Condition
Kids’ Health
Parents come in for birth strain, sports, backpacks, and the kid who “just sits like a shrimp on a tablet.” Pediatric chiropractic here is light, explained, and never a surprise crack.
Children genuinely are not small adults, and the differences matter clinically. Growth plates are open, which changes what an injury near a joint might mean and makes some presentations worth imaging that would be unremarkable in a thirty-year-old. Ligaments are more elastic and joints more mobile, so instability rather than stiffness is often the issue. Children heal quickly and complain inconsistently, which means the story you get is rarely complete and the exam has to do more of the work. A limp that has lasted a week matters more than a child's own account of it.
What actually brings families in is ordinary: a fall from a trampoline or a bike, a neck that will not turn after sleeping oddly, sports injuries from field hockey and football and wrestling, back pain in a teenager who has grown five inches in a year, scoliosis screening follow-up, and posture complaints from a generation that has spent its childhood folded over a screen. All of those are mechanical, all of them are within scope, and most of them are straightforward.
The force used is the part parents most want to know about. For an infant it is a fingertip's worth of sustained pressure — the amount you would use to check whether a tomato is ripe — and nothing that could be described as a manipulation. For older children it is instrument adjusting or drop-table work, usually with no twisting and frequently with no sound. Every step is explained to the child before it happens, in words they follow, and if they say stop then it stops. We would much rather a child leaves having asked questions and declined treatment than leaves startled.
Scope is where we differ from some of what you will find advertised. We treat mechanical problems. We do not treat colic, ear infections, asthma, bedwetting, ADHD, or immune function, and we do not offer opinions on vaccination. Those are paediatric medical matters and your child's paediatrician owns them. A chiropractic clinic positioning itself as an alternative to paediatric care is doing something we want no part of.
Dr. Leary (ICPA, Dover native) is the capital-area pediatric lead. Dr. Renaud covers family care in Newark. Dr. Cortellino sees families in Newark.
We are not a replacement for pediatric medical care. We are a mechanical and comfort resource for families who already know that kids have spines too.
Related conditions
Services that often help
Doctors to start with
Patients from Bear, Glasgow, and Pike Creek typically use Newark. Brandywine Hundred, Claymont, and Hockessin use Wilmington. Capital-area patients use Camden/Dover. Smyrna covers Route 13 and Saturday mornings.
FAQ
What forms do I need for a child?
Child new-patient intake and parental consent are required under 18.
How much force is used on a child?
Far less than most parents expect — for an infant, roughly the pressure you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato, applied with a fingertip. Older children get light instrument adjusting or drop-table work. There is generally no twisting and often no noise at all. If you want to see the technique demonstrated on your own hand first, ask; it is a reasonable request and we would rather you did.
Can you treat colic, ear infections, or bedwetting?
No, and we want to be direct about it because you will find clinics that say otherwise. Those are paediatric medical problems and they belong with your child's paediatrician. We treat mechanical complaints — a stiff neck, a back that hurts after a fall, sports injuries, postural problems. If your child is unwell, they need a doctor rather than an adjustment.
Does my child actually need this?
Often not, and we will tell you so. Children are resilient and most childhood aches resolve on their own. What genuinely warrants a look is pain that persists for more than a couple of weeks, pain that follows a specific injury, pain that wakes them at night, or a limp. Routine wellness adjusting for an asymptomatic child is not something we push.
Will my child be scared?
Usually less than the parent is. The first appointment is largely conversation and demonstration, and nothing happens that has not been explained to the child first in language they understand. If they say stop, we stop. A child who leaves having declined treatment but understanding what a chiropractor does is a perfectly acceptable first visit.
What about a heavy school backpack?
It is a real and easily fixed problem. Aim for under about 10 to 15 percent of body weight, both straps on, sitting high on the back rather than sagging toward the waist, heaviest items closest to the spine. Most of the backpack complaints we see resolve by fixing those four things rather than by treatment.