A pilot study discovered a significant percentage of infants enjoyed longer sleep following gentle adjustments to misaligned areas of the spine.

While most babies will sleep through the night from three months on, some infants will have difficulty falling or staying asleep for longer than a few hours at a time.

Parents are usually told not to worry and that their child will eventually grow out of it.

Sometimes, parents are taught “behavioural modification” techniques, such as “letting them cry it out”. These approaches are often not the best solutions.

While it may be difficult to pinpoint the reason your baby is not sleeping, there is new hope for parents whose babies simply cannot settle down enough to sleep through the night.

The study, conducted by doctors Joyce Miller and Matts Klemsdal and published in the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics, evaluated whether routine chiropractic care could improve an infants’ sleep pattern. It investigated 116 infants, who were under regular chiropractic care for various conditions.

According to a 2010 press release from the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance detailing the results of the study, only 10 per cent of those infants had come to the chiropractor because of sleep disturbances – the majority of the children received chiropractic care for excessive crying and colic.

Specific, gentle adjustments were applied to misaligned areas of the spine over the course of a few visits. The release explained that after the first visit, nearly 40 per cent of infants enjoyed a longer (and deeper) sleep. After seven visits, up to 60 per cent of the infants had showed such improvement.

While infant sleep may be a complicated issue, it would appear that chiropractic care seems to help some children get a better night’s sleep.

Chiropractic care for children is gentle, safe and effective. If your baby is having difficulty settling down before sleep, it might be worth a trip to your family chiropractor.

And don’t worry if you are not an infant. In my 15 years of experience as a chiropractor, I can tell you first-hand that age is not a factor when it comes to the benefits and positive effects of the chiropractic adjustment. Young, old, male, female, or any other status can benefit from natural chiropractic care. If you have a brain and a spinal cord, then you qualify! Motion is life and chiropractors restore vital motion to the human spinal segmental joints and extremities, freeing the nervous system.

By the way, if you are or become my patient, I will never charge you to assess and correct spinal fixations in your minor child or infant. Kids are free when parents are committed chiropractic patients at Dr Harvey’s Chiropractic Centers.

I would now like to address another question from one of our readers:

Q: I have been diagnosed with facial dyskinesias affecting mid and lower face.

It’s a neurological condition. I read an article in the Sunday Observer May 4th and I am wondering if a visit to a chiropractor would help. My condition makes eating and talking difficult, and sometimes painful.”

– Claudine

A: No. One visit to a chiropractor probably cannot help (though it did). However, a regimen of regular chiropractic visits with a highly qualified and experienced chiropractor that can move the bones very possibly can help.

The nervous system is an incredibly complex system with many interactions and connections with the immune and endocrine systems. Because of this, the best approach would be to focus on therapies that either provide the nervous system with basic nutrients needed for proper functioning, such as omega-3 essential fatty acids and magnesium, or allow the nervous system to rebalance itself. If anything could ever help with balancing the nervous system and overall body function, it would be the chiropractic adjustment. A person affected with this type of disorder may seek chiropractic care to help with spasms, pain, disturbed posture, and function. Supplementation may prove helpful in your condition.

I would also want to check the function of your temporomandibular joints, which can also cause dysfunction and pain when eating and talking.

Please keep in mind, that chiropractic does not treat or cure symptoms. Symptoms are indicators to core problems. Anyone that attempts to treat symptoms is going to be disappointed with results. Chiropractic addresses the spine and nervous system allowing for optimal function. It is a natural process that takes some time to correct problems of the spine, but the trade-off is that most patients, with varying conditions, tend to begin to feel better and to improve within the first few visits. If it is not the treatment for your condition we should know fairly quickly. But you will not have to undergo expensive or invasive procedures to get back to the same point you are currently experiencing. And, if you don’t try it, it absolutely cannot work for you. I have seen many conditions clear up or at least improve in my career. I encourage you to have faith and try chiropractic. After all, the first recorded recipient of a chiropractic adjustment claimed his hearing returned.

I would suggest you try an initial starter discount care package of 10 visits for $30,000.

Remember, all forms of the healing arts have their place and, emergency medicine can be life-saving in certain situations. But, for day-to-day natural health and quality of life, chiropractic is the smart choice for you and your family. I work closely with several medical doctors who both refer patients and utilise the chiropractic adjustment for themselves as well. I am grateful to them. They recognise the effectiveness and benefits of chiropractic care. They also realise that when combined with other treatments, such as prescriptions or physiotherapy that their own care of their patients can be greatly improved upon. This is because the body is operating at optimal levels when the spine is kept in regular alignment and responds as it should to various remedies.

Thanks for your questions – “The Spinal Mechanic”, Dr Chris Davis.

Don’t forget to “Ask Your Chiropractor”, where your questions and answers could be published in subsequent articles. Address your questions to Dr Chris Davis: movethebone@gmail.com or, Dr Michael Harvey: dr.michael_harvey@yahoo.com