Chiropractic Found Effective for Infantile Colic - Chiropractic Treatment for Colic

Chiropractic Found Effective for Infantile Colic

Randomized Controlled Trial Shows Manipulation More Effective Than Drug

A randomized, controlled clinical trial on colic in Denmark that compared chiropractic adjustments to daily doses of dimethicone has concluded: "Spinal manipulation has a positive short-term effect on infantile colic."1

Infantile colic is a curious and mysterious condition. It is estimated that, on average, 22.5% of all newborns suffer from colic, defined as "uncontrollable crying in babies from 0-3 months old, more than three hours a day, more than three days a week for three weeks or more, usually in the afternoon and evening hours." But only "47 percent of infantile colic cases have disappeared by the age of three months, a further 41 percent disappeared before six months of age, and the remaining 12 percent of cases persevered until between the ages of 6 and 12 months."

First described in 1894, colic has no verified cause(s). Countless studies have, however, determined what it is not caused by: air or constrictions in the intestines; gastrointestinal transit time; intestinal hormones; intestinal microflora; method of delivery (vaginal, Cesarean section or vacuum extraction); use of pudendal block; epidural analgesia; general anesthesia; or intravenous oxytocin.

Numerous medical and nonmedical treatments have been studied, including: music and sounds; vibration; dicyclomine hydrochloride; gripe-water; alcohol; atropine; skopyl;

phenobarbital; merperidine; homatropine; and merbentyl. These treatments have shown either "no effect when compared to placebo treatment" or "serious side effects." Treatment with sucrose does seem to have a "generalized analgesic effect in infants and may therefore also help in infantile colic."

Dimethicone, the drug used in this randomized trial, has been shown to be "no better than placebo treatment" in several good controlled studies.

The first retrospective chiropractic study on treating colic was conducted in 1985, followed by a prospective multicenter study in 1989. "Both studies suggest that there seems to be a positive effect of spinal manipulation for infantile colic," but since neither study had a control group, it was impossible to assess whether the chiropractic treatments were significantly better than placebo.

The Danish National Health Service recruited 50 infants meeting the criteria for colic. After they were reviewed and monitored, they were randomly assigned to two groups: dimethicone daily for two weeks or spinal manipulation for two weeks by a local chiropractor. The 25 infants under chiropractic care received motion palpation to locate "articulations" mostly found in the upper and mid-thoracic area. The infants in the chiropractic group received an average of 3.8 adjustments.

During the two-week treatments, the parents kept a colic diary and nurses visited the families to administer a weekly "infantile colic behavior ...

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