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What To Watch For! |
"Don't be afraid to give up
the good to
go for the great."
In the office this month:
Ball / Core Fit Class - Every Tuesday @ 7:15
New session has started! Drop ins Welcome!
Ottawa Women's Show: May 1st to 3rd
Come visit us at Lansdowne. We have a bunch of
discount admission passes to this great show, just
ask! Stretching Workshop - Wednesday May 13th @ 6:15 Come and learn some amazing stretch techniques with our very own Jon Alcombrack. Sign up hereVictoria Day - Monday May 18th The office will be closed for the Victoria Day long weekend. Please see Adrienne to re-schedule.
Ottawa Race Weekend - May 21st to 23rd
We are excited to be a part of Ottawa race weekend health and fitness expo again this year. This is a free admission expo @ the aberdeen pavilion at Lansdowne park. Drop by our booth and say hi! |
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A Child's First Spinal Exam
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 When it comes to chiropractic and kids, we sometimes get questions from parents. When is it time for a child's first spinal examination? Should we wait until children complain of back pain before taking them to the chiropractor? These are two questions which parents frequently ask us.
Throughout most
communities, it is a generally well-accepted fact that children should
have regular dental check-ups to identify problems at the earliest
possible time. In this way, dentists attempt to identify early tooth
decay and alignment problems of the teeth, because they know that the
earlier the problem is detected, the easier it will be to fix.
Well,
what about the potential for children to develop spinal problems?
Should children be examined at regular intervals during their growing
years to identify spinal problems which may progress to become serious,
permanent problems. Unfortunately, the generally accepted view in most
communities is that one visits a chiropractor for backache or neck
pain, and in the absence of these symptoms, it can be assumed that the
spine is doing okay.
When evaluating the spines of adult
patients, chiropractors frequently encounter degenerative changes in
discs and vertebral joint structures which have been ongoing for many
years, without any evidence of symptoms. In many cases, it is only when
the spinal degeneration reaches an advanced stage that symptoms of pain
and stiffness occur. If the spinal problem causing these symptoms could
have been detected at an early age, and the problem had been corrected,
then a lifetime of misery due to chronic back pain could have been
avoided.
Many of the worst spinal problems, which chiropractors
detect on x-ray, show evidence of having been present for many years
and can be identified, by the degree of degeneration, as having started
during childhood. For this reason, it is recommended that childrens'
first spinal evaluation should be early in life when the spine is
growing and developing at the fastest rate. Orthopedists have
identified that the time when the spine is most likely to develop
problems, or for existing problems to worsen, is during periods of
rapid growth.
Examination of the growth patterns of a child's
spine shows that the time of fastest spinal growth is during the first
year of life, when the average length of the spine grows from 24 to 36
cm. This is a 50 percent increase in one year, a rate which is
unmatched in any other phase of a child's growth and development. The
next fastest growth rate occurs between the ages one and five years
when the spinal length increases from 36 to 51 cm, a 42 percent growth
rate. Between the ages of 5 and 10, we see the slowest period of
growth, 10 cm in five years, or a 20 percent growth rate. The
adolescent growth phase is most noticeable for its growth spurts, when
a teenager may grow three to four inches in less than a year. the
average total growth for the adolescent period is 20 cm in males and 15
cm in females. This represents a growth rate of 25 percent in the
females and 33 percent in males.
Now, taking all that into
consideration, it can be seen that the period of fastest growth, the
first year of life, is also a period of considerable trauma when the
child is learning to walk. This phase of a child's development is also
the period when the secondary spinal curves are forming in the child's
neck and low back. Because the first year of life is such an important
one for spinal development, and because the potential for trauma is
high, it is recommended that a child's first spinal evaluations should
be performed during this period.
Beyond the first year, the
child needs regular checkups to ensure that the microtrauma of a
child's daily living, such as "rough house" play and falls from
bicycles, etc., are not causing spinal problems. Problems which might
otherwise go unnoticed, simply because the child does not complain of
symptoms.
Spinal growth and development continues right through
until the mid-30s, when development of the vertebrae in the lumbar
spine is finally completed. When we plant a tree in the garden,
we stake and tie it to ensure that it grows straight during its early
years. If we don't do this, and the tree is allowed to bend with the
wind for 10 to 15 years, it is then impossible to straighten.
Don't
let your childrens' spine develop like an unstaked tree: You don't wait
until your children complain of toothache before taking them to the
dentist, so why wait until they complain of backache before having
their spine checked?
The chiropractic approach to health is safe and natural. Therefore,
your chiropractor may be the best doctor to help your child! Parents
should feel encouraged to have a Doctor of Chiropractic as part of
their health care team. Act today for a healthier
life tomorrow! If you have any questions please about kids and chiropractic please just ask us! To obtain more information on current health trends and alternative
health approaches, and for information on how chiropractic can help
your family please visit our website.
Adapted from an article by Peter Fysh D.C.
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Have you heard about these guys?
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 Since it is the Ottawa Marathon this month, we thought this short video of amazing human potential was quite fitting.
Please let us know what you think!
Click on the picture to play video...
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