Hello everyone! We’ve had a lot of people call our office recently asking questions about colic. So, we decided to dedicate this week’s article to the topic and address the question “Does chiropractic help colic?”. We’ll describe what colic is and discuss some of the treatment options used in this article.

What is Colic?

According to the Mayo Clinic, your baby may have colic when he/she cries about the same time each day and nothing you do seems to offer comfort. Colic is often defined as crying more than three hours a day, three days a week for more than three weeks in an otherwise well-fed, healthy baby. What is most important for the diagnosis is sustained crying in an otherwise healthy baby for a regular period of the day lasting for several weeks.

Fussing and crying are normal for infants, and a fussy baby doesn’t necessarily have colic. Below are a few symptoms that point to colic. You should look out for these in an otherwise healthy, well-fed, baby:

• Predictable crying episodes. A baby who has colic often cries about the same time every day, usually in the late afternoon or evening. Colic episodes may last from a few minutes to three hours or more on any given day. The crying usually begins suddenly and for no clear reason. Your baby may have a bowel movement or pass gas near the end of the colic episode.
• Intense or inconsolable crying. Colic crying is intense and often high pitched. Your baby’s face may flush, and he or she is extremely difficult — if not impossible — to comfort.
• Posture changes. Curled up legs, clenched fists and tensed abdominal muscles are common during colic episodes.

Treating Colic

We have a lot of patients bring in their baby after seeing their Pediatrician. We find, unfortunately, that parents are often handed prescriptions to give their children drugs to manage colic. In some extreme circumstances, we’ve seen recommendations to use sedatives such as phenobarbital! Fortunately, we are well known in Chicago for providing exceptional care to children. We have been able to successfully help children with colic without the use of drugs. We encourage you to also seek care from a chiropractor in your area to help your child with colic.

Chiropractic and Colic

If the infant has a strong sucking urge after eating, with a seemingly continued need to suckle, parents you ask their chiropractor about cranial care for their infant. Frequently, cranial misalignment causes a distress that is relieved by the sucking mechanism. Bottle feeding should be reduced to a minimum and when absolutely necessary. If bottle-feeding takes less than twenty minutes, a nipple with smaller holes should be tried. Gently massaging the child’s back with soothing oils or placing a warm water bottle on the infant’s stomach may offer relief. Darkening the child’s room and controlling household noise at naptimes may allow for uninterrupted rest.

It is important that your baby gets checked by a chiropractor, colic is just one of the many issues that children go through that can be prevented with chiropractic.

Get Involved

You you have a baby with colic? Did your Pediatrician prescribe drugs to help manage your baby’s colic? Please share you story below!