| |
Chiropractic Care
for Healthy Children
Bed Wetting
Don't Fall Victim to Marketing Ploys!
Wet blankets
and sheets in the morning, soaked pyjamas and an uncomfortable child-this
is a picture of nocturnal nuresis. Enuresis is bed wetting past the
usual time a child is "potty trained."
It's estimated that one out of five children wet the bed regularly.
This means that at least 20 per cent of five-to-eightyear-olds wet their
bed when sleeping. This is not okay. Imagine what it does to a child's
self esteem. The oldest patient I have seen with this condition was
a 21year-old dental hygienist. Can you possibly imagine the mental anguish
and self recrimination this young woman must have gone through?
Over time, various reasons have been proposed as the cause of bed wetting:
psychological, habitual and emotional Many seemingly "neanderthal"
methods have been used to treat this affliction: alarm systems placed
in the bed; electric shocks: hypnosis; drugs; regular waking of the
child; psychotherapy; spanking and other bizarre "treatments."
None of these has had much success.
Why does bed wetting occur? It occurs when there is improper function
of the valves (sphincters) which control the flow of urine from the
bladder. One of these sphincters is under voluntary control, which means
you go when you want to. The other is on "autopilot." In other
words, it is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, the part of
your nervous system which controls all internal functions that you have
no conscious control over. Your child has no voluntary control over
this particular sphincter. The function of these two valves is controlled
by the child's nervous system, which keeps both in check.
Don't be Fooled
Beware of ads suggesting that it's fine
for children to wet the bed because now there are school-age diapers
available. These ads seem to suggest that some children's bladders may
not have developed properly and so a
diaper is the answer. Nonsense! This is called marketing!
(Have you noticed ads recently mentioning a new "disease?"
Medicine and the pharmaceutical industry have developed a new disease
called the "overactive bladder." And, as you may have guessed,
there is a drug to deal with the condition. Isn't it a wonderful service
they are providing?)
The same holds true for adult diapers. Instead of dealing with the reason
why the bladder is not functioning, it's much more profitable to put
adults and school-age children in diapers. Marketing claims that it's
socially acceptable to go shopping and "do your business"
in public because you are now wearing diapers.
Early in my practice I found, as do most chiropractors who deal with
children, that kids who are bed wetters respond very well to chiropractic
care. We deal with removing any interference to the normal function
of the nervous system. Applying this concept to a child whose nervous
system control of his or her bladder is lacking, has positive results.
I generally make this problem a game for most children. We have the
kids develop a "secret code"-after all, no child wants everyone
in the clinic to know that he wets his bed. Days that the bed is dry
are called "D" days and all others are "W" days.
It's amazing how quickly the "D" days add up. And the sparkle
in a child's eyes makes my day!
If your child is experiencing difficulty I urge you to talk to your
family chiropractor as soon as possible.
|
|
