Is your child among the 11 percent of American children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
If so, you might want to consider seeing a chiropractor. Although chiropractors don’t “treat” ADD/ADHD, there is growing evidence that chiropractic may be beneficial for children with this neuro-behavioral disorder.
Take, for example, a retrospective study of four children ages 9 to 13 who received chiropractic care for a minimum of five months following their ADHD diagnosis. Authors Joel Alcantara and James Davis of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association reported improvement in ADHD symptoms, including hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness, as well as behavioral, social, or emotional difficulties.
Another study, published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics in 1989, involved seven children. Following the study, authors J. Martin Giesen, Ph.D.; David B Center, Ph.D.; and Robert A. Leach, DC, concluded: “…the majority of the children in this study did, in fact, improve under specific chiropractic care. The results… suggest that chiropractic manipulation has the potential to become an important non-drug intervention for children with hyperactivity.”
Numerous individual case studies also lend credence to the effectiveness of chiropractic for ADD/ADHD.
What’s the connection between chiropractic and ADD or ADHD? Symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsivity indicate a potential disturbance in brain stem function. That dysfunction, in turn, could by caused by misalignments of the spine in the neck area.
Many things can lead to a misaligned spine – from the trauma of the birth process itself to a fall, an injury or simply poor posture. The spine houses the nervous system. The brain sends messages down the spine and out into the tiny nerves feeding every part of the body. As long as there are no traffic jams on this superhighway, the mind and body should function properly. Misalignments cause traffic jams, by interfering with the nervous system’s ability to pass along messages from the brain.
Chiropractors who are skilled in Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) can realign the spine and restore normal nerve flow. They can help patients with ADD and ADHD by taking pressure off the nerves in the neck and allowing the nerve energy to flow freely.
Only a small percentage of dedicated and highly educated chiropractors are certified to practice this technique. At Ideal Spine Health Center in Eagle, Boise and Meridian, Idaho, we specialize in Chiropractic BioPhysics. In fact, Ideal Spine Health Center’s Dr. Deed Harrison is the preeminent authority on spinal health and CBP, and the president of CBP Technique and Seminars – the research arm that helped create the CBP technique.
Ideal Spine Health Center is the largest corrective chiropractic care facility in the United States. We specialize in transforming the lives of our patients by correcting their spine. Take advantage of our no-charge consultation to determine if you are a candidate for care at Ideal Spine Health Center in Eagle, Boise and Meridian, Idaho.