Pediatric Chiropractic

Chiropractic Care for Children

Children are not simply small adults. Their spines are actively growing and developing, which makes them both resilient and vulnerable. The physical demands of childhood — learning to crawl and walk, playground falls, sports activities, carrying heavy backpacks, and increasingly long hours spent hunched over screens — all place stress on a developing spine.

At Lakeside Spine and Wellness, Dr. Andrew Winger provides gentle, age-appropriate chiropractic care for children from infancy through adolescence. Our approach focuses on supporting healthy spinal development, ensuring proper nervous system function, and catching postural problems early before they become entrenched structural issues.

Why Children Need Chiropractic Care

The birth process itself can be one of the most physically stressful events a human body experiences. Whether delivered vaginally or by cesarean section, the forces involved in birth can create subtle misalignments in an infant’s upper cervical spine. These misalignments may contribute to nursing difficulties, colic, sleep disturbances, and torticollis.

As children grow, the physical stresses accumulate. The average child takes thousands of falls while learning to walk. School-age children carry backpacks that often exceed recommended weight limits. Adolescents spend hours each day looking down at phones and tablets, developing what is increasingly called “tech neck.” And young athletes subject their bodies to repetitive impacts and stresses that can shift spinal alignment.

All of these factors can create subluxations — misalignments that interfere with normal spinal function and nervous system communication. Because children are still growing, these problems can become progressively worse if left uncorrected. A minor postural asymmetry at age eight can become a significant structural problem by the time a child reaches their teens.

What Pediatric Chiropractic Involves

Pediatric chiropractic care at Lakeside Spine and Wellness looks very different from adult care. Dr. Winger uses techniques specifically designed for children’s developing bodies.

For infants, adjustments involve extremely light fingertip pressure — no more than the force you would use to check the ripeness of a piece of fruit. These gentle contacts are directed at specific areas of the spine to restore proper motion and alignment. Most infants relax during the adjustment, and many fall asleep.

For toddlers and young children, Dr. Winger uses low-force instrument-assisted techniques and gentle manual adjustments that are comfortable and non-intimidating. He takes the time to explain what he is doing in age-appropriate language and moves at the child’s pace to ensure they feel safe and comfortable.

For older children and adolescents, techniques are scaled to the child’s size and developmental stage. Postural analysis becomes an important part of the evaluation, as this age group is particularly susceptible to developing poor postural habits that can affect their spinal structure.

Common Childhood Conditions We See

Parents bring their children to our Renton office for a variety of concerns:

• Colic and fussiness in infants — which may be related to upper cervical misalignment
• Nursing difficulties — sometimes caused by restricted neck motion after birth
• Torticollis — head tilting caused by tight or imbalanced neck muscles
• Ear infections — recurrent infections may be related to upper cervical and cranial dysfunction
• Growing pains — musculoskeletal discomfort during periods of rapid growth
• Poor posture — forward head carriage, rounded shoulders, and other postural distortions
• Scoliosis — lateral curvature of the spine that can progress during growth spurts
• Sports injuries — sprains, strains, and impact injuries from athletic activity
• Headaches — increasingly common in children and teens, often related to neck issues
• Behavioral and focus challenges — which some parents report improving with regular care

It is worth noting that we do not treat these conditions in the medical sense. What we do is ensure that the spine and nervous system are functioning optimally, which supports the body’s ability to heal and regulate itself. Many parents observe improvements in their children’s symptoms, sleep, behavior, and overall well-being with regular chiropractic care.

The Importance of Early Detection

One of the most valuable aspects of pediatric chiropractic care is early detection. Postural problems and spinal misalignments are much easier to correct when caught early, before the bones have finished developing and the postural patterns have become deeply ingrained.

Dr. Winger performs thorough postural assessments on pediatric patients, looking for asymmetries, abnormal curves, and movement patterns that suggest developing problems. When issues are found, early intervention through gentle corrective care can often prevent more significant problems down the road.

This is particularly important for scoliosis, which can progress rapidly during growth spurts in pre-teens and teenagers. Regular chiropractic checkups can help identify early signs of scoliosis and allow for intervention before the curve progresses to the point where bracing or surgical referral becomes necessary.

How It Connects to Corrective Care

At Lakeside Spine and Wellness, our pediatric care follows the same evidence-based, structural approach we use for adult patients. While the techniques are gentler and the treatment goals are adapted for a growing body, the underlying philosophy is the same — identify and correct structural problems early, support the body’s natural ability to heal, and promote optimal nervous system function.

For children with more significant structural issues, Dr. Winger may incorporate elements of our CBP corrective care protocol, adapted for the child’s age and stage of development. This might include specific postural exercises, age-appropriate spinal molding, and a monitored care plan with regular progress assessments.

Give Your Child a Structural Advantage

You take your child for regular dental checkups to protect their teeth. Regular spinal checkups serve the same purpose — protecting a developing structure while problems are still small and easily corrected. At Lakeside Spine and Wellness, we make pediatric chiropractic care comfortable, engaging, and effective.

Call (425) 276-8044 or Request Appointment to schedule your child’s spinal checkup at our Renton office.