An infant or child whose current weight or rate of gaining weight is clearly below that expected of similar children of the same sex, age and ethnicity is described as Failure to Thrive (FTT).  Thus “failure to thrive” describes infants and children who fall below standard measurements in height and weight when no organic basis for this deviance is found; frequently the poor growth pattern is accompanied or masked by a variety of physical symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.   

Babies, toddlers, and or kids with failure to thrive have a height, head circumference,  and weight that do not match standard growth charts for their age.  The child’s weight falls lower than the third percentile (as outlined in standard growth charts) or 20% below the ideal weight for their height.  

Also, the following are delayed or slow to develop:

• Physical skills, sitting up, rolling, standing and walking
• Mental and social skills

Read more about developmental milestones in children here.

There are many different causes of Failure to Thrive, and multiple causes can converge simultaneously. If a child is not able to eat enough food, or vomits repeatedly (such as with severe gastroesophageal reflux), the child will not intake sufficient calories to support growth.  Severe allergies can also cause a child to be unable to absorb sufficient calories and also not grow as expected. Any health condition that causes a child to not be able to absorb sufficient calories may also lead to Failure to Thrive.

Failure to thrive is a common problem, usually recognized within the first 1–2 years of life, but may present at any time in childhood.  The syndrome of failure to thrive has always presented pediatricians with a complicated problem in diagnosis and treatment.  

Many childhood health ailments can be helped through the use of Craniosacral Therapy.  Examples of health conditions that can be improved with Craniosacral Therapy include: congenital anomalies, neurological disorders, food and environmental allergies, immune system dysfunctions, digestive issues, neuromuskuloskeletal issues, emotional and behavioral issues.  

It’s important to be mindful even the most perfect birth can be classified as slightly traumatic for the newborn. Squeezing through the birth canal, twisting and turning to extreme degrees in order to leave the familiar environment of the womb and transition into this world, can be stressful for a newborn.  Also with interventions such as labor inducing medications, C-section, Forceps or Vacuum extraction, there are often additional compromises which can influence the very delicate tissues of the brain and spinal cord. Newborn ailments like failure to thrive, poor feeding ability, reflux, and digestive issues are often symptoms related to these areas of adverse strain in the birthing process. CranioSacral Therapy can help to reduce the sources of these adverse effects, restore normal adaptability, and enhance the efficiency for the body during this critical period of rapid growth and development of the newborn.  

A typical CranioSacral Therapy session is a calming and healing experience for an infant.  Parents are encouraged to bring a blanket or toy to the session that the child will associate with comfort. The child is treated on a padded table or while the parent is holding the child in his / her arms, this way the parents may participate in the child’s session.  

Alex was born in March 1972. At the age of 7 he started to experience frequent headaches with all the conventional symptoms of a Migraine headache. His particular headache resulted in him experiencing auras, nausea and sensitivity to light with no particular trigger to the onset of the migraine.

After years of treatments, therapies and medications, his headaches were no better and Alex continued to experience them all throughout childhood and into young adulthood. Some years the headaches would come monthly, some years every two to three months and some years weekly. His headaches were incurable, there was nothing that could alleviate the symptoms and head pain. Until he experienced cranial manual therapy, which resulted in the complete eradication of his life-long Migraine Headaches.

At the age of 16 Alex noticed a mild deformity in the right side of his ribs, a slightly lower right shoulder and the experience of constant lower back pain. Although mild, a diagnosis of Idiopathic Adolescent Scoliosis had been labeled.

At the age of 18 he was involved in a serious car accident that exacerbated his lower back pain. Throughout the years Alex had tried a multitude of conventional treatments but continued to suffer on and off with lower back pain, even throughout Chiropractic school and beyond.

In 2015 and fifteen+ years out of Chiropractic school, Dr. Kaminsky participated in his first and life changing Craniosacral Therapy seminar and he was fascinated, intrigued and hooked. It all made sense, he was immediately astute to its methods and since that first seminar, and as a result of trading sessions of Craniosacral Therapy with his colleagues, his back pain subsided and till this day has never returned.

Dr. Kaminsky decided to enhance his skill-set to better serve his patients. He began reaching out to other craniosacral therapists, cranial osteopaths, and many types of leading practitioners from various fields for advise and consultations He also enrolled in Upledger continuing education seminars with a focus on mostly hands-on manual and alternative therapies.

And, as he gained knowledge with his own health issues, he has learned to help more and more patients achieve great health results.

Dr. Alex Kaminsky is headache free and low back pain free, and has committed himself to a life of learning, teaching and treating patients. His emphasis is on the patient’s stored patterns of the body and each individual healthcare needs.