Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disorder Resolved Under Chiropractic According to StudyThe Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health published a case study on April 8, 2022, that documented the case of a baby who was suffering with Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD) and was helped by chiropractic.
According to John Hopkins Medicine, "Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common condition in which the stomach contents move up into the esophagus. Reflux becomes a disease when it causes frequent or severe symptoms or injury. Reflux may damage the esophagus, pharynx or respiratory tract."
In this case, a seven-month-old was brought to the chiropractor for help with unresolved gastric reflux. She had been previously diagnosed by her pediatrician with GERD. The baby girl's mother stated that her daughter could not sleep through the night because she was gassy and constipated.
Oral drops were first tried to help the girl, but only provided limited temporary relief. Her MD prescribed Pepcid which also offered no relief. Eventually, the MD prescribed Zantac. The girl had great difficulty taking this medication, and no change or improvement was seen from it anyway.
A chiropractic examination was performed which included postural observations, both static and motion spinal palpation, and leg length assessment. The purpose of the examination was to determine the presence of subluxation and how best to correct them. From the examination, it was determined that multiple areas of subluxations were present, and specific forms of age-appropriate pediatric adjustments were started.
On the visit after the girl's first adjustment, her mother reported that her daughter's reflux symptoms were slightly improved, and she was able to sleep through the night easier than before. Due to this improvement, the girl's mother took her off half the dosage of medication she was taking for the GERD.
One week later, the mother reported that her baby girl's reflux symptoms were subsiding allowing her to reduce her daughter's medication even further. She also reported that the baby girl was now sleeping eight hours a night, which she had not been able to do for several months prior to starting chiropractic care.
After one month of chiropractic care, the girl's mother said that her daughter was like "a new baby!" By that time, her mother had taken the girl off all reflux medications, and her symptoms had completely resolved. The study recorded that, after one month, the girl was reactive, pleasant, and continued to be sleeping well.
In this study's discussion section, the authors summed up the overall reasoning for chiropractic in this case and those similar to this. "The importance of having a child's spine checked for vertebral subluxations at birth cannot be over stated. A trauma at birth, no matter how minimal it seems, can cause stress on the vertebral column and lead to a subluxation that may cause interference with sensory or motor function of the nerve root. These anatomical and physiological problems are not always obvious and may remain subclinical for months, as in the case of this seven month old, or even years. Chiropractors are the only professionals adequately trained to detect and correct vertebral subluxations of the infant spine. If proper spinal joint health is restored, then there is the opportunity for proper human health to be restored." |