July is Kids Months @ Oaktree!

Subject: July is Kids Months @ Oaktree!

July is kids month at Oaktree!

A frequent question I receive in practice, is whether we see kids? Or, to some patients' surprise, they see a baby leave the adjusting area and wonder- do you adjust infants?

You may assume that something has to be 'wrong' in order for us to see kids, but similar to adults, we are aiming to help their nervous system thrive. You can actually bring your child to see a trained pediatric chiropractor right after birth.

The birth process can be traumatic, for both mom and baby. While navigating early challenges as a new parent, you may be met with issues surrounding their latch, their sleep, stress, colic, their hip function...the list goes on!

When assessing infants, we can find defects with their skull/cranium, decreased neck motion or torticollis, and screen for reflex abnormalities. Since many of these things are caused by stress during pregnancy, we always suggest getting kids checked, even just for general wellness!

As kids get older, we may help them with posture, spinal curvatures like scoliosis, or other stresses and strains from falls and sports.

Adjustments differ a lot in kids, are low risk and quite safe. Our goal is to 'grow healthy kids', rather than 'fix broken adults'! Please keep reading and we'll lend you some more info about how getting adjusted will help your kids' nervous system function more optimally, allow them to achieve proper alignment, and reach their full potential!

-Dr Katrina, Orleans Chiropractor

Announcements

Kids month!

July is kids month at Oaktree! While we see kids all year long, we put a special time aside to specifically take time to check your kids' spines during the summer when it may be easier to bring them in! So bring them in, or pass on the word to anyone you know that may be interested :) The normal fee for an exam is $165 and if you mention Kids Month it is $65!

Summer vacations

Downtown: Dr. Emilie and Martin are on vacation on August 1-5

Downtown and Orleans: Dr Katrina and Dr Vanessa are on vacation July 18-22

Stittsville: Dr. Marie-Pier and Catherine are on vacation July 25-31

Oaktree Feel Good BINGO

We've had such a blast doing the BINGO and talking to you about your experiences! It's been fun to hear of you going outside your normal routine to try new things, go on picnics, write letters, buy flowers....and the hardest we've heard - 24 hours without technology! Even better has been seeing our kid patients really getting into it!

If you haven't yet put your name in the draw, you still have this week to bring in your card or send us a pic to be added in!

Odin's colic recovery

By Odin's mom, Melissa :)

Odin was an extremely colicky baby, begining week 2. Odin seemed to never settle himself down, naps or sleep time never exceeded 2 hours in length.

When he was 6 weeks old, his pediatrician recommended that I change my diet, as I was exclusively breastfeeding, I eliminated all dairy, grains, soy and eggs. We noticed some improvments, however I could still tell something was "off" with Odin. It was stressful seeing him in constant pain and or discomfort.

As Odin was my third birth, I remember saying a few times: I swear I have done this before! It's hard when you can't completely settle your baby. I share openly on social media about health and raising kids. It was from a recommandation, a comment to one of my posts about sleepless night number X... someone wrote " I am not sure if it works or not, but I heard somewhere that chiropractors might be able to help!" That's all I needed to hear! I was willing to try anything!

So, I knew of a name, Dr. Emilie Perras. I had never met her, only heard wonderful recommendations and read positive reviews online. I booked my initial consultation!

Improvements we have noticed: within the first month he was calmer, sleeping longer periods of time and more consistently. Odin was 7 months when he began his adjustments. By 9 months he was sleeping 6 hours in the evening, having less gas and cramping during the day! Overall he is more comfortable and doesn't flex or arch his body in pain any longer. Nor does he cry for hours on end. It has been wonderful!

Note from Dr. Emilie: While Chiropractors don't treat colic specifically, often babies have symptoms of colic, fussiness or gas when they have stress in their nervous system. As chiropractors, our job is to find that stress in the nervous system and correct it. We are so happy we could help Odin be the healthy chill baby he was meant to be!

Chiropractic and the brain:

Why it's even more important to start young!

By Dr. Marie-Pier - Stittsville Chiropractor

If you've been to any of our Oaktree clinics, you might have noticed that we cater to kids: we have colouring, books, and toys to keep them happy and occupied. Sometimes people assume that those things are there to keep kids busy if mom or dad has to bring the kids during their adjustment. And while that's sometimes true, most often those kids are there to see us too!

As paediatric and family chiropractors, we value the effect of the adjustment for everyone in the family - including babies and kids! Most times, people come to us because they are in pain - they've got low back pain or neck pain or headaches. While we can certainly help with those things, we also take the time to educate our

patients on what an adjustment can actually do for your body and brain!

Did you know that an adjustment changes how your brain works? More specifically, a chiropractic adjustment changes the way the prefrontal cortex processes proprioceptive information! The prefrontal cortex is in charge of reasoning, problem solving, creativity, impulse-control, comprehension, and perseverance. Proprioceptive information is the information that our brain gathers from sensors throughout your body - it tells your brain where your body is. When your spine is subluxated or misaligned, that proprioceptive information gets muddled, meaning your brain no longer understands what is actually happening.

But what does any of that have to do with kids? Imagine growing up and learning about everything, but your brain and body aren't on the same page. An adjustment can help things connect, making it easier for kids to learn and adapt to our ever-changing world!

Furthermore - did you know that the cerebellum (the part of the brain responsible for motor coordination and balance) increases by 240% in the first year of life?! How crazy is that! So much growth and development happens in that first year, so it's important to nurture that growth.

Have a baby or kiddo that you'd like to get checked? Let us know and we would love to have them in!

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Subject: July is Kids Months @ Oaktree!