Chiropractic Paediatrics: Infant Patient

Irritable Infant
Differential diagnosis of the irritable infant is critical as without these skills, delay in appropriate medical treatment is considered a risk for this patient. Besides ruling out infection or other serious medical problems, the practitioner will learn to recognize signs of allergy, sensory dysregualtion and issues with bonding in the infant.
Intrauterine constraint, long drawn out deliveries and/or a very precipitous delivery can all be causes of mechanical dysfunction in the infant. An important aspect of infant care is to recognize signs of mechanical dysfuntion in the infant and how they present.

Plagiocephaly
Plagiocephaly can be the result of intrauterine constraint and/or torticollis. Both torticollis and plagiocephaly affect the development of the cervico-ocular and cervico-vestibular reflexes as well as sensory motor integration, all of which can have a dramatic effect on the developing infant. There are different types of plagiocephaly, one of which responds to manual treatment. Because untreated positional plagiocephaly can result in scoliosis and sensory – motor integration difficulties, we have an important role in treatment of this infant. This lecture will differentiate the different types of plagiocephaly and the work shop will look at different treatment techniques and advice for the parents. Exercises are individually tailored for infants to help train the cervico-ocular, cervico. Vestibular and sensory motor integration.

Motor Development of the infant
When evaluating the infant patient, understanding the progression of motor skills in the normal infant is necessary. This lecture explores the theories of motor development in the infant and specifically motor development in the prone and supine positions from birth to 6 months. This lecture also explores the social development of the infant 0-6 months.

History taking of the infant patient

The history taking of the infant is significantly different from the adult. skills to be mastered here include a thorough history of the pregnancy, delivery and postnatal period.

Examination of the infant

The examination of the infant is unique to this patient Group and needs to be mastered to rule out serious illness and gain skills in differential diagnosis.

Technique

This is a hands on course where we take time to learn appropriate techniques with appropriate force. The anatomy and physiology is so significantly different it is critical to master these techniques as using too much force is a risk for the infant. Since the developing anatomy is different than in the adult, vectors of force will be explored to appropriately address the structure when treating the  infant.