United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I was wondering if anyone had any info on the pros and cons of chiropractic care for a child with a BPI?
I was also wondering if anyone else had torticollis on the opposite side of the BPI?

Amanda
(mom to 7month old ROBPI)

Hi Amanda.

We took our daughter to the chiropracter for a while. I don't know that we really saw any functional gains from it though. We stopped going because the chiropracter we were going to wanted to adjust her back, and I didn't feel comfortable with him doing that. I know there are others who have had better experiences with it than we did.

Sarah (who is now 2 1/2) had torticollis as well. It eventually resolved after we did some therapy to stretch the nerves in her neck.

If you have questions, please feel free to email me!

Cherie
mom to Sarah, ROBPI

Chiropractic care can be an excellent treatment for torticollis. It can be difficult to find a chiropractor who specializes in pediatrics, but that would be a good place to start if you have that option. Any chiro who tells you that they can resolve a BPI is way out of line to say the least, but there are definite benefits to good chiro care for the BPI child. This is especially true as a child ages and secondary issues arise (gate, balance, posture...) If this is something you are interested in, I would start with your family chiro (if you have one) and just visit with him/her about his/her professional perspective on BPI. Don't be alarmed if they're not extremely well versed or have a definitive treatment plan ready to go. You want someone to work WITH you and be willing to learn everything possible. Some hard and fast rules--no adjustments for 4-6 months after surgery, no electrotherapy without surgeon approval, if your child is old enough, make sure they are comfortable with the chiro AND his treatments. My BPI daughter's father is a chiro. She has undergone adjustments since infancy.

I have a nine month old daughter (LOBPI) who we have taken to a chiropractor since she was born. I would say the biggest gain we have gotten from seeing the chiropractor is the HUGE increase in circulation in the arm. The increased circulation promotes healing of the damaged nerves, so I'd never stop taking her to the chiropractor.

Brooke had a total plexus injury (all five nerves affected) and has had an incredible recovery thus far. She can even crawl!! So, we have to be doing something right! I would definitely recommend chiro care for BPIs.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have more questions.

Lauren
(Brooke's mom)

We have recently started taking our daughter to the chiropactor. I disscussed with him at length about her injury, he also called and spoke with our therapist. He has a background in physical therapy as well. Rosalynn is developing scoliosis. We feel that it is from a combination of lack of muscle balance in her trunk and shoulders as well as her compensation techniques. We have been working as a team to get her to carry herself more upright. He has also been working with her winged shoulder blade. He does very gentle adjustments and we have also working on shoulder muscles in therapy. I am starting to see improvments. The first theing he said to me though was that "You do realize that this is not going to cure her, we can address underlying problems caused by the injury, but no great returns in function from the treatment." He is very gentle with her and has the perfect personality for working with kids. He tells her that he is going to get the popcorn out of her. I was very weary of doing the chiropractic route because I was afraid it could make her injury worse and I have also ran into some quacky chiropracters that claim they can cure everything from the common cold to cancer with adjustments. I do see the benefits though, talk to them and make sure ya got a good one before they ever touch your child.

We have taken our 6 month old to a Osteopathic doctor who adjusts the spine and all his bones. He has been going since he was 7 weeks old and I have noticed a HUGE difference. Better circulation in his arm, he got feeling back in his arm prior to his surgery. She also straightened his spine great. We could actually see his spine was crooked and his chest cavity as well. She straightened it all out. He now can sit in his carseat without screaming in pain.
Jo

thats you all for the info. I think I will make some phone calls to find a chiropractor that deals with children Jamies age.

Amanda
mom to jamie(rOBPI)