Chiropractic on a brachial plexius injury

[admin]

I have a son who is 9 months old and has erbs palsy due to birth. He is in therapy and has seen specialist at a local hospital but I am having pressure from some family members concerning the aid of chiropractic medicine. Has anyone had any experience regarding this - whether for or against? I want what is best but it is a deep commitment to make weekly in a already frazzled calendar.

[m&mmom]

Pam,
My son Matthew just turned a year last month. Since he was four months old he has been receiving acupuncture treatments. In February we started Chiropractic. Before surgery his waiters tip resolved, then after primary it was back. After one trip to the chiro it was not noticeable any longer. She also is a reiki energy therapist. His balance improved, his posture improved. It's been a completely positive experience. The adjustments are very gentle, done with their thumbs. Matthew's right knee was out of place as well, pretty much his whole right side was.
If you are uncomfortable about it I would recommend going to speak to a chiro, bring some info on bpi and go from there. Research and see if any specialize with children. We go to a family center and there is even a really nice play room.
From my experience alternative treatments tend to treat the body as a whole not just focusing on the arm.

The calendar is busy - right now we're going twice a week, this was supposed to be the last week, but now that Matthew is walking she wants to continue to make sure his pelvis is staying in check. We do ot once a week, pt twice a week, chiro twice a week, and acupuncture once a week.


Good luck with your decision.
Cindy

[francine]

Pam - welcome to the board.

I think that the most important person your son needs to be seeing right now is a brachial plexus specialist. You mention that he is seeing a specialist - but is this doctor a BRACHIAL PLEXUS SPECIALIST?

There is a Medical Resources directory that can be found right off the home page...a little box in the middle of the home page. That is a good place to (as a start - because it is still incomplete) to find a doctor in your area (if you are not currently seeing a brachial plexus specialist). Remember that this medical resource list is not an endorsement but just information - you will still have to do your own research and trust your own gut on who you feel is best to help your child.

Although chiropractic can be considered part of complementary medicine, you have to understand that there are limitations (as there are with anything). Chiropractic medicine cannot repair ruptured (torn)or avulsed (pulled out of the spinal column)nerves. So I think that someone needs to assess whether or not your little one has a severe injury first, and you need to look at your options if this is the case.

Recovery in children varies greatly based on what the injury itself is. And almost no two kids have the same issues or have the same recovery.

So, I don't want to turn you off to chiropractic - we personally value chiropractic here in our household and go regularly, however, it is only ONE piece of the MANY things one can do for their child.

It is important to find a chiropractor who has experience with infants. And I would also recommend that you see them for a treatment for yourself first, so that you can get to know them and understand their technique more so that you have a better frame of reference when searching for a chiropractor and deciding whose hands you want on your child.

Have you seen this page?
There is a link on the home page here for Information For New Parents. It may have some helpful information for you.

Take care and hope your son has excellent recovery!
-francine

[m&mmom]

One thing to also keep in mind is many medical professionals do not recommend alternative treatments because results are not "proven". You need to trust your instincts on your childs treatments. Don't do anything that your not comfortable with.
Cindy

[Joy in FL]

Hello Pam,

I am left TBPI, from a car accident in 1991. My experience with a chiropractor was not positive. I feel strongly that he added to the complications of my injury. When I made it to a BP doctor and I asked if I could go to have my back adjusted his response was loud and clear... NO. I told him I did not want my neck adjusted just my lower back. He said it did not matter that I could cause further damage.

HOWEVER

I have heard of some folks on this board that have had wonderful progress with a chiropractor. I must admit I cringe every time I hear someone going to one. But, that is ME.

As with anything do the research, not just on this board, feel comfortable with what is right for your family, your baby. Don't be pressured by anyone especially family!! They will not have to live with your decision every day, you will.

Good luck.

Joy

[francine]

This is exactly why I think that people should be doing a LOT of research first and finding the RIGHT person who knows how to work on infants, etc. There are so many different techniques and so many different ways of doing the techniques.....one doc may be as gentle as a lamb and do such great work and another might be a hard handed bone cracker. This is exactly why I say that you should go to the chiropractor yourself for a while and trust your gut on whether or not you want this person to touch your baby. I've had my share of good and bad.... the bad (a new one) just hurt my back two days ago and I'm not a happy camper at this moment. He got a new "drop" table and just clobbered me - guess he didn't know how to use it and didn't know how to assess how much pressure to use and learned that lesson on me. Thank God I don't have osteoporosis, he would have ripped right through me. Be careful. Just like there are good and bad OB's...there are good and bad chiropractors. Start your research with chiros that are referred to you by people you know who have had good results.

[marymom]

I cannot say enough about regular chiropractic adjustments, I was told by the "specialists" NOT to do chiro, I was told by them to do surgery, We did NOT do surgery we did chiro, several months later we were told Max no longer needed surgery.
There is not a surgeon who calls himself a BPI expert that doesnt have patients who are unhappy with a surgery and who claim that the surgeon screwed them up more, it is the same thing with chiropractors, some more than others, same with surgeons, some have more dissatisfied patients than others. I can assure you there isnt one "specialist" or any surgery that I havent also heard bad things about.
There are alot of people affected with BPI who claim very good benefits from chiro adjustments, I was so scared because of the stuff I read on this board and the crap the doctors said, to even take my baby to a chiropractor that I didnt ...against my family's advice, for the first 4 months, then I realized, if I am going to consider taking my child to someone who might suggest cutting him open and putting him under anesthesia I can certainly risk a chiropractor. I swallowed my fear, got on the phone and found a woman doctor who does newborn adjustments on a regular basis, she also does adults but I wanted someone comfortable with babies, so I asked.(Not that a woman is better than a man, that just happens to be who we found)
That is what we did and we have very good results,
blessings on your path, mary
ps, the type of chiro we do can be found at http://www.activator.com but I have heard about good results from more traditional chiros also,

[Missy]

Marymom,

I take great offence to your words about surgery. You said, and I quote "if I am going to consider taking my child to someone who might suggest cutting him open and putting him under anesthesia I can certainly risk a chiropractor".

You need to think about how your words are going to sound when they come out. Your statement above provides such horrific imagery for those of us as parents whoes children have had surgery. Would you like it if the "non-chiro parents" said horrible things about chiropractic treatments?

Why are you so negative about surgery if it doesn't even pertain to you? I know you want to get the word out about alternative treatments, and I respect that, but there is a way to get your message across in a more positive way.

I often think that you start conterversial topics and post things in a negative way to "stir up the pot". I wonder if you like lighting fires under our butts to see what kind of response you are going to create.

It's kind of sad, Marymom, that you put yourself in this light because it only make you look close-minded and disrepectful.

As I've said before, you expect respect from the likes of everyone here (and it is given to you), yet you fail to exhibit respect to the rest of us. It's time you start reciprocating.

Missy

[marymom]

I am not anti surgery, I feel that often, if the parents should decide to, that other treatments instead of or in addition to surgery, can promote recovery-~*~*~*~especially chiropractic~*~*~*~I am sharing my perspective,insight and experience in hopes that it will be of help and support to others.
I agree with Missy that respect is important.
Missy I think your post says more about yourself than me.
mom@bellsouth.net

[Missy]

Mary,

What does my post say about me? I'm really curious to know.

Missy