Pediatric Chiropractic: Safe Care for Children in the Twin Cities

When you hear the word “chiropractor,” you probably picture an adult getting their back adjusted after a car accident or a long week at a desk job. So when someone suggests taking your baby, toddler, or teenager to a pediatric chiropractor, your first thought is probably: “Wait, is that safe?”

It’s a completely normal reaction. As parents, our first instinct is to protect our kids. The idea of someone adjusting your baby’s tiny spine can sound intimidating if you don’t know what pediatric chiropractic actually looks like.

But here’s the reality: children’s chiropractic care doesn’t look anything like adult chiropractic care. It’s incredibly gentle, extremely safe, and for many families, it’s the missing piece of the puzzle for issues like colic, sleep troubles, ear infections, and growing pains.

At Twin Cities Chiropractic, Dr. Scot Sorum isn’t just a chiropractor with over 20 years of experience—he’s also a father of four. He understands exactly how parents feel and knows how to provide safe, effective family chiropractic care in St. Paul. Let me walk you through why kids need chiropractic care and what it actually involves.

People often ask, “Kids don’t have back pain, so why do they need an adjustment?”

It’s true that kids rarely complain about a stiff lower back. But their little bodies actually go through an immense amount of physical stress during their first few years of life.

The birth process is the first major physical trauma most of us experience. Even in a perfectly normal, healthy delivery, a baby’s neck and spine undergo significant pressure. If interventions like vacuums, forceps, or C-sections are used, that physical stress increases. This can leave a newborn with subtle spinal misalignments that affect how they sleep, eat, and digest.

Learning to walk means falling down. A lot. Think about how many times a toddler falls on their bottom while learning to balance. Those repeated impacts can throw their pelvis and lower spine out of alignment.

School and sports bring a whole new set of physical challenges. Kids are carrying backpacks that weigh a quarter of their body weight. They’re sitting at desks for hours. They’re taking hard hits in soccer, hockey, or gymnastics.

Technology is creating problems we didn’t see twenty years ago. “Text neck” is incredibly common in teenagers and even younger kids who spend hours looking down at tablets and phones. The forward head posture puts massive strain on their developing cervical spine.

Kids’ bodies are resilient, but they aren’t invincible. When their spine is out of alignment, it doesn’t always show up as back pain. It shows up as nervous system interference, which can affect their overall health, development, and behavior.

This is the most important thing to understand: adjusting a child is nothing like adjusting a 200-pound adult.

When you search for a “kids chiropractor near me,” you want someone who understands the anatomical differences of a growing body. Children’s joints are still forming. Their bones are softer and more flexible. They don’t need—and shouldn’t receive—heavy pressure.

When Dr. Sorum adjusts an infant or a small child, he uses what’s often called the “pinky finger rule.” The amount of pressure used to adjust a baby’s spine is roughly the same amount of pressure you would use to test a ripe tomato at the grocery store. It’s no more than a gentle, sustained touch with a fingertip.

There is no twisting, no heavy pushing, and no loud “cracking” sounds with babies and toddlers. Most infants sleep right through their adjustments. Toddlers usually think it’s a game. It is completely safe, highly specialized, and very gentle.

While we don’t “cure” diseases, correcting spinal misalignments removes interference from your child’s nervous system, allowing their body to heal and function the way it’s supposed to. Here are the most common reasons parents bring their kids to our office:

Colic and Reflux: When a baby’s upper neck or mid-back is misaligned from birth, it can interfere with the nerves that control digestion. Gentle adjustments often help settle their digestive tract, reducing gas, reflux, and those heartbreaking hours of crying.

Nursing and Latching Difficulties: If a baby has a misalignment in their neck, it might actually be physically uncomfortable for them to turn their head to one side. This makes nursing on that side frustrating or painful. Restoring proper neck movement often resolves latching issues quickly. Many moms who see us for pregnancy chiropractic care end up bringing their newborns in for a check-up shortly after birth.

Sleep Issues: A baby who is physically uncomfortable isn’t going to sleep well. Gentle adjustments help calm their nervous system, which often leads to longer, deeper sleep.

Ear Infections: This is one of the most common reasons parents seek out a pediatric chiropractor. In young kids, the eustachian tubes (which drain fluid from the ears) are horizontal. If the upper neck is misaligned, the surrounding muscles can tense up and pinch those tubes shut. Fluid builds up, bacteria grow, and an infection starts. Adjusting the upper neck helps relax those muscles, allowing the ears to drain naturally.

Constipation: Just like with infants, misalignments in the lower back and pelvis can affect the nerves that control the bowels. Restoring alignment often helps get things moving normally again.

Growing Pains: Rapid growth spurts put a lot of tension on muscles and joints. Keeping the spine and pelvis aligned helps their body adapt to this rapid growth more comfortably.

Sports Injuries: Whether it’s a sprained ankle from soccer or shoulder pain from baseball, kids recover faster when their body is structurally balanced. We offer comprehensive sports injury treatment for young athletes, and our massage therapist, Joy Vang, often helps older teens with muscle recovery and soft tissue tension.

Posture and Tech Neck: We are seeing an epidemic of neck pain and headaches in teenagers due to screen time. Dr. Sorum helps correct this forward-head posture before it becomes a permanent structural issue in adulthood.

If you’ve never been to a family chiropractor before, you might be wondering how we get a wiggly two-year-old to sit still for an exam.

The answer is: we don’t.

We adapt to them. Dr. Sorum has raised four kids of his own. He knows that toddlers aren’t going to lie perfectly still on a table. If your child needs to be adjusted while sitting on your lap, playing with a toy, or looking at a book, that’s exactly what we do.

The first visit starts with a conversation. We’ll talk about your child’s health history, the birth process, developmental milestones, and what specific concerns brought you in.

The physical exam is play-based and non-invasive. Dr. Sorum will check their posture, watch how they walk, and gently feel their spine for areas of tension or restricted movement. He explains everything to both you and your child in a way that makes sense and keeps everyone comfortable.

If an adjustment is needed, it’s done quickly and gently. Most kids leave the office happy, relaxed, and looking forward to their next visit.

We take our kids to the dentist to ensure their teeth grow in healthy and straight. We take them to the pediatrician for wellness checks. But the spine and nervous system—the system that controls every single function in their body—often gets ignored until they’re adults in severe pain.

Pediatric chiropractic is about being proactive. It’s about catching small structural issues before they turn into decades of chronic back pain, poor posture, or recurring headaches. It’s about giving their developing nervous system the best possible environment to grow and thrive.

When kids grow up understanding that taking care of their spine is just as normal as brushing their teeth, they build wellness habits that last a lifetime.

Finding the right provider for your child is a big decision. You want someone with experience, patience, and a genuine understanding of kids.

Dr. Sorum has been treating families in the Twin Cities since 2001. His 25+ years of clinical experience, combined with his real-world experience as a dad, means your child is in incredibly capable, safe hands. We’ve built a clinic environment where families feel welcome, heard, and cared for.

If your baby is struggling with colic, your toddler is battling their fourth ear infection of the year, or your teenager is complaining about neck pain from their phone, we can help. You don’t have to just wait for them to “grow out of it.”

Looking for a kids chiropractor near me? Call Twin Cities Chiropractic at 651-224-1921. Dr. Sorum provides safe, gentle chiropractic care for children at 506 N. Lexington Parkway in St. Paul. Over two decades of experience helping kids grow up healthy and strong. Call today or book your family’s appointment online.