Chiropractic treatment is prescribed, and directed at restoring the normal structural balance, muscle tone, as well as neurological balance and is ultimately geared towards increasing and balancing brain functions. This is doneprimarily through very gentle spinal adjustments and joint mobilization. Interactive Metronome Interactive Metronome is a computer-based training program shown to improve attention coordination and timing and provides a non-invasive way to stimulate learning and development.
Tactile Stimulation/Massage Therapy
Sensation from the left side of the body is perceived in the right brain. Using massage therapy, vibration modalities and brushing techniques on the appropriate side can increase plasticity in the hypo-functioning brain. Home therapies may also be prescribed.
Olfactory Stimulation
The sense of smell is a powerful tool for rehabilitation. Certain scents evoke certain responses both physical and emotional. For example, how do you feel when you smell Grandma’s apple pie baking? How do you feel when you smell the fowl odor of a putrid rotten egg? We use certain scents to promote desired responses. Aromatherapy is based on this concept. Peppermint oil improves the brain’s ability to understand, process and retain information. Other scents such as lavender oil promotes a sense of calmness and eucalyptus improves respiratory function.
Music Therapy/Auditory Stimulation
The brain processes different sounds in different ways. When you listen to an audio book on tape versus a tape of music with nature sounds, the brain processes each one in a different way.
The left-brain processes words and the right brain processes more abstract pieces of music. Therapy can consist of listening to foreign language tapes, nature sounds, or Mozart. In fact Mozart’s music has been clinically proven to improve intelligence and brain functions. Also, we direct the stimulus to specifically the left or right brain by isolating the sound to one ear. The left
ear is linked with the right brain and the right ear is linked with the left brain. Home therapy may also be prescribed.
Light Stimulation
Light is an excitatory stimulus to the brain. At night, we turn off the lights to reduce the activation to our brain so we can sleep. Light stimulation is used in many different ways. Hemifield stimulation is a computer-based program tailored to your child’s specific needs. The program is designed to blink alternating squares in a particular location on the screen. The doctor determines the color of the squares and they're blinking frequency. Another form of light stimulation is “eye-lights”. Your child will wear glasses that blink soft red light either in the left or right field of vision depending upon the side of the hypo-functioning brain. Different colored lenses may also be prescribed to slow down or speed up the amount of visual stimuli your child receives everyday.
Spinal Stability
Postural tone is dependent upon spinal stability and neurological function. Very often children with ADD/ADHD/PDD, etc. have poor posture. The muscles that allow us to have good posture are involuntary. In other words, telling your child to “sit up straight” will not correct the problem. To restore normal posture, we must retrain the brain and muscle connections to have proper neurological control. These muscles allow us to defy gravity. Gravity is the only environmental stimulus that is constant. Light, sound smell, touch vary during different times of the day. If we make the connection between muscles and the brain more efficient, your child will stimulate their own brain everyday as they walk in our world of gravitational forces. Spinal stability exercises improve tone, coordination and strength.
Academic Therapy
Children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD may benefit from one-on-one tutoring by a certified special education teacher.
