Bed Wetter?

Wet linens and a child both physically and emotionally uncomfortable – this is the picture of bed-wetting to millions of children. Nocturnal enuresis, simply stated, is bed-wetting past the usual time a child is potty trained. It is estimated that one out of five children wets regularly. This means that 20% of 5-8 year olds wet their bed. Imagine what this does to a child’s self esteem. Incidentally, the oldest patient that I have ever seen with bed-wetting was a 15 year-old high school student. Over a time period, various reasons have been proposed as a cause of bed-wetting – is it psychological, habitual, behavioral, trauma, etc.? Many methods have been used to treat this affliction. Alarm systems in the bed, hypnosis, psychotherapy, electric shock, drugs, waking the child, etc. However, none of these have had much effect.
Bed-wetting occurs when there is improper function of the valves (sphincters), which control the flow of urine to the bladder. One of these sphincters is under voluntary control, which means you go whenever you want. The other is on autopilot, or is automatic, in other words, the child has no voluntary control over this particular valve. The function of these two is controlled by the child’s nervous system, which keeps both in check and balance.
Beware of ads suggesting that it is okay that children wet the bed, because now there are school age diapers available. These ads seem to suggest that some children’s bladders have not developed properly, so a diaper is the answer. Nonsense! This is called marketing.
Early in my practice, I found (as have most chiropractors who deal with kids) that children who are bed-wetters have responded very well to chiropractic care. The reason is actually quite simple.
One mom said, “My ten-year-old son was fearful of sleeping over his friends house because of his bed-wetting. After six weeks of adjustments, the sheets were dry and my son was able to sleep over without being afraid of wetting the bed.”
Chiropractic deals with removing any interference of the normal functions in the nervous system. Applying this concept to a child with bed-wetting problems can have amazing results.
Remember, 10% of your nervous system controls pain and 90% controls functions like breathing, eating and eliminating wastes. When the spine becomes misaligned, or subluxated, the nervous system becomes short-circuited and does not function properly.


For additional information, please call Northgate Chiropractic at
(206) 367-2224.