What Is The Vagus Nerve?
While traditional medicine relies primarily on symptoms and looks for obvious pathology on standard exams like blood work, MRIs, and EEGs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Difficulty sleeping. Difficulty eating. Chronic, painful constipation. Anxiety and constant emotional challenges. Debilitating seizures and horrendous side effects from the medication.
Those are just some of the things then 17-year-old Francesca struggled with as a result of a Vagus Nerve that just simply was not working right.
Francesca came to our clinic for care as part of our Neurological Intensive Care Program in April of 2021, and honestly, her life was hanging on by a thread. Between the seizures, eating disorder, and chronic gut and immune issues that plagued her everyday life, to say she was struggling would be a massive understatement.
Her seizures had begun all the way back in 2011, and after a decade of working with various neurologists and trying nearly every seizure medication out there, things were getting markedly worse, not better.
But everything changed for Francesca and her family on that first day of our intensive care program when we found that literally each one of her health challenges could be connected to just one particular issue – her Vagus Nerve.
There is no more powerful and essential nerve in the entire human body than the Vagus Nerve. While the Vagus Nerve is capable of giving us so much health and well-being when it’s working correctly, it can be the cause of many struggles and health challenges when not working correctly.
Thankfully as you’ll see towards the end of this article, in just a few weeks, we were able to get Francesca’s Vagus Nerve back working at full force again! Chiropractic adjustments and a fully functioning Vagus Nerve wholly and quickly changed her life.
Be sure to watch Francesca’s Case Study Review video below to get the full story on the power of the Vagus Nerve.
WHAT IS THE VAGUS NERVE?
The Vagus Nerve is one of the longest, most intricate, and most important nerves in the entire body. The Vagus Nerve has long been given the nickname “wandering nerve” because it originates from the brainstem and upper neck area and makes its way down into the thorax to regulate and control vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, and digestion.
The Vagus Nerve has also been referred to as the “rest and digest” nerve because we’ve long since known the crucial role it plays in those functions.
The Vagus Nerve is also known as the 10th cranial nerve, or cranial nerve X. What makes the Vagus Nerve so unique is that it is primarily parasympathetic in its function, meaning it’s essential in helping our nervous system slow down, relax, regulate, focus, sleep, and so forth.
Additionally, the Vagus Nerve is almost entirely sensory in nature, meaning it functions like a big set of satellites constantly reporting to the brain and central nervous system what is happening in both our internal and external environments.
Due to its location and function, we know that the Vagus Nerve, therefore, is easily injured via birth trauma and is the #1 player in a chronic condition called dysautonomia, which will be discussed later on with other Vagus Nerve Disorders.
WHY IS VAGUS NERVE HEALTH IMPORTANT?
But today, we now know the Vagus Nerve does so much more! The Vagus Nerve is vitally responsible for the following functions:
Sensory – from the eyes, ears, throat, tongue, heart, lungs, and abdomen
Motor – provides movement functions for the muscles in the neck and throat responsible for swallowing and speech
Parasympathetic – responsible for digestive motility, respiration, and heart rate functioning
Immune – helps regulate and reduce inflammation
Social + Emotional – helps regulate our social and emotional regulation
There is not a single aspect of what the Vagus Nerve does that is not vital to a child’s health, but we really want to draw your focus to those last three (3) bullet points as they are the elements of vagus nerve function that not even most medical neurologists and traditional doctors are aware of, yet we know that those are the things that truly the vast majority of kids struggle with.
As the Vagus Nerve becomes more popular and prominent in the adult space with helping to manage our stress and mental performance with things like meditation and deep breathing, it’s much more important to recognize the role the Vagus Nerve can play in nearly every single aspect of pediatric and childhood health!
More than 1 in 4 children in the US have a chronic health condition, and many experts consider that math to be lighter and lower than what is happening today.
What’s worse is that so many pediatricians continue to dismiss common childhood challenges such as colic, ear infections, and constipation as “normal” and things that kids will “grow out of” over time instead of recognizing the link to the Vagus Nerve. But as this “Perfect Storm” article will take you through, that is not likely the case.
So, in summary, whether your child is struggling with digestive issues, speech disorders or apraxia, immune challenges, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, anxiety, autism, and especially seizures… ensuring that their Vagus Nerve is being stimulated and functioning at its optimal level is perhaps the most critical aspect of their healing plan to figure out.
HOW TO CARE FOR THE VAGUS NERVE WITH NEUROLOGICALLY-FOCUSED CHIROPRACTIC CARE
It is an exciting time in healthcare and online communities because knowledge and information about how powerful and vital the Vagus Nerve is are showing up everywhere!
But one thing missing from all the incredible articles on the Vagus Nerve, such as this one from Cleveland Clinic, when discussing how to stimulate your Vagus Nerve with things like meditation, massage, and deep breathing… is how potent and effective a neurologically-focused chiropractic adjustment can be for the Vagus Nerve!
Francesca’s case is proof of this! Like most kids and cases who ultimately make their way into a Pediatric Chiropractic office, they had already tried everything – medications, diet changes, detoxes, supplements, essential oils, talk therapy, breathing, meditation, you name it.
So while nothing we’ll ever write and share on this platform will dismiss excellent life-saving interventions or traditional medicine or the incredible health benefits of things like nutrition and natural health interventions… we will continue to make the case that the real missing piece of healthcare is activating and stimulating the Vagus Nerve with neurologically-focused chiropractic adjustments.
To get the full understanding of the role the Vagus Nerve plays in health challenges of all sorts, watch this short Case Study + Scan Review video all about the story of Francesca and how we were able to repair her Vagus Nerve!
HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD (OR YOURSELF) DRUG-FREE HELP
The first step you want to take is getting your child (or yourself) booked for a set of the INSiGHT Neurological Scans shown and discussed in the Case Study Review video, and simply find out if subluxation and dysautonomia are the issues.
These scans only take 15-30 minutes to complete and are packed full of incredible information that you won’t find anywhere else!
Our trained and ready network of PX Docs utilizes this incredible technology. Also, we use the same incredible 5-Step Clinical Process to assess the health and function of the Vagus Nerve and the autonomic nervous system as a whole.
To schedule your child’s appointment, simply visit the PX Docs Directory right away and reach out to your local practice through our website!
ARTICLE SOURCES
“5 Ways to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve.” Cleveland Clinic. March 2022
About the Author
DR. TONY EBEL DC, CACCP, CCWP
Dr. Tony Ebel is the lead writer and educational guide for PX Docs. He is a Certified Pediatric + Wellness Chiropractor with 15 years of clinical experience. In addition, Dr. Tony has been teaching and training other Pediatric + Family Chiropractors for the past 10+ years, primarily teaching the clinical protocols he created for pediatric neurodevelopmental challenges such as Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Epilepsy, Anxiety, and more. This clinical program is now taught in collaboration with the Life University Postgraduate Department and has over 500 graduates. Dr. Tony’s passion is educating, empowering, and informing parents about the nervous system's role in natural, drug-free healing for all pediatric conditions and cases.
Autism Spectrum Challenges And Chiropractic Care
While traditional medicine relies primarily on symptoms and looks for obvious pathology on standard exams like blood work, MRIs, and EEGs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A PEDIATRIC WHAT?
Often times when I am in the community and introduce myself as a Pediatric Chiropractor, I get quite a few puzzled looks as if I’d just made up a new profession.
The truth is pediatric chiropractic is growing by leaps and bounds, and the results we are getting are astounding. This generation of parents truly has tired of the idea of “better health through chemistry” and the results of traditional medicine (the sickest generation of kids we’ve ever seen), and are looking towards cause-based care models like chiropractic left and right! We truly are seeing the pendulum swing in that direction, and soon the health of our kids will improve and come along with it!
One of the primary areas our practice focuses on is helping children with autism and other spectrum-related disorders. This all began back in 2008, when I first started to study the science behind spectrum and neurosensory challenges and saw a “perfect storm” pattern emerge in case after case… that was rather easily explained by new models of neuroscience that were emerging at the exact same time as the autism pandemic was as well.
Understanding this “Perfect Storm” and sorting through the “ingredients” that trigger it holds the key to then being able to know how to best unlock, unwind, and restore health to these amazing kiddos who so often and so early get “locked into” this spectrum.
Autism was originally described in the 1950s as just that, “locked-in” syndrome – which is what led doctors to hint at an Autism diagnosis in Koen’s case. But our scientific and care model looks at it from the other lens, really seeing it as a “locked out” challenge… where due to the early exposure to distress and toxicity, these kids are “locked out” of the optimal, healthy life they were designed to live.
If genetics and more diagnoses were really the answer, we’d be writing about that in this article. However, our clinical experience and the research articles tagged below in this article really point to this “Perfect Storm” of sensory and spectrum disorders being linked to disruptions and challenges our children face early in the developmental period, that then send them down the “path” of this storm… instead of of the path of optimal, ideal health.
But before you read on and dive deep into the science and role of chiropractic in these kids, parents, please know this – kids are designed to heal. Children have incredible levels of what is called “neuroplasticity” left in their brain and nervous system, which is why over these past 10+ years, we’ve seen so many incredible changes with “Perfect Storm” cases not only in our office but in the hundreds of other trained Perfect Storm Centers as well!
Heads up! This is a very lengthy explanation, but if there is one thing I have learned in my years of helping parents whose children suffer with autism, it is that “no amount of information or help is too much” for their children. Get ready for some Hope, Answers, and Help!
HOW CAN PEDIATRIC CHIROPRACTIC CARE HELP WITH AUTISM?
First, I’d like to focus on a very important word in this article – help.
Pediatric Chiropractic is NOT a treatment, cure, or anything for autism, sensory challenges, ADHD, anxiety, or anything in between. Heck, chiropractic doesn’t even cure back pain or neck pain.
Chiropractic works from a ‘Care’ Model, by which we focus on restoring balance and function to the Central or Autonomic Nervous System… which by design has an absolutely incredible capacity to help and heal all on its own.
The chiropractor does not do the healing – neurology does.
It may sound theoretical and philosophical, but really it’s just scientific.
Ok, just get to it already, right? How does it help?!
Well, as is the case with so many questions, the response to this one is going to be multi-faceted. However, it will certainly have one recurring theme throughout… the answer lies within the Central Nervous System.
Anyone who knows anything about autism knows that the nervous system is greatly affected by this disorder. The challenges this brings about are responsible for many of the issues seen in children with autism.
Things such as hyperactivity, attention issues, sleep challenges, behavior problems, social issues, sensory processing issues, and more.
In addition, the nervous system is so intimately linked with the digestive and immune systems (the other two systems most commonly affected in autism) that it can also contribute to things such as significant digestive and ‘gut’ issues, autoimmune challenges, and more.
From here on out, we will look at these systems in a “triangular” sort of approach, with the nervous system being the crucial link between them.
Let us first start with possible ways the nervous system can be distorted, damaged, and dysfunctional. There are numerous ways to discuss, so we will focus on the three (3) major “ingredients” of the “Perfect Storm” we have found over and over in thousands of cases (and the ones most commonly linked in the latest scientific research).
These 3 Common “Ingredients” of The Perfect Storm are:
Maternal Stress During the Prenatal Period
Frequent Illness and Medication Use in Infancy & Toddler Stage
While #3 is finally getting discussed more frequently in journals and health care, the first two are still grossly overlooked and unknown.
When it comes to caring for our pregnant mothers in the current healthcare landscape, it really focuses mainly on medical management (weight, BP, ultrasound, etc.) and the avoidance of toxins and chemicals (alcohol, cigarettes, BPA, pesticides, etc.). And while those are two very important things to have as part of the Perinatal Care Model, it completely misses the most important piece of care our mothers need – mental and emotional empowerment and support.
We literally scare the ever-living heck out of our moms about the entire thing. We tell them pregnancy will be miserable, birth painful, and, oh man… just wait until that baby comes! The “bundle of joy” perspective is replaced with the medical diagnosis and fear machine. Have you ever read “What to Expect When Expecting?” It’s an absolutely terrifying book you’d think was written by Stephen King!
The reason this is so problematic is that simply put, those high levels of stress are passed onto the developing baby in-utero. The umbilical cord is not just there to pass along nutrients and oxygen, but it’s also the power cord that connects the mother’s nervous system and emotions to the developing baby’s brain and nervous system.
If the majority of that period is spent under high amounts of stress and anxiety, the baby’s brain becomes “pre-wired” and more susceptible to the same.
One other reason I first described it as a “Perfect Storm” is that each initial ingredient leads to a greater likelihood of the next one (and the next one…). In this case, if an expecting mother is under high amounts of stress throughout the pregnancy, it makes it much harder for her nervous system to allow for the relaxation and process of natural birth.
This then starts a cascade of the increased likelihood of birth interventions such as induction, epidural, vacuum extraction, forceps, or C-section. From Year One of our Perfect Storm work to today, the #1 most common “ingredient” we find in the case history of kids struggling with spectrum disorders is this – birth intervention.
As a general rule, the more intervention – the more stress, trouble, and dysfunction.
Early on, this looks like difficulty latching and nursing, torticollis and plagiocephaly, reflux, colic, constipation, eczema, croup, and recurrent ear infections. Which, as you can see right away, then blends immediately into #3 listed above.
Unfortunately, in the United States, we have levels of birth intervention that even the WHO has termed to be at “epidemic” levels, especially the use of Cesarean delivery. The WHO states that C-section rates around 10% are normal and necessary, while anything above 15-20% “likely does more harm than good” – in the US, the current rate is 31%.
It must also be realized that even most vaginal deliveries are now induced or “augmented” as well.
A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed an increase in autism later on in life for induced births, confirming what we’ve been talking about in pediatric chiropractic for a long, long time. Below you will find a whole run of research articles linking birth intervention to negative or adverse health outcomes for the baby later on in life, some linking it all the way to obesity and challenges in teenage and adulthood.
DIVING DEEPER INTO BIRTH INTERVENTION AND INJURY
The most commonly injured (subluxated) area during the birth process is the upper neck and skull. The risk of injury to these areas, and the resultant issues from it, go up exponentially as intervention levels go up. C-sections, forceps, vacuum extraction, and prolonged pushing all lead to a greater risk of traumatic birth injury to the infant’s head and neck, and really the entire neuro spinal and neuromotor system.
This area houses and protects the brainstem and cerebellum, which amongst many other things, is primarily related to controlling and modulating the sensorimotor system – vision, vestibular (balance), and overall neuromotor tone and coordination.
Therefore, when this is “thrown off track” right in the very first moments of life outside of the womb… the child’s neurodevelopment is immediately “thrown off track” as well.
Unfortunately, no one in the medical system is really trained to check (or address) these sorts of injuries, so most of the time, they go completely unmentioned to the parents. It is our belief that if the injury (subluxation) were addressed by a pediatric chiropractor shortly after it occurred, most of the neurological injuries associated with it could be prevented.
This upper cervical subluxation especially leads to improper neurological “signaling” or “communication” into and out of the central nervous system. This challenge to the communication system of the body is one of the primary reasons so many children with autism have challenges with sensory processing, social interaction and behavior, and learning.
As Princeton Researcher Dr. Samuel Wang puts it, “disruption or distortion” of neurological signaling throughout the brain and body’s nervous system is what is likely causing the entire “perfect storm” of various challenges seen with autism – motor, digestive, immune, social, emotional, behavioral, communication, auditory, and more.
The foundational challenge within this neurological storm is that it puts the nervous system into a chronic or permanent state of sympathetic stress. This is often referred to as the stress response or fight/flight response. It is a response that is vital for short-term reactions but detrimental when “stuck on” for extended periods of time. Most children with autism have been in fight/flight from their first moments on. This is why we see such a high correlation with infantile colic, ear infections, digestive disorders, and autism.
Again, if our health care system were designed to address these challenges immediately, rather than waiting for the symptoms to appear, far fewer children would be suffering with autism and related disorders. One can simply observe a child with autism and see the “stress and fear” in their eyes.
Is this any different than the infant with colic struggling to soothe, calm, and sleep?
Do those colicky infants really “grow out of it,” or do they “grow into” sensory, spectrum, and other chronic health challenges if the root cause(s) are not addressed?
It is such a joy to see this look change in their eyes as they progress through care in our office. Once we begin making specific, gentle, neurologically focused adjustments to our spectrum kiddos, we start to see more calm, more coordination, more perception, and in time, even more communication!
WHAT ELSE IS INVOLVED? NEURO-GASTRO-IMMUNOLOGY DISCUSSION
Getting back to our triangle example, this chronic state of neurological sympathetic stress (subluxation) wreaks havoc on the immune and digestive systems, as both of them are “down-regulated” during chronic states of stress. Speaking specifically about the digestive system, sustained neurological stress responses can lead to an increase in decreased motility, constriction, cramping, and inflammation. When the digestive system is in this state, it does a very poor job of breaking down foods and other substances, leading to even further inflammation and irritation that can spill over into the bloodstream and cause an immune response.
This is not only why so many spectrum and sensory kiddos struggle with digestive complaints but also why for parents, it can feel like hitting their head against a wall trying to get their child to eat healthy foods and take vitamins or supplements. Healthy foods are actually far more difficult to break down and digest than unhealthy and processed foods, so spectrum and sensory children often develop an aversion to these foods.
This is one of the many welcome and celebrated “side effects” of neurologically-focused, pediatric chiropractic care – once the autonomic nervous system is calmer and functions better, it can better digest and tolerate healthy, complex foods. Yet another reason why chiropractic needs to be the first foundational step in helping these kids heal!
And lastly, the immune system faces the same challenges as the gut. When we are in a constant state of neurological stress, the immune system also gets out of balance and leaves a child susceptible to more frequent colds, congestion, infections, allergies, asthma, eczema, and other inflammatory-type reactions.
All of this leads to more and more inflammation and irritation, and the cycle continues. This is why so many of these reactions and challenges are what we refer to as “viscous cycles” that essentially continue to feed each other and lead to greater and greater challenges. Somewhere, this cycle must be broken, and that is where chiropractic adjustments come into play.
Essentially the body becomes “constipated” in all of these three (3) major systems – neurological, digestive, and immune. Our children are left “stuck” with hyperactivity, anxiousness, impulsiveness, toxins, and illness.
THE VAGUS NERVE
One last wildly important element we have not mentioned and explained yet is the role of the Vagus Nerve in all of this! Nicknamed “The Wandering Nerve,” this incredible nerve has direct connections to literally everything we’ve spoken about in this article.
It’s classified as a cranial nerve, meaning it branches from inside the skull, specifically from the brainstem area we spoke about before that is so susceptible to trauma and toxicity at birth and early on. The Vagus nerve leaves the cranial vault and passes down through the neck, all the way into the abdomen (gut).
It has always also been nicknamed the “rest and digest” nerve, as it’s a parasympathetic nerve. This means it counteracts or opposes the sympathetic, fight-or-flight system we’ve been talking about as being excessively active in spectrum children this whole time.
But now, recent neuroscience has shown us that not only is the Vagus Nerve heavily involved in classic functions like digestive, slowing our heart rate, and breathing mechanisms, but also these key functions linked to common challenges seen with autism spectrum disorder:
Neuro-Immune Function and Balance
Social Connections and Communication
Behavioral and Emotional Regulation
Neuroscience researcher Dr. Steven Porges refers to these other important branches of the Vagus Nerve as the “smart” and “social” vagus, linking it to challenges very present in autism – cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral recognition.
So truly, the Vagus Nerve holds the absolute key to unlocking and improving the health outcomes of the “Perfect Storm” spectrum and sensory children!
HOW DO YOU “FIX” THIS AND HELP MY CHILD?
By addressing the injury and resultant subluxations (stuck, sustained, sympathetic stress), a series of specific, neurologically-focused chiropractic adjustments seek to restore proper balance and function to the Central and Autonomic Nervous System.
The most important elements for a trained and ready PX Doctor to figure out are:
Is this child subluxated?
If yes, how much (quantify or ‘score’ the level of stress and imbalance)
If yes, where are the ‘major’ or ‘primary’ subluxations?
These neurological stress scans are essential to providing the best quality of care possible for your child. They truly are the map or blueprint by which we can create a specific, customized Care Plan and adjusting approach for your child. No guessing, full testing.
Our Insight Scan Technology is truly cutting edge, and not only are they crucial for getting the best starting plan for your child, but the best part is also that we can continue to run these Insight Scans every 2-6 weeks as care continues. This allows us to measure the exact change and progress we are making with your child’s autonomic nervous system and continue to adapt and adjust our approach (pun very intended) at all times to make sure we are getting absolute max results!
Most spectrum cases require a significant amount of care upfront, often beginning with 3x per week adjustments and, for tougher cases, daily care. This schedule of care fits right within the science and neurology we’ve been speaking to with this entire article, known as neuroplasticity.
In this work, time and frequency are everything. We have to adjust with enough frequency in the early stages of care to get the sustained sympathetic storm in the child’s nervous system to unlock and release, and then continue care with enough duration for these neuroplastic changes to actually take root and stick!
That’s perhaps the most exciting, incredible thing about pediatric chiropractic care for autism spectrum disorders – the longer-lasting change it can have! The real incredible, miracle-level results that we’ve seen for a decade-plus come as the months and even years of care stack up!
GROWTH VERSUS PROTECTION
In summary, almost every child we see with spectrum disorders has two major challenges at the root of their issues:
An overstressed nervous system that is stuck on the “gas pedal” and thus in protection mode right from the beginning of life or even before
An underactive and “shut down” parasympathetic, Vagus nerve calming, developing, health-promoting side of the nervous system!
There is a fantastic quote by Dr. Bruce Lipton that perfectly summarizes both the cause behind the issue and, if we really understand it, the solution as well.
His quote states, “You can’t be in growth and protection at the same time.”
Translated to our analogy here, a child’s nervous system cannot be on the “gas pedal” (stress/protection) at the same time as it’s on the “brake pedal” (growth/development/organization/healing). A subluxation, specifically to the upper neck and brainstem area, “locks in” the nervous system to that stress mode… thus “locking out” that child from their full potential and highest quality of life!
A specifically PX-trained pediatric chiropractor is the only provider on the planet trained to find and locate that subluxation and, if found, correct and resolve it appropriately. Doing so is analogous to hitting “reset” on the storm they are stuck in and then “pumping the brakes” and, in time, getting the growth, relaxation, and healing system working again!
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
A specifically PX-trained pediatric chiropractor is the only provider on the planet trained to find and locate that subluxation and, if found, correct and resolve it. Doing so is analogous to “pumping the brakes” and getting the growth, relaxation, and healing system working again!
While we absolutely do see earlier, often larger changes with younger children (more neuroplasticity to work with), Dr. Tony spent his first 3 years of Perfect Storm work almost exclusively working with high school to young adult-aged cases where the parents and providers had truly tried every single medication, therapy, diet, supplement, detox, and more.
10+ years ago, families turned to Pediatric Chiropractic as a “last resort” effort, and they saw results!
So whether you are reading this with a newly diagnosed 3-year-old, a not-yet diagnosed toddler, or a 19-year-old young adult child… we are here to help! We simply need to find and measure your child’s subluxation and neurological stress with our incredible Insight Scans, then sit down with you in partnership to build a customized, personalized Care Plan to get your child to their absolute best health and best quality of life!
Exactly what they, and you, deserve!
Every Kid Counts!
Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, CCWP
Certified Wellness + Pediatric Chiropractor
About the Author
DR. TONY EBEL DC, CACCP, CCWP
Dr. Tony Ebel is the lead writer and educational guide for PX Docs. He is a Certified Pediatric + Wellness Chiropractor with 15 years of clinical experience. In addition, Dr. Tony has been teaching and training other Pediatric + Family Chiropractors for the past 10+ years, primarily teaching the clinical protocols he created for pediatric neurodevelopmental challenges such as Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Epilepsy, Anxiety, and more. This clinical program is now taught in collaboration with the Life University Postgraduate Department and has over 500 graduates. Dr. Tony’s passion is educating, empowering, and informing parents about the nervous system's role in natural, drug-free healing for all pediatric conditions and cases.
What Is Anxiety?
While traditional medicine relies primarily on symptoms and looks for obvious pathology on standard exams like blood work, MRIs, and EEGs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the moment Hayley’s mom woke up each morning, a sense of unease enveloped her, anticipating the forthcoming morning routine. Hayley’s extreme anxiety about going to school only intensified with each passing moment, often culminating in anger and heated confrontations.
What broke her parent’s hearts the most was when Hayley would come to them upset and explain that she didn’t want to feel or act this way. It was entirely out of her control. They found it unbearable that their sweet and caring girl was looked at as a problem because of her overpowering anxiety.
Despite being advised that medication was the optimal course of action for Hayley, even she resisted the idea, recognizing that it was not a suitable remedy for her situation.
They were at a loss until one day, a family friend recommended they look into Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care. They were intrigued and decided to give it a try.
In this article, we will delve into the realm of crippling anxiety, its various types due to each child’s uniqueness, and its underlying neurological nature. By understanding anxiety as a neurological challenge, we can explore how a Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic approach can assist in managing anxiety and promote overall well-being.
WHAT IS ANXIETY?
Anxiety, sometimes referred to as a panic attack, is an intense and excessive feeling of worry or fear of the future. Anxiety is a natural human response when we perceive a threat and can manifest through our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.
Many individuals experience occasional anxiety, especially when facing stressful situations or significant life changes that may have a profound impact. The “fight, flight, or freeze” response is a fundamental human reaction, serving as a mechanism for self-protection.
When we perceive a threat, our brain and nervous system tell our bodies to release specific hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which offer beneficial effects. These hormones enhance our alertness, allowing us to reason swiftly while also increasing our heart rate to facilitate optimal blood flow and circulation to vital areas. This response “readies” us for the potential threat. Subsequently, when the perceived threat subsides, our bodies release alternative hormones that aid in muscle relaxation.
Similarly to Hayley’s case, anger often goes hand and hand with anxiety. When a child feels overwhelmed or threatened, and their fight-or-flight response is triggered, anger is a common coping mechanism they think they need to use to protect themselves and regain control. The constant worry and tension associated with anxiety can also contribute to feelings of irritability and anger.
If anxiety significantly impedes your ability to live life to the fullest, it can develop into a mental health issue. In children, anxiety can significantly impact their overall well-being and development. Understanding the neurological aspects of anxiety is essential for overall support.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY?
Recognizing the signs and symptoms of anxiety is crucial for early identification and intervention. Common symptoms of anxiety in children include:
Feeling nervous, restless, or tense
Having a sense of impending danger, panic, or doom
Increased heart rate
Rapid breathing (hyperventilation)
Sweating
Trembling
Feeling weak or tired
Trouble concentrating or being preoccupied with worries
Difficulty sleeping
Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
In addition to the signs mentioned above, they may also observe:
Sensory sensitivity: Heightened sensitivity to sensory stimuli, such as light, sound, touch, or smells
Impaired emotional regulation: Difficulty managing and expressing emotions appropriately.
Sleep disturbances: Insomnia, nightmares, or frequent waking during the night.
Muscle tension and postural changes: Increased muscle tension, poor posture, and changes in body alignment due to chronic stress.
While traditional medical sources provide insights into common indicators of anxiety, a Neurologically-Focused Pediatric Chiropractor takes a different approach that dives far deeper.
We first begin by going all the way back into the child’s case history, considering important elements as far back as fertility, pregnancy, and labor and delivery. By diving this deep into the case history of a child struggling with anxiety, we can find not just when the symptoms first began to occur but, far more importantly, when the nervous system may have first shifted into sympathetic “fight, flight, or freeze” overdrive. This excessive sympathetic nervous system response is the true root cause of anxiety and emotional dysregulation, and we’ll discuss it in detail later on in the article.
Many times the more noticeable and describable signs of anxiety may not show up in a child until school age or even teenage years, but again and again, we find early signs of stress as far back as infancy and early childhood development.
Additionally, as shown in the list of signs and symptoms above, anxiety usually does not exist alone, just like many other neurological conditions. It frequently accompanies ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Sensory Processing Disorder, along with various other mental health challenges.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANXIETY
Understanding the different types of anxiety helps tailor care to individual needs. The nervous system plays a crucial role in regulating emotions, stress responses, and overall well-being. While the traditional types of anxiety mentioned earlier still apply, a neurological focus explores the underlying neurophysiological factors that may contribute to these specific types:
Agoraphobia: the fear of avoidance of situations or places that might trigger panic attacks, often associated with sensory overload or vestibular dysfunction.
Anxiety due to a medical condition: Anxiety symptoms arise from an underlying medical condition affecting the nervous system or disrupting autonomic nervous system regulation and function
Panic Disorder: Recurrent panic attacks resulting from dysregulation in the autonomic nervous system, which neurological imbalances can influence.
Separation Anxiety: Overwhelming fear or distress when separated from a primary caregiver, often linked to dysregulation of the attachment and fear circuits in the brain.
Social Anxiety: Intense fear or anxiety related to social situations or performance, which can be influenced by sensory processing challenges or difficulties with social-emotional regulation.
WHAT CAUSES ANXIETY?
The traditional medical world believes that the causes of anxiety are not fully known and can be difficult to pinpoint. But they attribute these challenges to family history, brain chemistry, stress, or a child’s environment. High-pressure life events or a stressful environment can certainly contribute, but another set of factors related to neurological health is missing.
When considering a Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic approach to anxiety management, three (3) important concepts to consider are subluxation, dysautonomia, and dysfunction of the vagus nerve.
Subluxation refers to misalignment, tension, and imbalance built up or stuck within the nervous system. Over time this tension then disrupts the balance of the central and autonomic nervous system, leading to what’s known as dysautonomia. These subluxations interfere with the communication between the brain and the rest of the body, including the organs and tissues involved in the stress response, most notably the adrenal glands.
When the nervous system is stuck in a sustained sympathetic response, it stimulates the adrenals and other stress hormone-related glands to constantly put forth neurotransmitters and signals that trigger anxiety and distress. This feeling of anxiety and distress then activates the sympathetic response even further, leading to a vicious neurological cycle we call the Perfect Storm.
DYSAUTONOMIA, THE VAGUS NERVE, AND ANXIETY
Subluxation contributes to the imbalance in the autonomic nervous system (dysautonomia), with an overactive sympathetic response and an underactive parasympathetic response. This imbalance heightens the body’s stress response, resulting in a raised state of arousal, increased heart rate, and other physiological symptoms associated with anxiety.
So if the nervous system is overstressed, dysfunctional, and imbalanced, the chemicals that transmit messages throughout the body for it will also become imbalanced. That is why these chemicals are called “neurotransmitters” – they literally transmit messages for the nervous system. So while many patients have been told the cause of their anxiety and neurological disorder is a “chemical imbalance,” that simply cannot be entirely true since those chemicals are simply following the stimulation and response of the nervous system itself.
The primary nerve responsible for the “rest and relaxation” (parasympathetic) side of the nervous system is the Vagus Nerve, and it is often injured or damaged (subluxated) during the birth process, especially when interventions such as c-section, forceps, vacuum or induction occurs. Overlooked and dismissed birth trauma is frequently seen in children struggling with anxiety, as well as ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, and other neurodevelopmental challenges.
Pediatricians often dismiss a child’s early struggles, such as colic, reflux, and recurrent ear infections. But we understand that these early childhood stressors can be a sign of neurological dysfunction and imbalance brewing, and therefore can be a sign of anxiety challenges down the road if that subluxation and neurological imbalance is not addressed. This stress on the nervous system continues to worsen as the child grows due to the overwhelming amount of busyness, everyday stress, and toxins in our environment today.
DRUG-FREE CARE OPTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY?
As Neurologically-Focused Chiropractors, our approach focuses entirely on addressing the root cause of your child’s anxiety and seeking to restore balance to the Autonomic Nervous System and Vagus Nerve.
In order to get the sympathetic fight-or-flight response to calm down and not remain stuck in overdrive, we’ve got to focus first on activating and stimulating the Vagus Nerve and parasympathetic, calming side of the nervous system.
Our clinical approach is different from that of traditional medicine and therapies and begins with an in-depth case history and consultation with your PX Doc, who will dive deep with you into the known triggers of your child’s anxiety. This may include any birth and physical traumas, stressful life events, and any other noxious stimuli and toxins that show up way too often in a child’s life today. We really want to dive deeper into the day-to-day struggles of our patients and get to know where the struggles really show up in everyday life.
From there, our PX Doctors Network utilizes an incredible piece of technology that addresses the root cause of anxiety instead of just having you fill out a survey or list symptoms like most neuropsychiatric or medical “exams” for anxiety.
These INSiGHT scans are truly remarkable as they aid in identifying and detecting the presence of subluxation and dysautonomia, allowing us to quantify the severity and pinpoint specific areas that require attention and adjustments.
The best part about natural and neurological approaches, such as chiropractic, is that we are not trying to “cure” anxiety, and we refrain from attempting to directly treat the condition or merely alleviate the symptoms. Instead, we focus on diminishing stress and tension that has accumulated within a child’s nervous system. This approach enhances the child’s potential by activating and stimulating the vagus nerve and parasympathetic side of the nervous system.
Once Hayley started Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care and they saw her INSiGHT scans, her family finally felt like the root cause of her challenges were detected, and they could get her the help she truly needed. They stayed consistent with her care plan, and slowly, they saw their little girl coming back!
She started playing without worry again, was less anxious and overwhelmed, and got better at communicating with her mom about how she was feeling. She was able to make it to school, only missing two days the entire year, and even wanted to try some after-school activities. This is the power of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care that every child struggling with anxiety or sensory disorders deserves to experience!
HOW PX DOCS CAN HELP
If your child is struggling with anxiety or any other neurological challenge, consult with a PX doctor today by visiting our directory right away!
Parents today want answers that are more than just putting a bunch of symptoms together and labeling their child with anxiety. They want a deeper understanding of the root causes and to seek drug-free approaches to effectively care for and manage their child’s anxiety. Their ultimate goal is to enable their child to flourish and function at their best… and it’s ours too!
The PX Docs Network is full of doctors who care enough to truly listen, dive deep with you, and create a customized action plan that helps your child heal without drugs. We want to help your child achieve a brighter future and enable them to enjoy a life free from crippling anxiety.
About the Author
DR. TONY EBEL DC, CACCP, CCWP
Dr. Tony Ebel is the lead writer and educational guide for PX Docs. He is a Certified Pediatric + Wellness Chiropractor with 15 years of clinical experience. In addition, Dr. Tony has been teaching and training other Pediatric + Family Chiropractors for the past 10+ years, primarily teaching the clinical protocols he created for pediatric neurodevelopmental challenges such as Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Epilepsy, Anxiety, and more. This clinical program is now taught in collaboration with the Life University Postgraduate Department and has over 500 graduates. Dr. Tony’s passion is educating, empowering, and informing parents about the nervous system's role in natural, drug-free healing for all pediatric conditions and cases.
The Road Map Of Early Development: Navigating Baby Milestones
While traditional medicine relies primarily on symptoms and looks for obvious pathology on standard exams like blood work, MRIs, and EEGs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Shortly after Isla was born, it became apparent that she had a side preference, always turning her head to the left while also struggling with movement. She had trouble lifting her chin from her chest and experienced challenges with eating as a newborn. This resulted in a flat spot on one side of her head.
Isla’s parents were determined to seek help for her but felt overwhelmed by the numerous appointments and lack of clear guidance they received. At the age of 2 months, they took her to a physical therapist (PT) to address her Torticollis, who recommended a helmet. However, they soon realized that the physical therapy wasn’t effectively improving her range of motion and realized a helmet would only provide a temporary solution without addressing the underlying root causes affecting her movement.
After researching natural care remedy options for Torticollis and Plagiocephaly, Isla’s parents decided to give Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic a try.
WHAT ARE BABY MILESTONES?
In the journey of your baby’s first year of life, you’ll witness astonishing growth and development. Throughout this transformative period, your little one will achieve significant milestones, known as baby milestones.
Baby milestones are the critical developmental achievements that most infants reach within specific age ranges. These milestones encompass physical, cognitive, and social skills, indicating that a baby is progressing as expected. In the traditional medical world, they serve as markers for tracking a child’s growth and identifying potential concerns at an early stage.
What’s important to remember is that no two babies are exactly alike, each will follow his or her unique path of development. Many babies do reach certain milestones at somewhat similar ages, but it’s entirely normal for a healthy baby to show variations in different areas.
WHAT MATTERS MOST FOR BABY MILESTONES?
The most important thing we can share with you in this article is something you will absolutely not hear or have explained to you in a traditional pediatrician’s office, and that is this – the order in which your child goes through these milestones matters far more than when they achieve them.
Meaning this, it’s more troublesome for a child to skip a stage of development or miss a milestone altogether than it is to be slightly delayed. For example, skipping crawling is more troublesome and problematic to their overall brain and neurological development than being a couple of months “late” in talking, walking, and so forth.
This is why it was so alarming and concerning when the CDC recently updated their Developmental Milestones charts and took crawling out altogether, and then pushed back some core speech milestones by another 6 months. Crawling is a very important gross motor skill that helps get the right and left sides of the brain connected and coordinated together, helping improve not only motor coordination and function later on in life but cognitive development and emotional regulation as well.
Once again, all milestones are meant to be a general guide and should be interpreted with caution, especially when coming from the CDC or standard pediatrician only. We encourage all parents who have any questions or concerns about their baby’s development and milestones to consult with a trained and experienced PX Doc, who are experts in neurological development and function. You can also find more information about Developmental Milestones from our PX perspective here.
IMPORTANT BABY MILESTONES
During the first couple years of life, babies undergo remarkable transformations. While each child is unique and may develop at their own pace, understanding the typical milestones and their significance can provide parents with valuable insights into their child’s growth.
They can be a sign if things are getting off track with your child’s development, which can lead to children experiencing significant neurological and other developmental challenges later on in life.
Below is a brief list of milestones by month. For a more detailed list, check out this article.
2 MONTHS:
Latches and breastfeeds easily and comfortably (on both sides)
Soothes and sleeps well
Easily digests their food and poops regularly
Tracks objects
Smiles at the sound of your voice
Opens and shuts hands
Brings hands to mouth
4 MONTHS:
Holds their head and neck steady without support
Babbles, coos
Brings objects to their mouth
Pushes down when legs are placed on a firm surface
6 MONTHS:
Rolls both ways
Pushes up with straight arms when on their tummy
Sits without or with little support
Transfers objects from hand to hand
Responds to sounds by making sound
Squealing noises
Enjoys looking at themselves in a mirror
9 MONTHS:
Rolls in every direction
Crawls
Bangs two things together
Uses fingers to pick up food and other objects
Plays Peek-a-boo
Shows several different facial expressions (happy, sad, angry)
The emergence of fear around strangers
1 YEAR:
Gets to a sitting position on their own
Crawls
Pulls up to stand
Walks holding onto furniture
Stands momentarily without support
May begin walking on their own
Takes objects in and out of containers
Responds to “no”
Waves
Says “mama” and/or “dada”
18 MONTHS:
Walks independently
Says at least 15 words
Can hold and use a play telephone, fork, spoon
Scribbles
2 YEARS:
Begins to run
Kicks a ball
Climbs up and down furniture unassisted
Uses simple phrases
Follows simple instructions
Imitates behavior
Begins to show defiant behavior
SIMPLIFYING BABY MILESTONES INTO TWO PHASES
As mentioned above, we are more concerned with the order in which these milestones and developmental stages happen and how well they are linked or coordinated together.
Looking at things on the calendar and by age helps us become aware of a potential challenge or developmental delay, but it does nothing to help us identify the root cause of that potential problem or develop an action plan to help get your baby back on track.
As Neurologically-Focused Pediatric Chiropractors, the entire focus of our clinical care is to find and address the root cause(s) head-on. In order to do just that, we’ve got to first assess and measure the function of the central and autonomic nervous system. This is the single most important measurement we can do for the overall health of infants and children of all ages, and it’s the one function that a standard pediatrician or medical provider is not equipped to provide.
To keep it simple, the development of the nervous system happens in two (2) primary phases. Phase 1 is the foundation of development for your precious newborn baby. Phase 1 includes:
Eat (latch, swallow, digest)
Sleep (soothe, calm)
Poop (mobility, absorption)
Move (motor milestones – head and neck control; sit up and roll over; crawl; walk; run; jump)
Phase 2 is considered the “finishings” and is the phase where the more advanced and complex brain and neurological functions come into play: Phase 2 consists of:
Speech + Communication
Socialization + Play
Behavioral + Emotional Regulation
Cognition + Learning
Before these more advanced brain and neurological functions that are essential for a child’s success in social and school situations can develop and function properly, the foundational basics must be fully developed and healthy. Therefore if your child still struggles with sleep, constipation, or immune health, they will likely continue to stay stuck and delayed in their social, speech, and cognitive development as well.
This is why so many parents report to us that despite doing months or even years of therapy later in life, their child has made little to no progress. We must address the foundation first, and that is yet another thing that sets our PX Docs Network and clinical protocols apart from not just the pediatrician, but PT, OT, and Speech Therapy as well.
WHAT CAUSES BABIES TO MISS MILESTONES?
As a child grows, their development becomes a journey marked by rapid changes in the brain. Week by week, millions of brain cells and neurons flourish, leading to a remarkable 64% increase in your one-year-old infant’s brain size compared to birth.
With such significant transformations happening, it is helpful to keep an eye on important baby milestones – but it is not the end all, be all. As stated above, the most important component of optimal brain and neurological development in babies is not “when” they reach a milestone, as much as it is in “what order” or “sequence,” they do it.
It is more beneficial to closely monitor the following key signs in your baby, as they may indicate the need to consult a trained Neurologically-Focused Pediatric Chiropractor specializing in neurodevelopment.
Frequent stiffening, arching, head, and neck cranking, excessive crying
Difficulty standing and inability to sit or stand independently by 12 months
Skipping crawling altogether or quickly moving from crawling to standing with a stiff and tense posture
Persistent struggles with sleep, digestion, and immune function
Excessive crying and distress, with reduced eye contact, smiling, interaction, babbling, and imitating sounds
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BIRTH TRAUMA AND BABY MILESTONES
Our PX Docs network digs down to the root causes of why your baby may be missing milestones and struggling with their health. The number one factor that we see over and over again that contributes to missed baby milestones is birth trauma, which affects crucial brainstem and cerebellum regions and their wildly important role in developmental milestones.
Birth is traumatic for your baby for numerous reasons, including the baby’s position in utero, the duration of the birth process, or birth interventions (c-section, vacuum, forceps). These all cause high levels of physical tension on the delicate tissues of the brainstem and upper neck, which house the vagus nerve and are responsible for autonomic nervous system regulation and function, motor tone and coordination, immune and digestive function, and so much more.
The impact of these various physical stressors on a developing infant’s nerves and muscles in the head, neck, and upper torso is significant. This leads to subluxation, which is often the most underestimated and overlooked aspect when considering developmental delays and neurodevelopmental challenges in babies and children later on in life as well.
If your baby is displaying signs of colic, reflux, constipation, or is having difficulty sleeping or eating, these are all indications that there is subluxation affecting your baby’s nervous system.
When your baby’s nervous system is subluxated, and they are in a sympathetic dominant state (fight or flight), that stops and limits development and milestone progression. This neurological imbalance is known as its own condition called dysautonomia.
And as renowned Cellular Biologist and leading Epigenetic Researcher Dr. Bruce Lipton perfectly states, “You can’t be in growth and protection at the same time.” So if your baby is stuck in sympathetic fight or flight mode, they can’t also be in growth and development mode. Which by far is the dominant mode your baby is supposed to be in and stay in for quite a while!
HOW CAN CHIROPRACTIC CARE HELP WITH BABY MILESTONES?
We understand the significance of your concerns as parents. You have an unparalleled connection with your child, observing them 24/7. If your pediatrician isn’t giving due attention to your “gut instinct” concerns about your infant’s development, our PX Docs network is ready to help.
Parents need and deserve a different approach and that starts with a different perspective. Your baby deserves to be checked for subluxation, dysautonomia, and developmental delays early and often, and not rely on a “watch and wait” approach.
The most frustrating phrases we hear from countless parents who bring their kids in for care years down the road are, “we wish we had known this before” and “they told us not to worry, they’ll grow out of it.” Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. Again and again, we see in a child’s case history that they did not “grow out of” their colic or sleep challenges but instead grew “into” things like chronic gut issues, autoimmune challenges, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, anxiety, autism, and more.
It all starts with finding out to what degree and where precisely within your baby’s nervous system their tension and subluxations lie. Our trained and ready PX Docs start with an in-depth case history and examination of your baby and also utilize incredible technology called INSiGHT Scans.
These scans take only minutes to use, are entirely safe and non-invasive, and help find exactly where those areas of altered tone and tension are. Baby milestones can involve so much, and the rapidly developing brain and nervous system are quite intricate systems.
Isla’s parents noticed a change in her movement after her very first adjustment. She fell asleep in her car seat on the way home and wasn’t leaning to her preferred left side. She was also able to lift her chin from her chest when she was taking her bottle. After 5 adjustments at her PX Doc office, it was decided she no longer needed a helmet! The adjustments had given her the range of motion she needed to round out her head as she grew.
She continues to progress with each adjustment and is able to move her head easily in both directions. She is meeting her baby milestones in the correct order, and her parents know that she would not be where she is today without Neuroligically-Focused Chiropractic Care.
By optimizing your baby’s nervous system function and supporting development, our Neuro-Tonal Chiropractic Adjustments can be instrumental in fostering a healthy and thriving baby who meets all his or her milestones in the right order.
If you’re a parent seeking to provide the best possible start for your child’s development, check out our PX Docs directory to find a PX Doc local to you. They will help you explore the benefits of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care for your baby’s early development and unlock the potential of your little one’s growth. Babies are meant to be healthy, meet their milestones and grow up with a strong foundation to become resilient, healthy, and thriving!
Article Sources
Child Mind Institute. (n.d.). Parents Guide to Developmental Milestones. Retrieved from https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-developmental-milestones/#block_0c140e37-32f3-4215-9c92-5e184d854a0e
About the Author
DR. TONY EBEL DC, CACCP, CCWP
Dr. Tony Ebel is the lead writer and educational guide for PX Docs. He is a Certified Pediatric + Wellness Chiropractor with 15 years of clinical experience. In addition, Dr. Tony has been teaching and training other Pediatric + Family Chiropractors for the past 10+ years, primarily teaching the clinical protocols he created for pediatric neurodevelopmental challenges such as Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Epilepsy, Anxiety, and more. This clinical program is now taught in collaboration with the Life University Postgraduate Department and has over 500 graduates. Dr. Tony’s passion is educating, empowering, and informing parents about the nervous system's role in natural, drug-free healing for all pediatric conditions and cases.