United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Has anyone been successful in using Chiropractic services after a Brachial Plexus injury? I am entering Chiropractic college next summer and have started learning that had I taken my daughter to a chiropractor after her injury, she might have recovered sooner and more completely that she possibly can now, 7 years later. I am definately planning to investigate this furthur, and possibly specialize in this type of treatment if it does indeed work. It makes sense that if the nerves were thrown out of whack at birth by misaligning the vertebrae, it should be possible to fix the problem by adjusting the spine. Please let me know if anyone has tried this approach.

Jen,

We have been approached about this by a trusted family friend who is a chiropractor. Both of us parents have undergone chiropractic care with success.

Our friend gave us the same 'speal' about how a few adustments would have helped Tara. But my question is and this is pertaining to our daughter's case only. How can a vertabrae adjustment reattach my daughter's BP nerves to her spine? He couldn't answer that.

Now of course I am not a doctor, but maybe this would work in cases where there is just some stretching. But I don't see it working if the nerves are completely unattached. And I am open and welcome to anyone who can tell me differently or how it works in a whole.

Brenda
mom to Tara Grace, LOBPI

Chiropractic serves its purpose and it's just one of the things on the menu that someone can choose as one of the adjuncts to the more serious pieces that still needs to be done. I think that it affects the body as a whole in a good way and can help because our children did undergo a birth trauma and the structure needs to get some help after something like that. But 7 years of chiropractic did not help nerves grow in any faster and did not help subluxations from not reoccuring and did not keep the foot from toe'ing in and did not keep the wrist from dropping and did not stop the biceps from contracting and did not stop the jaw from going out of alignment and did not stop the right hip from twisting bringing the leg up. We still go and we will continue to go because it helps keep the body a bit more open and communicative. But it's important to keep it in perspective. It's not a replacement for other things that have to be done, like surgery. My child has a severe injury so that's where I'm coming from. Maybe it would help a child with a mild injury recover faster but I don't have that experience.

I can't tell you definitively if chiropractic works, but Brooke has been going to a chiropractor/acupuncturist since she was three weeks old. She suffered a total plexus injury at birth, so it may be a severe injury. However, we have seen exraordinary things happen since we have been seeing the chiropractor. She is three months old now and has almost full recovery in her shoulder and triceps. Biceps are there, but not all that strong & still no wrist/hand. I can't say chiropractic works for sure, but it definately seems like it does. In her first few months of life she would move her arm more after a visit than any other usual time.

Oh, one more thing...if you're interested in alternative healing methods for this injury, I think certain kinds of massage therapy can be very successful as well. Things such as crano sacral therapy, and others. Brooke has her first appointment with a specialized massage therapist tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes!

As you can tell, this is a HUGE area of interest for me. Surgeries can only do so much, but I really believe in the ablility of the body to heal itself & it's innate want to function properly. If you want to talk more, feel free to e-mail me off-line.

Lauren

Did you all find alternative therapists /chiropractors that treat babies or did you just find someone you felt comfortable with to work with your child? I'm terrified to have someone work on my child who doesn't specialize in children.

We have had positive results with chiropractic. I wish we started sooner (we waited until Matthew was almost a year old. His waiter's tip was corrected after the firt visit. His hip, knee, foot was put back in alignment so he didn't walk with his foot turned outward. We started going as a family about 2 years ago and my kids have outstanding posture.

Cindy

We have had great sucess with chiropractic. In fact our chiro diagnosed our son (at 3 weeks old) with erb's before the pediatrician or ortho doc did. She helped to resolve the torticollis quick quickly. The neat thing about kids/babies is they can't fake it, if it is going to work you will noticably see it. One visit my son jumped off the table as a toddler and ran swinging both arms for the 1st time ever. If you don't notice any recovery then I would suggest trying an different chiro.

There are many different types of chiropractic so I suggest doing a little homework on the specific technique a doc might use and possibly interview the him/her before a treatment. I personnally will only use non-force chiropractic (cracking is not for me,) it seems to be more specific.

I highly dout any chiro could make a nerve re-attach to the spinal cord, that is for a surgeon to fix, but he/she could help tremendously with a lot of other issues that could go with this injury, at least this is my experience.

What chiro school are you attending btw?

For those of you using chiropractic therapy, would you mind posting what types you have had success with. I see Susie prefers non-force, which is probably what I would consider but I am open to suggestions.

Thanks,

Shellie

It is my experience that chiropractors do not crack young children because their bones are not fully formed yet. So I guess I'm on the non-force side. You just need to find someone who is experienced in pediatric chiropractic methods.

Lauren