Some back and neck pain needs a doctor today, not a chiropractor. Some back and neck pain is not a case for a chiropractor and needs a doctor the same day. Go to an emergency room, not to us, if you have numbness in the groin or inner thighs, if you have lost control of your bladder or bowels, if a leg is becoming weak rather than just painful, if the pain followed a serious fall or a car crash, if you have a fever with back pain, if you have unexplained weight loss alongside it, if you have a history of cancer, or if a headache came on suddenly and is the worst you have ever had. We would rather you rang your doctor and never rang us at all.
This is the page where this trade most needs to be honest, so let us start with what we will not do. We do not treat infants or children for colic, reflux, ear infections, sleeping problems, feeding difficulties, bedwetting, asthma, allergies, immunity, behaviour, ADHD or autism. Chiropractic care does not treat any of those. Those claims are made widely, they are made without good evidence, and a parent who takes a baby for spinal treatment instead of to a doctor for a genuine problem may lose time that matters.
What children do get is musculoskeletal problems, and those are worth looking at properly. Adolescent back and neck pain from sport, from carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder, or from a growth spurt that has left everything temporarily uncoordinated. Sports injuries. Pain after a fall. Persistent postural aching in a teenager who has recently acquired both a laptop and a phone. These are real, they are common, and they respond to sensible assessment and treatment.
Dr. Bautista sees most of our younger patients. A visit with a child is mostly conversation with the parent and the child, a careful examination, and very light hands — a child is not a small adult and nothing used on an adult here is used on a child. It is also entirely normal for a visit to end with us saying that nothing needs treating, which we say often and are happy to say. Children are not a market.
What we do treat
Musculoskeletal problems in children and adolescents.
Adolescent back and neck pain
Common from around twelve onwards, and frequently connected to sport, screens, a heavy single-strap bag, or a growth spurt. It is usually mechanical and usually settles well. It is also worth examining properly rather than dismissing as growing pains, because a small number of adolescent back pains warrant a medical opinion.
Sports injuries
Young athletes get the same strains and overload problems adults do, plus a set specific to growing bodies — growth plate related pain at the knee and the heel in particular, which behaves differently from adult tendon pain and needs recognising rather than pushing through. Load management matters more in this group than treatment does.
After a fall or a knock
Children fall constantly and mostly bounce. Occasionally something does not settle in the expected few days, and that is worth examining — with a low threshold for imaging in a child, because growing bones behave differently and some injuries are easy to miss. Anything significant goes to a doctor first.
Postural aching in teenagers
The teenager who aches across the shoulders and neck after five hours on a laptop has the same problem as their parent and responds to the same things: movement breaks, some strength work, and a better setup. Treatment helps in the short term. The habits are what matter, and they are more changeable at fifteen than at forty-five.
What we will not treat
Read this before booking. If your reason is on this list, please see your paediatrician instead.
Colic and reflux
We do not treat colic or reflux and there is no good evidence that spinal treatment helps either. A crying baby is distressing and the wish to do something is entirely understandable, which is exactly why this claim finds an audience. Your paediatrician is the right person, and some causes of persistent crying need actual medical assessment.
Ear infections
We do not treat ear infections. There is no evidence that adjusting a spine affects them, and an ear infection in a child is a medical matter with medical management. If a clinic offers chiropractic for recurrent ear infections, that is a clear signal about how it treats evidence generally.
Sleeping, feeding, behaviour, bedwetting
None of these is a chiropractic problem and we do not treat any of them. Nor do we treat asthma, allergies, immunity, ADHD or autism. If somebody has told you that spinal care will help with any of these, they were making a claim without support, and we will tell you that plainly rather than take the booking.
Routine checks for a well child
We do not offer spinal check-ups for children with no symptoms, and we do not screen healthy babies. There is no evidence that this finds anything useful or prevents anything, and it starts a relationship in which a well child is treated as a patient. If your child is fine, they are fine.
How a visit with a child works
For parents deciding whether to book.
The parent stays, always
A parent or guardian is present for the whole appointment, without exception. You sit where you can see everything, you can stop the appointment at any point, and nothing is done that has not been described to both of you first. This is not negotiable and nobody will suggest otherwise.
Mostly talking
A first visit is largely history — what you have noticed, when, what makes it better and worse, what sport, what bag, what screen time, how they are generally. Children are frequently better historians than their parents expect, so we ask them directly as well and give them time to answer.
Very light hands
Nothing used on an adult here is used on a child. Treatment for a child is gentle mobilisation, soft-tissue work and light instrument-assisted technique, at a fraction of the force. If your child does not want to be touched, they will not be, and we will work out what to do about that rather than pressing on.
Often, nothing at all
A perfectly normal outcome is that we examine your child, find nothing that needs treating, explain what we think is going on and suggest a couple of practical changes. You are charged for the examination and nothing else, and you are not booked in for anything. This happens frequently and it is a good result.
Pediatric Chiropractic in western Queens
Children get back and neck pain from sport, bags and falls, and that is worth looking at. We do not treat colic, reflux, ear infections, sleeping or behaviour, and we say so before you book.
Every course of care here starts the same way: a full hour, a proper history, an examination, and then a plain statement of what we think is going on and how confident we are about it. You are told what we propose, roughly how many visits it ought to take and what should have changed by when — and we agree a date to stop and look at whether it worked. If the honest answer at any point is that this needs somebody else, you get that instead, and we write to them the same week.
Chiropractic care is not a substitute for medical diagnosis. Chiropractic care is not a substitute for medical diagnosis, and nothing on this website is medical advice for your particular problem. We are not physicians: we do not prescribe medication, we do not perform surgery, and we do not treat disease. What we do is examine how your spine and joints move, work on them by hand, and give you something to do between visits. If your problem turns out to be outside that, we say so and refer you — which happens often enough that you should expect it as a normal outcome rather than a failure.
What chiropractic does not treat. We treat musculoskeletal problems: the spine, the joints, the muscles and the nerves that are irritated by them. We do not claim that adjusting a spine treats asthma, allergies, ear infections, colic, digestive disease, high blood pressure, infertility, immune function or any other internal illness. Chiropractors who make those claims are making them without good evidence, and you should be wary of anybody who does. If somebody has told you that spinal care will fix a condition on that list, we will tell you honestly that it will not.
Questions
Pediatric Chiropractic — the questions we are asked most
Can chiropractic help my baby's colic?
No. We do not treat colic and there is no good evidence that spinal treatment helps it. A baby who cries inconsolably is genuinely distressing and the wish to do something is completely understandable, which is why this claim is made so often. Please see your paediatrician — persistent crying occasionally has a medical cause that needs finding, and time spent elsewhere is time lost.
Do you treat children for ear infections?
No. There is no evidence that adjusting a spine affects ear infections, and an ear infection is a medical problem with medical management. We will not take that booking. If you have been told by another clinic that chiropractic helps recurrent ear infections, we would gently suggest that tells you something about how that clinic handles evidence more generally.
Is chiropractic safe for children?
The gentle techniques used with children here — light mobilisation, soft tissue and low-force instrument work — are low risk when applied by somebody treating an actual musculoskeletal problem and using force appropriate to a child. The greater risk in paediatric chiropractic is not the treatment, it is treating a child for something that needs a doctor. That is why the list of what we refuse is on this page.
My child has no symptoms. Should they have a spinal check?
No, and we do not offer them. There is no evidence that screening a well child's spine finds anything useful or prevents anything later, and it starts a relationship in which a healthy child is treated as a patient. If your child is well, they do not need us. Bring them if something specific is bothering them and we will look at it properly.
My teenager's back hurts after school. Is that normal?
Common, and worth a look rather than dismissing. Adolescent back and neck pain is usually mechanical and usually connected to sport, screens, a heavy bag carried on one shoulder, or a recent growth spurt, and it generally settles well. A small number need a medical opinion — back pain that wakes them at night, comes with fever or weight loss, or is getting steadily worse goes to your doctor.
Will you do anything to my child that I cannot see?
No. A parent or guardian is present for every moment of every appointment, seated where you can see what is happening, and you can stop it at any point without explaining yourself. Everything is described to you and to your child before it happens. If a clinic anywhere suggests a parent should wait outside, that is a reason to leave.
Related
Often seen alongside this
Everyday & Life Stage
Posture Correction
There is no single correct posture, and plenty of people with textbook posture are in pain. What actually helps is capacity, variety and how long you hold any one position.
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Everyday & Life Stage
Prenatal Chiropractic
Side-lying, bolstered and low force, for the back, pelvis and hips that pregnancy makes ache. Nothing we do involves a twist through the abdomen, and we make no claims about the birth.
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Everyday & Life Stage
Care After Sixty
Thinner bone, stiffer joints and longer medication lists mean different hands. Dr. Halloran almost never twists anybody, and half of what he prescribes is about walking and balance.
Read moreA fee agreed before the visit, not after it
Book an appointment
Pick a chiropractor and an hour from the calendar — it shows only the times each of them genuinely has free. A first visit is a full hour and costs $95 for the examination on its own, or $145 if we treat you at the same appointment. You decide which after the examination, not before.