Explore our blog that focuses on holistic care for any and all ages - pediatric well-being, pre/post-natal health, and adult vitality.
It’s the middle of the night, and you’re jolted awake by your child’s warm forehead and flushed cheeks. Your heart races as you scramble for the thermometer, confirming what you already knew – your child has a fever. Like most parents, your instinct might be to immediately reach for fever-reducing medication. But what if everything we’ve been taught about fevers is actually incomplete or even incorrect?
Did you know that fever-reducing medications might actually prolong illness in some cases? What if that elevated temperature isn’t an enemy to be fought, but an intelligent healing response orchestrated by your child’s brain and nervous system. One that’s actively fighting infection, activating the immune system, and doing a very important job!
Fevers account for approximately one-third of all pediatric office visits in the United States. That’s millions of worried parents rushing their children to doctors each year, often unnecessarily. What’s even more concerning is that many parents administer fever-reducing medication for temperatures below 100.4°F, which isn’t even technically a fever!
A fever is not simply an elevated temperature—it’s a sophisticated response produced by your child’s brain and nervous system. Specifically, the hypothalamus which acts as the body’s thermostat.
When your child’s immune system detects pathogens like viruses or bacteria, it releases chemicals called pyrogens that signal the hypothalamus to raise the body’s temperature via prostaglandins. This creates a controlled, intentional increase in temperature that’s quite different from dangerous overheating that occurs in conditions like heat stroke.
From a neurological perspective, a fever is actually a sign that your child’s nervous system is regulating properly, actively coordinating a complex immune response to eliminate pathogens and restore health.
Here’s what’s happening when your child has a fever:
A child’s fever patterns—whether they spike high fevers easily, struggle to develop fevers when fighting infections, have prolonged low-grade fevers, or never develop a fever when they should—often indicate there might be dysfunction within their neuro-immune system.
If your child’s fever response is consistently excessive OR suppressive, it could be a sign of underlying nervous system dysfunction, sometimes triggered by early life factors like:
These can disrupt proper neurological development and affect how a child’s body mounts fever responses.
While fevers are generally beneficial, certain situations require professional care:
Watch for accompanying signs like lethargy, difficulty breathing, severe headache with neck stiffness, refusal to drink leading to dehydration, or a rash that doesn’t fade when pressed.
Remember that even when medical intervention is necessary, this doesn’t invalidate the premise that fevers themselves are beneficial. The goal is to approach them with understanding while recognizing situations that truly require attention.
Instead of immediately reaching for medication, consider these supportive approaches:
From a neurological perspective, these supportive measures create an optimal environment for the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system to function properly, leading to more effective fever patterns and faster recovery.
At RCW, we understand fevers from a natural and neurological perspective that transforms how we approach this common childhood experience. Rather than fearing fevers, we can recognize them as evidence of a well-functioning neuroimmune system organizing an intelligent healing response.
If you are ready to schedule a consultation, please reach out to us today!
When we support rather than suppress this process, we honor the body’s innate wisdom and help our children develop resilient, self-regulating immune systems!
Motherhood is an excessive amount of responsibilities, from caring for our children to managing household chores, work commitments, and more. It often feels like there needs to be more hours in the day to accomplish everything on our to-do lists. With carpool lines, meal prepping, loads of laundry, and trying to keep all of the kids accounted for, it’s easy for moms to neglect their own well-being leading to exhaustion and burnout. Although motherhood is literally the best job in the world, it can also sometimes feel like the hardest, too. This season is full of joy, and it is very rewarding but can get lonely at times. This is why we created this little “survival guide” to help ease those tough days. To remind you to give yourself grace. That you are the best mother for your child. AND to give you some practical tips to help your overall health and wellbeing.
As mothers, our bodies undergo significant changes, both physically and mentally. Due to frequent hormonal changes, sympathetic overdrive, and exhaustion, we need to do all we can to support our bodies through motherhood. One key contributor to exhaustion is adrenal fatigue, a condition where the adrenal glands become overworked due to chronic stress. This constant state of heightened stress can lead to feelings of anxiety and overwhelm as our nervous system gets stuck in fight-or-flight mode.
Moreover, the lack of quality sleep exacerbates the problem, leaving us reliant on caffeine to get through the day. Unfortunately, coffee, energy drinks, and other caffeine only act as band-aids. Forcing us as moms to never get out of this cycle and help the root cause, which is helping our nervous system become more adaptable to all of this stress!
So, how can we navigate motherhood with resilience and adaptability? It starts with prioritizing self-care and making small but impactful changes to our daily routines. Here are some tips to help you thrive:
This should be the first step! The above suggestions are very important, but most of them won’t make a major impact unless our nervous systems are rested and regulated FIRST. So what does this mean? First, let’s go over the two parts of our nervous system. The Parasympathetic Nervous System (the brake pedal) and the Sympathetic Nervous System (the gas pedal). Each part is equally important! The goal is to have fluidity between the two. If you need to be in go mode, chasing after your child, you want the gas pedal on! But once they start to calm down, your nervous system should be able to recognize this and enter a rested and relaxed state as well. Most of us as moms are stuck in sympathetic dominance. This means that even when our children are safe, our body is stuck in stress mode. When we are chronically stuck in this state, exhaustion really settles in, and motherhood challenges become physical fast.
If you’re struggling to find balance in motherhood, consider exploring neurologically-focused chiropractic care. By being on a care plan that is customized to your “mom exhaustion,” your nervous system will be able to find the balance between the gas vs brake. It will strive for resiliency and adaptability to all that comes with being an amazing mom!
So, how do you start?! Our cutting-edge technology, called the CLA INSiGHT Scan, assesses your nervous system’s function. It shows us exactly what is going on within your brain and body and can pinpoint that mom exhaustion! Take the first step towards a healthier, happier you by scheduling a nervous system scan today.
Let us tell you about our awesome friend, Alyssa, and we’ll look at one of her Neurological INSiGHT Scans.
About three months after giving birth, Alyssa threw out her back. She thought it would just resolve over time, but instead, the pain she was experiencing was not decreasing and, in fact, was increasing rapidly. Alyssa was at the point where she was barely able to move off the couch, let alone care for her newborn baby.
When she saw her scans, Alyssa was really shocked and immediately a little disappointed. She was expecting everything to be lit up like a red Christmas tree! But there wasn’t a lot lit up at all. She immediately felt hopeless and like she was “unhelpable.” BUT then we explained to her that her body was so exhausted from the pain and the neurological state of the “gas pedal” that it was in shutdown mode! The scan wasn’t lit up because it was exhausted!!
Surprisingly, pain relief wasn’t the first sign that Alyssa’s care plan was working. Instead, she noticed that she was finally able to sleep! She had always struggled with sleep and had never been able to fall asleep or stay asleep. She also noticed that her anxiety was no longer affecting her everyday life. AND finally her back pain began to diminish!
Here is Alyssa’s first EMG scan! The yellow in Alyssa’s neurological scans indicated exhaustion in her body after being stuck on sympathetic ‘stress mode’ for too long.
Alyssa’s life has looked different in many ways since starting. She is completely off all anxiety meds, has less and less pain every day, and has been able to achieve her initial goal – PLAY ON THE FLOOR WITH HER BABY. Alyssa said that she loves having a provider team that believes in her and feels more empowered to advocate for herself and her family.
Motherhood is the most extraordinary club to be a part of, but it is also just straight-up HARD sometimes. We hope that we can help you find the hope, answers, and drug-free help that you have been searching for. For not only your sweet kiddos and family but FOR YOU too!
As an expecting parent, you’re likely surrounded by advice about baby registries, prenatal yoga classes, folate supplements, and which stroller to buy. While all these preparations are important and exciting, there’s something even more fundamental that deserves your attention first: your nervous system. In America, we’re often encouraged to focus on the material aspects of pregnancy preparation, but the health of your nervous system should be your #1 priority.
Why? Because your nervous system controls every cell, tissue, and organ in your body, it directly impacts your baby’s development, too.
Did you know that your baby’s nervous system begins developing just 3-4 weeks after conception? That’s often before many women even realize they’re pregnant! This early nervous system development sets the foundation for everything else—from organ development to immune system function.
But here’s what’s truly fascinating: the umbilical cord isn’t just delivering nutrients and oxygen to your baby. It’s essentially the power cord connecting your nervous systems. This means:
Today’s pregnant mothers face more sustained, chronic stress than ever before. Between work demands, family responsibilities, financial pressures, and even the constant monitoring and testing of traditional prenatal care, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
This sustained stress can shift both you and your baby into what we call “sympathetic dominance”—essentially a state of constant fight-or-flight. When your body stays in this stressed state, it can affect:
Let us share a story that might resonate with you. Gabriella came to our office around 30 weeks pregnant, initially because she had experienced some falls. Her scans showed what we often see—her nervous system was stuck in “fight or flight” mode, leaving her exhausted and overwhelmed.
“I instantly regretted not starting sooner,” Gabriella told us about beginning care. After getting her nervous system checked and starting a personalized care plan, she experienced dramatic improvements. Not only did her physical pain decrease, but her mood swings, anxiety, and energy levels changed significantly.
In her own words: “My anxiety, depression, brain fog, and back pain have improved so much… I wake up energized and ready to start my hectic days, when before I dragged my feet. Overall it has been such a blessing.”
The good news is that we now have technology that can measure nervous system function. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) scans show us exactly how your nervous system is handling stress and where you might be stuck in fight-or-flight mode.
These non-invasive scans allow us to create personalized care plans specific to your needs and your baby’s development stage. Think of it as a window into how your body is handling the stress of pregnancy—and a roadmap for bringing things back into balance.
Specific adjustments can help activate your vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system—your body’s “rest and digest” mode. This helps shift your body out of stress mode and into a state of healing and optimal development.
Regular care helps maintain this balance throughout your pregnancy journey, providing benefits such as:
Just like Gabriella discovered, pregnancy doesn’t have to be nine months of stress and anxiety. You have the power to transform your pregnancy experience and optimize your baby’s development through understanding and caring for your nervous system.
The first step is getting your nervous system checked with advanced HRV technology. This simple, non-invasive scan can tell us exactly what’s happening with your nervous system and help create a personalized care plan for you and your baby.
Don’t wait until you’re exhausted and overwhelmed like so many parents do. Imagine waking up with energy, feeling connected to your baby, and actually enjoying your pregnancy instead of just surviving it.
Remember what Gabriella said: “Never would have thought chiropractic care would make such a huge impact on me and my family’s lives.” Your transformation story can start today.
If you’re pregnant or planning to be in the future, don’t wait to reach out to RCW to schedule a consultation and Neurological INSiGHT Scan.
Your baby experiences everything you experience. By focusing on your nervous system health, you’re giving your baby the best possible start in life—beginning before they even take their first breath.