If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you already know there is no simple fix — and you’ve probably heard that more times than you can count. What you may not have heard is that the nervous system, not just the muscles and limbs, sits at the center of everything your child is struggling with. At Alive & Free Chiro in Cooper City, Dr. Cody works with families navigating exactly this journey, offering neurologically-focused chiropractic care as a meaningful complement to the therapies your child is already receiving.
Chiropractic care does not cure cerebral palsy. Let’s be honest about that from the start. What it can do is reduce interference in the central nervous system, support better muscle tone regulation, and help your child’s body communicate more effectively between brain and body. For many CP families, these shifts — even modest ones — translate into real improvements in daily quality of life.
Dr. Cody has worked with children across a wide spectrum of neurological complexity. Whether your child has spastic diplegia, ataxic CP, or a mixed presentation, the starting point is always the same: assess the nervous system first, then build a care plan around what is actually found — not a generic protocol.
What Is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for a group of permanent movement and posture disorders caused by damage or abnormal development in the immature brain — most often occurring before, during, or shortly after birth. “Cerebral” refers to the brain, and “palsy” refers to problems with movement and muscle tone. The underlying brain injury does not progress over time, but its effects on the body can shift as a child grows.
CP affects approximately 1 in 345 children in the United States, making it the most common motor disability in childhood. It presents across a wide spectrum — from mild coordination challenges to significant physical and cognitive involvement. The four primary types are spastic (most common, characterized by stiff, tight muscles), dyskinetic (uncontrolled, involuntary movements), ataxic (balance and coordination difficulties), and mixed, which combines features of more than one type.
Most children with CP are diagnosed during infancy or the toddler years when developmental milestones are missed or delayed. Because the brain injury is permanent, the conventional medical model focuses on managing symptoms — through physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medications to manage spasticity, and in some cases, surgery. Neurologically-focused chiropractic care does not replace any of these interventions. Instead, it addresses something that often goes unexamined: the role of spinal dysfunction and nervous system interference in layering additional stress onto an already challenged neurological system.
Common Signs and Symptoms
The signs of cerebral palsy vary widely depending on the type, the severity, and the areas of the brain affected. While every child is different, these are among the most commonly reported presentations that families bring to Dr. Cody’s attention:
- Muscle stiffness, spasticity, or rigidity — especially in the legs, arms, or one side of the body
- Floppiness or low muscle tone (hypotonia), particularly in younger children
- Delayed motor milestones — rolling, sitting, crawling, walking
- Unsteady gait, tip-toe walking, or asymmetrical movement patterns
- Poor coordination and difficulty with fine motor tasks
- Involuntary movements or tremors
- Difficulty swallowing or excessive drooling
- Speech delays or challenges with communication
- Sensory processing differences — over- or under-sensitivity to touch, sound, or movement
- Sleep disruption, which is reported in up to 40% of children with CP
- Constipation and digestive dysfunction
- Increased irritability or difficulty with self-regulation
Understanding the Neurological Component
To understand why chiropractic care can matter for children with CP, it helps to think about two distinct layers of neurological challenge. The first is the original brain injury — the disruption in cortical or subcortical development that defines the diagnosis. The second layer, often overlooked, is the physical stress that accumulates in the spine and nervous system as a result of that injury and the events that often surround it.
Many children with cerebral palsy experienced difficult or traumatic births. Prolonged labor, emergency C-sections, vacuum or forceps delivery, and oxygen deprivation are among the most common risk factors for CP. These same events are also risk factors for something chiropractors call vertebral subluxation — a misalignment or movement restriction in the spine, particularly in the upper cervical region (the atlas and axis), that creates neurological interference. When the atlas is shifted even a few millimeters, it can alter the tension in the brainstem, disrupt cerebral spinal fluid flow, and impede the nervous system’s ability to regulate muscle tone, posture, and organ function.
In a neurotypical child, an undetected atlas subluxation might express itself as colic, poor sleep, or ear infections. In a child already dealing with a neurological injury, that same subluxation stacks additional interference on top of an already burdened system. Removing that interference does not reverse the brain injury — but it can meaningfully reduce the load the nervous system is carrying, and that reduction often shows up in ways that matter to families: calmer muscle tone, better sleep, improved digestion, and sometimes clearer engagement with therapy.
Research in the area of chiropractic care and neurological conditions in children is still emerging, but the clinical observations are consistent: when spinal interference is reduced, the nervous system has more capacity to function. For a child with CP whose nervous system is already working overtime just to regulate basic body functions, that extra capacity is not trivial.
How Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care Can Help
Dr. Cody uses INSiGHT neurological scanning technology to assess the nervous system before any adjustments are made. These scans — which are non-invasive and safe for children of all ages — measure surface electromyography (muscle tension patterns along the spine), heart rate variability (a window into autonomic nervous system balance), and thermal imaging (which tracks asymmetrical temperature patterns that can indicate stress on the nervous system). For a child with CP, this kind of objective baseline is essential. It allows Dr. Cody to identify exactly where interference is most significant and to track changes over time with data, not just observation.
The adjustments used for children with cerebral palsy are gentle, specific, and adapted to each child’s presentation. Many CP children have high muscle tone (spasticity) that makes traditional techniques inappropriate — Dr. Cody uses low-force methods, including instrument-assisted adjustments, that work within the child’s tolerance. For children with hypotonia or mixed presentations, the approach is tailored accordingly. There is no one-size-fits-all protocol here.
One of the most common areas of focus for CP children is the upper cervical spine and the relationship between atlas alignment and brainstem function. When this region is adjusted, families frequently report changes in overall muscle tone — sometimes within the first few visits. Children who were extremely rigid may show a degree of softening. Children with poor head control may demonstrate improved stability. These changes are not dramatic cures; they are incremental neurological shifts that, when combined with physical and occupational therapy, can amplify the work being done in those settings. Chiropractic care also supports children dealing with low muscle tone and motor delays — both of which frequently co-occur with cerebral palsy.
Beyond motor function, many families bring their CP children to Dr. Cody because of secondary symptoms that significantly affect quality of life. Sleep problems are among the most common — and most exhausting for caregivers. Digestive dysfunction, including constipation and reflux, is also widespread in this population. Sensory dysregulation — the difficulty processing incoming sensory information that shows up as irritability, meltdowns, or withdrawal — is another area where sensory processing support through chiropractic care can make a meaningful difference. When the autonomic nervous system is better regulated, these secondary symptoms often begin to improve alongside the motor improvements.
Chiropractic care at Alive & Free Chiro is always designed to work alongside — never instead of — the interdisciplinary team supporting your child. If your child is working with a physical therapist, Dr. Cody communicates with that team when appropriate, and often hears from PT practitioners that children who receive chiropractic care alongside therapy show faster progress and better carry-over of skills from session to session. This is consistent with the neurological explanation: when the nervous system is less burdened, it learns more efficiently.
For CP children who also present with birth trauma histories, addressing the structural aftermath of a difficult delivery is often where the most significant early improvements are seen. The connection between traumatic birth, upper cervical injury, and neurological dysregulation is one of the most important — and most underappreciated — aspects of pediatric chiropractic care for complex neurological cases.
Ready to explore neurological support for your child with CP?
Call us at (754) 203-5907 or schedule your child’s assessment online. We serve families throughout Broward County from our Cooper City location.
What to Expect at Your First Visit with Dr. Cody
The first visit is designed to be thorough, unhurried, and centered entirely on your child. Dr. Cody begins with a detailed health history — not just the CP diagnosis, but the full story: pregnancy, birth, early developmental trajectory, current therapies, medications, and the specific concerns that brought your family in today. Parents who have navigated the medical system with a child who has complex needs often arrive carrying years of appointments, reports, and frustrations. That history matters, and Dr. Cody takes the time to understand it.
Following the history, the INSiGHT neurological scans are performed. These are completed with your child fully clothed, and they take approximately 10-15 minutes. Many children who are touch-sensitive or have sensory challenges tolerate the scans well because they involve sensors placed lightly on the back — there is no pressure, no noise, and no uncomfortable positioning required. The scans generate a detailed neurological report that Dr. Cody reviews with you, explaining what the data shows about how your child’s nervous system is functioning and where the greatest interference is detected.
If a neurological examination and a thorough assessment of the spine confirm that chiropractic care is appropriate for your child, Dr. Cody will explain the findings and outline what a care plan would look like — including frequency of visits, what the adjustment experience will be for your child, and realistic expectations for the timeline of improvement. No treatment is performed on the first visit without your full understanding and consent. For families new to pediatric chiropractic, Dr. Cody takes extra time to explain the rationale and what “gentle” actually means in practice.
After the first visit, most families describe feeling a combination of hope and relief — hope because there is a concrete, data-driven pathway forward, and relief because someone finally looked at the whole nervous system rather than just the presenting symptoms. For children who are making meaningful gains in PT or OT but feel like they are hitting a ceiling, chiropractic care often provides the neurological support that allows those therapy gains to continue building.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can chiropractic care help a child with cerebral palsy?
Chiropractic care cannot cure cerebral palsy or reverse the underlying brain injury. What it can do is reduce neurological interference caused by spinal subluxations — particularly in the upper cervical spine — that layer additional stress onto a nervous system already working hard to function. Many families report improvements in muscle tone, sleep quality, digestion, and overall regulation in their children with CP after beginning chiropractic care. These improvements are often gradual and work best when chiropractic is used alongside physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other interventions already in place.
Is chiropractic adjustment safe for children with high muscle tone or spasticity?
Yes, when performed by a pediatric chiropractor experienced in neurological conditions. Dr. Cody uses gentle, low-force techniques specifically adapted for children with spasticity or high muscle tone. Instrument-assisted adjustments, which require very little physical force, are commonly used with CP children. The goal is to introduce gentle, specific neurological input to the nervous system — not to force movement in a spastic muscle group. Dr. Cody conducts a thorough neurological assessment before any adjustments are made, ensuring the approach is appropriate for your child’s specific presentation.
How soon might we see results?
Every child responds differently, and timelines depend heavily on the severity of neurological involvement, the child’s age, and what secondary symptoms are being addressed. Some families notice changes in muscle tone, sleep, or irritability within the first few weeks of care. Motor improvements, if they occur, typically develop more gradually over a period of months. Dr. Cody uses INSiGHT scans at regular intervals throughout care to track objective neurological changes alongside the clinical improvements families observe at home. This data-driven approach removes the guesswork and ensures the care plan is continuously refined based on your child’s actual response.
Will chiropractic care interfere with our child’s other therapies?
No — neurologically-focused chiropractic care is designed to complement, not compete with, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, or any other interventions your child is receiving. In fact, many physical therapists and occupational therapists who work with pediatric neurological populations report that children who also receive chiropractic care show better carry-over of skills between therapy sessions and appear more neurologically “available” for learning and motor integration. Dr. Cody encourages open communication with your child’s existing care team and is happy to share neurological scan data with other providers who are involved in your child’s care.
My child is very sensitive to touch — can they still be adjusted?
Sensory sensitivity is one of the most common concerns parents of CP children bring to the first visit. Dr. Cody is experienced in working with children who have significant tactile defensiveness or sensory processing challenges. The adjustments used in these cases are adapted to minimize sensory input while still delivering the specific neurological stimulus needed. The INSiGHT scanning process itself is also well-tolerated by most sensory-sensitive children, as it involves only light sensor contact with the back. Many parents are surprised to find that their sensory-sensitive child tolerates chiropractic adjustments far better than they anticipated — especially once the nervous system begins to regulate more effectively over the course of care.
Take the Next Step for Your Child
Parenting a child with cerebral palsy takes a kind of endurance most people will never fully understand. You have already fought hard to build a care team, navigate the system, and advocate relentlessly for your child. If there is a layer of neurological interference that has never been assessed — interference that may be quietly limiting what your child is able to access in therapy, in sleep, in daily functioning — it is worth knowing about. A thorough neurological evaluation with INSiGHT scanning takes less than an hour and provides objective data about your child’s nervous system that no other assessment delivers.
Dr. Cody is not here to promise outcomes no one can guarantee. He is here to be honest about what chiropractic can and cannot do for your child — and to provide the most specific, thorough neurological assessment available in a pediatric chiropractic setting. Families who visit Alive & Free Chiro from across Broward County often describe the first consultation as the first time someone connected the dots between their child’s birth history, their neurological presentation, and a concrete plan of action grounded in real data.
Your child’s nervous system deserves every opportunity to function at its highest possible level. That is what we are here to support.
Schedule your child’s neurological assessment today.
Call (754) 203-5907 or book online. Dr. Cody and the team at Alive & Free Chiro are ready to support your family.