Body Function and Proper Structure
Function affects structure and…
Function affects structure. Years of working with a functional medicine chiropractor helped me make sense of this phrase. Those who would come in with constant structure imbalances and need adjustments every week or two, were missing the importance of function. They were getting adjusted without addressing the root of why their body could not hold an adjustment. I also saw clients who would battle with the reverse scenario. They would get stuck or lose function because they were not addressing underlying structural weakness and alignment. For a body to function or move and fulfill its role, all of the individual components must be properly arranged, and then sustain that arrangement.
For kids it’s no different.
We have to work on both function and structure of the body to find correct balance.
Proper movement is often dependent upon proper structure. Years ago, while studying the brain and how I could help my son, I came across so much information regarding barefoot shoes/walking. Modern living does more than just fill our homes with harmful EMF’s and environmental toxins, it also does a lot to restrict good movement including the most basic physical restriction: shoes. We have so many nerve endings on the bottom of our feet. These nerve endings are in constant communication with our brains. Imagine then, the impact the restriction of tight shoes, with thick soles, can have on kids’ developing brains. In fact, this relationship is so interdependent, many neurologists recommend barefoot walking or minimalist shoes for optimal neural communication.
In addition, improper or restrictive footwear can shorten mobility in the ankle and can contribute to weakness throughout the whole body. There is such importance in having wide shoes for your kids' growing brains and developing bodies. Barefoot shoes, along with devices such as toe spacers, can be a huge help in correcting impairments caused by restrictive footwear, socks, and not allowing them to run barefoot. I have also seen this to be a major factor in children’s ability to integrate their primitive reflexes. We need all of our sensory end points to be communicating to our central nervous system. As we change the structure of the foot, and activate the communication pathways, we start changing the sensory output. This prevents structural impairment throughout the body such as shortening the foot arch, shortening major tendons and muscles, throwing off gait, and affecting posture. All of which directly impact the way our nervous system functions.
Impact of Footwear: Choose wisely
Barefoot walking/barefoot shoes give the body more sensory feedback while helping spark flexibility in ankles and strengthening feet. Add specific foot strengthening exercises in your child’s movement routine. Learn how to hold a deep squat. Babies do this beautifully, but as we get older, we sit more and have reduced functional mobility, and we lose the ability to do this. Observing their gait and squat form can be a great test to see how functional your child’s movements are.
“Strength and mobility are key features in achieving overall musculoskeletal health. Unfortunately, because of footwear design, the foot is often prevented from achieving its full potential. With 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, the human foot is extraordinary in its complexity. Three arches span the heel and forefoot. Like a powerful spring, these arches are designed to flex, rebound and absorb shock in order to decrease impact forces on joints higher up in the body. With long-term exposure to conventional shoes, our feet weaken, our toes deform and our muscles shorten and atrophy. Footwear continually forces foot arches to perform in unnatural ways, altering gait, posture and balance. This leaves our feet dependent on footwear that is structured, cushioned and supportive. But, thankfully, foot-healthy shoes now exist that allow the foot to function as nature intended.” – Correct Toes Website
The Mouth
Another major structural part of the body that is often overlooked is that of the mouth. Dr. Weston A. Price’s anthropological studies of generations of indigenous groups, who had not been infiltrated by the modern world and all its toxicity, noted a significant difference in mouths and it’s basic structure. First of all, they had almost no cavities—in general, less than 0.5 percent. But more surprisingly, they had normal facial and dental bone development and plenty of room for all thirty-two teeth.
Contrast that with the plague of cavities and structural deformations in modern society -including tongue and lip ties, the size of the arch, and the way the teeth hit (things like overbite, underbite and crossbite) and you have the stark realization that much has been lost in our modern oral health.
This is an area I often see people defer to their genetics: “My mom had a lot of cavities so I will also, and that’s why my child has bad teeth.” But what we fail to realize when we condemn poor oral health to “doom and gloom” genetics, is that what is going on in our child’s mouth greatly impacts every element of their digestive system. And their digestive health has a direct and subsequent impact on gut health and brain formation.
This isn’t a burden we can afford to ignore.
If a child is not able to chew properly, then they will have a hard time breaking down foods. These kids often swallow large pieces of food, which is going to be hard to absorb and can contribute to leaky gut. Just like the foot, we have a lot of sensory processing that happens in the mouth, especially when the back of the teeth touch. Neurologically, this is important so that your child has all the proper information traveling to their brains, and their brains have the opportunity to process it all.
Let’s look at the importance of this information in regards to the Autism Spectrum and many childhood diagnoses that fall within the scope of this spectrum. In the most primitive way, what that spectrum is looking at is: can the child process information? If everything from dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, Autism and more, is really a processing disorder, then we need to give our kids the best possible foundation and remove structural barriers that inhibit that processing and communication.
Additionally, the structure of the mouth, whether that be a mouth that is too small, a tongue tie, or a lip tie, will affect a child’s ability to sleep well and breathe well. I have met with many kids who are about to have their tonsils removed because they are oversized and blocking the airway. But once we correct a tongue tie, the child is typically able to cease mouth breathing, and tonsils, in turn, decrease in size. A released tongue is able to correctly position within the mouth, and this is especially important during sleep. Disordered sleep can lead to snoring and mouth breathing, both of which are incredibly detrimental to the child's overall health. Proper oxygen is not reaching the brain, their bodies cannot produce proper nitric oxide when air is bypassing the nose, and they are creating a systemic “fight or flight” response in their sleep. For a child with disordered sleep and breathing due to mouth formation, the nervous system is not able to rest and digest and do all the amazing restorative work that it is designed to do during sleep. (Check out more guidance on healthy sleep in upcoming modules!)
If you suspect your child has a structural deformation or shows any of the above signs of disordered sleep and breathing, I urge you to seek out care and a consultation with a functional pediatric dentist.
Dr. Staci Whitman, DMD, doctor_staci is a fantastic online resource for more information on the oral structure, diet, airway connection and is a great next step for diving deeper into this element of structural health.
Additionally, Dr. Mark Burhenne, askthedentist, dives into the systemic-oral connection with actionable tips to improve root cause dentistry. And Dr. Leedia Riman, drleedia, has a wealth of information on oral health for women before, during, and after pregnancy.
Primitive Reflexes
Primitive reflexes are special reflex actions originating in the central nervous system and are essential for early childhood survival and development. Over time, however, these reflexes should be integrated into the central nervous system as the frontal lobe develops. As a child develops, however, if these reflexes fail to be suppressed, neurological dysfunction can occur.
“Retained Primitive Reflexes have been found to cause neurological underdevelopment in some areas affecting learning, behavior, development, vision and sensory processing. What are They? Primitive Reflexes are the special reflexes that develop in the brain stem before birth. This set of involuntary Primitive Reflexes help the baby with positioning in the womb, birthing, the first breath of life, feeding, urination etc. Most of these Primitive Reflexes go away through the first year of life as higher functions of the brain and muscle control develop. If the reflexes remain, they interfere with the neurological organization of the brain which causes learning, behavioral, social, sensory and health problems. These remaining reflexes are unnoticed muscle movements in older children and adults that would not normally be noticed if one did not know what to look for.” – Jewel Autism Centre https://jewelautismcentre.com/jewel_blog/primitive-reflexes/
The retained reflexes cause ongoing issues until they can be integrated into the nervous system. Like with all things, we have to ask why?
Why are they not integrated like they should be? Asking these questions allows us to look deeper into the total development of the child, rather than isolating one concerning behavior. And when the big picture is in view, we can begin to outline patterns of impacted systems and determine the root cause.
There are therapies and exercises that can be done, and I believe reintegrating these reflexes can be pretty simple. We do not want these reflexes to “go away,” we just need to get them to integrate back into the nervous system. If we can get the body to rebalance the nervous system and retain it, these reflexes can beautifully integrate.
Tara Hunkin, the Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and mom behind My Child Will Thrive has an excellent cheat sheet for assessing primitive reflex retention. Check it out and additional reading on the impact of retention here:
Disclaimer: The following information is not intended to be, nor should they be construed as a claim or representation of medical diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only.