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Home › Articles › Bedwetting › Beyond the Basics

Beyond the Basics

Alternative Therapies for Bedwetting Children

By Laura Lyster-Mensh

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It is not difficult to find alternatives to the traditional approaches to bedwetting, but deciding whether to try them is something else entirely. From acupuncture to homeopathy, there are a lot of options and still more questions. An open mind, independence and the willingness to sift through a lot of information are required of parents looking to treat their child's bedwetting.

Chiropractic Care

The most often mentioned alternative approach to bedwetting, or enuresis, is chiropractic care. Although once seen as way out of the mainstream, chiropractic manipulation of the spine is now recognized as a medical treatment. Some insurance companies even cover these services for specific ailments, mostly involving the spine.

Chiropractic care for nocturnal enuresis treats the bladder through manipulation of the lower spine and pelvis. Since the nerve supply to the muscles, which control urinary emptying, are connected to the brain through the spinal cord, it is believed that aligning the spine will correct any slow messaging or incomplete signals between the brain and the bladder.

The idea, however, is controversial. "Just bring it up at a conference of pediatricians or neurologists and watch the fireworks," says William Cockburn, a chiropractor in Whittier, Calif., who has seen a 50 percent response in 30 days by enuretics in his family practice. He believes parents and chiropractors need to communicate better on causes and treatment options.

Some experts in chiropractic want more proof. "There is not a lot of clinical science literature on spinal manipulative therapy for kids who wet at night," says Joseph C. Keating of Phoenix, Ariz., vice president of the Association for the History of Chiropractic who has written often on the need for evidence-based research in chiropractic care. "Bear in mind that the spontaneous remission rate for enuretics is about 15 percent per year."


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