New parents could fill a book with the advice they receive on how to cure a colicky baby. But moms and dads don’t need to rely on drug therapies or old wives’ tales to experience the peace of a happy baby. Here are three reasons parents should consider chiropractic care for colicky infants:
Research shows chiropractic care for colic works.
A Danish study found that spinal manipulation was better at reducing colic symptoms than the commonly-prescribed drug simethicone. After two weeks of treatment, infants who received chiropractic care cried for two hours less each day while the simethicone-taking infants cried just one hour less each day.
Another study of 316 colicky infants found that more than 90 percent of those who had chiropractic treatment showed fewer symptoms. Parents of study participants reported their children experienced relief, on average, after only three treatments.
Chiropractic benefits continue long after the colic disappears.
A published study of more than 200 babies in England found that children who received spinal manipulations for colic were reaping benefits as long as three years after the treatment ended. Parents reported their children were more than twice as likely to fall asleep in less than 20 minutes compared with children who had received no chiropractic care. In addition, the kids who had undergone chiropractic treatment were more than twice as likely to sleep through the night.
Chiropractic care is safe.
Even though an infant’s spine is remarkably flexible and strong, a chiropractor will apply a light touch, often using no more than the tips of the fingers to make the adjustment. Several reviews of pediatric chiropractic care have demonstrated its safety in children. Spinal manipulations produce far fewer side effects than conventional therapies, including drugs used for pain relief.
Klougart N, Nilsson N, Jacobsen J: Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases. JMPT, August 1989, Vol 12;4.
Lucassen P. Infantile colic. Clin Evid (Online). July 2007. pii0309 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19454097)
Miller J, Lane Phillips H. Long-Term Effects of Infant Colic: A Survey Comparison of Chiropractic Treatment and Nontreatment Groups. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics – October 2009 (32:8, 635-638).