COLIC
Colic is a common incoördination of infancy and is very prevalent during the first three months. Colic is a symptom rather than a dis-ease and usually indicates intestinal indigestion or some inflammatory condition of the intestines. It is characterized by sharp paroxysmal pains in the intestines. A child who is subject to colic will usually be suffering also from constipation. The crying of a colicky child is characteristic, being very violent and paroxysmal, which presently subsides only to be followed with another attack. During these spells the lower extremities will be drawn up and the abdomen will be tense from the accumulation of gas. In mild cases the child will not cry out but will be fretful. This may be wrongly construed to be the result of hunger. When the attacks of colic come on the child will show a desire to nurse and will take the breast as though very hungry. This may be followed by relief from the pain, but this relief is only temporary and when the pain returns it is usually more severe. There is probably no incoördination of childhood that is quite so trying to a chiropractor as an acute attack of colic, due to the violent crying of the child and the eager desire on the part of the chiropractor and the attendants to relieve the pain. It is often quite hard to obtain a correct analysis in such cases because of the difficulty experienced in getting the child into a proper position for palpation. In making the palpation the chiropractor should take plenty of time and should never endeavor to force the child to be still, rather he should adapt himself to the constant moving about of the infant.