Baby Chiropracter

cb7

Just wondering opinions/views on this matter. I am in the middle of seeing a chiropracter for my 7 month old . We got a lot of different opinions/views as to what was wrong with my baby as he was extremely cranky and crying a lot. Especially after feeds.
The PHN said it would pass it was just changeover from breast to bottle, then it was colic, then reflux then a dairy intolerance. We tried lots of different things for each of these. We also saw a doctor who referred us to a pediatrician (still waiting for appointment). The doctor was not concerened as he is putting weight on. But I was not happy with this view as he was not a happy baby at all. Some days he would cry for around 70% of the day. We put him on the Nutramigen formula and we did see some improvement. After 2 months on it I changed formula back onto the SMA comfort as I felt it was not a dairy issue. I also went to a Chiropracter. He maintains he has Something called KISS Syndrome. In simple terms its like a slight neck injury that has created misalignment of the spine and is hitting of a nerve (my interpretation of what he said). Caused by being breech/c section. Lots of info on the internet about it. He thinks he can solve problem in 3-4 visits.
So has anyone had this issue and did it get solved??? I am still a bit sceptical about the whole thing but if it improves my baby I will be happy. He is still waking up loads at night!!!

pwurple

You asked for views and opinions, but apologies in advance, because you are probably not going to like mine. You will hear claims all the time from quacks like osteopaths and chiropracters. the 'trauma' of birth causing this that and the next thing. They can't wait to take money off sleep deprived desperate parents.

Colic passes with time. You can try umpteen alternative things, and one of them will appear to work eventually, because the colic will go away all on its own at some stage.

I've seen a baby in hospital suffering from a stroke 2 hours after a chiropractic 'adjustment' of his spine. I personally wouldn't let a chiropracter near a baby.

Mink

From the other side of the spectrum...

I personally know a few parents who found chiro or cranial osteopath really helped their babies when all else failed.

I think the key is to find a chiro who specialises in babies, ie; they've taken the applicable courses and internships for it and are certified and have experience.

The adjustments they do on babies are extremely gentle (when I've seen them done on friend's babies).

You really need to feel comfortable with it and research it properly for yourself. I would very much say consult your GP & PHN and if you're not getting results/answers/shrugged shoulders then do look into alternative medicine as you are doing.

Morph the Cat

I wouldn't let a chiro near my baby.

Gumbi

You should research it a bit more. A lot of its philosophies are pseudoscience, and it was founded by an effing "magnetic healer".

It can be dangerous as suggested by the first poster.

Oral Slang

Also wouldn't let a chiropracter near my baby. From a personal perspective, myself & my other half were at the Ideal Homes Show a few years ago & there was a chiropracters stall there, doing spinal analysis. My other half suffers from his back, so he signed up & they said he's all sorts. They asked me if I wanted it done & I said no I don't suffer from my back. Anyway they persuaded me to do it & told me that I'd something wrong too. We both signed up for x amount of sessions. Did nothing for us, other than me finding I was in pain a lot after the sessions. Our doctor ate us for going to one. Massage or physio all the way in the future.

Think cranial osteopathy works a good bit for babies, have heard of a lot of success stories.

CiDeRmAn

Coming from a nursing background and as a patent I wouldn't let one of those quacks near a child. Their practice is based on nonsense and at best they won't improve anything, otherwise they could cause health problems down the line.

NIMAN

Sorry but I am negative too (in fact, I take back that apology).

I seen a chiropractor a few years ago for a certain problem I had, and its the biggest pile of mumbo-jumbo ever. There is no science at all in what they do.

I was getting my sessions paid for by private health insurance through work, but I still packed it in after 5 or 6 sessions as it was absolute nonsense and it was not going to have any effect on my problem, which I later got sorted by a physio, someone who actually does something to your body, not like a chiro. In fact the chiro working on me was doing a lot of neck and back cracking, and I never felt comfortable with this as it can be very dangerous.

My advice, DO NOT take your infant to one again. Stop now, its not real medicine and they are not qualified to manipulate the human body, irrespective of how many certificates they have hanging on their walls.

username123

Chiropractic is not medically regulated in Ireland. I could do a 2 week course and stick a sign up saying Chiropractor and start doing adjustments to your spine in all directions. If I cause a massive problem like a stroke or spinal damage, you cannot bring me before the Medical Council and can only sue me privately like you would someone in a shop who put a hand on your body. Except, you give permission to this person to put a hand on your body. So best of luck with the life long medical costs because Chiropractors are not cover by the kind of insurance that a medical doctor is.

I have attended a Chiropractor and thought it was a money grubbing scam, they wanted me to continue to come back for endless sets of appointments regardless of progress (or not as the case was). I did love the sensation of the adjustments though. But then I went to a physio who did similar adjustments - and only saw me twice before my issue was resolved.

Edited to add - osteopathy is in the same boat re no medical regulation in Ireland.

desertcircus

Really wouldn't recommend a chiropractor. If you really want to, ask a GP or a pediatrician if there's any basis to the chiropractor's claim and if they'd recommend the treatment he's talking about. I'd be surprised if you get anything other than an utterly definitive NO.

flutered

*mod note*
Unhelpful posting will not be tolerated here

Hobbitfeet

There is actually quite a bit of research showing that chiropractic care is beneficial. I have never brought my son to a chiropractor or osteopath because he has never needed it but I do have a few friends who have and all have had great results. Anyway no doubt I will be totally shot down for what I am saying so I will just post links to the research I know about. You can have a read do some more of your own research and then decide. No point making a decision when you have not read and actual research on it

This 1st link details 6 studies on infantile colic, 5 out of the 6 studies showed beneficial effects from spinal and or cranial manipulation. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10539861.htm

From Oxford journals on osteopathy http://m.fampra.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/6/662.short

Osteopathy and benefits for children with Cerabal palsy http://m.cpj.sagepub.com/content/43/4/349.short

Here is links from NIH, highly respected medical organisation, explaining both chiropractic and osteopathic care. You will also find numerous pubmed studies for both on these sites.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/chiropractic.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002020.htm

username123

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

There is actually quite a bit of research showing that chiropractic care is beneficial.

Havent read the links you posted but just wanted to say that I do believe alternatives like chiropractic etc can be beneficial, but far too dangerous in a country like Ireland where there is no medical regulation of them.

Do not get spinal joint manipulation off someone who does not carry the relevant medical insurance. Its that simple.

Gatling

Don't understand why you decided it wasn't a dairy issue ,
Has your child had a stool test to confirm lactose intolerance,or rule it out
Our eldest was similar till we pushed the lactose intolerance with our gp after a stool test confirmed lactose intolerant we started on the Nutramigen feeds and found them beneficial,
There's also a possibility there's nothing medically wrong ,

Personally I would have stayed on the Nutramigen feeds especially if you have seen improvement in your child

mickydcork

Chiropractic is quakery with no basis in science.

It's also potentially harmful and sometimes lethal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/19/controversiesinscience-health

Hobbitfeet

Instead of posting articles from journalists and newspapers maybe it would be better to post actual research on the subject rather than personal opinion.

mickydcork

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Instead of posting articles from journalists and newspapers maybe it would be better to post actual research on the subject rather than personal opinion.

Ha.

Simon Singh is hardly just a 'journalist'.

Edzard Ernst is a professor of alternative medicine.

Individual pieces of research are notoriously unreliable in this area, with quality of clinical trials seriously undermined by bias.

Much better to examine a review of the quality research on an area such as chiropratic effect on lower back pain provided by the Cochrane review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22972127 or http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21248591. There are many more

Conclusion - chiropractic is no better than the placebo or rest or time or sham chiropractic.

This is for lower back pain! Which is the number one reason people go to chiropractors! And it doesn't even help with that!

Not to mind the other myriad of things they claim to be able to fix.

It's nonsense. There is no argument or discussion to be had about this.

Hobbitfeet

Mickeydcork it is beneficial and interesting to read research from both sides. The OP asked about using it to help with her colicky, unsettled baby.
One link I provided shows 6 studies in for these symptoms.

You said it's better to review quality research from cochrane library, those 6 studies are also published in cochrane journals. I also posted links from the same place as you have NIH.gov explaining in detail chiropractic and osteopathic care.

I can tell by your language that you have made your mind up and probably didn't even bother to read the links I posted. There is no point continuing a discussion when someone is not open to any other opinions.

To the OP try to do some research yourself and you can always go and speak to the chiropractor or osteopath before and ask any questions you may have. Hope your little one gets better.

flutered

have anyone on here seen an mri or an xray even of a spine when a ciropractor was finished with it, if no see if you can get one.

mickydcork

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Mickeydcork it is beneficial and interesting to read research from both sides. The OP asked about using it to help with her colicky, unsettled baby.
One link I provided shows 6 studies in for these symptoms.

You said it's better to review quality research from cochrane library, those 6 studies are also published in cochrane journals. I also posted links from the same place as you have NIH.gov explaining in detail chiropractic and osteopathic care.

I can tell by your language that you have made your mind up and probably didn't even bother to read the links I posted. There is no point continuing a discussion when someone is not open to any other opinions.

To the OP try to do some research yourself and you can always go and speak to the chiropractor or osteopath before and ask any questions you may have. Hope your little one gets better.

No.
I said it's better to read a Cochrane review on the subject.
This is where Cochrane evaluate the validity and quality of research papers, disgard the poor papers and then assess the findings of the remaining quality papers.

Just because someone has published a paper, does not mean the contents are valuable.

A huge problem with trials in this area is bias.

So I generally look at who conducted the clinical trial or produced the paper first.

The first paper you quote in your post was produced by someone from the 'Moellendorf Chiropractic Office'. Are they going to be independent and removed from bias in researching this area?

Also most of the other papers you are quoting are to do with osteopathy which a different animal to Chiropratic as far as I'm aware.

Osteopaths (I think) would not make grand claims like being able to heal baby colic by spinal manipulation.

As for the NIH links you threw up - I think they would back up my point of view in this discussion rather than yours.

Diziet

When my baby was tiny and crying with colic I suspended disbelief and took her to a cranial osteopath. He was very nice and very expensive. It made no difference; she eventually grew out of it and by then I was several hundred euro poorer!

I got my senses back when he started trying to persuade me that vaccination was bad for my baby and at that point I walked out.

pwurple

mickydcork wrote: »

Osteopaths (I think) would not make grand claims like being able to heal baby colic by spinal manipulation.

Osteopaths go more for the manipulation of the skull bones for colic. Swap jiggering about with the spinal column for jiggering about with the skull. It's only the brain right... Nothing could possibly go wrong there.

endacl

Osteopathy is bunk. It's been demonstrated to be bunk, and osteopathy has never advanced any verifiable evidence to the contrary. As adults we can make our own stupid choices. It's extremely morally questionable to subject a child, let alone an infant, to a pseudo medical intervention that can do actual physical harm.

On the point of a 'balanced' debate. There is no 'balance' to be had. In the same way as a balanced debate on whether or not the earth is flat or the dangers of bungee jumping without a bungee, is possible yet absolutely pointless. It is intellectually dishonest to afford a position of equal validity to a practise that has been shown to harm, and cannot in response provide evidence to show that it does anything good.

If one is inclined to consult a osteopath, they'd be we'll advised to try homepathy instead. This will only hurt their bank account. The water will provide the usual benefits that water does.

pwurple

endacl wrote: »

If one is inclined to consult a osteopath, they'd be we'll advised to try homepathy instead. This will only hurt their bank account. The water will provide the usual benefits that water does.

I wouldn't be racing to a homeopath with a child either. It didn't work out well for these parents.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/parents-guilty-of-manslaughter-over-daughters-eczema-death-20090605-bxvx.html

Moonbeam

Folks I am closing this thread although it is not exactly medical advice it is potentially harmful.

Please talk to a medical professional.