Chiropractic Care for Kids?

Many people think stressed-out, achy-back grown-ups are the only people who seek out chiropractic care. But the fastest growing group of patients for Dr. Dolly Garnecki is kids. In fact, about two million children went to a chiropractor last year alone.

"It's not scary. It's just like you feel a lot more relaxed,” said 12-year-old Pau Park.

Park, a youth soccer player, is a patient at Spinal Health and Wellness, one of a handful of clinics in Charlottesville that offers specialized pediatric treatments. His mother, Kyung Lee, fully supports the treatment.

“We feel that the chiropractic health care is really great for their immune system and just keeps everything in line,” she said.

Lee believes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure so much that she also takes her other son, who's only 8 years old, to the clinic.

Dr. Garnecki says starting at infancy, out bodies go through a series of micro-traumas called Postural Distortion. All the little bumps along the way begin to add up over the years.

“From birth things like falling down as a kid – who doesn't fall down – to falling off your bike to minor fender benders. Over time, once you are in your twenties or thirties and that's never been checked or worked on, suddenly it just accumulates,” she explained.