Spring has arrived! It’s the time of year that families can’t wait to be outside, especially after being cooped up during this snowy winter. Even though it’s still early in the season, we already have had a lot of little ones coming in with watery eyes, runny noses, congestion and asthma symptoms.
It’s so hard to watch your child feel uncomfortable when they’re just trying to play and enjoy being outside. It’s even more difficult if you have a child with asthma. It’s scary to watch your child struggle to catch their breath. When you see your child opt to sit on the bench or sit on the swing set instead of playing on the playground with their friends, brother or sister is super heartbreaking.
We are here to help you figure out what the missing link is and how you can truly make a change in your child and family’s health. Now is the ideal time to learn how to get them functioning better, so you can truly enjoy having adventures with your loved ones.
Why does it seem like more kids struggle with Allergies & Asthma?
Let’s jump right in: One of the big questions we get in our office is: WHY?! Why does it seem like more kids struggle with allergies and asthma now? Why has it increased so much in our little ones? The simple answer to these big WHY’S is stress. Stress is all around us and we experience it each and every day. As adults we have learned how to respond to different stresses. Kids however, have a harder time adapting and responding to different stresses because their reserves are smaller.
Let’s imagine that we have these two buckets: an adult bucket and your child’s bucket. If I was to write down all the different stresses we experience on a daily basis on a post it, crumble them up and throw them in each bucket, it would take quite a bit to fill the adult bucket. For your child, they have naturally a smaller bucket. If they get overloaded with lots of different stressors that they’re body can’t adapt and deal with in that moment, then the body has to make a critical decision. The body has to decide to either focus on healing, growing and developing or going into protection mode.
That’s why we commonly see little ones come in with asthma and allergies at such a young age. There was likely a lot of stress at once and their body had to change it’s priorities to the protection mode. The nervous system can’t be in that growth and protection mode at the same time. So your child’s body is now stuck in a stress and protection phase. This shift is robbing their body of its functionality. This is when we see kids come in that seemed to develop allergies ‘out of no where’ or have the most ‘intense asthma episode yet’.
What stress could my child be experiencing?
A question you may be asking is, what stress could my child possibly be experiencing? Well, there are three types of stress: thoughts, traumas and toxins.
Thoughts or emotional stress can start as early as your child being in utero. From a stressful pregnancy or if mom was sick a lot with immune challenges (allergies, infections, rashes, sick frequently) during pregnancy, then that can set up your little one to have similar challenges too. This is also what your child thinks and experiences emotionally on a day to day basis.
Toxins or chemical stress are things we put on, around or in our bodies. From the foods we eat, to the lotions, detergents and cleaners we use. Even environmentally if they were exposed to different fumes, pollution or debris while remodeling the nursery or home while mom is pregnant or while they were very little. We know it is super exciting to get the nursery all ready for your bundle of joy, but this exposure is still a stressor that gets added to mom & your little one’s bucket.
The final one is traumas or physical stress. This could be from birth trauma (C-section, breech presentation, stuck in the birth canal or interventions such as forceps, vacuum). With asthma, one history finding we hear a lot is baby had axial traction during delivery or pulling on the head. Another physical trauma comes from the daily micro-traumas while they’re learning to walk, ride a bike or try new sports!
What is happening in my child’s body?
The next big question we get is what is happening in my child’s body when they have these intense allergies and asthma?
Allergy Types
With allergies, we see three common types. Kiddos with the neurogenic type. This means that their nervous and immune systems have been weakened. This is the child that has tried every diet change and medication, but nothing has helped. The great news is, these kids respond phenomenally to chiropractic adjustments! The second is all nutritional. These kiddos have a lot of inflammation and intolerances. They respond wonderfully to diet changes alone. The last and most common type is a mix of the two, who respond great once chiropractic and diet changes are introduced together!
Asthma Factors
With asthma, it comes down to two big factors. The first being, neuro-immune suppression. This is when there is an imbalance in their nervous system, particularly the vagus nerve, which is responsible for all things parasympathetic (aka our internal brake pedal: our rest, digest and healing state of the body). This imbalance keeps the body stuck in the stressed state (foot on the gas pedal constantly). When there is neuro-immune suppression, our brake pedal isn’t able to engage! Chiropractic adjustments help the child’s system ease off of the gas pedal and learn to engage the brake pedal often and effectively! The second factor is thebody not being able to moveas it should. The whole mid back, ribs and diaphragm get ‘locked up’ keeping it from expanding properly. If it can’t move properly, it makes it really challenging to breath properly!
Image from Well Aligned Media
For example, give yourself a bear hug: wrap your arms around your chest and squeeze yourself has hard as you can. Now try to take a deep breath. It’s not every easy is it? Imagine having that sensation every day or while you’re doing activities like running or going up stairs. It’s super uncomfortable isn’t it? It’s a super scary feeling to not be able to catch your breath or feel like you can’t breathe. Asthma can bring on a lot of fear for the little one experiencing it and their family. That’s why it is so important to get their system’s brake pedal on and have their body move well, so they don’t feel ‘bear hugged’ all the time!
Tips and Tools to Rewrite the Story for your Family
I know I shared a lot of information but here’s the great news: this doesn’t have to be your forever story! There are action steps that you can take to rewrite the story and make this information beneficial for your child and family! We know that having asthma and allergies in the family can be stressful for everyone involved and we want to help reduce that stress for everyone. Here are four tips and tools you can use to help your little one and family function better:
Implement a low inflammation diet: remove excess sugar; take a spring break from gluten, dairy and processed foods.
Take critical vitamins: vitamin C (great antioxidant to boost the immune system), Vitamin D (especially for those of us living in MN and lacking vitamin D from the sun), fish oil and probiotics
Reduce the stress load as much as possible. Be aware of the 3 stressors in your life: thoughts, traumas and toxins.
The final and probably the easiest thing to do on this list is to come in and get scanned. We will talk about what is going on with your child, their health history and where the stress seems to be stuck in their systems. We will do those super gentle nervous system scans to see if this has been the missing link for you and your kiddo. We know that when family’s function and feel well together, the possibilities for joy and adventure are endless.
We are here for you so do not hesitate to ask questions if you have them! You can leave a comment below on this blog or shoot us an email at: welcome@revivalchiropracticmn.com
If this blog hits close to home and this sounds like your reality, let us help you rewrite the story. Health, wellness and healing is attainable and possible for your child and family. Let us see if this has been the missing link for your child and family!