Is pediatric chiropractic safe? What parents should know

What pediatric chiropractic actually is

Pediatric chiropractic is a gentle, hands-on approach to supporting a child’s spine, posture and movement as they grow. The goal is not to produce the dramatic movement or sound people associate with adult adjustments; it is to encourage comfortable mobility and healthy alignment in a body that is still developing. If you are asking whether it is safe, you are asking the right question, and the honest answer depends on how it is done.

At The Spine and Wellness Center, Dr. Jared Cohen, DC has cared for families from Coral Springs and Parkland since the practice was founded in 2005. Our pediatric and prenatal chiropractic care is deliberately low-force, collaborative with your pediatrician, and clear about its limits: it supports comfort, posture and movement. It does not treat or cure medical conditions, and any provider who claims otherwise should raise a flag.

Parents usually find us for one of a handful of reasons: slouching that will not correct, neck or upper-back complaints after long tablet sessions, stiffness after a heavy backpack or a sports tumble, or growing pains that keep a child up at night.

How pediatric chiropractic differs from adult care

This is where safety lives. A child is not a small adult, and the techniques used reflect that:

• Force. For infants, the pressure is what you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato. For school-age children and teens it is light, specific and brief. High-velocity adult techniques are not used on young children.
• Evaluation first. Every child gets a history, a careful age-appropriate structural exam and, for older kids, surface EMG scanning to see how the muscles are working. Imaging is rare and only when clearly indicated.
• Comfort rule. A child should never dread a visit. We stop and adapt the moment a child is uncomfortable, and parents stay in the room.
• Home habits. Posture guidance, stretches, backpack and screen advice are a bigger part of pediatric care than the adjustment itself.

What the evidence and professional consensus say

The research base for chiropractic in children is smaller than for adults, and we say so. What it supports: gentle, conservative care from a qualified clinician using modified techniques is generally well tolerated, with serious adverse events rare. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health’s overview, Chiropractic: In Depth, summarizes the safety picture and the areas where evidence is still limited.

What the evidence does not support is chiropractic as a treatment for ear infections, asthma, colic or other medical conditions. We do not make those claims. We treat musculoskeletal comfort and function, and we refer to your pediatrician for anything else.

Three questions worth asking any provider who treats children: What technique will you use and how much force does it involve? What will you examine before you treat? What is this care meant to do, and what is it not meant to do? Clear answers to all three are the real safety check.

Why parents bring kids in: backpacks, screens and sports

Modern childhood places real demand on a young spine. The three patterns we see most in Coral Springs and Parkland:

• Screens. Hours of tablet and phone time build the same forward-head posture adults get, earlier. We treat it as text neck and wrote about prevention in Text Neck: How Your Phone Is Hurting Your Spine.
• Backpacks. A pack over 10–15 percent of body weight, worn on one shoulder, loads the spine asymmetrically every school day. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons publishes clear weight and fit guidance.
• Sports. Year-round travel soccer, baseball and gymnastics schedules bring overuse strain and the occasional fall. Our youth athletic performance program handles the older kids.

Posture change is usually the first thing a parent notices. For a child, as for an adult, posture correction works best as a short program of gentle care plus daily habits, not a one-time fix; How to Fix Your Posture covers the habits side.

What a child’s visit looks like

Visit one is a conversation with you and your child, a gentle hands-on structural exam, and for older children a surface EMG scan to see how the postural muscles are working. Nothing is treated on the first visit; we measure first. Visit two is the report of findings, in plain language a child can follow, and the plan. Treatment begins from there.

Pediatric care sits lightly inside the 4R Method. Most children need a short Repair phase of a few gentle visits, a Rebuild phase that is mostly posture habits and simple exercises, and then occasional check-ins during growth spurts or a sports season. We do not put children on long, open-ended plans.

Visits are short once the plan is set, usually ten to fifteen minutes, and we schedule around school and practice. Teen athletes often come in for a preseason check and a mid-season tune-up; younger children typically need a handful of visits and then a check-in during a growth spurt.

If you are new to chiropractic yourself, What to Expect at Your First Chiropractic Visit walks through the adult version of the same process. For your child, a spine assessment is the first step, and it is the same measure-first approach we use in all of our chiropractic care.

Serving families across North Broward

Our clinic at 5675 Coral Ridge Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33076 serves Coral Springs, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Margate, Boca Raton, Tamarac, Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach. Same-day appointments are usually available — call (954) 341-2256 or book online. Most patients from Parkland and Coral Springs are here in under 15 minutes.

Medically reviewed by Dr. Jared Cohen, DC — Co-Founder & Clinical Director, The Spine and Wellness Center. Last reviewed October 2026.

Frequently asked questions