Spinal Health   

Peer Reviewed Journals:

Functional disorders (fixations) of the spine in children. Lewit K. Manuelle Therapie, J.A. Barth, Leipzig, 1973. Chap.2.7. Pp.50-54.

• Functional disorders are considered to be the first manifestations of vertebrogenic disease, with first symptoms appearing at a young age. In a total of 57 children’s migraine cases, 48 had excellent results after manipulative therapy. Functional disorders in children may manifest themselves as sleep disorders, loss of appetite, psychic problems, dysmenorrhea and may not exist as spinal pain. Studies on healthy children revealed pelvic subluxations in 40% of all school children, cervical fixation in 15.8%. After manipulative treatments, the problems rarely recurred.

Blocked atlantal nerve syndrome in infants and small children. Gutman G. ICA Review, 1990; July:37-42. Originally published in German Manuelle Medizin (1987) 25:5-10.

• From the abstract: Three case reports are reviewed to illustrate a syndrome that has so far received far too little attention, which is caused and perpetuated in babies and infants by blocked nerve impulses at the atlas. Included in the clinical picture are lowered resistance to infections, especially to ear-,nose-, and throat infections, two cases of insomnia, two cases of cranial bone asymmetry, and one case each of torticollis, retarded locomotor development, retarded linguistic development, conjunctivitis, tonsillitis, rhinitis, earache, extreme neck sensitivity, incipient scoliosis, delayed hip development, and seizures.

Are radiographic changes in the thoracic and lumbar spine of adolescent’s risk factors for low back pain in adults. A 25-year prospective cohort study of 640 school children. Spine. 1995;20:2,298-302.

• This is a study of 640 14-year-old children who were followed from 1965 through 1990. It was done to determine risk factors for the development of low back pain in adulthood. Low back pain occurred during the growth period and family history was both associated with an increased risk. The lifetime reverence for back pain was 84% for this cohort. The proportion of subjects having radiographic abnormalities was 36% and yet this was associated with an increased incidence of back pain in adulthood. Interestingly, the investigators did find an increased incidence of mental problems such as fear or depression in the group of patients with radiographic changes in the T11-L2 area.

Additional Publications:

The concept of research of vertebrogenic disease in CSSR. Stary O. Clinic of Neurology, Charles Univ. Prague, Acta Universitatis Carolinae (Med) Suppl. 1965.

• Data reveals that more than half the population suffers from vertebrogenic diseases for certain periods of their life. Disorders of the vertebral column may start in childhood many years before clinical manifestation.

The importance of chiropractic care for children. Abram, N. The Chiropractic Report. July 1992 Vol. 6 No. 5.

Lumbar dysfunctions in children. Bourdillon JE, Day EA, Bookhout MR: Spinal Manipulation, 5th edition. Oxford, England, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd, 1992.

• “In school children’s orthopaedic clinics one of the authors saw many primary school children with symptoms arising from lumbar dysfunctions. In most of these, a parent would remember an injury when specifically asked, but the history had to be searched for before it was mentioned. Unless they are treated, by the time these children have reached adulthood, the compensatory asymmetries will almost certainly have become fixed and themselves require treatment.”