Dr. Jenine McCann 

You may have heard stories that chiropractic care has helped infants and children with their sleep, reaching milestones, improving bowel movements, or even supporting them through extended fussy episodes. You may ask yourself how this works or if it's even possible. When we look at the body as a whole in this simplistic way, it's easy to understand why these stories pop up and what chiropractors are really treating. I'll break it down for you. 

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We all have spines (made up of bones stacked on top of one another) that act as a home to our central nervous system. Our nervous system tells our body what to do- everything from body movement with bones and muscles, to organ function like breathing with our lungs, and digestion with our stomach and bowels. This communication occurs via nerves that extend from our spine out to our entire body.

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Sometimes these nerve signals can be interrupted from how our body is aligned. All the bones of our spine stacked on top of one another can become rotated, twisted or misaligned. These misalignments can exist in the absence of pain, and can occur from repetitive movements, how we are positioned for a long period of time, how we sleep, and move, and various life events. When the bones become out of alignment, they can cause the nerves to not work properly, and therefore interrupt the signals being sent out to the body. 

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So a chiropractor is trained to detect these small and often subtle misalignments, then correct them, to allow the body and the nervous system to work properly and in sync. Since once again, the nervous system is in charge of the whole body, including what our organs do, an adjustment can have positive secondary effects like improved sleep, and better digestion, and reaching certain milestones. Although this is not what we are "treating" or "curing" as chiropractors, this is why stories circulate. We as chiropractors, are working on the spine, and nervous system.