Some of life’s simplest ideas get muddled, mixed up and mistaken. A healthy lifestyle is too often one of those. As a chiropractor I see this happen all the time.
It’s not unusual for someone to seek care because they have headaches, neck pains or backaches; receive a couple of adjustments and then quickly discontinue thinking that if they feel good, then all is well. Unfortunately they pass on that same pattern to their children and then to make matters worse say things to them like, “I’m going to get my back cracked.” What could be more frightening to a child then the idea of intentionally breaking their bones? Such misunderstandings unnecessarily become dreadful roadblocks that get in the way of the child’s well-being.
The solution is really simple. First be a good example by taking care of your own body with regular chiropractic checkups – not just when you hurt. Second, give reliable information to your kids. Instead of saying things like, “get cracked” tell them, “it’s time to get my spine checked.”
Also, it might be better to go easy on the word, “doctor” and instead speak of seeing your chiropractor like you might a trusted friend. Here’s why: children have learned by experience that seeing a doctor may be unpleasant. They go there sick or hurting; get painful shots, drugs or even worse. Instead of, “You’re going to Dr. Brown today” a child’s ears might rather hear something like, “Today Janie gets to see her chiropractor.” When the child asks why, she deserves a truthful answer and it’s not difficult. Here’s a simple example:
“We get our spines checked to be healthy. The bumps we see on our back are bony rings of protection around the spinal cord. That’s the main cable our body uses to send messages from the brain to control all of its parts. In the body the main cable and its branches are called the nerve system.
If a protective bone gets misaligned it might fail to protect the nerve system. We call that a subluxation. Instead of protecting, a subluxation insults the nerve system and distorts the messages coming from the brain and makes it impossible for the body to function right.
When a chiropractor adjusts a subluxation the interference is gone and the body’s own intelligence is back in control of its function.”
Children deserve to grow up subluxation-free and we as parents have the privilege of teaching them about it. For lots more information about chiropractic for children click: http://icpa4kids.org/