Infantile Colic

Infantile colic is the term commonly used to describe persistent and most often violent crying for no apparent reason in otherwise healthy and thriving young infants. Accompanied with crying, babies often bend their knees to their stomachs and arch their backs and heads backward.

Colic often occurs in most cases at 1-4 weeks of age and most often the symptoms spontaneously end at 3-4 months old. However, this is not always the case and the colic can obviously become distressing and depressing for both infant and parents.

How common is colic?

If your baby experiences colic, he or she shares the problem with almost 20% of all infants. This means that you are not alone in experiencing sleepless nights and irritable, inconsolable infants but chiropractic treatment can help to improve the symptoms of colic.

What causes colic?

There is no single cause of colic in young infants. Birth and early infancy can sometimes be a very difficult and traumatic time for both mother and baby. During the eighth month of pregnancy, the baby’s head has usually become engaged. This can cause a lot of stress on the baby’s head and back as it continues to move within the womb. This stress can increase more during the actual birth process.

Obviously, these stresses increase with prolonged labour or if the baby is in breech presentation. Forceps delivery, vantouse suction and caesarean sections can also add to the stresses.

These stresses and injuries can result in the tightening of muscles in the infant’s spinal column which can cause the vertebrae to lose theirnormal motion. This can turn irritate or put stress onto the nerve roots that branch out from the spinal cord which supply the various organs and tissues of the body.

In babies and infants, this may contribute to a number of symptoms including;

-         Colic

-         Sleep and feeding problems

-         Breathing difficulties

-         Hyperactivity

-         Bedwetting

-         Frequent infections e.g. ear, throat.

What are the symptoms of colic?

Colic symptoms include one or more of the following:

-         Infants aged between 2-52 weeks

-         The infant will have at least one violent crying spell per day lasting at least 1 ½ hours and occurring at least 5 out of 7 days

-         Frequent knee bending to their stomach

-         Arching of the head and back

-         During colicky spells, the infant cannot be comforted by cradling, feeding or nappy changing.

-         Apart from colic, the infant should be otherwise healthy.

How can chiropractic help?

When you visit the chiropractor with your baby, a thorough medical case history will be taken. A question about the length of pregnancy and labour, along with the infant’s scoring and height and weight will also be asked. Feeding and ease of winding are also relevant details needed. Standard neurological and orthopaedic tests are then conducted to determine whether spinal motion is normal.

The mother’s and/or father’s participation is needed during these tests so that the undresses (apart form the nappy!) infant feels secure and can be reassured that everything is alright.

Treatment normally consists of very gentle adjustments to the infant’s spine on areas which are not functioning or moving properly. The chiropractor usually performs these adjustments with the infant lying on the parents lap and applies the impulse with one finger to either the neck, mid-back or pelvis.

Massage is also used and demonstrated to the parents so that you can comfort the infant at home. Normally, the treatment does not trouble the infant to any major degree although he or she may whimper slightly during or after the treatment. In a recent survey, carried out in Denmark, 316 infants suffering from colic were treated with chiropractic manipulative therapy and a 94% improvement was noted to symptoms within a 2-week treatment period.

Regular check ups are advised as your infant starts to grow up and develop new skills i.e. walking, climbing and running.