become distressing and depressing for both infant and parents.

How common is colic?

If your baby experiences colic, he or she shares the problem with almost 20% of all infants. This means that you are not alone in experiencing sleepless nights and irritable, inconsolable infants but chiropractic treatment can help to improve the symptoms of colic.

What causes colic?

There is no single cause of colic in young infants. Birth and early infancy can sometimes be a very difficult and traumatic time for both mother and baby. During the eighth month of pregnancy, the baby's head has usually become engaged. This can cause a lot of stress on the baby's head and back as it continues to move within the womb. This stress can increase more during the actual birth process.

Obviously, these stresses increase with prolonged labour or if the baby is in breech presentation. Forceps delivery, vantouse suction and caesarean sections can also add to the stresses.

These stresses and injuries can result in the tightening of muscles in the infant's spinal column which can cause the vertebrae to lose theirnormal motion. This can turn irritate or put stress onto the nerve roots that branch out from the spinal cord which supply the various organs and tissues of the body.

In babies and infants, this may contribute to a number of symptoms including;

• Colic
• Sleep and feeding problems
• Breathing difficulties
• Hyperactivity
• Bedwetting
• Frequent infections e.g. ear, throat.

What are the symptoms of colic?

Colic symptoms include one or more of the following:

• Infants aged between 2-52 weeks
• The infant will have at least one violent crying spell per day lasting at least 1½ hours and occurring at least 5 out of 7 days
• Frequent knee bending to their stomach
• Arching of the head and back
• During colicky spells, the infant cannot be comforted by cradling, feeding or nappy changing
• Apart from colic, the infant should be otherwise healthy.

What can a Chiropractor do to help Colic?

Birth may be one of the most physically traumatic events in a young child's life. When born your baby's nervous system and skeletal system are not yet fully developed. A "colic baby" may be a sign that your child should be checked by a chiropractor. Many parents use chiropractic as an alternative to more invasive procedures for a wide range of symptoms from colic to ear infections. There are even chiropractors who specialize in children! Your chiropractor will perform a complete consult and examination. After review of the examination finding, an appropriate and individual care program will be recommended. Treatment consists of gentle and specific manual adjustments, to the individual joints of the body and spine, which restore damaged neurologic function.

Massage is also used and demonstrated to the parents so that you can comfort the infant at home. Normally, the treatment does not trouble the infant to any major degree although he or she may whimper slightly during or after the treatment. In a recent survey, carried out in Denmark, 316 infants suffering from colic were treated with chiropractic manipulative therapy and a 94% improvement was noted to symptoms within a 2-week treatment period. Regular check ups are advised as your infant starts to grow up and develop new skills i.e. walking, climbing and running.