What constitutes a healthy response to the challenges that go with a normal childhood has finally been appropriately redefined. Up until recently a child was seen to be healthy when he or she had no symptoms. However, a number of studies now suggest that is not always the case and that health is better defined as the ability of a child’s body to interpret, and then appropriately respond to, environmental and lifestyle stresses.

There is one system in your child’s body that is in charge of accurately interpreting the messages coming from the environment, and deciding which messages to send so that the body appropriately adapts. That system is the nervous system. It is the master control system of growth, repair, and the function of every tissue and organ in the body. Dr. Michele Orchard has undergone extensive training in order to become highly proficient at detecting and correcting one of the most common and often undetected causes of interference to a child’s nervous system, the ‘spinal subluxation’.

What is a subluxation?
If your child’s body is stressed, either by physical, chemical, or emotional stresses, a loss of normal spinal bone position and movement may occur. This in turn causes a disturbance in nervous system function. This loss of normal spinal function and accompanying neurological disturbance, are together called spinal subluxations

When should children have their first check-up?
One of the most physically, chemically and emotionally stressful events that we all go though in life is being born. Because the birth process is unavoidably stressful, newborns are particularly susceptible to becoming subluxated during birth. Such an injury may not immediately be obvious and, if left uncorrected, may not become apparent for many years. To ensure your children get the right start in life they should be checked by a chiropractor as a normal part of post-natal care, to facilitate their optimum growth and development. If your older children have not had a chiropractic check-up, the sooner they are examined by a chiropractor the better. It has been shown that negative patterns, if laid down early in life, may persist and limit a child’s future growth on a number of levels throughout their lifetime. The sooner subluxations are detected and corrected the sooner your children can begin taking advantage of their full potential.