Living with Sensory Processing Disorder can be challenging, both for children and their families. The daily struggles faced by those with sensory challenges often go unnoticed, leaving parents whose children struggle with sensory-related behavior or other issues to feel judged and isolated.
The latest data estimates that Sensory Processing Disorder affects 5-16% of kids, equating to 1 in 6 children struggling with sensory integration issues, from impaired motor control and social function to emotional dysregulation and other common traits. Yet traditional pediatric medicine usually dismisses these challenges as something children outgrow, failing proper diagnosis.
Fortunately, transformation is possible through specialized Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care. This article will explore examples of sensory issues in depth—their symptoms, causes, and impacts, plus drug-free approaches focused on the root factors perpetuating sensory dysfunction.
What Are Sensory Issues?
Sensory processing refers to how the nervous system receives sensory input from the external world and within our bodies, organizes and interprets raw data, and generates appropriate responses. Proper sensory information integration is crucial for learning, behavior, coordination, and environmental interaction.
Sensory issues occur when the brain’s processing and integration of sensory stimuli are dysfunctional. Children may demonstrate hypersensitivity (over-responsiveness) or hyposensitivity (under-responsiveness) to various inputs. Bright lights, for example, can trigger many hypersensitive children.
The senses affected generally include:
- External Senses: Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch
- Body Position: Vestibular (balance and movement)
- Body Awareness: Proprioception (muscle/joint sensations)
While sensory processing issues often accompany diagnosed conditions like Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), they can also occur independently in children with no formal diagnosis.
Children with sensory dysfunction struggle to cope with everyday sensory stimuli and require compassionate care to improve their quality of life.
Symptoms and Examples of Sensory Issues
Children exhibiting challenges processing sensory information may display distinct behaviors, signaling difficulty modulating their reactions. Examples of sensory issues span multiple domains, frequently involving:
Auditory hypersensitivities:
- Adverse reactions to loud/surprising sounds
- Discomfort with noisy, chaotic environments
- Frequently covers ears
Visual hypersensitivities:
- Bothered by flickering or bright lights
- Trouble keeping eyes open outdoors
- Fascination with visual phenomena
Tactile hypersensitivities:
- Aversion to certain textures against skin
- Dislikes hugs, physical affection, or light touch
- Picky regarding clothing fabrics and tags
Oral hypersensitivities:
- Limited diet due to food textures/temperatures
- Frequent gagging or vomiting episodes
- Excessive mouthing of non-food items
In contrast, those with hyposensitivity crave rather than avoid sensory input. This manifests as:
- Constant movement and crashing
- Lack of spatial awareness
- Reduced response to injury
- Touching/tasting inedible things
- Little reaction to loud noises
Since reactions can fluctuate tremendously, sensory issues are easily overlooked or dismissed as behavioral problems rather than physiological ones. Yet behind confusing symptoms lies the real struggle. Identifying and validating children’s sensory experiences is essential for appropriate support.
Causes and Contributing Factors
Emerging science today reveals that neurological dysfunction stems largely from external stressors interfering with healthy developmental trajectories and that genetics alone fail to explain rising rates.
The first phase involves maternal prenatal distress from inflammation, toxicity, or emotional stress, signaling the fetus’ brain and nerves to wire more sensitively. Harsh birth interventions like C-sections, vacuum/forceps, or oxygen deprivation then damage delicate nerve pathways, leading to birth trauma.
Wherever nervous system interference, called subluxation, exists, irritated nerves chronically misfire stress signals instead of smooth sensory communication. Like kinking a hose, signals essential for appropriate responses to sights, sounds, bright lights, touch, etc., suffer.
Traditional medicine overlooks this “neurostorm” brewing. Yet specialized providers, such as Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care PX Docs, can address specific areas perpetuating the disruption and sensory overload to restore healthy nervous system regulation.
Powerful antibiotics for recurring infections tied to poor drainage from subluxation can also damage microbial communities, balancing digestive and immune health and further compounding sensory issues.
Impacts of Sensory Issues on Daily Life
If left unaddressed, the pervasive nature of sensory processing disorder symptoms can leave extensive collateral damage across all facets of life. Here are some examples of sensory issues that can manifest in everyday situations.
Learning & Development
Sensory overload for hypersensitive children often severely impairs concentration, comprehension, and memory formation. Hyposensitive kids crave movement and struggle to sit still for classwork. Both face obstacles to meeting academic potential.
Social & Emotional, and Mental Health
Facing judgment over their visible yet perplexing reactions to stimuli, many sensory-struggling kids with vagus nerve disorders withdraw socially to avoid further distress. This breeds loneliness and other mental health challenges and erodes self-confidence over time.
Family Dynamics & Public Outings
Witnessing a child unravel fills parents with desperation. Judgment from onlookers further isolates families, limiting public excursions. Accommodating sensitivities places extra burdens on parents and siblings.
Anxious & Rigid Behavior
Battling unrelenting sensory overload leaves kids in fight-or-flight mode, amplifying anxiety exponentially. With tolerance maxed out, moderate changes provoke emotional volatility and intense meltdowns. Habit and routine become compulsions.
Gut and Immune Dysfunction
Experiencing too much sympathetic overload can also suppress smooth digestive motility, making individuals more susceptible to inflammation and infection.
A 2022 study of children in a pediatric gastrointestinal clinic showed a higher prevalence of sensory over-responsivity (40%) among the clinic’s children compared to those in the general pediatric clinic (18%).
Neurologically-Focused Solutions for Sensory Issues
While occupational and physical therapy plans focusing on environmental modifications, sensory diets, and skills training deliver substantial benefits, they fail to address the root neurological disruption causing the signaling misfire.
Fortunately, specialized care aims to realign the craniocervical junction and release neural tension through precise adjustments. This optimizes the nervous system’s signaling, essential for appropriate sensory processing and reactions.
Research confirms dramatic sensory and behavioral improvements in just weeks due to a care plan with a neurological focus that addresses the root of the dysfunction rather than behavioral modification alone.
HRV Assessments establishing dysautonomia metrics can further empower sensory regulation care customized to the child, not the condition. Clinical progress mirrors improved quantitative neural flexibility visible on reassessments.
Drug-Free Solutions for Natural Care and Relief
Behind baffling symptoms, sensory struggling children battle intense neurological overwhelm. Compassionate science now recognizes how early stress patterns embed dysfunctional sensory signaling and coping capacity. Through specialized, drug-free solutions, sensory processing can be rebooted naturally, cultivating hope and happiness for struggling families.
Nervous system dysregulation is a common problem underlying many chronic health issues. However, by taking a holistic, neurologically focused approach to healing, it’s possible to restore balance and achieve optimal well-being.
If you’ve seen one or several of these sensory issues in your child, take the first toward natural sensory rebalancing with a qualified PX Doc today. PX Docs are pediatric chiropractors with extensive training in identifying and addressing the root causes of traits of Sensory Processing Disorder.
To find a Neurologically-Focused PX Doc near you, visit the PX Docs Directory.