Subject: Case Studies

Title: Chiropractic care of a 6 year old girl with neck pain; headaches; hand, leg and foot pain; and other nonmusculoskeletal symptoms

Reference: Jan Roberts,DC; Tristy Wolfe,MA....Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2009; 8: pp.331-336

Objective: The purpose of this case report is to describe the response to chiropractic care of a pediatric patient with complaints of neck pain; headaches; and hand, leg, and foot pain after head trauma and the reports of changes in the patient's history of chronic fatigue, vomiting, and coughing.

Clinical Features: A 6-year-old girl was pushed into a playground slide, hitting her head and resulting in acute complaints of her "neck and brain hurting" and hand, foot, and occasional leg pain. In addition, the patient had a several-year history of unexplained fatigue, vomiting, and coughing spells, She had a neck pain disability index of 17,8%; left lateral and rotational head tilt; cervical antalgic lean; loss of cervical range of motion; anterior cervical translation; and spasm, tenderness, trigger points, and edema along the cervical and thoracic spine.

Intervention and Outcome: The patient was cared for using Activator Methods protocol. After the fifth treatment, all the patient's symptoms dissipated, with a complete return to normal activity and spinal stability after 9 treatments. At 19 weeks, her spine continued to be asymptomatic; and her neck disability index was 0%.

Conclusion: This case demonstrated that the Activator Method of chiropractic care had a beneficial effect for this pediatric patien.

Key Indexing Terms: Child; Chiropractic; Neck Pain; Headache