Arms and Legs

When people think of chiropractors, they tend to think about our work on the spine. But did you know that we work on ALL the joints of the body? Yep, that’s right, from your head all the way down to your toes.
 
We find that this whole-body approach is extremely important in helping you reach your full potential. And this is even more important with our little ones. Our examination of adults children includes checking for dysfunctional movements of their arms and legs as well as their spine.
 
A recent study done in Melbourne on 202 cases of neonates and infants under the age of 12 months found 153 cases had extremity dysfunction, with 177 instances present (1). Over 70% of these were the shoulder, followed by the wrist (5%), knee (5%), and elbow (2.5%).
The majority of shoulder dysfunction was found on the right side. This has been suggested to be caused when the shoulder girdle (being the widest part) is passing through the pelvic outlet during the birthing process (2). Other causes have been listed as, in utero positioning of the baby, and post-natal.
 
So, why is this significant? Well, the problem comes down to something we always talk about in practice. It’s called proprioception - how well can the brain see/feel what your body is doing. A recent study has shown that peripheral joint dysfunction will alter the proprioceptive feed back to the brain in as little as 10 hours (3). This was reversed by correcting the joint dysfunction. This tells us that if we find joints in our arms or legs that are not moving properly, it can impact on our ability to use them properly. This is important when we think of our little ones when they are learning things that we may take for granted, such as; crawling, walking, or even feeding ourselves.
 

1. Fludder, C. J., & Keil, B. G. (2017). THE PREVALENCE OF EXTREMITY JOINT DYSFUNCTION IN NEONATES AND INFANTS WITHIN A PAEDIATRIC CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC. Chiropractic Journal of Australia, 45(4).
2. Edmonds DK. Dewhurst's textbook of obstetrics & gynaecology, 8th Edition. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell; 2012
3. Avanzino L, Pelosin E, Abbruzzese G, Bassolino M, Pozzo T, Bove M. Shaping motor cortex plasticity through proprioception. Cerebral Cortex 2014; 24(10):2807-2814