Infant colic creates great alarm and concern in parents, who can turn to therapists who are dedicated to massage with results that can be harmful to the baby, if they are not professionals specialized in pediatrics.
Infant colic is one of the most common reasons for wakefulness and pediatric consultation among parents.
“Between 10 and 40% of infants suffer from it.
The baby expresses his digestive discomfort caused by colic with crying especially at night and great restlessness that is expressed in the form of shrinking or stretching his legs and a flushed face.
The usual age at which these colic begins is two weeks of life and can last up to three or four months of life, ”explains Iván Carabaño, pediatrician and editor of the Journal of Primary Care Pediatrics and associate professor at the University Complutense of Madrid.
The desperation of parents to alleviate their baby's discomfort with colic may lead them to “resort to the help of massages.
I am frequently told about this when I see these babies in the office.
I can get to understand it, because colic greatly worries some families, who go on pilgrimage to different places, such as their family pediatrician, emergency services or pharmacists they trust, in search of a
miraculous remedy
.
Regarding massages, it is important to emphasize that you should go to a trained person to do them and not to a chiropractor or an amateur masseuse, but to a certified and registered physiotherapist.
Massages can generate well-being in the baby and make him feel calmer, but there is no scientific evidence that indicates other types of benefits, ”says Carabaño.
More information
The babies who cry the most in the world are the British, followed by Canadians and Italians
Infant colic: how to identify it and what to do
The benefit of skin-to-skin contact for the baby
When you touch, caress and hug the baby, their endorphins increase because “skin-to-skin contact favors their well-being.
For this reason, “there are pediatricians who advise families to gently massage the child's gut, with slight pressure in a clockwise direction, which also favors the evacuation of stool and gas.
This fact is not going to make a health problem disappear, but it can generate a pleasant family dynamic, where the father or mother can give their affection and also perceive that their action is useful for their baby ”, says pediatrician Iván Carabaño .
Going to a massage specialist can help alleviate and, in some cases, eliminate the symptoms that accompany colic in the infant, “since the tensions or blockages that exist are minimized, both at the level of the digestive system and structures related to it. , as of the nervous system.
Usually there are significant changes between the second and third sessions.
However, if they are not treated in the manual therapy specialist, the symptoms of colic in the infant normally disappear on their own around three or four months of age, although certain tensions or blockages associated with these colic could be fixed.
In some cases, it is enough with the massage that the parents can give the baby and with techniques that help him relax, such as walks in the fresh air or listening to soft music.
However, in other cases, the symptoms are more acute and these practices at home fall short or have no effect on colic ”, comments Iria Rico Lameiro, physiotherapist and osteopath, specialist in infant pathology.
How to choose a good professional for the massage of the baby with colic
If you decide to go to a physiotherapist to help alleviate infant colic, it is advisable to “find out about the professionalism of the specialist you are seeing.
In these cases, it is necessary to have specific training on treatment or therapy in infant colic or in pediatrics, since handling in babies is different from that in adults, because certain tissues are more sensitive and weak.
It is also advisable to request an accreditation that certifies the professionalism and good practice of the therapist with a degree in physiotherapy or osteopathy and a specialty in pediatrics or therapy for infant colic.
As for the rates, they vary according to the location and training of the therapist, but as a reference, they usually range between 30 and 60 euros per session, which lasts about an hour, although it depends on each case ”, concludes the physiotherapist Iria Rich.
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