The Experience Miracles Podcast

Chiropractic ‘Side Effects’ You’ll Love for Your Kids

Dec 24, 2024

Side Effects of Chiropractic Care for Kids: Sleep, Digestion, Immunity, and Focus

Episode 63 — Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP — Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: December 24, 2024 | Duration: 14 min

Key Takeaways

  • Approximately 80% of pediatric chiropractic patients—from infants to parents—experience improved sleep after starting Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care, often as the first and most noticeable change.
  • Birth interventions such as forceps, vacuum extraction, induction, and C-sections can create subluxation in the brainstem and upper cervical spine, locking the nervous system in chronic Sympathetic Dominance (fight-or-flight mode) and driving conditions like colic, poor sleep, digestive problems, and anxiety.
  • The six most commonly reported positive effects of chiropractic care are: improved sleep, enhanced digestive health, stronger immune function, better posture and physical comfort, improved emotional and behavioral regulation, and sharper focus and cognitive clarity.
  • Unlike many medications—which can worsen foundational functions like sleep, digestion, and mood—chiropractic adjustments improve these basic building blocks of health first, creating the foundation for bigger neurological improvements.
  • What most people call the “side effects” of chiropractic are actually direct healing effects: the body’s natural response when nervous system function is restored through adjustments that address subluxation and Sympathetic Dominance.

What Are the Side Effects of Chiropractic Care for Children?

The side effects of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care for children are almost entirely positive—improved sleep, better digestion, stronger immunity, enhanced emotional regulation, and sharper focus are among the most commonly reported outcomes. According to Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, approximately 80% of pediatric chiropractic patients experience improved sleep, often within the first few adjustments.

These improvements happen because chiropractic care targets the root cause of so many childhood health struggles: a nervous system stuck in overdrive. Birth interventions—including forceps, vacuum extraction, induction, and C-sections—can create subluxation in the brainstem and upper cervical spine. This locks a child’s nervous system into Sympathetic Dominance, a state of chronic fight-or-flight stress that disrupts digestion, sleep, immune function, focus, and emotional regulation all at once.

When chiropractic adjustments address that subluxation, the nervous system shifts out of stress mode and the body begins to regulate itself. Digestion improves. Sleep deepens. Immune response strengthens. The “side effects” parents notice aren’t incidental—they’re direct evidence that the nervous system is functioning better.

Why Parents Are Searching for Drug-Free Alternatives [00:00 – 02:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: For so many families right now, you’re done. You’re done with your kids being sick, with being stressed and sick yourselves, and with turning to the conventional pediatrician and medical system for another medication. Whether it’s over-the-counter or prescription, it seems like the more you struggle, the more medications they recommend—and the more side effects you experience. Very few people get healthier by taking more medications. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite.

That may have led you to this moment where you’ve been researching chiropractic care for your kids, your family, yourself. But maybe you made your way over to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook and saw some kind of intense adjustment video—lots of noise, lots of movement—and thought, “I don’t know if I want that, especially for my child.”

Like everything out there, there are many different kinds of chiropractic. I address that in a different video. But today I want to address the side effects of chiropractic and share the good news that they are virtually all good.

The Drug Commercial Analogy: Comparing Chiropractic to Pharmaceutical Side Effects [02:00 – 05:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: I always like to tell this story with the picture of a classic drug commercial. Most of us now use streaming services, but plenty of people still watch live events on network TV—sports, award shows—and get hit with commercials. If you’ve watched TV commercials at any point, you know that about 50% of them are trying to sell you a car, and the other 50% are pharmaceutical commercials.

These pharmaceutical commercials always begin with a happy, healthy person—elderly, parents, or a child, depending on who they’re targeting. That direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing is only legal in the United States and New Zealand, which is pretty telling on its own.

So the announcer in the beginning describes some potential improvements a patient might experience with the medication. The image stays positive—everyone’s frolicking in fields, playing pickleball, healthy and vibrant. But then the announcer’s tone shifts when they start reading the side effects: tremors, diarrhea, a compromised immune system, seizures, even death.

“What if we had a chiropractic commercial? When the time comes to go from the positive benefits to the side effects, I wouldn’t have to change my tone of voice—because the side effects might be the best part of chiropractic.”

Now imagine a chiropractic commercial. Same positive imagery—healthy, active, vibrant people who just operate at a different frequency. But when the time comes to list the side effects, you wouldn’t need a different tone. The side effects are the best part.

Dr. Tony’s First Adjustment: A Personal Story About Unexpected Healing [05:00 – 07:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: When I first got adjusted, I was 21 years old. I had struggled for 21 years with neck pain and shoulder issues—lots of injuries and structural wear from being a farm kid in small-town Iowa. That was what got me in the door for chiropractic. Like many of you, I thought chiropractic was only for back pain, neck pain, and musculoskeletal issues. I didn’t know about the broader benefits until I experienced them personally.

I almost didn’t even know I struggled with sensory ADHD. I definitely knew about my 21-year battle with sleep issues—I was the person who couldn’t fall asleep and couldn’t stay asleep. My nervous system was stressed out and wound up. In school I couldn’t pay attention or follow directions. This may sound familiar—maybe it sounds like your child right now. Their nervous system is simultaneously wound up, stressed out, and worn out.

I will never forget my first adjustment with Dr. Rick Albert in Ames, Iowa. Go Cyclones! Did I physically feel better with my neck and shoulder? Absolutely, instantly. And then I went home and slept for 14 hours straight. I fell asleep at 7 PM, when normally it took me until 1 or 2 AM to even get a little bit of sleep before waking up for class and work. I had lived my entire life exhausted.

For the first time, I woke up fully refreshed and recharged. That adjustment changed my life—and he hadn’t even mentioned improved sleep as something I should expect.

“That adjustment, that experience changed my life. And he didn’t even tell me that I would probably sleep that much. It was exactly the side effect my nervous system and body needed to heal.”

The Six Positive Side Effects of Chiropractic Care [07:00 – 09:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: When we look at the side effects of chiropractic, here’s the list:

Improved sleep. About 80% of our patients—from babies to moms and dads—experience noticeably better sleep after starting care.

Improved digestive health. Better motility, absorption, and elimination. Digestion improves across the board.

Stronger immune systems. Patients aren’t congested all the time. They get over colds and illnesses faster. And once the nervous system gets stronger with this kind of chiropractic care, they just experience fewer colds, fewer illnesses, fewer immune struggles altogether.

Physical improvements. We see kids and parents experience better posture, improved range of motion, and the tension and physical discomfort just go away.

Enhanced emotional and behavioral regulation. Parents tell us all the time: “My child is calmer, more regulated—they make transitions easier, make decisions easier, and they’re not so easily overwhelmed by sensory and emotional challenges.”

Improved focus, concentration, and cognition. We call this getting rid of brain fog. The majority of our kids are struggling with brain fog from wound-up, worn-out nervous systems, and one of the biggest changes patients notice is just clarity of thought and mental function.

“I’m telling you, you can look at kids and families that get adjusted and they just operate at a different frequency.”

Why Chiropractic Works: The Nervous System Explained [09:00 – 11:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: How does this happen? It’s actually simple.

The Autonomic Nervous System is the air traffic control and master operating system for the entire body. What Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic adjustments do is release stuck stress from wound-up nervous systems.

The air traffic control center is located in the brainstem and upper cervical area of the neck. And that is exactly where birth interventions—forceps, vacuum extraction, induction, and C-section—can get in and wreak havoc. They create subluxation, which gets the nervous system wound up and stuck in Sympathetic Dominance, that chronic fight-or-flight state.

That’s the colicky baby. That’s the child who can’t stop having tantrums and meltdowns. That’s the kid who can’t sit and focus in school. That’s where anxiety takes over as life gets bigger. That’s the child who can’t digest food, can’t build a strong immune system, can’t fall asleep.

Everything on the “struggle list” connects back to that same root cause. When we adjust a child and address that subluxation and sympathetic dominance, we get the nervous system to chill out. The body starts to relax and regulate. And the body knows best—when the nervous system functions better, everything in the body works better.

It starts with the basics: digestion, sleep, immune function. While medications often make these basic physiological functions worse, chiropractic adjustments improve the foundational elements of health. And nothing bigger—ADHD, seizures, anxiety, behavioral challenges—is going to improve for anyone until those basics improve first.

Direct Effects, Not Side Effects: Reframing What Healing Looks Like [11:00 – 13:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The side effects patients experience under our care are all good. And so many parents have struggled with these things for so long—sleep issues, digestive problems, allergies, getting sick constantly—that the conventional medical system has just normalized those conditions and said, “That’s how it is. Use your medication. Deal with it.”

We look at that and say: that is not the quality of life your kids and your family deserve.

It’s worth reframing the language here, too. When a child starts a medication and then develops tics—where they didn’t have them before—that’s not a side effect. That’s a direct effect of that medication. The same is true for chiropractic care. What patients experience under our care are direct healing effects. The improvements we see are the direct result of addressing nervous system function.

This goes far beyond the spine, far beyond the musculoskeletal system, and far beyond physical benefits alone. I experienced it myself at 21, and we get to see it with hundreds of patients every single day in our practice—and hundreds of thousands of patients across the PX Docs network.

Taking the Next Step [13:00 – 14:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: If you’ve been researching chiropractic but held off—because you’ve seen something on TikTok or YouTube, or you talked to people who honestly just don’t know the full picture—know this: chiropractic is remarkably safe. The research backing its safety is extensive. If you want those studies, send us a DM. We’ll share them.

But I know what parents are actually looking for. Not kind of better. Not this thing getting better while that thing gets worse. We want everything better—and we want our family’s quality of life to actually transform.

That’s why I wanted to share the real, actual side effects of chiropractic. They are nothing but good news.

Take that next step: call, get scheduled, or go to the directory and connect with a nervous system-focused family chiropractor. All of us—our kids included, all the way back to pregnancy, labor, and delivery—are exposed to enormous stress and toxicity. Our nervous systems become stressed out, wound up, and worn out. And that is what chiropractic care addresses better than anything else.

I want you to have access to this for your whole family. If you know another family that could benefit from understanding these side effects—which are wonderful things—please share this.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the side effects of chiropractic care for kids?

The most common side effects of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care for children are positive ones: improved sleep, better digestion, stronger immunity, improved emotional regulation, and sharper focus. Dr. Tony Ebel reports that approximately 80% of pediatric patients experience noticeably better sleep as one of the first changes after starting care. These outcomes are the result of the nervous system functioning better, not incidental effects.

Is chiropractic care safe for children and infants?

Yes. Chiropractic care has an extensive safety record, with research specifically supporting its use for children and infants. The adjustments used in Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care are gentle and calibrated for smaller, developing bodies. Dr. Tony Ebel notes that the force used for infant adjustments is nothing like what most people picture when they think of chiropractic—it’s comparable to the gentle pressure of a fingertip.

Can birth trauma cause nervous system problems in babies?

According to Dr. Tony Ebel, birth interventions including forceps, vacuum extraction, induction, and C-sections can create subluxation in the brainstem and upper cervical spine. This leaves the nervous system stuck in Sympathetic Dominance—a chronic fight-or-flight state that drives colic, sleep problems, digestive issues, and difficulty with emotional regulation in infants and young children.

Why does chiropractic care improve sleep and digestion in children?

The Autonomic Nervous System controls digestion, sleep, immune response, and emotional regulation. When subluxation in the upper cervical spine disrupts nervous system signaling, all of these functions are compromised. Chiropractic adjustments address that subluxation directly, shifting the nervous system out of fight-or-flight mode so the body can restore normal function. Sleep and digestion are often the first things to improve because they are the most basic physiological building blocks.

How is chiropractic different from medication for kids?

Medications commonly prescribed for childhood conditions—for sleep, digestion, focus, anxiety—often worsen basic physiological functions as a side effect. Chiropractic care works in the opposite direction: by restoring Autonomic Nervous System function, it improves these foundational health processes first. As Dr. Tony Ebel explains, nothing bigger—ADHD, anxiety, behavioral challenges—is going to improve until the basics (sleep, digestion, immune health) improve first.

How do I find a neurologically-focused chiropractor for my child?

The PX Docs Directory is a searchable database of nervous system-focused family chiropractors trained in the Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care approach Dr. Tony Ebel teaches. You can filter by location to find a qualified practitioner near you.

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