Do We Help Kids?

Yes. We help children at every stage—from newborns to teenagers.

Whether your child is healthy and you want to support their development, or they're struggling with challenges that haven't responded well to other approaches, we start by evaluating how their nervous system is functioning.

The nervous system controls everything in the body: sleep, digestion, immune response, focus, coordination, and emotional regulation. When the nervous system is functioning well, children adapt, grow, and thrive. When it's not, symptoms in throughout the body appear.

Our focus is the craniocervical region—the area where the skull meets the top of the spine, (the top two bones of the neck). This is where the brain transitions into the spinal cord, and it plays a critical role in how the brain and body communicate.

Why Would a Healthy Child Need Chiropractic Care?

If your child is healthy, our goal is simple: help keep them that way.

Children are constantly adapting to their environment. They're growing rapidly, learning new movements, falling while they play, carrying heavy backpacks, sitting in class for hours, and navigating the physical and emotional demands of childhood.

All of these activities place stress on the spine and nervous system. Over time, small misalignments—especially in the craniocervical junction —can develop and create interference in how the nervous system functions.

Upper cervical chiropractic care helps support:

• Proper craniocervical stability as children grow
• Healthy nervous system regulation
• The body's ability to adapt to physical stress
• Strong posture and coordination
• Restful sleep and efficient digestion

We're not waiting for something to go wrong. We're helping the body function at its best so your child can keep growing, learning, and thriving.

When Kids Are Struggling

Many common pediatric challenges involve nervous system regulation. When the nervous system becomes dysregulated—meaning it can't shift properly between active and rest states—symptoms begin to appear.

Dysregulation happens when the body gets stuck in "fight or flight" mode. Instead of being able to relax, heal, and grow, the child's system stays on high alert. This affects everything from sleep to digestion to behavior.

Here are some of the most common concerns we see:

• Sleep Challenges: Difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking throughout the night, restless, waking up not rested.
• Digestive Concerns: Colic and reflux in infants, chronic constipation or diarrhea
• Behavior and Focus: ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory processing challenges, emotional regulation difficulties
• Immunity: Recurring ear infections, frequent illness, ongoing inflammatory patterns

How We Approach Pediatric Care

At Cerebral Chiropractic Center, we start at the top.

We evaluate the craniocervical junction—the region where the skull meets the atlas and axis (the top two bones of the neck). This area houses the brainstem, where the brain transitions into the spinal cord, and it's where the vagus nerve exits the skull.

Even small misalignments in this region can create tension on the brainstem, alter nerve signals, and interfere with cerebrospinal fluid flow and blood flow to and from the brain.

Our approach is gentle, precise, and age-appropriate. We use a technique called Advanced Orthogonal, one of the most accurate and gentle methods available. There's no twisting, cracking, or popping. The adjustment is delivered with a gentle instrument that corrects misalignment with precision.

When needed we take X-rays when indicated to measure the exact degree of misalignment, and we create a personalized care plan based on your child's specific needs. As their body stabilizes and learns to hold alignment, visits become less frequent. The goal is always to help your child's nervous system function optimally and independently.

What Makes This Different?

Many providers focus on prescribing medication to simply managing the symptoms. We ask a different question: Is the nervous system—especially the craniocervical region—functioning and adapting well?

We start at the top of the spine because that's where the brain and body meet. When the craniocervical junction is stable and aligned, the nervous system can regulate properly. When it's not, symptoms appear affecting focus, sleep, digestion, and immunity.

Our focus is on regulation, not suppression. We're not covering up symptoms. We're addressing the root cause of why those symptoms developed in the first place.

What Parents Can Expect

When you bring your child to Cerebral Chiropractic Center, here's what happens:

• Initial consultation: We listen to your child's health history, birth story, and current challenges. We want to understand the full picture.
• Neurological and spinal examination: We evaluate posture, muscle tone, range of motion, and neurological function. We look for signs of dysregulation and misalignment.
• Precision imaging: If indicated, we take specific X-rays of the upper cervical spine to measure the exact misalignment.
• Customized care plan: We create a plan based on your child's specific needs and the severity of their condition.
• Gentle corrections: Adjustments are delivered with care and precision. Most children are eager to get adjusted, and many fall asleep on the car ride home.
• Progress tracking: We monitor how well your child's body is holding the correction and adjust the care plan as they improve.

Real Results

Here's what one mother shared after bringing her 11-year-old son to our office:

"We were referred to this office by our Dentist for our 11 year old son. He has had multiple ear infections, resulting in tube insertion to decrease the amount of infections as well as antibiotic usage. At one time he was on four antibiotics within two months due to growing resistance. We had fought this from a young age of two, between ear infections, random respiratory illnesses, and catching random viruses. He also was diagnosed with asthma, is a mouth breather who snores and has had exploratory surgery for a biopsy of his throat tissue to check for acid reflux, as well as had his adenoids and tonsils removed. Though we saw some improvement on and off through the years it never seemed to be the final solution. In January of this year, his pediatrician stated we may have to revisit ENT, as he was starting to get an increased number of ear infections as well as revisit immunology due to the increase number of sicknesses. He has always dealt with GI issues like constipation resulting in having to drink MiraLAX everyday. His picky eating likely due to his hypersensitive gag reflex was also an issue, as well as a concern to our dentist prior to performing dental work.

Being referred to this office was the best choice we’ve ever made for our son. At first I was very skeptical of chiropractic care especially with being in the nursing profession, I couldn’t bring myself to believe a chiropractor could be the answer for our son after all the years of health problems and desperately wanting answers. At the consult Dr. Ethan wanted to hear all of our concerns and truly cared to understand the whole picture, in hopes of us finally finding answers. Our son was so nervous initially but after walking out of Dr. Ethan’s office once in the car he said “I like him he seems really nice.” We started our first care plan after x-rays which did in fact show axis and atlas misalignment, which Dr. Ethan explained how the misalignment causing nerve compression could be the root cause to a lot of the issues we were facing. Though I remained skeptical. After his first alignment and follow up X-rays proof was in front of my eyes. We’ve been under Dr. Ethan’s care for approximately five months now and have seen MAJOR improvement We have gone from going 3x/week most of the time requiring an alignment every visit in that week, to now only going 1x/wk and usually he is able to hold alignment for weeks. In the five months that we have been under Dr. Ethan’s care he has not had one ear infection nor needed antibiotics, as well as has not gotten sick! He has not had to take MiraLAX besides maybe two times in those five months, due to constipation subsiding. His snoring has subsided as well, and he tells me he genuinely feels better. We have even noticed an improvement in baseball as his hand eye coordination has also improved due to upper cervical treatment. We revisited the dentist to have a dental procedure done approximately three months after starting chiropractic treatment, and the procedure our dentist once feared to attempt due to his hypersensitive gag reflex she was able to do successfully. Oddly enough he seems to have widened his selection of foods, due to not randomly puking because of his once before hypersensitive gag reflex.

It’s easy to get lost in the mindset of a healthcare professional telling you this is the problem and we have the solution, but what I love about Dr. Ethan is, he doesn’t have to make you believe him you see the proof of healing yourself. Dr. Ethan also focuses on the neurological side of treatment, he explains the correlation between upper cervical health and neurological health. Dr. Ethan uses Orthogonal treatment to correct misalignment so it is not physically invasive nor scary with the “cracks and pops.”

We are so happy with the care we have received from Dr. Ethan. The whole office staff is so sweet and personable! As someone who was such a skeptic of chiropractic care prior to visiting this office, I’m so glad we took the chance and I’m now a firm believer of upper cervical health treatment!"

— Kimberly McCurdy

Help Your Child Thrive with Expert Pediatric Care

If your child is struggling with sleep problems, digestive issues, behavioral challenges, or chronic infections—or if you simply want to support their healthy development—it's time to find out if their nervous system is functioning the way it should.

At Cerebral Chiropractic Center in St. Petersburg, we specialize in evaluating and correcting misalignments at the craniocervical junction that may be interfering with your child's ability to adapt, grow, and thrive.

Call us at (727) 677-0001 to schedule your child's consultation.

Let us help your family find the answers you've been searching for. Your child deserves more than "wait and see"—they deserve a clear path toward better health.