---

Infantile Spasms in Babies: Root Causes, Warning Signs, and What the 10–20% Who Thrive Do Differently

Episode 191 — Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP — Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: March 16, 2026 | Duration: ~51 min

Key Takeaways

• Infantile spasms (also called West Syndrome) are a severe, rare form of early-onset epilepsy that most commonly appear between 4 and 8 months of age — timed precisely with the neuromotor developmental surge that demands more from an already-stressed nervous system.
• Medical statistics show over 80% of infants with infantile spasms develop developmental delays and 50% develop other forms of epilepsy — but these statistics track only children receiving conventional medical care, which does not address the root cause.
• Every infantile spasms case Dr. Tony Ebel has treated in over 15 years of practice had prior signs of nervous system dysregulation: colic, reflux, arching, feeding difficulties, or difficulty latching — signs that conventional pediatrics often misses or dismisses.
• Birth trauma — including forceps, vacuum extraction, cord-wrapped deliveries, and emergency C-sections — is the most clinically consistent upstream trigger, creating subluxation and tension in the upper cervical spine at the brainstem and vagus nerve.
• Emergency medical intervention (epileptologist, ACTH/corticosteroid injections) is non-negotiable when infantile spasms occur — and Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care should begin immediately after to address the root cause and give the child the best shot at joining the 10–20% who thrive without ongoing seizures or developmental delays.

What Are Infantile Spasms, and Why Do 10–20% of Kids Beat the Odds?

Infantile spasms are a rare but severe form of epilepsy in infants, characterized by sudden stiffening, jackknife movements, body arching, and jerking — typically first appearing between 3 and 8 months of age, with peak onset in the 4-to-8-month window. They are sometimes diagnosed as West Syndrome and represent a neurological emergency requiring immediate medical attention.

The conventional medical picture is grim: over 80% of infants with infantile spasms go on to experience developmental delays, approximately 50% develop other forms of epilepsy, about 27% evolve into Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (another severe seizure disorder), and a Danish study found 76.4% still had epilepsy at follow-up. But Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, argues these statistics only capture children treated through conventional medicine alone — an approach that, by its own admission, does not address the root cause driving the spasms.

The question that drove Dr. Ebel through his son Oliver’s own seizure journey — Oliver was given a 99% chance of lifelong epilepsy and only a 20% chance of living to age one, and he beat both odds — was simple: What do the 10 to 20% who thrive do differently? The answer, from over 15 years of clinical practice, consistently points to early identification of the underlying nervous system dysfunction and addressing it through Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care in combination with, not instead of, the essential emergency medical response.

Why Infantile Spasms Are Often Missed Until It’s a Crisis [00:00 – 00:11]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The hardest thing for parents to recognize is that infantile spasms rarely come out of nowhere — even though that’s what conventional medicine often assumes.

The early signs — quick stiffening, body arching, sudden jerking — can look identical to colic, reflux, or a fussy baby. And in virtually every infantile spasms case Dr. Tony has seen in practice, the baby was already displaying those symptoms long before the spasms escalated into a neurological emergency. Colic is not a benign diagnosis. It’s a sign the infant’s nervous system is already dysregulated — that something is disrupting the brain-body connection.

By the time the movements become undeniable, parents are unfortunately already used to their baby arching and stiffening, which means the critical early window can pass unrecognized. The infantile spasm stage is also precisely timed with the neuromotor developmental surge around 4 to 8 months — when the brain and body are making new demands on a nervous system already under stress.

“Not a single time have I seen an infantile spasms case that didn’t have high stress, pregnancy birth intervention, and a child who was already displaying signs of stress on their body, their brain, and their nervous system.”

If spasms are suspected at any point — even if you’re unsure — record them on video and seek immediate evaluation from a neurologist or board-certified epileptologist. Do not wait.

The Statistics Every Infantile Spasms Parent Needs to Reframe [00:17 – 00:28]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The data is daunting. But there’s a critical limitation to every one of these statistics: they only track children who received conventional medical care.

Here’s what the medical literature reports for children on the standard medical-only path:

• Over 80% develop developmental delays
• 50% develop other forms of epilepsy
• 27% evolve into Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
• 76.4% still had active epilepsy at follow-up (Denmark study)

And there is a compounding factor most families aren’t told: anti-seizure medications including phenobarbital, Keppra, and Topamax — while essential in the acute phase — are themselves documented to cause developmental delays. These children are often navigating the neurological damage from the spasms and the developmental suppression from the medications simultaneously.

This is the reason Dr. Ebel believes so many children land in the 80%. It is not inevitable. The 10 to 20% who avoid developmental delays and ongoing epilepsy are doing something different — and that difference is addressing the nervous system dysfunction that drove the spasms in the first place.

“These medications are amazing short-term. But they’re awful long-term. And if the only path you are given is to just wait and see — well, we know the data.”

A double victory is possible: getting the child out of the acute storm and off the medications, because the root cause has been addressed and the nervous system is no longer driving the spasms.

The Perfect Storm: How Birth Trauma Creates the Neurological Conditions for Spasms [00:11 – 00:17]

Dr. Tony Ebel: When you look upstream in the case history of almost every infantile spasms child, The Perfect Storm was already building before the first spasm occurred.

The Perfect Storm — Dr. Ebel’s core clinical framework — describes how prenatal maternal stress, birth trauma, and early toxin exposure compound to create nervous system dysregulation and subluxation in the upper cervical spine. For infantile spasms specifically, the most clinically consistent factors are:

Birth trauma from interventions including forceps, vacuum extraction, cord-wrapped deliveries, and emergency C-sections. These create mechanical tension at the upper cervical spine, at the brainstem, and along the vagus nerve — the nerve that governs 75% of parasympathetic nervous system function. When that connection is compromised, the infant’s entire regulatory system is affected: digestion, sleep, immune response, and neuromotor development.

The timing is not coincidental. The peak onset of infantile spasms — 4 to 8 months — maps directly to the neuromotor developmental surge when infants begin bearing weight, building core stability, and making rapid gains in gross motor milestones. A nervous system already carrying a high allostatic load (the cumulative neurophysiological burden of The Perfect Storm) can trip the wire when new demands are placed on it.

Warning signs that the storm was already building before spasms appeared:

• Colic, arching, and chronic fussiness in the newborn period
• Difficulty latching, nursing, or tolerating formula
• Reflux and constipation
• Eczema, recurrent ear infections, and respiratory congestion
• Poor sleep and difficulty self-regulating

“The spasms didn’t come out of nowhere. There are signs of trouble coming — and that’s the whole concept of the Perfect Storm.”

In rare cases, Dr. Ebel has also seen infantile spasms triggered in otherwise healthy infants following vaccine reactions or severe viral illness — because the nervous system and immune system are so deeply interconnected that a hard hit to one system stresses the other.

Emergency Medicine First: Threading the Needle Between Crisis Care and Root Cause Care [00:04 – 00:08]

Dr. Tony Ebel: This is non-negotiable, and Dr. Ebel makes it clear with both his clinical position and his personal story.

When infantile spasms occur, the first call is the emergency room. The second call is an epileptologist — a board-certified specialist in seizures, not just a general neurologist. These specialists can deploy ACTH and corticosteroid injections that interrupt the acute seizure cycle, and that intervention is lifesaving.

Dr. Ebel’s son Oliver required phenobarbital and corticosteroid medications for a two-week period following a traumatic birth and hypoxic brain injury. “If I had a kiddo come into our clinic and I could clearly tell they were having infantile spasms, I would send that family to the emergency room instantly. If they refused, I would try to drive them there myself.”

The fire department analogy holds: there is a time to call the fire department. There is also a time when the fire is out and you call someone else. Once the acute spasm cycle has been interrupted, the critical next question becomes what happens to the root cause — because the same nervous system dysfunction that drove the spasms, if left unaddressed, will drive developmental delays, ongoing epilepsy, and continued neurological challenges.

The goal of the neurologically focused chiropractic component is not to treat or cure seizures. The goal is to remove the subluxation and tension that is blocking the nervous system from self-regulating — so the child’s own brain and body can do the healing.

The Nervous System Lens: Subluxation, Dysautonomia, and the Vagus Nerve [00:36 – 00:38]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Through the lens of Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care, infantile spasms are a severe expression of what happens when neuromotor tone is critically out of balance.

The clinical terms that matter for infantile spasms families:

Subluxation — misalignment and tension in the spinal system, particularly the upper cervical spine, that disrupts nervous system signaling. In infantile spasms cases, there is almost always a significant subluxation at the brainstem level and at the cervicothoracic junction.

Sympathetic dominance — the infant’s nervous system is stuck in a chronic fight-or-flight state, unable to access the parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode governed by the vagus nerve. This dysregulation affects motor tone, sleep, digestion, immune function, and neurodevelopment simultaneously.

Dysautonomia — dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, meaning the brain and body cannot communicate cleanly. This drives both the hyptertonicity that causes spasms and the hypotonia that follows, as well as the motor milestone delays that characterize the 80%.

Neuroplasticity working in reverse — “nerves that fire together, wire together.” Every spasm increases the probability of the next spasm. Early intervention interrupts this cycle before the pattern is deeply entrenched.

“When your kiddo is dealing with spasms, seizures, and neurodevelopmental delays — nervous system dysregulation, dystonia, subluxation dysfunction, dysautonomia, vagus nerve damage and dysfunction — these are the terms you need to know.”

INSiGHT Scans — the neurological scanning technology used by PX Docs practitioners — can quantify the level of nervous system dysregulation and subluxation, providing a baseline and measuring improvement over time. This is not guesswork; it’s scan-guided care.

Teo’s Story: Twins, a Traumatic C-Section, and the Adjustment That Changed Everything [00:38 – 00:47]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Jordan and Teo are genetically identical twins, born to Jennifer and Dr. Miguel — a family that had already witnessed chiropractic’s impact through the life of their daughter Cadence, who had lissencephaly and serious brain abnormalities but lived a dramatically higher quality of life, with fewer seizures and fewer medications, than any medical prognosis suggested.

Jordan was born head-down, vaginally, without intervention. He was the easiest baby imaginable — sleeping, smiling, growing fast, never sick, no food intolerances. Teo was breech. After Jordan’s delivery, Teo needed an emergency C-section, and the extraction involved significant traction and twisting of his head and neck.

Same genetics. Entirely different nervous systems from day one.

Teo struggled from the beginning with colic, reflux, difficulty latching, skin issues, and frequent illness. He was under wellness chiropractic care, but the family was still transitioning from an all-medical framework. At around eight months, Dr. Miguel called with an emergency: Teo was in the hospital with infantile spasms and seizures. The injections had slowed the spasms, but Teo was disconnected — no eye contact, no smiling, constant crying. “We don’t have our baby boy.”

Dr. Tony drove to the hospital, educated the family, and made an adjustment. Teo’s entire body melted. His head and neck — rotated and torticollis — returned to midline. He relaxed. Moments later, Teo looked at Dr. Tony and smiled. Then he turned to his mother and gave her eye contact and a smile. Then Miguel.

“The adjustments I did did not treat or cure his seizures. Teo’s own brain, his own nervous system, did the healing. Did the reconnecting. What we needed to do was get the subluxation and tension out of his way.”

Teo was then adjusted daily for several weeks, then three times a week for many months. He has not had a seizure since. He has no developmental delays. He did not remain on medications. He is, by every measure, a healthy kid — and the medical team had told his parents to prepare for an 80% chance of more seizures and an 80% chance of developmental delays.

Dr. Miguel is now a neurologically focused pediatric chiropractor. His practice, built with Jennifer beside him, serves families navigating the same journey they once walked.

Action Steps for Infantile Spasms Families [00:47 – 00:51]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Here is what to do if your child is experiencing or has experienced infantile spasms.

If spasms are happening now:

1. Record the episode on video if safely possible
2. Go to the emergency room immediately
3. Request a board-certified epileptologist — not just a general neurologist
4. Allow the acute medical intervention to do its job

Once the acute phase is managed: 5. Call your PX Docs practitioner from the hospital parking lot if you need to 6. Begin an intensive neurologically focused chiropractic protocol — daily adjustments initially, then tapering based on scan results 7. Look for a PX Doc trained in intensive protocols for infantile spasms and severe neurodevelopmental cases

For ongoing care:

• Get INSiGHT Scans to baseline and track nervous system function
• Work with a neurologist or epileptologist who is open to partnership — not one who insists on medications as the only path
• Connect with pxdocs.com for the infantile spasms article, related resources, and the practitioner directory

“We never, ever know exactly how things are going to go when we start care with a kiddo. But every single time, we are aiming for the 1%.”

If no PX Doc is in your area, email support@pxdocs.com. To ask about intensive protocols — for infantile spasms, active seizures, or severe neurodevelopmental cases — reach out on Instagram, Facebook, or at support@pxdocs.com and ask about the PWC Perfect Storm Intensive Program.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are infantile spasms and how do I know if my baby has them?

Infantile spasms are a severe, rare form of epilepsy in infants, usually beginning between 3 and 8 months of age. They appear as sudden stiffening, jackknife movements, body arching, or jerking episodes — often in clusters. Because early spasms can look like colic or reflux, they are frequently missed. If you suspect your baby is having spasms, record the episode on video and seek immediate neurological evaluation. This is a medical emergency.

Why do so many babies with infantile spasms go on to have developmental delays?

According to Dr. Tony Ebel, over 80% of infants with infantile spasms develop developmental delays under medical-only care for two compounding reasons: the nervous system dysregulation and subluxation driving the spasms are never addressed at the root level, and the anti-seizure medications themselves — phenobarbital, Keppra, Topamax, Vigabatrin — are documented to increase the risk of developmental delays. Addressing the root cause through Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care is the variable that changes the outcome for the 10–20% who thrive.

What causes infantile spasms at the root level?

In nearly every case Dr. Tony Ebel has seen clinically, the root cause traces to The Perfect Storm: prenatal maternal stress, birth trauma from interventions like forceps, vacuum extraction, or emergency C-section, and early toxin exposure. These create subluxation and tension at the upper cervical spine — at the brainstem and vagus nerve — that disrupts the infant’s entire neurological regulatory system. The 4-to-8-month onset peak aligns with the neuromotor developmental surge, when the load on an already-stressed nervous system exceeds its capacity.

Is chiropractic care safe for a baby with infantile spasms?

Yes, when performed by a neurologically focused pediatric chiropractor trained in intensive infant protocols. The adjustments used are gentle, scan-guided, and focused on removing subluxation and tension from the upper cervical spine and brainstem — not treating or curing the seizures directly. The child’s own nervous system does the healing once the structural interference is removed. Dr. Ebel emphasizes that chiropractic care complements, not replaces, emergency medical intervention. Both are necessary.

Can infantile spasms be prevented if birth trauma is identified early?

Dr. Tony Ebel’s clinical position is yes — in most cases, the perfect storm can be interrupted before it escalates to spasms. Infants who receive Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care from birth — especially after difficult deliveries involving forceps, vacuum, or C-section — have the subluxation and brainstem tension addressed before the allostatic load reaches crisis level. The best outcome is that infantile spasms never happen. The second best is catching the nervous system dysfunction immediately after spasms occur and beginning intensive care.

How do I find a PX Docs practitioner trained in infantile spasms and seizure cases?

Visit the PX Docs Directory and search by city, zip code, or region. For infantile spasms and active seizure cases, look specifically for a PX Doc offering intensive protocols — daily adjustments in the acute phase. If no practitioner appears in your search, email support@pxdocs.com or DM PX Docs on Instagram or Facebook. You can also ask specifically about the PWC Perfect Storm Intensive Program for severe neurological cases.

Resources & Related Content

• Infantile Spasms — PX Docs — Full article with research citations referenced in this episode
• The Perfect Storm Framework — How prenatal stress, birth trauma, and toxin exposure compound to create nervous system dysregulation
• Birth Trauma and Neurological Development — The connection between birth interventions and infant nervous system health
• Vagus Nerve Dysfunction in Children — How vagus nerve damage drives dysautonomia and regulatory challenges
• Seizures and Epilepsy — PX Docs — Condition overview and related episodes
• Find a PX Docs Office Near You — PX Docs Practitioner Directory