Infant's Failure to Thrive and Other Symptoms Resolved with Chiropractic

The Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research published a case study on November 22, 2021, documenting the chiropractic resolution of problems for an infant who was medically diagnosed as "failure to thrive."

The John Hopkins Medical website answers the question "What is failure to thrive?", by stating, "Children are diagnosed with failure to thrive when their weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below that of other children of similar age and sex. Infants or children that fail to thrive seem to be dramatically smaller or shorter than other children the same age."

In this case, a mother brought her four-month-old son into see the chiropractor. The infant boy had previously been medically diagnosed as failure to thrive. The history revealed that two weeks after birth the infant began to be unusually fussy. Within the first month, the infant boy began vomiting all his milk after feedings.

The boy's mother reported that her son was only able to ingest goat's milk with maple syrup, but only 1-2 ounces at a time. He would still moderately spit-up afterward. The infant cried approximately 90% of the time unless held and bounced. He could not sleep at night and only got small naps during the day.

Because of these problems, his mother brought the infant to multiple specialists, including a GI specialist who ran a battery of tests that were all negative, confirming that no underlying pathology was present. At that point, the medical diagnosis of failure to thrive was made.

The chiropractor performed specific postural and motion chiropractic examination procedures and took x-rays of the upper neck to check the alignment of the upper neck spinal bones. The examination and x-rays confirmed a severe rotation of the top bone in the neck, the atlas. With an atlas subluxation being confirmed, the chiropractor gave the infant a specific, age appropriate chiropractic adjustment of the atlas vertebrae. The boy's mother was instructed to bring her son back the following day.

The next day, the mother reported that her son's head was no longer rotated to one side, and that her son was less fussy and was able to sleep through the night. Within days, the infant was eating better and began to gain weight. Within several weeks, the boy was returning to normal and meeting all milestones of growth and weight gain.

In their conclusion, the authors of the study wrote, "This case report described the successful outcome of upper cervical chiropractic care on an infant diagnosed with failure to thrive... Allopathic medical care was unsuccessful in helping this patient. Following the identification of vertebral subluxation, the atlas subluxation was corrected using precisely calculated vectors. The patient experienced resolution of all symptoms related to severe upper cervical misalignment."