COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Dr. Ron Salvaggione, a chiropractor at Alta Vista Chiropractics, sees patients every day of every age. The youngest he's ever adjusted was a 2-day-old newborn named Katlyn Durham.

"As soon as mom got out of the hospital she ran over here and said, 'Check my daughter,'" said Salvaggione.

The adjustments take only a couple minutes and consist of Salvaggione giving a light tug to both her legs and gently holding her neck on both sides.

"It's very gentle. We just do very light pressures mostly it's about traction," said the chiropractor.

Why So Young?

Beyond the fact Salvaggione said "When babies are born, oftentimes there's a bit of trauma from mommy pushing and doctor pulling," Durham's mother explained "It's a healthy alternative to preventing sickness instead of giving shots or vaccines."

Many of us may think of chiropractic care as something just to treat aches and pains, but Salvaggione said the goal is not just quick-fix adjustments, but to help heal and prevent future problems through lifestyle changes.

So whether it's an adult, child or baby, Salvaggione will adjust his patients with the premise that no matter what age, the body is its own best healer, and his job is to make the adjustments that restore the body's proper alignment so it can operate at its optimum.

"When the body is working at 100 percent it has the best chance of healing and fighting disease and illness," explained Salvaggione. "The research is compelling to suggest chiropractic care improves your overall health, which means it improves your immune system."

Dr. John Kucera, M.D., agrees studies show chiropractic can be effective, but whether it's safe for babies, he said there are no studies he knows of which address that.

"I'm not aware of any studies that show in a double-blind placebo-controlled study -- 'these children given pretend chiropractic and these children given real treatment' -- so we don't have that kind of study. At least I'm not aware of it," said Kucera.

But going off of his own clinical experience and experiences from patients, Kucera said he's never heard of a patient or child being damaged by chiropractic. He does stress the importance of the chiropractor being skilled and trained in the specific manipulative techniques for infants and children.

Does It Work?

Taylin Monson was eight years old in April when she started having severe back and neck spasms.

"If you looked at her she looked like she was being electrocuted," explained Dana Monson, Taylin's mother.

After trips to the emergency room and seeing specialists up in Denver, Taylin's treatment was valium and Tylenol-Codeine for children -- drugs her mom was not comfortable with. So they went to see Salvaggione and within three weeks Dana said Taylin was off the drugs and pain-free.

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