WElcome TO
Explore our blog that focuses on holistic care for any and all ages - pediatric well-being, pre/post-natal health, and adult vitality.
THE BLOG
Becoming a mother is one of the most transformative experiences in life. It is filled with excitement, anticipation, and a fair share of uncertainty. As you prepare to welcome your little one, the first crucial step is assembling the right prenatal team. The professionals you choose to support you through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum play a significant role in your health and well-being. As well as that of your baby. Here’s why finding the right providers is essential.
The Importance of a Supportive Prenatal Team
Your prenatal team is your support system. Guiding you through the physical and emotional changes of preconception, pregnancy, birth, and beyond. Here are a few reasons why choosing the right providers is so important:
- Personalized Care: Every pregnancy is unique, and having providers who understand and respect your individual needs and preferences is crucial. Personalized care ensures that you and your baby are receiving the best possible support tailored to your specific circumstances.
- Emotional Support: Pregnancy and childbirth can be emotionally challenging. Surrounding yourself with a team that offers empathy, reassurance, and encouragement can significantly improve your experience.
- Aligned Vision: It’s essential to have providers who support your vision for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Whether you’re planning a home birth, VBAC, hospital delivery, or considering other options, having a team that respects and advocates for your choices is empowering and vital to have the birth of your dreams.
If you are already a patient at RCW, then you know how important having mom’s nervous system regulated is for baby’s development! Once our nervous systems are functioning and adapting the way they were designed to, it’s time to build our dream birth team! At RCW, we have teamed up with some of our favorite birth providers in the Rochester area!
Let’s Change the Narrative
In a world that is full of intimidating diagnoses, politically-driven agendas, judgy mom groups, social media, trigger warnings left and right, and the Target checkout lady saying “sleep while you can,” it’s so hard to know where to turn to for advice when you find out that you’re pregnant.
What if we started looking at the pregnancy journey and the motherhood transition a little differently than our society does? It starts with who and what we surround ourselves with. Today’s world is muddled with materials, opinions, and options when it comes to pregnancy. So who we choose to be in our circle is most important. Have you ever heard the saying, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with?”. Who you choose to be around and listen to are the people who have the most influence in your life. And at a time when you are most vulnerable, keep your birth team and circle tight. Have a circle that supports, empowers, and encourages you in all your choices during your pregnancy.
Building the right prenatal team is an investment in your well-being and that of your child. By choosing providers who respect and support your vision for birth and postpartum and by incorporating neurologically-focused chiropractic care into your plan, you’re setting the stage for a healthier, more empowered pregnancy journey.
Don’t Know If Your Nervous System Is Regulated For or During Pregnancy? Get a Neurological INSiGHT Scan ⬇️
To ensure that your nervous system is in the best possible shape during this critical time, consider getting a neurological INSiGHT scan. This advanced technology provides a detailed look at how your nervous system is functioning and adapting to the changes of pregnancy. OR when preparing for pregnancy, for both mom and dad. It’s a valuable tool for creating a personalized plan that supports both your health and the health of your baby.
Schedule your neurological INSiGHT scan today and take the first step towards a healthier pregnancy and beyond. Your journey to motherhood deserves the best support possible.
Parents, we see you. We understand the journey you’ve been on, trying to help your child overcome chronic health issues. It’s a path filled with hope, disappointment, determination, and, often, sheer frustration. You’ve consulted countless doctors, explored various therapies, changed diets, and tried natural remedies. Perhaps you’ve even traveled across the country or internationally, seeking that one specialist or treatment that might make all the difference.
The emotional and financial toll is immense. You’ve likely spent thousands on insurance deductibles, copays, vitamins, supplements, and therapies. Sleepless nights have become the norm as you research the next potential solution. It’s more than exhausting – it’s all-consuming.
But what if we told you that the answer isn’t about trying MORE, but about doing things in the right order? We want to dive into why your child might not be healing despite your best efforts and reveal a “hidden in plain sight” missing link in most treatment approaches.
The Alarming Reality of Childhood Chronic Illness
First, let’s look at some sobering statistics that highlight the magnitude of the problem we’re facing:
- Chronic illness affects approximately 27% of children in the United States – that’s more than 1 in 4 kids.
- 1 in 6 children have sensory issues.
- Autism rates have skyrocketed to 1 in 36 children.
- ADHD affects about 9.4% of children.
- Childhood anxiety disorders impact 7.1% of children aged 3-17.
These numbers are staggering, and they’re only increasing. It’s clear that something is missing in our approach to children’s health. The traditional medical model often falls short when it comes to addressing chronic conditions in children. It tends to focus on managing symptoms rather than addressing root causes.
The Missing Piece: Understanding the Nervous System
Here’s what many parents and even some health professionals overlook: everything starts with the nervous system. Your child’s nervous system develops first in-utero and controls every other bodily function. It’s the master control center for sleep, digestion, immune function, and even behavior.
Many children experience what we call the “Perfect Storm” – a series of stressors early in life that can derail their neurodevelopment:
- Stress during pregnancy: This could be physical stress, emotional stress, or exposure to toxins.
- Birth interventions or trauma: Things like forceps, vacuum extraction, induction, or C-section can put stress on a baby’s nervous system.
- Early exposure to antibiotics and other toxins: Whether through medical procedures, food, or environmental factors, these can disrupt the developing nervous system and microbiome.
When the nervous system is thrown off track and becomes dysregulated, it can lead to a cascade of health issues. This is why children with one condition often struggle with multiple symptoms across different body systems.
The Domino Effect of Nervous System Dysregulation
Think of your child’s nervous system like the conductor of an orchestra. When the conductor is off-beat, the entire performance suffers. Similarly, when the nervous system is dysregulated, it can affect:
- Sleep patterns: Leading to difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting restful sleep.
- Digestion: Causing issues like constipation, diarrhea, or food sensitivities.
- Immune function: Resulting in frequent illnesses or autoimmune issues.
- Behavior and mood: Leading to anxiety, irritability, or difficulty with emotional regulation.
- Sensory processing: Causing over- or under-sensitivity to stimuli.
- Motor skills: Affecting coordination and fine motor development.
You’ve likely explored many avenues of healing – and that’s commendable. Focusing on gut health, microbiome, inflammation, and immune system is important. But there’s one layer deeper we need to address: Nervous System Dysregulation.
When the nervous system is out of balance, it affects everything else. It can disrupt gut function, immune response, and even motor coordination. By addressing nervous system dysregulation first, we create a foundation for all other healing to occur more effectively.
Think of it like building a house. No matter how beautiful the walls, roof, and interior design are, if the foundation is shaky, the entire structure is at risk. Your child’s nervous system is that foundation.
A New Approach: Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care
For many families struggling with chronic illness, the real missing link could be addressing nervous system dysregulation with Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care.
This approach can lead to improvements across multiple areas of health simultaneously. Parents often report:
- Better sleep
- Improved digestion
- Stronger immune response
- Easier transitions
- Better mood and behavior regulation
- Sensory processing improvements
If you’re feeling stuck and frustrated with your child’s healing journey, it might be time to explore this approach. The best part? At RCW, we use cutting-edge technology called INSiGHT Scans that can help find and pinpoint nervous system dysregulation with incredible accuracy.
We can actually quantify and locate areas of dysregulation within your child’s nervous system, then sit down at what we call our “Report of Findings” visit and show you exactly what’s been holding your child back from optimal healing!
There’s hope, and there are answers. Sometimes, they’re just hiding in plain sight. Don’t let another day go by watching your child struggle. Consider exploring Neurologically-Focused Pediatric Chiropractic Care – it could be the missing piece in your child’s health puzzle.
Take that first step. Give us a call to learn more about how we can assess your child’s nervous system function and create a personalized care plan. Your child deserves to thrive, not just survive. Let’s work together to unlock their full healing potential.
As a parent, there’s nothing more heartbreaking than watching your child suffer from chronic health issues. You’ve tried every diet change, supplement, and therapy out there, but nothing seems to provide a lasting solution. Your child struggles with inflammation, gut problems, sensory overload, and mood swings, and you feel like you’re putting all the pieces together on your own. It’s exhausting, frustrating, and emotionally draining.
But what if we told you that there’s a crucial aspect of your child’s health that may have been overlooked? What if we said that addressing this one factor could be the missing link in your child’s healing journey? Enter nervous system regulation and vagus nerve function.
The Nervous System: Master Controller of the Body
The nervous system is the master controller of the body, coordinating every major system and keeping everything working in harmony. When the nervous system becomes dysregulated and out of balance, it can wreak havoc on your child’s health. Like shutting down and altering gut function, gross motor coordination, immune system function, and inflammation. If your child struggles with sleep, digestion, sensory processing, and behavior issues, it’s time to take a closer look at their nervous system.
Nervous system dysregulation refers to a malfunction or imbalance within the nervous system. It affects its normal functioning and capacity to regulate responses to stimuli, control and coordinate various organ systems, and keep the body working well altogether.
Common signs of nervous system dysregulation in kids include sleep disturbances, gut and stomach problems, frequent respiratory and immune challenges, gross and fine motor problems, sensory overload, and behavior problems such as tantrums and meltdowns.
While some physicians may focus on gluten and dairy sensitivities or toxins, nervous system dysregulation and vagus nerve dysfunction are often overlooked root causes that can’t be ignored. When every other form of traditional and integrative testing has failed to find the root cause of your child’s challenges, it’s almost guaranteed that nervous system dysregulation and subluxation are at play.
Identifying Nervous System Dysregulation and Vagus Nerve Dysfunction
So, how can you find out if your child has nervous system dysregulation and vagus nerve dysfunction? The first place to look is within the “basics” of neurophysiological function. Sleeping, eating, digestion, staying healthy, regulating emotions, and sensory processing abilities. If your child struggles in any of these areas, it’s a red flag that their nervous system may be out of balance.
The next step is to visit us at RCW and have the Neurological INSiGHT Scans run. These scans provide a detailed look “inside” the nervous system, determining how well (or not well) it is functioning and regulated. With this information, we can then create a personalized plan to help your child’s nervous system heal and function optimally.
The Power of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care
Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care is a powerful tool in helping your child’s nervous system regulate and function at its best. By addressing subluxations and restoring proper communication between the brain and the body, chiropractic care can help your child’s body heal from the inside out. It may sound “too good to be true” that one thing can have so many various benefits, but that’s simply how the nervous system works. When it’s functioning optimally, the whole body can thrive.
As a parent, you are your child’s greatest advocate. By educating yourself on the importance of nervous system regulation and vagus nerve function, you’re taking a crucial step in helping your child heal. Don’t give up hope, and know that you’re not alone in this journey. With the right support and guidance, your child can experience the healing they deserve.
It’s time to stop chasing symptoms and trying a new medication or supplement for each and every issue. Instead, let’s address “everything at once” by getting your child’s nervous system regulation and function back in order. By focusing on the root cause of your child’s health challenges, you can help them truly heal from the inside out and get back on track.
Please reach out to us to schedule a consultation with one of our doctors. Your love and dedication to your child’s well-being will make all the difference. Keep learning, keep advocating, and keep believing in your child’s ability to heal!
As parents, we always want the best for our children’s health. If your child struggles with chronic illnesses, you may have turned to traditional medical approaches or even explored biomedical interventions. However, there may be a hidden cause of inflammation that is often overlooked: vagus nerve dysfunction and nervous system dysregulation.
It’s a common saying that “inflammation is the root of all disease”. While it does play a significant role in many chronic illnesses, including those affecting the gut, immune system, brain, and nervous system, it’s not the whole story. Conditions like autism, ADHD, anxiety, and epilepsy have been linked to chronic inflammation, but addressing inflammation alone may not be enough to resolve these issues.
According to recent research, approximately 27% of children in the United States have a chronic condition, and 1 in 15 have multiple chronic conditions. These numbers are on the rise. Indicating that traditional approaches may not be effectively addressing the root causes of these challenges. This is where the role of the nervous system and vagus nerve comes into play.
The Missing Piece: Stress and Nervous System Dysfunction
While traditional and biomedical approaches often focus on diet changes, detoxes, and supplements to combat inflammation, they are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. Chronic stress is a significant contributor to inflammation, even in children. It can lead to dysfunction in the vagus nerve and autonomic nervous system.
The vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in the body, plays a vital role in regulating the parasympathetic “rest and digest” response. When this nerve becomes compromised due to subluxations or interference along its pathway, it can lead to gut and immune system dysfunction, allowing inflammation to run rampant.
The Vagus Nerve-Immune System Connection
Recent scientific findings have revealed a significant connection between the vagus nerve and the immune system. Specifically in the control and regulation of inflammation. When the vagus nerve is functioning properly, it helps to keep inflammation in check. However, when the nerve becomes dysfunctional, the body’s ability to manage inflammation is compromised. Leading to a wide range of chronic health issues.
So, how can you determine if your child’s vagus nerve is stressed and dysfunctional? Neurological INSiGHT Scans, particularly NeuroThermal testing, can detect areas of subluxation, nervous system interference, inflammation, and temperature changes in the spine. Indicating vagus nerve dysfunction and nervous system dysregulation.
Another valuable tool is Heart Rate Variability (HRV) testing, which measures the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This test can reveal dysautonomia and the body’s ability to manage stress and inflammation.
The Path to Healing
If your child is struggling with inflammation-related symptoms, such as immune or autoimmune disorders, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, seizures, or other neuroimmune-related health challenges, it’s time to look beyond just managing symptoms and addressing inflammation through diet changes and supplements.
Balancing the autonomic nervous system and optimizing vagus nerve function is essential for resolving persistent inflammation that does not respond to either traditional or biomedical interventions. By identifying and addressing the root cause of your child’s chronic inflammation and health struggles, you can set them on the path to true healing and wellness.
Once vagus nerve dysfunction has been identified, there are various safe, simple, and gentle adjustments to stimulate and activate this essential part of the nervous system. These methods can help to restore balance and reduce inflammation.
As parents, we want you to be informed about the various factors that contribute to your children’s health challenges. If you suspect that your child may be struggling with vagus nerve dysfunction, consider scheduling a consultation at Rochester Chiropractic and Wellness to identify the underlying issues and start your child’s journey to optimal health. Remember, addressing the root cause of your child’s health challenges is the key to a healthier and more vibrant life for your child!
As a parent, it’s natural to feel concerned and confused when your child experiences gross motor delays. You may have tried everything. From countless physical therapy and occupational therapy sessions to diligently following through with home exercises. Only to see little to no progress. If your child struggles to sit up, crawl, or walk despite months of traditional therapy. Or fatigues easily, slouches constantly, and avoids physical activities altogether, you’re not alone. Many parents find themselves in the same situation, wondering why their child’s gross motor development seems to have plateaued.
But what if we told you that the root cause of your child’s challenges might be something that’s often overlooked? The real issue behind gross motor delays in kids goes way beyond low muscle tone and a weak core.
The Importance of Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are crucial for a child’s overall development and daily activities. These skills involve movements that require the entire body. They primarily utilize the large muscle groups like the arms, legs, and core. However, there’s a set of nerves and muscles that are often left out of the conversation when discussing gross motor skills and development: those of the neck and neurospinal system.
Gross motor development follows a predictable sequence, starting with head and neck control for latching and nursing. As your child grows, they begin to develop trunk control through tummy time and learning to roll over. Next, they start activating their core muscles to sit up independently. From there, your child progresses to army crawling and regular crawling, which are essential for brain development. Finally, they learn to furniture cruise and take their first steps.
The Missing Piece: The Role of the Neurospinal System
While traditional therapies focus on strengthening muscles and improving coordination, they often overlook the critical role of the nervous system. Particularly the neurospinal system in gross motor function. If we want to get to the root cause of any neuromuscular or gross motor challenge, we must first address the “neuro” part. This is where meurologicaly-focused chiropractic care comes in. It can access and improve central nervous system function in a way that PT and OT cannot.
Subluxation and sympathetic dominance, or increased tone, often set up shop in the neck and neurospinal system. These issues are most commonly caused by breech positioning or birth interventions like forceps, vacuum, induction, or c-section. The resulting hyper or high tone will remain stuck in those regions until adjusted and cleared out of the way. In other words, the original cause of “low tone” or a “weak core” is actually tension and subluxation in the neck and neurospinal system.
A Real-Life Example: Joseph’s Story
Let’s talk about Joseph, a 12-year-old boy who sought help with his daily challenges associated with autism, ataxia, and chronic constipation. What caught his doctor’s attention immediately were his significant gross motor delays and struggles.
Joseph’s mom shared, “He will always find a way to slouch, no matter what we do.” Joseph struggled to sit up straight, stand tall, and move around without exhaustion. His body was simultaneously “wound up and worn out”. Leading him to seek additional movement stimulation through constant stimming and other behaviors. As a result, they had stopped all PT and OT and pretty much “given up” that his gross motor function and posture would ever get back to normal.
However, within the very first week of getting neurologically-focused chiropractic care, Joseph’s gross motor function and endurance took off like a rocket. He was asking to go to the gym, work out, hit the treadmill, and go to the park to play! Mom was ecstatic, and so was his doctor.
The Path Forward: Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care
If your child has been struggling with gross motor delays and you feel like you’ve tried everything without lasting results, it’s time to look deeper. Subluxation, excessive sympathetic tone, and the lasting effects of birth trauma could still be at play.
At RCW, we can help you find out how your child’s gross motor function is doing down to the very core by using Neurological INSiGHT Scans, especially the EMG. Once we have the results of these scans, our doctors can create a customized and fully tailored adjusting care plan made just for your child. This approach can help your little one finally get past that plateau or stuck point and get back on track with their gross motor development.
Remember, you’re not alone in this journey. By addressing the root cause of your child’s gross motor delays, you can help them unlock their full potential and thrive. Don’t give up hope – there are solutions available that can make a significant difference in your child’s life and can help your child overcome their gross motor challenges and achieve the milestones they deserve.
Are you a parent who feels like you’ve exhausted all options when it comes to your child’s health? Have you tried conventional medicine only to be disappointed by its focus on symptoms alone rather than causes? Or perhaps you’ve tried numerous natural remedies yet still find something lacking? If any of this resonates with you, please know you’re not alone.
Millions of families share your frustration, seeking answers while feeling trapped in a cycle of doctor visits, therapies, and medications. But what if we told you there’s a really important piece missing from the puzzle? A crucial system in your child’s body that most is often overlooked. One that holds the key to your child’s health and wellness.
So, if you are tired of bandaid solutions and are eager to learn about the underlying causes of your child’s health challenges, read on to learn about the most crucial system in the body – the brain and the central nervous system.
Neurologically-focused pediatric chiropractic care is the key to getting your child’s health back on track. So keep reading to learn all about The Perfect Storm affecting our child’s health and how our drug-free approach aims to reverse it.
Understanding the Nervous System: The Foundation of Health
We go way beyond surface symptoms and dig down to the root cause of each child’s unique challenges. At the center of our approach is the nervous system— a complex network of nerves and cells that serves as the body’s master controller. The nervous system is responsible for coordinating every function, from breathing and digestion to movement and emotional regulation. When this system experiences stress or imbalance, it can present in your child as a multitude of health challenges.
Picture a car stuck in overdrive, revving at full throttle without pause. This is similar to what happens when a child’s nervous system gets stuck in a state of constant stress, known as sympathetic dominance. This prolonged activation of the fight-or-flight response can wreak havoc on your child’s body. Affecting every other system in their body, including:
- Digestive and gut health
- Immune health
- Gross and fine motor development
- Focus, cognition, behavior, and emotional regulation
This non-stop stress mode is what we call subluxation, dysautonomia, and nervous system dysregulation. All of which mean an overstressed and imbalanced nervous system. This overwhelming stress and neurological dysfunction can lead to a wide range of health challenges. Such as colic, ear infections, asthma, allergies, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, and so much more.
Identifying the Triggers
Understanding the triggers that contribute to sympathetic overdrive is important for getting to the root causes of your child’s health challenges. The three most common “Perfect Storm” triggers are:
- Prenatal Stress: high levels of stress, anxiety, and complications during pregnancy
- Birth Trauma: interventions such as forceps, vacuum, induction, and c-section
- Environmental Factors: early exposure to toxins, chemicals, and medications like antibiotics
While genetics, gut health, and nutrition are all essential to your child’s health, addressing the underlying neurological dysfunction is key when addressing chronic health challenges. We need to assess and measure the health and function of the nervous system first and foremost, and that is exactly what we do as neurologically-focused chiropractors.
The Power of INSiGHT Scans and Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care
We use technology called INSiGHT Scans to detect and measure the presence and level of subluxation and dysautonomia in every patient. These noninvasive scans help us find out if subluxation and nervous system dysregulation is present in your child. They also help to measure it and determine its severity and where the tension and imbalance is within the neurospinal system.
Once we have this information, we can create a personalized and individualized care plan for your child tailored to their unique needs. By addressing the root cause, restoring proper nervous system function, and improving regulation, your child can experience lasting improvements in their health and well-being.
At RCW, we specialize in this drug-free, neurologically focused approach to healthcare for the entire family. To learn more about our practice and how we can support your family’s well-being, please reach out to us today!
We are here to help you take charge of your family’s health and prioritize neurological health. Setting the stage for a lifetime of resilience in your children!
