With our latest giveaway you have a chance to win a complimentary child nutritional consult and spinal exam, with a $20 gift certificate for a free child supplement, from ChiroCare in Bedford. I was really pleased when Dr. Sara Croteau from ChiroCare approached me offering the giveaway, and even more pleased when she agreed to give us a bit of a 'dummies guide' to chiropractic care for kids! This was really helpful for me, since I don't really know much about chiropractic care, and I admit I fall in the camp of 'oooh, chiropractors, scary, stay away from my spine!'. (Nothing against chiropractors at all – my weird spine phobia is one of the reasons why I didn't get an epidural with Alex!) So thanks so much to Dr Croteau for her thoughts on chiro care for kids and families and for sponsoring this giveaway! Please read on and see below for how to enter the giveaway.

HRM Parent: What services does Chirocare offer for kids and families?

Sara: ChiroCare offers friendly and high quality service to families and children of all ages. Doctors of Chiropractic are trained to perform a thorough case history/examination and have a broad range of diagnostic skills – so a referral from your GP is not needed. I specialize in family wellness; meaning I enjoy treating conditions ranging from scoliosis to colic to sciatica! I am often introduced to a family during mom’s pregnancy. I’ve worked with many pregnant moms for back pain and breech babies – this often leads to meeting the new baby and a relationship that builds into the future. Our clinic offers chiropractic care, nutritional consults, sport specific training in our physio room (with Dr. Jeff O’Flaherty), massage therapy and custom foot orthotic therapy.

HRM Parent: What kind of conditions do you treat children for?

Sara: Chiropractic care has proven very helpful for infants and children. I work with many young patients to help alleviate ear infections, colic, asthma, bedwetting and spinal stresses from falls, sleeping postures, etc. Conditions like ADHD also respond well to the nervous system “balance” that chiropractic offers. Another common example that I see is infants that have difficulty nursing, or prefer one side over the other – they often respond great to one or two gentle treatments that involve alignment of the delicate cervical spine (neck).

HRM Parent: What does treatment usually involve?

Sara: Treatment involves gentle spinal “adjustive procedures”. This means using very light pressure to align the spinal joints, thus taking pressure off the delicate spinal nerves – which control all functions of the body. For example, the nerves in the upper neck (cervical spine) control immune response and reaction to stress. Stretching or massaging the muscles and ligaments as necessary is involved in each chiropractic adjustment in our office. Also, each visit includes nutritional or dietary support to aid in the healing process. For example, if I treat a child for ear infections, then I usually discuss the role of food sensitivities and the importance of probiotics.

HRM Parent: Are there any risks?

Sara: Chiropractic care is very safe. With adults, a mild risk is soreness after the massage and adjustment – but with children, the adjustments are very light and gentle (a fingertip pressure in the correct location is all that is needed for infants) so this risk is rare. When considering the multitude of side effects and risks associated with prescription drugs, chiropractic care is clearly a safe complement or alternative.

HRM Parent: Why would someone choose chiropractic care over another form of care or treatment?

Sara: Chiropractic care is safe as mentioned above – and is the most commonly used form of complementary care. The goal of chiropractic care is to treat the cause – not the symptoms. This means that instead of just using puffers for asthma, we aim to discover why the child has reactive airways and how we can make them less reactive. Or, if a pregnant mom has round ligament pain we can help alleviate it with pelvic balance – no drugs necessary! There are numerous reasons to choose chiro care and I love to answer questions and educate. I invite all readers to call me with any questions or concerns! I find it extremely rewarding to work with families interested in holistic methods to better the health of their loved ones!

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below (on the hrmparent.ca website). Have you used a chiropractor before? For your child?

Giveaway closes midnight on Friday July 2, 2010. Consult, spinal exam and gift certificate must be used by September 30 2010.