Asthma is a major medical problem for children and adults more so than ever before. Asthma is a chronic lung disease which is responsible for the inflammation and narrowing of the airways. The most common symptoms a child with asthma will display are wheezing, tightness in the chest, coughing and shortness of breath. This inability to breathe freely can be frightening for a child and for the parent who has to help.
A diagnosis of asthma can not only be scary for a family, but costly as well. Typically, medical treatments involve inhalers, nebulizers, steroids, and other medications. Even with insurance, none of these options are cheap. The cost is also one that accrues over time due to the fact that these medical treatments only treat the symptoms and do not cure asthma. For some children, these expensive treatments must be used over the course of a lifetime.
Aside from the astounding cost factors, there are other issues with using these medical treatments alone to treat childhood asthma. Prolonged steroid treatment and other medications for children can have side effects that many families would rather avoid. Some of the more common side effects for some asthma medications include sleep disruption and hyperactivity.
For some cases, going to a chiropractor may provide a safe, natural and drug free approach that works to help the symptoms of asthma in children. A chiropractor can help determine if subluxation, which is a misalignment of the bones in the spine which irritates nerves, is the related to the child’s asthma. The lungs and diaphragm are responsible for breathing and their ability to function correctly is controlled by the nervous system. If there is irritation or interference of the nervous system, the lungs simply can’t function optimally. Chiropractic adjustments can alleviate pressure or stress that the nervous system is under in most cases. Once this is relieved, the lungs are fully capable of doing their job and incidents of asthma can be reduced, if not eliminated altogether.
Chiropractic care which results in more efficiency of the nervous system overall can also boost the natural workings of the immune system and can help a child maintain consistent good health. This is particularly important for children who have asthma as they are more prone to attacks when they have a cold or something more serious such as a respiratory infection. While chiropractic care cannot end all incidents of childhood asthma, regular adjustments have provided children with a gradual improvement in their asthma. There have been a number of studies conducted in the past few years which examine the effectiveness of the chiropractic adjustment as an alternative asthma treatment and the results have been encouraging.
Try this: Take a deep breath in with your posture rolled and then again while sitting straight up. Do you feel a difference? What you just felt is the biomechanics of breathing, in relation to your spine. Make sense? Now imagine, that you always felt the way you did while your posture was rolled and not being able to “fix-it” by just sitting up straight.
A pediatric chiropractor is able to provide a safer and more natural way to deal with childhood asthma. Even if they are not able to fully eliminate the attacks, a reduction in severity and frequency without potentially harmful medications is certainly an alternative worth exploring for any child afflicted with asthma. They can begin care as early as infancy.