When you have a child that is on the autism spectrum, you likely find yourself constantly looking for new ways that you can help or support them in the management of their health and well-being. Oftentimes, taking a multi-pronged approach to managing autism is best as it can help with a variety of mental, emotional, and physical health issues that can arise with autism. One of the areas of care that you might not have considered yet is chiropractic care. There are a number of ways that chiropractic care can help your child with their autism spectrum disorder. Learn some of those benefits of chiropractic care, and you can decide whether a trip to the chiropractor would be right for your child.
Chiropractic Care Can Help with Gastrointestinal Issues
One of the things that many parents of children with autism do not realize is that gastrointestinal disorders can be quite prevalent in children on the autism spectrum. In fact, gastrointestinal problems are eight times more likely to occur in children with autism than in those without the condition. Some of the issues that your child could face include stomach and other abdominal pain, issues with constipation, and even more serious problems like inflammation in the digestive tract. Children with autism may also have heartburn more often than other children of the same age.
Chiropractic care could potentially help with those gastrointestinal issues that your child may be facing. Sometimes, the problems your child is dealing with in their gastrointestinal tract can be traced back to a problem in the spine. The nerves that connect throughout the body all eventually connect to the major nerves in the spinal column. These spinal nerves connect directly to the brain, allowing the brain to send signals throughout the body to the various systems.
If the spine is out of alignment, there could be significant pressure placed on those spinal nerves, and they may not be able to function properly. This could result in missed signals from the brain or from the bodily systems back to the brain, causing disruptions in the way that system functions.
If you take your child to the chiropractor and they determine through x-rays and other examinations that your child does have a misalignment in their spine, they will then use various spinal manipulation techniques to get the spine realigned. Doing so can relieve your child's gastrointestinal discomfort and even help with constipation.
Chiropractic Care Can Help with Stress Relief
Children with autism often have a low threshold for dealing with stress. Stress, whether it be from too much noise or other forms of sensory overload, can be very challenging for your child to handle. And relieving that stress can be equally difficult. This chronic stress and tension can be detrimental to your child. Taking them to the chiropractor regularly can help with that situation.
When people get chiropractic adjustments, one of the main benefits they often report is increased relaxation and decreased experiences of stress and worry. If your child goes to the chiropractor on a weekly or biweekly basis, they will get periodic stress relief and will be better able to relax in the hours and days to come. This can help to give them more emotional stability and balance, and just make your child feel better overall.
Now that you know some of the ways that chiropractic care can help your child with autism, you can schedule their first chiropractic appointment as soon as possible.
