Osteopathic Care for Children & Babies Pediatric care is an important component of Osteopathy. It involves assisting your babys recovery from the forces of birth, and supporting the physical changes of growth and developmental milestones into childhood. During normal labor an infants head is subjected to very large compressive forces. These forces cause the head to undergo a process of ‘molding, in which the bones of the skull overlap, bend and warp in order to facilitate its passage through the birth canal. After birth, the skull begins to re-expand and un-mold to return to its normal shape, assisted by the baby crying, suckling and yawning. The head gradually loses most of the molding pattern during the first ten days of life. Assisted births, such as forceps, vacuum extraction and caesarean section present special issues and require early assessment to address problems arising from the birth, particularly issues of the neck and skull. Retained molding from birth can cause a wide variety of problems for a baby. The effects are individual, and some babies cope better than others. In some cases even quite severe molding strains may cause no apparent problem as a young baby, but may predispose the child to other problems as they grow up - such as headaches, or an inability to cope well with future trauma. Some of the effects of retained molding may include: Crying, irritable baby Excessive feeding Infantile colic Recurrent illness Need for pacifier or thumb sucking Sleep disturbances Head scratching, rocking and banging Head shape In the growing child, osteopathy is also effective in treating conditions such as: Infections Ear infections and glue ear Sinus problems and mouth breathers Delayed milestones such as crawling and walking Behavioural problems and hyperactivity Learning difficulties Cerebral palsy Headaches and other aches and pains Asthma Dental development Development of the spine
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 04:45:00 +0000
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