Colic – A New Parent Nightmare

We have all heard the horror stories of colic keeping babies up all night kicking and screaming, driving new and experienced parents to the breaking point. Head on over to Google and type in something to the effect of “colic horror stories” and you will be reading in mere seconds. The first headline I looked through when I tried this same experiment was “parents who have babies with colic deserve a medal”. With this I agree, but I think they would be better off with relief! Not too mention, the parents are not the only people suffering.

To begin, let’s define “colic”. According to Webster’s Dictionary, colic can be defined in two ways. The first is an attack of acute abdominal pain localized in a hollow organ and often caused by spasm, obstruction, or twisting. The second is a condition marked by recurrent episodes of prolonged and uncontrollable crying and irritability in an otherwise healthy infant that is of unknown cause and usually subsides after three to four months of age. Either way you slice it, colic is never a good time.

I have a relative who shared a story about her experience with colic. To make a long story short, there was a 24 hour period of straight crying and the episode eventually led to the mother, father, and baby all sitting on the hardwood floor in a dark hallway crying together in frustration and anguish. I only wish I could have shared with them then what I know now.

In South Africa, a study was done Mercer and Nook in regards to colic and chiropractic care. In the study, a group of 30 infants were randomly divided into two groups. The group of 30 had all been medically diagnosed with colic by a pediatrician. All of the infants in the study were newborns to 8 weeks old. Of the two groups, only one received chiropractic care while the other group did not. The group that received care was given two weeks of chiropractic adjustments with no more then six adjustments in that time frame.

The results speak for themselves. In the group that received chiropractic care, 93% of the infants had complete resolution of symptoms in a two week period. A follow up survey one month later revealed that these infants had no reoccurrence of symptoms.

While there is no commonly accepted reason for colic to appear, it can last for a period of 3-4 months. I don’t know about you, but 3-4 months of crying for no widely accepted reason would have me looking pretty hard at the Mercer and Nook study. I only wish I could have shared this information with my relative before her family had to go through their awful colic experiences.

If you are seeking relief for a colicky baby, it may be time to think about a visit to your local chiropractor.