When it comes to ensuring the well-being of your kids and families, you may think of maintaining a balanced diet, regular exercise, and managing stress. And those are all great goals! However, there’s a massively effective, yet simple, approach that could help change the way you understand and care for your child’s health – nervous system regulation. 

If you have tried various health interventions (you’re doing amazing) for your child but still struggle with issues like sleep, mood imbalances, and energy levels – this is for you. Nervous system regulation is a transformative way to enhance overall well-being for your child … and you!

Understanding Nervous System Regulation

Nervous system regulation ensures the body functions properly, maintaining balance and stability. Dysregulation occurs when stress (or what we call subluxation) overwhelms the nervous system, impacting sleep, digestion, and energy. Signs such as sleep disturbances, mood swings, and energy fluctuations indicate a dysregulated nervous system. 

The autonomic nervous system governs body systems, with the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches managing stress and relaxation, respectively. The vagus nerve, crucial for rest, repair, and regulation, plays a pivotal role. Damage to this nerve can hinder the nervous system’s ability to stay balanced. 

Things like a stressful pregnancy, birth trauma (c-section, vacuum, forceps) or tough life experiences can kick this off. Nervous system dysfunction in children manifests as difficulty nursing, colic, and developmental delays. As they grow, issues like chronic ear infections, immune challenges, and emotional struggles emerge. This “Perfect Storm” can lead to sensory, ADHD, and spectrum-like challenges in kids. 

The Power of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic and Nervous System Regulation

So parents, imagine a health hack that doesn’t involve extreme measures. Nervous system regulation, achievable in just 3-5 minutes, is the answer. Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care specializes in restoring optimal function and balance to your child’s nervous system. It doesn’t aim to treat symptoms but addresses the root causes, leading to remarkable improvements in your child’s quality of life. 

A well-functioning nervous system is vital, influencing development from childhood to adulthood. If the nervous system isn’t regulated properly, it will certainly impact your child’s quality of life. Neurologically-Focused Chiropractors at Rochester Chiropractic and Wellness offer natural, drug-free solutions. 

We aim to restore optimal function of your child’s nervous system, focusing on the central and autonomic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve. Unlike traditional approaches, we don’t just treat symptoms; we tackle the root causes of subluxation, dysautonomia, and vagus nerve dysfunction.  Quality of life should improve as neurological healing accelerates. 

If you’re ready to explore the potential of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care for your child, please reach out to Rochester Chiropractic and Wellness today to schedule an appointment. If you are not local to us, check out the PX Docs directory to find an office located near you.  Get started on the journey today toward unlocking the positive health advantages of regulating your child’s nervous system!

Hey parents, we want to talk about sleep today… or should we say lack of sleep. Let’s discuss the importance of sleep for you and your child’s health and well-being. Sleep is crucial for the immune, digestive, and cognitive systems. It impacts your kids social-emotional maturation and development. It is alarming to know that almost 50% of us have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Not enough people are talking about this! 

Lack of sleep causes irritability, difficulty focusing, and decreased energy levels. These challenges are even more severe for children as their brain is still developing and learning to regulate emotions, focus, and behavior.

Did you know that the brain builds more neurons and connections during sleep in the first couple of years of life than later in life? 

During sleep, the brain repairs, recharges, and prepares for the next day. It’s essential for brain development and learning. Unfortunately, it’s common to see parents and children struggling with exhaustion. Leading to unhealthy habits like excessive caffeine consumption in adults and behavior struggles in kids.

As neurologically-focused chiropractors, we prioritize improving the sleep quality of our patients. We must address sleep as a primary concern. That’s why the popular tagline, “America runs on Dunkin,” is concerning. It’s exposing a significant problem with our culture’s addiction to caffeine because we aren’t getting enough sleep!

We need to prioritize healthy sleep habits for our children and teenagers too. They need it most during this time of brain development and learning.

So what we want to do is help you get to the root cause of your family’s sleep challenges. This information is relevant to families with infants, little ones, grade schoolers, teenagers. Even for you, mom and dad, if your sleep is not great either. If you have tried everything from magnesium, melatonin, essential oils, diffusers, probiotics, every white noise machine, and blackout curtains, and are still not able to get your child to sleep. We think that this one thing we’re about to dive into is the missing link.

The Correlation Between Neurological Disorders and Sleep in Kids

Whether we are working with brand new little babies or older kiddos, the very first thing we work on is sleep. We focus on the root cause rather than just treating symptoms. Our obsession is to help your child get a good night’s sleep and, in turn, help them improve their motor planning, speech, behavior, and emotional well-being.

The Root Cause of Sleep Challenges

Lean in with me because we want to explain what may be causing your sleep challenges. And what we can do to help. This may get a bit deep into neurology, but we will keep it simple. Falling asleep and staying asleep both come from the same problem – an overactive, overstressed, overstimulated sympathetic fight or flight nervous system. During the day, it’s normal for our bodies to be on the gas pedal. With the nervous system being a little bit more fight or flighty as we go through our daily activities.

However, as nighttime approaches, our body’s central and autonomic nervous system senses our circadian rhythms, and starts to activate what’s called the parasympathetic system. This is nicknamed the rest, sleep, and digestion side of the nervous system. It’s the opposite of the fight or flight system. The parasympathetic nervous system helps us wind down and prepare for restful sleep.

Unfortunately, when children experience early life stressors such as birth interventions like forceps, vacuum extraction, C-sections, or induction, they may experience physical trauma to the nerves and muscles in the brainstem and upper cervical spine. This area of the body houses and protects a very important nerve called the vagus nerve, which is in charge of rest and digest functions.

The vagus nerve branches from the brainstem area, makes its way through the neck and into the thorax, and helps calm our heart rate and respiration, as well as activate digestion. It also goes into our social, emotional, and cognitive functions, slowing the brain down when it’s activated. If the vagus nerve is not functioning properly, you may struggle to shut your brain and body down, causing restlessness and difficulty sleeping.

This is a sign of vagus nerve dysfunction, also known as subluxation. This is simply our chiropractic term for stress stuck on the brake pedal with the vagus nerve shut down. We frequently see this in children who have suffered physical trauma to the upper neck at birth or in accidents. As well as anyone at any age that experiences constant pressure and tension on their neck and shoulders. Due to activities such as looking down at their phone or working on a computer for extended periods of time.

This issue, commonly referred to as “tech neck,” is a major contributing factor to why the nervous system may become stuck on sympathetic fight or flight overdrive. Preventing the brake pedal (parasympathetic nervous system) from functioning properly.

How Can Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Help?

As chiropractors focused on neurological care, we prioritize the consultation and case history to understand your challenges better. From colic to sleep issues to sensory and behavioral challenges, we recognize that these issues often stem from an overactive sympathetic fight or flight system and a vagus nerve brake pedal shutdown. 

These issues can lead to cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and brain-based challenges.

At the core of our care is our unique approach to adjustments. We like to call them neuro-tonal adjustments. They activate the vagus nerve and the rest and digest system. Our goal in the first week, month, and 100 days of chronic issues is to activate the vagus nerve and restore basic building blocks of health, like sleep.

Our approach to care has led to regular and common improvements in sleep and overall health, as reported by 65% of our patients within the first month. Improvements in sleep lead to improved mood, cognition, gut health, and more. This is especially true for older children with neurological challenges.

We recognize that healing happens in the order in which we get sick. Issues with sleep, digestion, and immunity are all under the control of the nervous system and the vagus nerve. By addressing the sympathetic fight or flight subluxation and reducing stress and noise, we can restore the function of the vagus nerve and the rest and digest system.

If you’ve tried other approaches without success, we believe that neurologically focused chiropractic care may be the missing link for your health. We invite you to learn more about our approach and how it can benefit your child’s health.

Our INSiGHT neurological testing can measure the amount of stress on your or your child’s nervous system, and determine if the vagus nerve is dysfunctional or shut down. This will give you the answers you need to help you get the restful sleep you need.

It’s common for parents and kids to be exhausted and emotional, but it’s not normal. 

Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care is the best solution for sleep challenges. More effective than other natural remedies like magnesium or melatonin. If you’ve tried everything and are still struggling with sleep issues, we encourage you to reach out to our office today.

Getting your child the sleep they need is essential for their overall health and well-being. Once your child is sleeping well, the whole family will benefit from better sleep and improved mood. Please share this information with other families who may be struggling with sleep challenges. We are here to provide hope, answers, and drug-free help.

Parents, if you have a child struggling with ADHD, whether they’re diagnosed or not, whether they’re on medication or not, please know that you are not alone. ADHD affects 6 million kids in the United States. Over 4 million of them are on medication that can have harmful short-term and long-term side effects. 

So, we want to delve into the root causes of ADHD. Including the neurology, chemistry, and physiology behind it, in a way that is easy to understand. This is specifically for parents who do not want to use medications to help their child with ADHD challenges. We nickname our ADHD kiddos “Raging Bulls” because they have a lot of energy and drive, and we absolutely love their personalities. If you resonate with this, then this is perfect for you.

We’ll explore the causes of ADHD and how it can be turned into a superpower for your child. We’ll also talk about the struggles that come with ADHD, such as difficulty with sleep. However, the most important message is that you can turn your child’s ADHD into a superpower without medication.

We want to debunk the outdated medical theories surrounding ADHD and get to the root of the neurology that is causing it. It’s important for parents to understand that once you know what’s really behind ADHD, you can start working on drug-free solutions to balance your child’s nervous system and help them thrive.

The Genetic and Chemical Imbalance Theories

It’s alarming that there is no medical test for ADHD, and yet 6 million children have been diagnosed with it. 4 million are taking dangerous medications based on two scientific theories that both lack evidence. The first theory is the genetic theory, which suggests that ADHD is purely genetic. The second is the chemical imbalance theory. It proposes that certain chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine are out of order, and medications are required for life to correct this imbalance.

This is where Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic comes in. Many people seek out chiropractic care for physical ailments, such as chronic neck or back pain. They may not even know they have ADHD, but will soon discover that a lot of times neurological challenges actually stem from these physical ailments.

Contrary to popular belief, the number one cause of ADHD is not bad genetics or bad chemistry. It’s actually imbalanced neurology.

The True Root Cause – Imbalanced Neurology

Our nervous system has two sides – the gas pedal fight or flight side and the brake pedal parasympathetic side. When the fight or flight side is overstimulated, it can lead to ADHD symptoms like impulsivity, hyperactivity, and emotional dysregulation. This is because ADHD is a subtype that is impulsive or hyperactive in nature. 

However, the other side of the nervous system called the parasympathetic side, is also known as the “brake pedal.” This side of the nervous system is responsible for rest, relaxation, focus, following directions, and emotional control. Unfortunately, for children with ADHD, this side of the nervous system is underactive, and their gas pedal side is overactive.

Early Stressors Affect Neurology

So why does this happen? During the first few years of life, the brain is highly plastic and moldable. If a child experiences a lot of stress during this critical period, it can wreak havoc on the brainstem and nervous system. This stress can begin all the way back to pregnancy, labor, delivery, and birth interventions resulting in birth trauma. Furthermore, if a child experiences early-life stressors such as a lot of antibiotics or challenges, it can shift the neurology and hardwire the brain to be excessively in sympathetic overdrive.

When the nervous system is in this overdrive state, it creates an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are responsible for transmitting messages within the nervous system. This imbalance leads to the classic symptoms of ADHD. 

We’ve discussed neurological differences between the gas and brake pedals of the brain with traditional medical doctors. This phenomenon is not merely a theory but a scientifically-backed explanation for ADHD, anxiety, sensory processing disorders, and other related conditions. 

While chemical imbalances are present in these cases, they are not the root cause but rather a secondary effect. The chemicals involved are meant to regulate the nervous system, and respond to stimuli with either a fight or flight response. In the case of individuals with ADHD, their nervous system is wired to respond with an excessive urge to move, talk, or engage in risky behaviors. This is where the neurotransmitters come into play – responding to the nervous system’s signals. 

Therefore, while the chemical imbalance theory is not inaccurate, it is incomplete as it fails to address the underlying neurological differences that lead to these behaviors.

Air Traffic Control – The Autonomic Nervous System

There is something deeper, the true root cause of these chemical imbalances in children lies in an imbalance in the central or autonomic nervous system. The root cause is often caused by early stressors a child experiences. While genetics may play a small role, the stressful and toxic environment we live in today affects our children earlier than ever before. Leading to what we call the Perfect Storm theory.

But here’s the good news: by rebalancing and restoring function to the nervous system, we can address the true root cause of these imbalances using neurologically-focused chiropractic care. By focusing on the central nervous system, we can reactivate and wake up the “brake pedal” side of the nervous system. The side that is responsible for calming and regulating the body.

We have trained using a unique set of care protocols for children with neurological challenges, regardless of their specific diagnosis. The interest is not simply in treating or curing ADHD; our focus is on addressing the cause of the symptoms. We do this by using an adjusting protocol system that activates the parasympathetic side of the nervous system. This helps with concentration and calming.

The length and frequency of our neurologically focused chiropractic care plan depends on the severity and duration of a child’s nervous system challenges. We work with each family to create a customized care plan to help achieve optimal nervous system function.
In order for your child’s brain and nervous system to calm down and function at their best, this care plan is necessary. It is commonly known as neurologically focused restoration chiropractic care. If your child is struggling in school with failing grades, a fried brain, and an inability to concentrate or sleep, and ADHD seems to be getting the better of them – there is HOPE. Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic care can turn their ADHD into a superpower. 

We believe that every child with ADHD has so much potential. They possess a unique brain and drive that when properly harnessed, can be a superpower.

The world needs more raging bulls. But for those kids who are always on the go, it’s important that they have the ability to slow down and take corners more smoothly when needed. 

Chiropractic care is a drug-free option that addresses the root cause of your child’s ADHD. By activating their brake pedal system, we can regulate their chemistry, physiology, and overall body function. It’s a transformative approach that can help children of any age and severity.

It’s frustrating that traditional medicine often lacks a complete understanding of the chemical theory behind ADHD. And doesn’t offer a test for it. At our offices, we believe in providing measurable results, and our ADHD test does just that.

If you’re ready to take the next step, please give our office a call! If you’re not local to our office, check out our directory and find a PX Doc local to you. Your child deserves to reach their full potential. This can be achieved without relying on medication and looking forward to a brighter future. We’re always here to support you and your child on their journey toward success.