Dysautonomia is a condition that affects the autonomic nervous system 🧠, which is responsible for controlling and coordinating every function in our body 🏃. The autonomic nervous system is designed to operate on autopilot, but when it’s in disarray, it can lead to a variety of issues. Most medical doctors do not evaluate the nervous system when assessing illness or sickness, which is why dysautonomia often goes undetected. 🔍

They look at lab results, which are our chemistry or blood work. Or they look at imaging which may be looking at tissue or structures – such as X-ray, MRI, or CT scans. Neither of these most common modes of medical analysis – blood work and lab analysis and imaging (MRI) – evaluate the function of the nervous system. 🧠

In this blog, we’ll cover what dysautonomia is, what causes it, and how it can impact your families health. And most importantly, what to do to help them. If you or your child is struggling with various health issues 🤕 and has seen multiple specialists, dysautonomia could be the root cause of their problems. Every single teenager we see struggling with anxiety, depression, brain fog, sleep disturbances, ADHD, and gut issues has dysautonomia.

To begin, let’s define dysautonomia. It’s a condition where the autonomic nervous system is disorganized and imbalanced. There are two sides to the autonomic nervous system: the gas pedal ⛽, fight or flight side, which means stress, tension, and anxiety. Then there is the relaxation side, which means calm, rest, and emotional regulation.⚖️

When dysautonomia sets in, other systems in the body also begin to experience symptoms, leading to conditions such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, gut issues, fatigue, brain fog, and sleep disturbances. Therefore, addressing dysautonomia is crucial for improving overall health and well-being.

One of the first symptoms of dysautonomia is decreased motility in the gut – which means things are not moving along as well. What this looks like in infants are reflux and colicky behavior. Older kids may experience chronic stomach aches, nausea 🤢, and constipation. These symptoms can be particularly challenging for children and teenagers.O

As parents, you’re probably well aware of the gut-brain connection and the importance of a healthy digestive system for a healthy immune system. But did you know that the autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in this connection? Dysautonomia, or a subluxated nervous system, can lead to decreased movement in the gut, increased mucus and secretions, and a higher risk of respiratory and immune system congestion. 🤧

This congestion can manifest into ear infections, sinus infections, chronic strep infections, and even more serious conditions like PANDAS, asthma, allergies, and pneumonia. Every time a child gets sick, they can’t kick it.

This all starts with an out-of-balance nervous system, ⛈️which causes an out-of-balance immune system, and we end up with a high correlation, especially in older kids and adults, of dysautonomia and autoimmune challenges.

Dysautonomia has also been linked to mental health challenges like ADHD, OCD, and anxiety because the autonomic nervous system also controls our 😀 mood, memory, emotional regulation, depression, and focus. In fact, exhaustion is one of the clearest and most common symptoms of dysautonomia, affecting everyone from grade school children to adults. They are wound up and worn out at the same time.

As pediatric chiropractors, We have seen firsthand how correcting subluxations and restoring balance to the autonomic nervous system can significantly ✨ improve digestion, immune function, and mental health. Ensuring that the nervous system is functioning properly, we can help children and adults alike lead happier, healthier lives. 👍

The fifth and final system impacted by dysautonomia is the motor system 🏃. When that sympathetic fight or flight system runs too much, you’ll get spasms, tension, neck pain, back pain, headaches, migraines, and weakness.

So what we see a lot with special needs, sensory, and spectrum children are commonly affected by dysautonomia due to a combination of factors.

Medications or chemistry can’t address the issue, and medical testing such as lab results and imaging can’t take care of it. Therefore, the only way to address dysautonomia through the motor system is by addressing tone and coordination. Motor tone and coordination are two significant aspects of the muscular or motor system that dysautonomia greatly affects.

We understand how overwhelming it can be for parents to manage multiple health concerns for their children. If you’re juggling appointments with specialists, OT, PT, and psychologists and trying to keep up with daily struggles, you’re not alone. 💗

However, We want to share a key piece of information that can tie everything together. In most cases, one underlying issue is causing your child’s gut issues, respiratory and immune issues, ADHD, behavioral or cognitive concerns, and more.

The truth is that our bodies are designed to be healthy, and the control and coordination of our various systems are managed by the nervous system. When this system functions well and communicates properly, it controls and coordinates all other systems in the body, leading to better digestion, immune function, sleep 😴, focus, energy, and more.

So in turn, if the nervous system goes haywire, everything downstream can go haywire as well. This is where neurologically focused-pediatric chiropractic comes in.

By improving the function of the nervous system, we can significantly improve the function of many other systems in the body.

The beauty of this approach is that we can address a multitude of challenges tethered to and caused by one thing, greatly improving the quality of life for children and their families.

WHAT CAUSES DYSAUTONOMIA?

Let’s discuss the primary cause of dysautonomia, which is subluxation.

Subluxation is an interference between the brain and the body. Prenatal stress as well as birth trauma and ⚒️ interventions lead to subluxation within the nervous system

Subluxation causes an excess of sympathetic fight or flight response, called the gas pedal. A subluxated child with sensory issues may have a meltdown in a store or restaurant, get overwhelmed easily, and struggle with brushing their teeth or wearing certain clothes. This happens because the child is stuck in fight or flight mode due to too much subluxation and tension.

Furthermore, subluxation causes too little parasympathetic or vagus nerve function, which regulates our heart rate, breathing, digestion, immune system, inflammation, and sleep quality. It also helps to focus our emotions, socialization, and communication. A subluxated child may have difficulty relaxing, calming down, and regulating their body functions.

The word to remember here is “subluxation means stress stuck on.”

When that stress is stuck on, it shifts the nervous system into fight or flight mode, causing significant disruptions in a child’s overall well-being. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify and correct subluxation in children through neurologically focused pediatric chiropractic care.

The first step in addressing subluxation is finding it.🔍 This is where our advanced INSIGHT scanning technology comes in. We use thermal, EMG, and HRV scans to locate, quantify, and measure the extent of subluxation. By doing so, we can determine whether your child is struggling with dysautonomia.

Once we have this information, we can develop a personalized plan 📜to correct the subluxation and restore balance to your child’s nervous system. This plan involves chiropractic adjustments, which can release tension and restore proper function. Our goal is to get your child’s vagus nerve, a crucial regulator of the autonomic nervous system, back online and functioning properly.

To get started, you can schedule a consultation with us! We start by taking a detailed history of your child’s experiences, their story matters! We then perform the neurological assessments above. Following their first appointment, you’ll meet with our docs for the report of findings visit, they’ll review the results of the scans and show you the plan for correcting subluxation. Our care plans are designed to help your child achieve optimal health and wellness.🎉

In conclusion, finding and correcting subluxation is crucial for your child’s overall health and well-being. With our advanced scanning technology and clinical protocols, we can locate, quantify, and correct subluxation to restore balance to the nervous system.

Understanding dysautonomia and subluxation is the missing link in healthcare that can make a significant difference in the lives of millions of children. We are committed to making this change for as many kids as possible! Once parents have access to this information, it leads to action and helps their child get out of that stress mode, out of the storm, and back to the healthy, thriving life they deserve.

SOURCE

Dr. Tony Ebel is the lead writer and educational guide for PX Docs. He is a Certified Pediatric + Wellness Chiropractor with 15 years of clinical experience. In addition, Dr. Tony has been teaching and training other Pediatric + Family Chiropractors for the past 10+ years, primarily teaching the clinical protocols he created for pediatric neurodevelopmental challenges such as Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Epilepsy, Anxiety, and more. This clinical program is now taught in collaboration with the Life University Postgraduate Department and has over 500 graduates. Dr. Tony’s passion is educating, empowering, and informing parents about the nervous system’s role in natural, drug-free healing for all pediatric conditions and cases.