Whether or not children should see chiropractors is the subject of much debate. People generally believe that chiropractors are only for adults and are skeptical of the benefits of pediatric chiropractic care. There are many false claims made about pediatric chiropractic care that contribute to this skepticism. Here’s what you need to know both about the benefits pediatric chiropractic care can offer and about what it cannot do.

Why Does Pediatric Chiropractic Care Exist?

Chiropractic care is not restricted to adults and has long included those under the age of eighteen. This is because adults are not the only people who suffer from misalignment and other musculoskeletal issues; children under 18 do, as well. These issues do not start at 18; as long as you have a musculoskeletal system, it can go out of alignment or have issues, which is why pediatric care exists. 

A major argument in favor of pediatric chiropractic care is the fact that since children are still growing and developing, that makes seeing a chiropractor to ensure everything is in alignment is especially important, to ensure that children’s development isn’t impeded by preventable issues. Here’s what you should know about what pediatric chiropractic care can do for children. 

What Pediatric Chiropractic Care Can Do

While true that there are claims that some chiropractors make for chiropractic care doing things that have no scientific evidence, this does not invalidate the very real benefits chiropractic care can indeed provide for children. What chiropractors can help with with children is musculoskeletal conditions, as you may expect, with their area of expertise being the musculoskeletal system. 

As mentioned above, children are in a constant state of development. In order to be able to grow correctly, their bodies require proper alignment. Chiropractors can help with this. Chiropractors are experts at finding misalignments in the spine and righting them, ergo assisting with proper development. 

If you’ve ever had back pain or neck pain or the like, you’ll know how that affects everything you do. If your back hurts, that likely means that sitting hurts, standing hurts, walking hurts, lying down hurts, etc. This hurts and annoys adults; and even more so affects children. Chiropractic care can relieve stress and anxiety and sleep issues through alleviating this pain by getting to the root of the pain itself. 

Since your central nervous system is in your spine, this means that pressure on your spine can cause pressure on how your nerves communicate with each other. Relieving that pressure and fixing alignment issues can help not just adult’s but also children’s nerves communicate with each other better, in addition to helping it grow properly. Since pain can be a major cause of bad moods and behavioral issues in children, treating the source of the pain can help with those things, if it is caused by musculoskeletal issues. 

What Pediatric Chiropractic Care Does Not Do

There are many reasons why people are wary of pediatric chiropractic care, and many of them stem from false claims some chiropractors make. While many chiropractors may promote themselves as a primary care provider and claim that they can help with such issues as colic and more, science does not support this. This belief is often spread by biased magazines with no clinical studies to support and prove their claims. 

It’s important to be wary of chiropractors who make such claims and to consult with a physician about health issues such as colic and the like. There is a substantial lack of evidence for the theory that subluxated vertebrae cause illnesses in children, and you don’t want to expose your child to unnecessary radiation of an x-ray trying to prove this. 

However, there are people who make false claims in every industry, no matter what it is. These do not invalidate the very real benefits that pediatric chiropractic care can offer. If you have any questions or concerns about pediatric chiropractic care, it’s important to consult with your doctor and a legitimate chiropractor in order to make an informed decision. 

The Takeaways About Pediatric Chiropractic Care

The fact is that chiropractic care offers similar benefits to children as it does adults, as well as some additional ones in helping with development. So long as a chiropractor is trained in how to work with a developing child, pediatric chiropractic care could be a good choice for you, especially if your child is at risk for misalignment, through playing sports or some other activity. 

Pediatric chiropractic care can help with musculoskeletal issues, and since those can snowball into issues that affect your overall health, to an extent, it can also help improve your overall well-being through treating a problem that could be impacting it. 

Pediatric chiropractic care can help with children’s overall mood, health, and happiness through treating pain and alignment issues that could be impacting them. It can also help with proper development through their childhood. 

Are You Considering Pediatric Chiropractic Care?

Here at Health And Wellness Clinic, we offer professional, informed pediatric chiropractic care. We are happy to help your children grow up strong and healthy. To schedule an appointment or for any questions, please feel free to contact us today!

Whole-body cryotherapy isn’t just a celebrity trend. People have been using ice to reduce inflammation, increase energy levels, and treat pain for centuries. Even before whole-body cryotherapy gained popularity, athletes would submerge themselves in ice baths after exercise, doctors would recommend ice packs for swelling, and people would jump into ice-cold water to spike their alertness and improve their moods. People use extreme cold to freeze off warts and break down other diseased tissues. Cold therapy has many benefits, which lend themselves to the rise of whole-body cryotherapy.

What Does Whole-Body Cryotherapy Consist Of?

Whole-body cryotherapy (aka WBC) is conducted in a hyperbolic chamber where the temperature drops down to subzero temperatures. People wear anything from nothing aside from slippers, to underwear, to athletic wear. They need proper footwear and other protective coverings like gloves, masks, and head-gear. After stepping into the chamber, you can expect 2-3 minutes of subzero temperatures, and rest easy knowing that a professional is monitoring you the entire time. After treatment, they’ll help you warm up!

But why would you do this to yourself? There are multiple reasons! Here are six reasons why you should give whole-body cryotherapy a shot.

Boosted Recovery Rates After Exercise

There’s a reason why you always hear about athletes using ice baths following training. The cold increases muscular recovery rates. WBC is similar to ice baths in that your whole body is exposed to extreme cold, which ergo helps your muscles recover faster after physical activity. Cold is also proven to numb pain, which is another reason why it’s a go-to after exercise. WBC can reduce pain and provide relief for any strained, inflamed, or injured muscles.

It should be noted that one session alone likely won’t ease any muscular pains, which is why going to regular whole-body cryotherapy sessions for a period of several weeks or months is recommended for the best results if this is your goal. 

Reduces Inflammation

People commonly apply ice packs to sore muscles and inflamed areas because the cold helps the swelling go down. It also aids in soft-tissue related injuries and can revitalize damaged tissue. Reducing inflammation is a key benefit of WBC. WBC helps your body fight off the toxins and injuries causing inflammation, ergo improving healing rates. 

Improves Immune System

This goes hand-in-hand with the above point. Because whole-body cryotherapy reduces inflammation, it, clearly, triggers the anti-inflammatory process. This boosts the immune system. Since bringing down inflammation is one of the main things whole-body cryotherapy helps with, it can also improve your overall health both by that, and by improving your immune system’s performance.

Increases Energy

When you think cold, you think bundling up to conserve heat and energy. You wouldn’t necessarily associate WBC with increased energy, but it’s true! Immediately following whole-body cryotherapy treatment, many patients report increased levels of energy, due to the adrenaline of being exposed to subzero temperatures.

Boosts Metabolism

Whole-body cryotherapy can also spike up your metabolism! Cold boosts your metabolic rate because it sends your body into overdrive, making it work double time in order to try to stay warm. The cold can also freeze fat cells so they’re broken down faster. 

Improves Mood

The extreme cold can cause physiological responses which include releasing endorphins. Endorphins are proven to improve mood. This is especially beneficial for those suffering from mood disorders such as anxiety or depression, as part of those disorders involves the brain not producing enough endorphins. 

Whole-body cryotherapy can also positively affect one’s mood because the cold triggers the parasympathetic system. Your parasympathetic nervous system is what creates a sense of calm and relaxation after elevated heart rates – something whole-body cryotherapy causes -, which can also ease anxiety. This is why people often report a sensation of lightness and calm after a whole-body cryotherapy session.

While Great, Cryotherapy Isn’t For Everyone

While cryotherapy can prove many benefits to many people, it is not recommended and can even be harmful to others. Some of the conditions cryotherapy can worsen include: poor circulation, heart disease, neuropathy, and more. Consult a doctor to see if cryotherapy is right for you!

Considering Cryotherapy? Call The Health And Wellness Clinic!

At the Health and Wellness Clinic, we offer whole-body cryotherapy and recommend it for anyone plagued by inflammation or who wants a good, reinvigorating energy boost! Our expert team of professional chiropractors is passionate about providing you with the best care possible. For more information about cryotherapy or any of the other services we offer, contact us at Health and Wellness Clinic today!

Hiking, cycling, swimming, tennis, golf, kayaking, and jet skiing. The truth is that here’s a host of things that you can do during the summer! But that also means that there’s also many ways that you can get injured.

Keeping summer activities in mind, this article will explore some of the most common injuries that occur during the summer. It will also provide some tips on how to manage these injuries.

Summertime Fun Can Also Mean Injuries

Different sports have different injuries associated with them. For example, if you’re into weight-lifting or resistance training, then you’re probably aware of how easy it is to injure or tear a muscle. Likewise if you walk, hike, or run, you know that it’s easy to slip and fall or to hurt your ankle. 

What all sports or summer activities share, then, is the possibility of injury. According to the Mayo Clinic, a leading health institute in the United States, from their research, nearly 2000,000 Americans die from injury annually. Specifically, the Mayo Clinic’s researchers have found that summertime is the worst time of the year for injuries. They point to “boating, ATVS and motocross” as key culprits in injuries. 

Why Outdoor Activities Can Cause More Injuries

Outdoor activities can cause more injuries because there are more factors involved. Here are some of the most common factors:

• Unknown and uneven terrain: you never know when you’re rock climbing or hiking if the rock will move from under you or if you’ll slip and fall. 
• People and animals: If you like to cycle, run, or enjoy shooting, then you’re aware of how people and animals can appear when you least expect them too. 
• Assuming that you’re safe. While assuming that you’re safe and injury-free can happen in the winter, When it’s snowing or raining, then you might expect more injuries since you may be afraid of slips and falls. In the summer, this fear might be less prominent since the ground seems more stable to you and since you assume that there are less factors to worry about.

Because more people tend to be outside in the summer, these factors tend to play a greater role than in the winter. 

Common Summer Injuries and How to Manage Them

Common summer injuries range from neck pain to spraining your ankle. Here are some key common forms of injuries to look out for.

1. Spinal subluxations

Spinal subluxation is when your spine becomes misaligned. The causes of this type of injury includes: lifting things the wrong way or that are too heavy for you, having improper knowledge of stance and posture while exercising, falling, and minor or major accidents. Usually, spinal subluxation happens due to improper repetitive motions, although they may also occur through other injuries or due to certain conditions. 

Common ways of managing spinal subluxation involve resting, learning the correct posture needed for wellbeing, using ice, and spinal rehabilitation. At the Health and Wellness Clinic, we can help you with the latter, especially since it involves more complex methods. We can also help you with things like posture through our emphasis on patient education and relaxation through the massage therapy that we have. 

2. Muscle strains

Muscle strain can occur from a variety of sources. Sometimes it might be looking down too much (as in the case of someone who works in an office typing) or from running (as in the case of, say, a trail runner). 

Some of the best ways to help with muscle strain include some of the methods used in spinal subluxation: rest, ice, etc. At the Health and Wellness Clinic, we’ll address the cause of the muscle strain while teaching you what to do. We’ll also use various techniques to help you heal. 

3. Back Injuries

People usually take some form of medication to help with back injuries. But medication doesn’t help with chronic back pain. The most common causes of back injuries are osteoporosis, muscle strain, ruptured disks, and arthritis. Before you self-diagnosis, please see a chiropractor who guide you in your journey to wellbeing. 

For tips on how to manage back pain, read this. The best method of treating back injuries is by getting the right medical help. At our Health and Wellness Clinic, we would love to help you in your journey!

4. Neck injuries

The most common cause of neck injuries is repeatedly having your head facing one direction for a long period of time. Think of playing things like badminton or tennis. 

Our Clinic will look for any underlying conditions that might be causing chronic neck pain. This means that we’ll rule out degenerative disc disease, pinched nerves and other conditions. 

Summer Should Be Fun and It Can Be With the Right Chiropractor!

Summer should be fun!!! You should be able to walk, run, hike and do all the amazing things that you have planned. The great thing is that with a well-trained chiropractor, you can do all these things with safety and wellbeing in mind. 

What Makes Us Different From Other Chiropractors

The Health and Wellness Clinic is different from other chiropractors in that we focus on having a well trained team, prioritize holistic health, and encourage our clients to pursue a well-rounded life.

 As we help you manage different injuries or conditions, we also provide you with strategies that you need to learn in order to live a more healthy life. For example, we teach our clients exercises that we know will help them outside of our Clinic so that they, themselves, can have a role in the treatment process. 

Want to learn more about how to manage summertime and other injuries? Contact us! We would love to hear from you.