United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Has anyone ever used a chiropractor to help treat their child's BPI? If so, I am interested in how old the child was, what type of treatment was done and for what reason, and what the results were. My husband is seeking chiropractic care for his back and they have a "family plan" which includes 4 family members, so I was thinking about having my daughter go as well. Any advise, both positive or negative, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

I've been going to the chiropractor for years now and it's really helped me. I never have a hands on adjustment. The Chiropractor uses a tool called the Activator and that is better as far as I am concerned.
Please check and see how much experience you Chiropractor has had with bpi or is he/she willing to study some information on it. My Chiropractor never treated another obpi before and he really read up in it in his text books as well as ubpn older Outreach publications.

Kath robpi/adult

I also see a chiropractor regularly. I started last fall at age 20 and wish I would have been seen all my life. Its amazing what a bpi can do to your spine. The muscular imbalance that I have in my back from my bpi have caused my spine to rotate a lot! My chiro said it was the worst rotation he had ever seen and that he would probably never see another one like it. Then about two months later he comes up to me before an appointment and says he saw another rotation like mine...Guess the diagnosis...BPI!

Anyway the chiropractor seems to have rotated my spine back to its correct position and I just feel so much better all the time. My rotation was pintching other nerves and causing me problems that I never knew could be caused from my back being out of place. I used to have the worst heartburn all the time and now none! I can eat anything I want to and its amazing!

I would definitely reccommend taking your daughter! The activator method is probably better for kids so if they dont do that I am not sure I would take a child. I prefer to be manually adjusted but I am a lot older. I think if they were to try and manually adjust me as a child I would have freaked.
Hugs,
Amy 21 years old ROBPI from MN

My daughter used chiropratic care from ages of 4-6. We used it because she was developing scoliosis and was having unxplained pain in here effected arm. It seemed to help a lot. He was very knowledgeable in PT and OT and consulted with out Dr. and therapists. I felt very comfortable haivng him do adjustments. It also decreased her scapular winging. We have moved and have a new little one with a lot of health problems so I haven't been able to find a new chiropractor for her yet.

We went for a chiropractic consultation when Nicole was a baby. I was interested in seeing if there was anything he could do to help with her BPI. There wasn't anything he could do that would help her actual injury at that time. However, now that Nicole is 9 years old and I see how differently she does things, I think that she's probably twisted up her body quite a bit. I actually just started seeing a Chiropractor for some neck and lower back pain I've had. We found some major problems that have been developing for quite some time. It's kind of ironic because I've been having Nicole checked for scoliosis every year due to her BPI and I just foundout that I'm the one who has it (a mild case). Anyway, I decided that I want him to take a look at Nicole too. I'm interested to see what he thinks. Her first appt. is tomorrow. Any particular questions I should ask besides the typical questions? I've been afraid of having her adjusted, mainly because of some surgeries that she had, but at this point, I think that not having her treated might be a bigger risk and she might be a mess by the time she's an adult. Any words of wisdom? Nice to see your names, Kath and Amy! I miss you both! Take care.

~Tina, mom to Nicole (9 y.o. w/LOBPI) & Joshua (4 y.o. w/NO BPI)

Maia and I go to Dr. Tedd Koren who has created a technique called Koren Specific Technique. Maia is now 5 weeks and 6 days completely out of pain... Tina Maia's pain levels were very high 7-8 out of 10 on the pain scale daily and this is the first thing that has shifted her. I also get treated and feel very very different. It has helped us tremendously. It is very different from all the other chiropractic treatments (because it works!imagine that!) we've had over the last ten years and you know that Maia has had chiropractic since day one (and multiple chiropractors) and this by far has made the biggest changes for her. And there's no bone cracking or anything painfully invasive.

HI everyone, it's been awhile since i've last visited. I hope everyone is well.
We are moving in a new direction with our daughter's (18month robpi) recovery. Chiropractic, the Dr wants to do routine adjustments, like three times a week. He has never worked on a bpi injury, but his enthusiasm is great and it seems like this is his new found "project".
It's interesting how he noticed that Lily might need adjustments. During my wife's appointment he noticed Lily fall once or twice. We normally just thought she was just clumsy or still getting her balance. It turns out a kid Lily's age (18 month) should not be falling as much. These falls indicated to him that her spine is out of line and it has been since day one. The x-rays today proved his theory.
I am a bit worried to start any treatments on her, I don't want anything bad to happen. Has anyone out there had Chiropractic work done on a small toddler? Any more damage to her nerves would make me crazy. I worry he might not understand the injury and or consequences of his treatments.
Thanks in advance.

Hi, my son has been having chiro since he was 3 months old, with what I believe are great results. His neck was very twisted probably from his traumatic birth. 2 days after our first visit he went from being able to lift his arm just 45 degrees, to lifting it to his mouth. We had to visit the chiro for adjustments twice a week to begin with because Jacob's neck was so badly twisted, now his back and neck adjusts easily, we now go fortnightly and have been doing so from 4 months of age. I would recommend you see a chiro that has plenty of experience with treating children and babies, it is much more gentle than on adults.

Hope this helps

Lily has seen the Chiro twice now. My wife said the Doctor is very gentle and Lily seems to like him. Yesterday evening I was watching her walk around by our driveway. I swear I can already see improvement in her balance. She was walking over little hills and bumps with now problem. She did fall once, but as I watched her i could see she looked loose. I hope to see more positive reactions from the treatments. I dont think the chiro will help her arm, but I think this will help alingment of her spine, which didnt look good on her X-rays. I am assuing this is just another negative result from her delivery.

Hey everyone!

My name is Amber and I am 21. I have a BPI of my left arm and I never really had too much pain until I was about 14. I started complaining and my mom took me to the doctor. I got x-rays that clearly showed scoliosis. I guess we never really connected it to the BPI. Anyway, I started going to the chiropractor that year and went, regularly, for a few years after that. When I went to college, I stopped because I didn't know of any chiropractors at school and didn't want to pay out-of-pocket. It hurts sometimes when I sit for extended amounts of time in class without resting my arm. My mom recently suggested a sling while sitting. Has anyone tried this and does it help?