A video of an Australian chiropractor is sending both doctors and mothers everywhere in an outrage.
“The chiropractor treats a range of patient ailments, including colic, which the two-week premature baby was suffering from at the time,” reported The Daily Mail.
He posts many videos of him treating patients to his YouTube channel, however this particular one has caused concern among doctors.”
The clip shows Dr. Ian Rossborough wiggling a four-day-old baby with colic as he speaks to the baby’s parents.
An audible crack could be heard as he stretches the tiny body, which is followed by her wailing.
“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,” he could be heard saying in the video.
But not everyone was sold on his methods.
President of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners told the Mail, “I think that this is an unnecessary and seemingly almost cruel process that there is actually no evidence to support.
“Why would you ever ever do that? It should not be advertised, it should not be practiced.”
While there was ‘mild to moderate’ evidence that chiropractors were successful in treating mechanical back pain, he also said, treating anything else did had no scientific backing.
“There is actually no evidence whatsoever that manipulating the spine makes any difference to things such as colic or asthma.”
Meanwhile, spine-specialist surgeon from Melbourne, Dr. John Cunningham, said he was shocked to see someone adjusting the spine of a newborn baby.
In fact Dr, Cunningham had made a formal complaint to the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA), which regulates the Chiropractic Board.
However the agency’s CEO, Martin Fletcher, deisagreed saying there is no need for the board to be sacked and that the “high standards of chiropractic practice are in place.”
READ: Colic in baby: What is colic and how can you help your baby?
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