I wanted to write about some of the most common issues I see in kids at the clinic at different ages. The families that come in are looking for more natural solutions to these common health issues because they don’t want to run to medications at the first sign of problems. Lets start from the beginning.
Newborns:
The most common issues we see are colic, acid reflux/spitting up, and constipation. What do these all have in common? The digestive system. Now you should ask yourself how can a newborn have digestive issues already? That is a great question. How was the birth? Was the newborn a vaginal birth or a C-section? This matters because when the baby goes through the birth canal, the mother is giving the first bacterial exposure to the child. This sets the tone for the gut health of the child. When delivered by C-section, delivery bypasses this exposure, so the baby does not get beneficial bacteria from mom. Some people will have a swab of mom’s vaginal canal be placed on baby during the C-section.
Next, look at the diet of mom and baby. Breast feeding is especially important for the health of the baby. The initial feedings of colostrum form the protective layer for the gut of the baby and gives the baby its first immune system. When moms cannot breast feed there needs to be an alternative. Many will run to conventional formula but the problem with this is it causes many of the above issues. I suggest patients use goats milk formula or only plain goats’ milk. It has the fats and protein baby needs without all the high fructose corn syrup and vegetable oils in it. Adding some colostrum and probiotics to the milk/formula as well, to make sure the protective layer gets built.
When looking at a baby structurally, I look to make sure the cranial bones are in alignment, assess for a hiatal hernia, which causes most of the reflux and spitting up issues, and pelvic/tailbone alignment. The birthing process is a lot of trauma placed on the baby. When the head is squeezed, often baby is pulled on by the doctor, so the spine can be injured. It is a great idea to get the baby assessed as soon as you can to help with the birthing trauma.
Walkers/Toddlers: 
When kids start to walk there can be even more trauma. They fall often on their butts causing the tailbone to be knocked out of place. The tailbone is not fused until later in life. The tailbone is 5 independent bones, before fusing together. This will show up as constipation or bed wetting as the nerve cannot sense the fullness of the bladder. As kids transition to real food, we want to make sure to feed them as much organic food as possible. When talking about nutrition I like to keep kids on a probiotic, add in some vitamin d, and some protein amino acids to help with building the structure and brain of the baby. Studies show increasing the amino acid Tryptophan increases IQ.
Adolescent Children:
These kids are more active and have more trauma type injuries from riding bikes to beginning to play sports. This age is one of my favorites as they are beginning to run with a proper gait cycle, jump, and climb on things. This is where future health begins as well. Setting the tone of being physically active early on helps keep you active later in life. Most of your bone health, digestive health, and muscle memory comes during this age. I often have kids get basic nutrition in a multi-vitamin, fish oil, vitamin d, and a probiotic. I call this Foundational Nutrition. Getting them adjusted helps keep them active and playing whatever activity they might be in. Injuries are going to occur, but they can be limited, and length of time shortened to get them back moving again by being adjusted.
These are just some of the things we see in the clinic, over the years we have helped many children and families with health issues that are both spine and structural related as well as the things we discussed in this blog. Often, we are the last resort for people but that only makes it that much more fun to help them. Educating parents on how to grow healthy kids will never get old in my book.
-Dr. Brian Opp D.C.