Chiropractic for a Good Night’s Sleep

Chiropractic for a Good Night’s Sleep

Common sense tells us that a good night’s sleep contributes to good health. The evident statistics strongly support this conventional wisdom.

Insomnia in adults has an estimated cost of 14 billion dollars each year in the United States. The exact financial cost of sleep disorders in children is less clear, but new research suggests that pediatric sleep disorders contribute to attention deficit, hyperactivity, mood disturbances, and memory problems.

Last year, an international team of chiropractic researchers reported the case of a 3-year-old child with sleep dysfunction. He snored very loudly and had frequent episodes of breath cessation during the night.

He also woke up suddenly many times each night. The chiropractor who examined him found signs of misalignment and restriction (subluxation) in parts of the spine such as the upper cervical region (upper neck), mid-thoracic (between the shoulder blades), and in the lumbar area (lower back). There was also asymmetry in the alignment of some of the skull bones.

He received gentle chiropractic adjustments three times a week for three weeks to correct these subluxations, and then twice a week the following week. After this month of chiropractic care, the mother reported that the child no longer snored or had episodes of breath cessation.He slept through the night without waking up suddenly.

This case is very similar to one presented by an Australian chiropractor over a decade ago. A child aged 4 to 12 months was waking up seven to eight times each night.

After a chiropractic adjustment to correct the upper cervical and mid-thoracic subluxations, he slept peacefully for seven hours. At the six-month follow-up, the mother described her child as a healthy boy with normal sleep habits.

Many parents of children with sleep disorders are undoubtedly seeking alternatives to pharmaceuticals. While reports on individual cases are not, of course, “the final word” in the field of research, it is important to note that there is currently a body of evidence indicating that chiropractic adjustments may help children with sleep issues.

By Charles Masarsky, DC, FICC