If you have decided to take your child to a chiropractor, the next question is a harder one: which chiropractor. The field is not uniform. Practitioners differ in training, in how they explain what they do, and — most importantly — in how willing they are to tell you what they cannot help with.
Here is what to check, and what a good answer sounds like.
Registration comes first
In South Africa, chiropractors are registered with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA). This is a statutory requirement, not a membership badge — practising without it is illegal.
Registration means a five- or six-year full-time qualification, adherence to a scope of practice, and a complaints process that exists independently of the practitioner. You can ask for a registration number and you are entitled to it. Any hesitation about providing one tells you what you need to know.
The directory on this site lists members of Paediatric Chiropractic Africa, and the verification tick shown on a profile means the association has confirmed that person's credentials itself.
Paediatric training is a separate question
A chiropractic degree covers children, but not deeply. Practitioners who work regularly with babies pursue postgraduate training on top of it — the ICPA's CACCP, a diplomate qualification, or a university postgraduate certificate in paediatric musculoskeletal care.
Ask what additional paediatric training they have done, and when. "I see a lot of babies" is experience, which is worth something, but it is not the same answer.
Six questions worth asking on the phone
- What is your AHPCSA registration number? A straight answer, immediately.
- What paediatric training do you have beyond your degree?
- What will you actually do at the first visit? You want to hear about history and examination taking up most of it.
- How many visits before we know whether this is helping? A good answer is small and specific — two or three, then a review.
- What would make you refer my child to a doctor? This is the most revealing question on the list. A practitioner who can answer it fluently is practising safely.
- What does it cost, in total? Including the assessment, and whether they will submit to your medical aid.
What should reassure you
- A thorough history — pregnancy, birth, feeding, milestones, and what else has been tried
- An examination that includes the whole child, not just the area you mentioned
- Gentle technique appropriate to age. Work with an infant should look like sustained, light contact — closer to the pressure you would use on a closed eyelid than anything you might associate with an adult adjustment
- Willingness to say "I do not think I can help with this"
- Clear communication with your GP, paediatrician or clinic when it is relevant
What should give you pause
Be cautious about claims that chiropractic treats ear infections, asthma, colic, bedwetting or behavioural conditions. The evidence does not support those claims, and making them is outside the scope a South African practitioner is registered for.
Be equally cautious about long pre-paid treatment plans agreed before anybody knows whether the first few visits help; routine spinal X-rays of a child without a specific clinical reason; advice to delay or decline immunisation, which no chiropractor has any business giving; and the suggestion that a well child needs ongoing "maintenance" adjustments indefinitely.
A practitioner who tells you what they cannot do is more trustworthy than one who tells you they can do everything.
Cost and medical aid
Most South African medical schemes cover chiropractic from a savings account or day-to-day benefit rather than from risk, which means it usually comes out of a limited annual pot. Ask what the practice charges, whether they bill the scheme directly, and what the code is — so you can check your cover before you commit to a course of visits rather than after.
And if it is not working
Say so. A short course with a clear review point exists precisely so that this conversation is easy. If two or three visits have changed nothing, the honest conclusion is that this is not the right treatment for your child, and a good practitioner will reach it with you and help you find what is.
