Healthy Kids Initiative

Educating and Evaluating Children.

Launched in 2010, The Healthy Kids Initiative was created out of our concern for the health of children today. We see how common, everyday bumps, falls, and seemingly minor injuries can cause imbalance in the way a child's body functions and affect the child's present and long-term quality of health. We are disheartened with the number of children who experience recurrent infections, take multiple courses of antibiotics or other drugs, have behavioral issues that affect their peer relationships, family relationships, and school success.

We have watched our own young children and those we see in the office grow and thrive. They stay healthy, develop fewer symptoms, have fewer "sick" visits to the doctor, take fewer medications, have fewer behavior issues, miss fewer days of school due to illness.

We do not believe these experiences are due to chance or luck but rather a result of the lifestyle these children and their families enjoy. Keeping their body free of vertebral subluxation and supporting the body by making day to day healthy choices enables their growing body to continue working optimally.

The goals of the Healthy Kids Initiative are:

1. Educate: We intend to educate the children of our community and state about the way their body works, the needs their body has to remain healthy, and how to make positive health and life choices.

2. Evaluate: The importance of early spine and nervous system evaluation cannot be over-emphasized. We are so committed to making sure every child has the best opportunity for a healthy life that we make the following opportunities available:

Please contact the office at 434-817-7788 to schedule an appointment for your child or for information to have Dr. Mike come speak to your play group, Mom's group, preschool class, health class, etc.

Sharing our Story
Without a doubt, there are countless stories of children under chiropractic care. We see small miracles virtually everyday in our office. We would like to share some of our own.

Andrew. Our firstborn. Born at home after a total labor of 1.5 hours--a shock to us and our midwives, who were en route when Andrew made his entrance into Dr. Mike's arms! He has always been our athlete, walking at 9.5 months, climbing by 12 months. Born free of subluxation, his exams changed when, at a bit over 3 months of age, he toppled over while learning to sit up and bumped his head on the floor. X-rays confirmed atlas misalignment so NUCCA care was initiated. Andrew is a great eater, great sleeper and all around healthy. He rarely develops symptoms of any kind and his attitude and behavior tend to be fairly "level".  At one point, Andrew's behavior started to change...he became more argumentative, more emotional at small issues, started to "pick" on his sisters.  We first attributed it to lack of sleep, as we had had a couple of busy weeks and been travelling.  He continued to get checked for subluxation and be corrected.  At one point, though, as this atypical behavior continued, Dr. Mike took new x-rays to confirm he was correcting Andrew properly.  As it turned out, Andrew's pattern of misalignment had changed, so Dr. Mike used the new formula he determined from the x-rays.  This made a difference because Andrew's mood improved.  But two days later, he work up overnight itching from head to toe.  He was covered in large red blotches...hives.  Very strange, since he'd never had hives before.  We couldn't think of anything new that he'd eaten or come in contact with to produce such a systemic (full body) response.  We didn't use antihistamines or prednisone, although we did apply some over the counter hydrocortisone to relieve some of the itching. By the end of the first 24 hours, after coming up with nothing external causing the hives, we both thought it may be his body's response to the new correction formula.  We opted to just watch him, and, although it was hard to see him uncomfortable and scratching, we knew that if this was his body's way of eliminating toxins, and we didn't want to stop it.   We also knew that the nervous system heals in three day increments, so by the 3rd day we expected to see significant improvement.  By the morning of the 4th day, the hives were completely gone.  We'd let his body run through a course of elimination by way of the skin and complete a healing process and know that Andrew's body has come out stronger because we didn't interfere...we just let the body do what it needed to do.

Sara. Our sweet second baby, also born at home. This time, the midwives were present! Sara always had a sweet, content, happy, adaptable disposition. She lost her alignment at 3 weeks of age after rolling off the sofa. X-rays confirmed atlas misalignment, so NUCCA care was initiated. She is the child who regularly fell off chairs, bumped her head on furniture, walked into corners and regularly received NUCCA corrections when out of alignment. When she was roughly 2.5 years of age, her disposition began to change..she became more emotional, less adaptable, more whiney and clingy. We dismissed some of this behavior as her just getting used to her new baby sister, who was born three weeks after Sara's second birthday. But, after a year, this behavior culminated in an inconsolible child after bumping into the wall. NUCCA examination showed she was subluxated but this time, Dr. Mike took new x-rays to be sure he was correcting her properly. As it turned out, the formula to correct her spine had changed, most likely as a result of cumulative injuries. Using the new information, Dr. Mike gave her a NUCCA correction and literally, before we left the office, our sweet, content, happy and adaptable Sara had returned and remains! It might sound too good to be true, but Chrislyn's journal entries reflect exactly what happened!

Kaylin. Our third and most spirited child. Also born at home, midwives en route. Who would have thought that only 7 minutes would pass from the first "I think I can push" to delivery into Dr. Mike's arms. Our most mellow baby, Kaylin was in perfect alignment until she was 16 months of age. Big brother Andrew was spinning his sisters on a swivel chair when Sara let go and Kaylin fell off. Her exam was abnormal, x-rays confirmed atlas misalignment so NUCCA care was initiated. Rarely symptomatic, Kaylin developed a runny nose that autumn which lasted for a couple of days. One evening, she seemed a bit more fussy and had a restless night sleep. The next morning, her body temperature had elevated to 101.9 degrees. Realizing this was her immune system's way of working to rid her body of a virus, we did not give medicine to lower her temperature. Rather, Dr. Mike made sure she was corrected, Chrislyn was diligent about making sure Kaylin was drinking (water and breast milk only, no cow's milk, juice, or sugary drinks), eating if and when she wanted, and sleeping if and when she needed. This continued all day and night and into the next morning. But once Kaylin woke from her morning nap on that second day, her temperature had returned to normal and her runny nose was gone and did not return. Her perfect little body had worked optimally, eliminated the virus, and healed her. 

Abigail. Our "caboose" and sweet gift. Born at home on the Feast of All Souls, Abigail was in proper alignment until a fall at 14 months of age caused her NUCCA exam to show postural distortion.  X-rays confirmed atlas misalignment which a NUCCA correction resolved. Abigail has a sweet, happy disposition and generally sleeps well.  Her favorite phrase when learning to talk was "Happy Day".  We notice when Abigail is out of alignment, she tends to have bad dreams, sleeps fitfully, and becomes more emotional at little things.  These behaviors resolve when corrected. 

It's been interesting doing our own "case studies" watching our children grow.  They each eat and sleep well, do not "get sick", experience the same bumps and bruises as all other children but do not need medication, do not have chronic pain or illness, do not have allergies. They are very different individuals but there are commonalities when out of alignment....poor sleep, irritability, emotional, onset of other symptoms. Those issues resolve virtually overnight once corrected. It's remarkable watching the body function properly and witnessing the great health that comes as a result.

Each of our children have their alignment checked regularly to make sure their bodies are working optimally. We are grateful for the fact that they are healthy, that their bodies adapt well, that they rarely develop symptoms, that they have never needed to take pain medications or antibiotics. We attribute this, in part, to living a subluxation-free, healthy lifestyle.

We hope these real experiences show you, the reader and parent, what is possible for your child's quality of health and life with NUCCA care. Please contact us at 434-817-7788 to discuss your child's health and to schedule an evaluation.