Children and Chiropractic Care
Paediatric Chiropractic Care for Growing Bodies
Children are always on the move. They crawl, climb, fall, carry heavy school bags, spend hours on screens and grow in fast, uneven spurts. All of that places demands on a young, growing body.
Paediatric chiropractic care takes a gentle, age-appropriate look at your child’s spine, joints, posture and movement. The aim is simple. We want to understand how your child’s body is coping with the physical demands of growing up, explain what we find in plain language, and offer gentle care where it is appropriate.
We are chiropractors, not doctors, and chiropractic care does not replace medical care. If you have a health concern about your child, your GP or health visitor should always be your first port of call. Where it helps, we are happy to work alongside them.
If you would like to talk things through, you can book an initial consultation with our team.
What we focus on
Chiropractic care is about the musculoskeletal system, which means the spine, the joints, the muscles and the way the body moves. In children, that system develops quickly, and it adapts to everything from learning to crawl and walk to sitting at a desk and playing sport.
When we see your child, we look at how they are moving and developing from a musculoskeletal point of view. We check posture, joint movement and coordination, and we take time to listen to any concerns you have as a parent.
Why parents bring their children
- Aches, niggles or stiffness, including after sport, falls or trips
- Posture, especially with long hours sitting or on screens
- Sports niggles and minor sporting strains in older children and teenagers
- Questions about how their child is moving, their coordination or their physical confidence
Babies and newborns
The early months involve a huge amount of physical growth. Some parents would like a gentle chiropractic check of their baby’s movement, neck mobility and symmetry.
If you have any concern about your baby’s feeding, breathing, sleep, digestion, weight or the shape of their head, your midwife, health visitor or GP is the right person to see first. They can assess your baby and refer on to specialist services where needed. A chiropractic check looks only at the musculoskeletal picture, so how your baby is moving and settling into different positions, and it sits alongside that medical care rather than replacing it.
How paediatric chiropractic works
Paediatric chiropractic is not adult chiropractic on a smaller body. Children need an approach that suits their age, size and stage of development.
We start with a thorough consultation. We take time to understand:
- Your child's health history, including pregnancy, birth and their development so far
- How your child moves, their posture and their coordination
- Age-appropriate physical observations
- Your concerns as a parent
What to expect from care
Our care is gentle and tailored to the individual child. We use light, age-appropriate techniques, and we always explain what we are doing and why before we do it. We check in with you as we go, and we keep you involved in every decision about your child’s care.
We will be honest with you about what we can and cannot help with. Chiropractic care focuses on the musculoskeletal system, so we will never suggest it as a treatment for a medical condition, and we will always encourage you to see your GP or health visitor for anything outside that.
What families say about us
“Poppy is very patient and quickly builds a great rapport with children.” Releah
“Poppy always made me feel relaxed and reassured, and talked me through what she was doing. All the staff always had a smile on their face. Such professional and warm people.” Ellie
“Poppy is really good with her and very patient. A big thank you to Poppy and all the team, who make us feel very welcome.” Helen
What we focus on
Chiropractic care is about the musculoskeletal system, which means the spine, the joints, the muscles and the way the body moves. In children, that system develops quickly, and it adapts to everything from learning to crawl and walk to sitting at a desk and playing sport.
When we see your child, we look at how they are moving and developing from a musculoskeletal point of view. We check posture, joint movement and coordination, and we take time to listen to any concerns you have as a parent.
Why parents bring their children
As part of our assessment, we sometimes use INSiGHT scanning technology. These are non-invasive tools that take simple surface measurements. They use no needles, no radiation and no electrical currents, and they are comfortable for children and babies.
We use them to record a few objective measurements that we can look at alongside the rest of our assessment, and to track changes over time. There are three:
- neuroTHERMAL records skin temperature along the spine.
- neuroCORE (surface EMG) records the electrical activity of the muscles along the spine, which reflects muscle activity and tension.
- neuroPULSE records heart rate variability, the small changes in the timing between heartbeats.
The readings are summarised into a simple score we call a CORESCORE, which gives us a baseline. If your child has a course of care, we can repeat the scans and compare the readings over time.
It is worth being clear about what these scans are and are not. They are a way of recording surface measurements to support our assessment and to track change. They are not a medical diagnostic test, and they do not diagnose disease. If your child needs medical investigation, your GP is the right person to arrange that.
Do the scans hurt?
Are they suitable for children and pregnant mothers?
Meet our paediatric chiropractors
Dr Mark Blokland
Mark is a chiropractor registered with the General Chiropractic Council, with over 30 years of experience working with families. He has a particular interest in gentle techniques, including SOT (Sacro Occipital Technique) and cranial work.
Over the years he has worked with many families and newborns, always with a gentle, individual approach. Where a baby or child needs medical assessment, Mark works alongside GPs, health visitors and other healthcare professionals.
His interest in family care is also personal. After caring for his own children from a young age, he became passionate about supporting other parents and their children.
“Having cared for my own children, I understand how important it is for parents to feel confident and comfortable about the care their child receives.”
Dr Poppy Blokland
Poppy is a chiropractor registered with the General Chiropractic Council, with a particular interest in family and paediatric care, working with children from babies through to teenagers.
She has completed the Steve Williams Paediatric Chiropractic course and the PX Docs course in family-based care, and she continues to build her experience through ongoing professional development.
For Poppy, paediatric chiropractic is about more than the spine. It is about getting to know each child, listening to the family and taking a gentle, age-appropriate approach that suits the individual child.
“I love getting to know each child and their family, and taking the time to understand what matters to them.”
Every child is unique
- Listening. Understanding your concerns and your child's individual story.
- Assessing. Looking at your child's movement, posture and development, and using our INSiGHT scans where they add value.
- Explaining. Talking you clearly through what we find and what it means.
- Supporting. Offering gentle, appropriate care where it helps.
- Collaborating. Working alongside your GP, health visitor and other healthcare professionals where appropriate.