Colic is a condition affecting infants that is characterized by inconsolable crying for greater than three hours per day, three days per week, three weeks or more. It is usually due to pain in the digestive tract. Even though the condition is benign, for parents and care-givers, taking care of a colicky child can be extremely exhausting.

The good news is that studies show chiropractic as a viable and holistic approach to treatment. A 1999 randomized controlled trial in Denmark tested 2 groups of colicky infants. Half received chiropractic care, the other half a drug (dimethicone).

The hours the children spent crying were tracked in a diary. By day four, crying had decreased by one hour in the medicated babies, but something amazing happened in the chiropractic group - time spent crying had decreased by almost two and a half times that of the medicated group!

Throughout the trial, chiropractic care proved to be more effective than drugs in reducing crying due to colic. A 1989 study surveyed 73 chiropractors who had adjusted 316 infants for moderate to severe colic. Within 2 weeks of their starting care, 94% of the children showed improvement, according to their mothers.

Is your child or someone that you know suffering with colic? If so, get their spine evaluated by your Kennesaw chiropractor today!

Klougart, N., N. Nilsson, and J. Jacobsen.1989. Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 12:281-88.

Wiberg, J.M.M., J. Norsteen, and N. Nilsson. 1999. The short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic: a randomized clinical trial with a blinded observer. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics: 22(8):517-22.