No one is certain what back to school is going to look like, but seeing a Chiropractor is a MUST on any back to school checklist. The Chiropractic adjustment has benefits for school children of all ages. It can help your child pay better attention, grasp difficult concepts, and improve athletic performance. For sure, whether we are sitting at home or in a classroom once school starts, the benefits of good posture and chiropractic care are the same.
Chiropractic and posture are intertwined because bones move in specific ways. Sitting in the same slouched position for long periods inevitably leads to neck and back problems. Not only will chiropractic adjustments help prevent future spine problems, but they also help teach proper posture and keep your student sitting up and paying attention.
In a university study, half the participants were told to sit with good posture and pay attention to a lecture while the other half were supposed to lounge in the seat. After the class, each participant took a test on the professor’s lecture. The participants who sat with good posture scored an average of 30% higher on the test.
Sitting upright isn’t the only way Chiropractic care can help your child function and learn. Research shows that spinal adjustments improve brain function by up to 20%, specifically in the prefrontal cortex. Research has shown that spinal adjustments improve sensory and motor function, balance, muscle strength, and activation. All of these benefits can be useful for growing children and athletes alike and can be related to the effects of spinal adjustments on the prefrontal cortex. That part of the brain allows us to see the world around us and process it into usable information. Affecting this area of the brain has the potential to improve a LOT of higher-level functions! These can include behavior, memory, spatial awareness, motor function and control, attention, and even decision making.
Whether at home or in the classroom, eating fruit snacks or sushi for lunch, studying shapes or geometry, don’t let your child go back to school without first getting their spine aligned!
Reference: Lelic, D, Niazi, IK, Holt, K, Jochumsen, M, Dremstrup, K, Yielder, P, Murphy, B, Drewes, A and Haavik, H (2016), “Manipulation of dysfunctional spinal joints affects sensorimotor integration in the prefrontal cortex: A brain source localization study,” Neural Plasticity, Volume 2016 (2016).