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Having been in a family practice for a couple of decades now we have had the privilege of looking after lots of children. Many come and see us as part of a family wellness group visit along with mum and dad and their brothers and sisters. Other children come and see us as their parents are desperately wanting help with a particular childhood condition that they have not resolved elsewhere.  They have often tried many other health providers first as they usually don’t associate chiropractic care with non neuro-musculo-skeletal problems.

Last week I did a Progress examination of a 10 year old whom had started with me six weeks ago.  Her story is she had struggled with incontinence for years. She’d seen medical doctors, been referred to Starship Children Hospital, tried all sorts of options, with slight but not complete lasting success. She would often tell her parents she doesn’t feel herself urinating in her knickers during the day.  It was as though her brain didn’t have an awareness of her body, which is in essence what chiropractic care helps you to do, turn on the brain body communication via the nervous system

This problem, also known as Incontinence or Enuresis, had been going on for 7 years (70% of her life).  It was potentially structurally caused by her falling and breaking her femur at 18 months old and being in a hip Spica for 6 weeks. (as shown below)

Her mum felt it was possible that this trauma and cast use began her reluctance to use her bowel and bladder.  The treatments she had sought prior to chiropractic care included GPs, Health Nurse, Pediatric Physio and an Osteopath.  An ultrasound was performed to ensure her bladder was emptying effectively and it was. The young lady did have some dry periods in 2024 but the incontinence returned in 2025. In terms of impact on her life this was reported to affect her relationships, self-care, energy, attitude, focus and her hobbies.  That is a lot for a 10 year old!

On examination we found a really healthy, tall young lady (about the height of a 14 year old)  who played six different sports including Touch Rugby, Rippa Rugby, Football, Cricket and Running, a real kiwi outdoors healthy kid. Specifically we found areas of Subluxation in her sacrum, L2/3, C1 and T1.  Her spinal examination also revealed side bending to the right (right lateral flexion) was not smooth and continuous in a C shape but was rather kinked at L2 on visual inspection. Her lumbar and pelvic area appeared slumped forward along with her shoulders and head position, her balance was poor with her eyes closed standing on one foot.  A thermograph (before and after shown below) revealed areas of raised paraspinal temperature from T8 to L2 on initial examination.

Previously in the early part of my career I would have explained the bladder anatomy and physiology like so:

Emptying of the urinary bladder is controlled by the detrusor and trigone muscles.

Nerve supply to these muscles is via the sacral parasympathetic nerves from S2 to S4.

Appropriate bladder function is also controlled by the urogenital diaphragm which derives its nerve supply from the L2 spinal nerve. If there is spinal interference by way of Vertebral Subluxation this can impair this pathway.

In reality with modern science what we can say is chiropractic enables the brain to more accurately perceive what’s going on in the bladder and or/ sleep control to enable the child to wake or be more aware during the day time.

In our 10 year old we found subluxation at both levels we often find linked to incontinence.  At her 6 week Progress Examination many great changes were seen.  She reported more awareness and urge to go to the toilet of about an 8/10 improvement on a visual analogue scale, where 1 is no improvement and 10 is a major improvement.  This  control she had not experienced previously.  Being a sporty kid other parents on the side-lines noticed her stride and gait, posture and sporting performance had improved. Her sacroiliac subluxation most likely would have been chronic from being in a Spica cast, but we will never know.  What I do know is it’s not right for kids to grow up with chronic subluxations in any part of the spine.  The nervous system depends on a clear brain-body communication for optimal growth and development.

So if you have been wondering if Chiropractic can help a child with an incontinence perhaps this blog is just what you needed to read.  The biggest frustration from the mum was that not one Doctor had suggested chiropractic as a possible solution. In trying to crack the code for her daughters incontinence she found an article somewhere on the internet that led her to us. Maybe you could share this with others? Let’s not let another child wait seven years to see a chiropractor? View our Paediatric Chiropractic Services Page here.