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An Australian chiropractor has sparked controversy after sharing a video of him cracking the back of a crying four-day-old baby.

*WARNING: This video may be confronting.

In the video, the chiropractor is seen holding the baby girl before he stretches out her body – followed by a loud crack and crying, 7 NEWS reports.

Four-day-old Millicent was taken to the chiropractor because she was not sleeping at all. For a new parent adjusting to the demands of looking after a newborn, colic can be a living nightmare. When baby Millicent’s mum took her to the doctor about her colic and reflux, both mother and baby were exhausted.

The condition, which is when an other-wise healthy baby cries frequently and excessively, deprives both parents and the tot of much-needed sleep in those tiring first few weeks .

Born two weeks premature, tiny Millicent was not sleeping at all through the night, was unhappy after being fed and reacted badly to any time on her tummy.

Seeking help from chiropractor Dr Ian Rossborough, the Mum explained how at night “it’s like she’s just a different person.”

Dr Rossborough calmly examines the four-day-old tot, looking inside her mouth to check her palette and gums.

Dr Rossborough then gets rid of Millicent’s ailments by pacing her over his knees and cracking her spine ( don’t try this at home – please seek professional help).

Describing the pressure as being “the same as you could tolerate on your eyeball” he presses down on the tot’s back – and there is a VERY audible cracking sound. And undoubtedly to relief of Millicent’s parents, the wince-inducing measure worked.

Posting on the Chiropractic Excellence’s YouTube channel , The Gonstead Chiropractic Society follow up the footage saying:

“One week later she was feeding well, comfortable on her tummy and sleeping through the night.
“Thanks to Millicent’s parents for letting us film this case, we hope that you are catching up on some sleep now and enjoying some quality time with your beautiful new little girl.”

He then begins to explain to the parents the cause of the baby’s distress.

“When you see the patients returned with these children, they always report that the child is just so much more comfortable, they sleep so much better, they eat so much better,’ the chiropractor says in the video.

But Dr Frank Jones, president of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, believes the treatment of the colic-suffering baby was ‘cruel’.

“Well I think that this is an unnecessary and seemingly almost cruel process that there is actually no evidence to support,” Dr Jones told MailOnline.

“Why would you ever, ever do that?

“It should not be advertised, it should not be practiced.

“There is actually no evidence whatsoever that manipulating the spine makes any difference to things such as colic or asthma.”

TODAY Medical Expert Dr Sam Hay is urging people to look at evidence based medicine, and says a chiropractor cannot ‘fix’ reflux.

I personally have taken both my children to our local chiropractor, and both my husband and myself see him regularly too.

It was a huge relief to both our boys although a different method was used than the one shown above. It was all very gentle and just a slight pressure with a small tool to help make a tiny adjustment. No hands on at all.

Share your comments below.

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  • why are people so scared of chiropractors? the audible ‘cracking’ sound is just gas being released from in between the joints and is not painful whatsoever! the same as when people crack their knuckles! and did you read the article? it helped the baby, so why is everyone freaking out about it? better a natural chiropractic gentle adjustment than giving your newborn pharmaceuticals that can do long term damage to their fragile bodies. ….and did you notice that Frank Jones, who said the treatment was cruel, is a GP! and guess what GP’s are trained to do? Prescribe pharmaceuticals to fix ‘symptoms’ not cure the ailment!

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  • That was some crack but in all fairness her spine did look misaligned & appears much better now.

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  • I wont even watch the video.
    I had major problems with my eldest who would cry for hours upon hours and we visited several Doctors, emergency departments, etc…..always being told it was colic and she would grow out of it…
    My Grandmother had spoken to a friend of hers who was a Chiropractor who suggested that I take my daughter to see him. He was very kind and gentle and did not ‘crack’ her back or anything like that…. He did very gentle little exercises with her but it didnt help anyway.

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  • I couldn’t watch the video. I doubt I would do this with my own child.

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  • Hmmmmm, I don’t think I would be comfortable with someone manipulating my baby’s spine like that. Ouch! But the parents claim an improvement. Makes you think I spose

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  • I squirmed watching this video, it was terribly uncomfortable. Not something I would ever do!

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  • It’s laughable that to even mention the possible harm of a vaccine given to a baby (their first day of life) can land you in hot water as a chiropractor in Australia, but to, effectively mind you, use 2 fingers to adjust a spine has people calling for heads. #howmodernismedicine

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  • I couldn’t watch the video. I don’t think anyone should use a chiropractor that cracks backs or necks. There are many chiropractor that do gentle manipulation

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  • I think this is not right. To be fair, I have to start by saying I am not a person who goes to chiropractors. I go to the physiotherapist instead. My experiences with chiropractors hasn’t been good and I just don’t like the practice they have of insisting that regular appointments are necessary. With the physios, they always fix my problems and then gives me exercises that I can do on my own to maintain my muscle strength and exercises to do if the problem should flare up again. Babies should not be manipulated for problems like colic and restlessness. There are remedies (non intrusive) for these problems. I remember a chiropractor once looking at my husband’s eyes to diagnose his health problems and then using chiropractic techniques to address the problems…..did not work of course. That was many years ago so maybe the chiropractic “industry” has changed to become more professional. And they are addressed as Doctors too now I see. So maybe they are medically trained as well.

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  • I don’t like this at all – such a tiny baby. Having taken my child to a specialist physio at age 6 and the gentleness and effectiveness of the treatment my child was provided with, I cannot believe this chiropractors methods are ok.

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  • If a baby is termed as premature she wouldn’t normally be home before 4 days of age. It isn’t normal to put a 4 day baby on her stomach anyway. When you take a new baby home you go into a different environment – they take time to settle. Was the Mum eating the right food for breastfeeding, eating something that upset the baby, needed to try a different formula???? From 0 – death if there is reflux you raise the head of whatever is being slept in. Unless the baby’s chin is resting on the guy’s leg, her head isn’t supported at all. They do have to have some medical training but I don’t know how much.
    I know physiotherapists do medical degrees at University. Some stay at Uni just about as long as GPs. do. I suspect the baby may have been early but developed enough to not be classed as premature.

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  • It did actually look like something was out with the baby’s back and she did seem to improve. Medicine and techniques are forever changing who know’s in the future this may be very common and even recommended by GP’s

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  • GPs don’t “believe” in a lot of things that work, and in this case, this worked for this baby. I also have friends whose doctors prescribed medicines for reflux which did little, but a naturopath cured their food allergies and hence, their reflux. I prefer osteopaths as the treatment is more gentle, but if it works and you\\\’re happy with it then great! My 3 have all been to the osteo for treatment of various issues and one to a naturopath (specializing in allergy treatment) to cure a dairy allergy which was causing awful colic/reflux. Doctors medicate – that\\\’s just about it. Suggest an alternative treatment, or that an allergy may be to blame and they will usually refute the idea immediately. Their idea of an “evidence based treatment” is also questionable. In my opinion, if it’s been tried by many people and they have found it to work, that’s evidence. What else could you call it? Drs need to be more open minded and work together with traditional/alternative therapies and the world would be such a better/healthier place.

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  • The results speak for themselves! GPS need to be open minded about the natural processes of the body and how a simple alignment can improve the wellbeing and health of EVERYONE! If you have not tried chiropractic you are missing out!

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  • Oh my!! I don’t like the idea. The baby is so small. I couldn’t do that. I would have fear to “break” him. Isn’t it dangerous to do such a thing?

    Reply

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