Speech Delay and the Upper Cervical Spine

Child speech delay is characterised by a child having difficulty understanding or using spoken language and it is unusual for that child’s age. A typical 2-year-old can say about 50 words and speak in two- and three-word sentences. By age 3, their vocabulary increases to about 1,000 words, and they’re speaking in three- and four-word sentences. So, what has the spine got to do with speech delay? At the top of the neck where the first vertebrae meets the base of the skull there is a structure called the brainstem. This is one of the most important parts of our nervous system as it is responsible for all of the functions that occur in the body that keep us alive that happen without us needing to think about them. The top bones in the neck help to protect the brainstem, however when trauma occurs in the neck this bone can become misaligned with the base of the skull and cause stress to the brainstem, this will then impact nervous system function.