The potential causes for colic are numerous - from potential digestion difficulties of a gassy baby, to stress, to simple temperament mismatches between infant and parent, colic's actual origins remain elusive.
For stressed out parents looking for answers, chiropractors offer yet another possible cause - strained muscles and/or tendons from the birth and delivery process.
Chiropractors who treat colicky infants claim that the stress of childbirth can cause some infants to have minor misalignments in their backs and other areas which can cause digestion troubles, and may even be the real reason your gassy baby cries so often.
  Adults who have been treated by chiropractors can often be skeptical - after all, the forceful alignments and sometimes rough handling that a chiropractor employs to straighten out misalignments in adults seems brutally out of place when dealing with a gassy baby.
However, chiropractors who specialize in treating infants do not use the same type of adjustment techniques.
Often, gentle pressure is applied to areas along the back, akin to the massage techniques used in infant massage.
Some chiropractors also work on the necks of older infants, but most pediatricians advise against this practice, as it carries an unnecessary risk of potential harm.
And what about effectiveness? If you have a gassy baby, can adjustments made by a chiropractor really help?   When it comes to the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment of colic, there have been numerous studies, but few that have been conducted with a proper control group and sampling size to be of a credible nature.
Of the few that have, results do seem encouraging - most babies seem to reduce their crying overall after being seen by a reputable chiropractor in only a few sessions.
However, just like with any potential colic treatment, results will vary from infant to infant, and what helps one gassy baby to find relief may not necessarily help another.
  The best advice for those considering taking their baby to the chiropractor is the same advice for any other type of colic treatment - talk to your baby's pediatrician first.
Make sure that other potential causes for the crying have been ruled out, and get a recommendation from your baby's doctor or another medical professional when compiling the list of potential chiropractors to visit.
Handled responsibly, chiropractic services may be a successful treatment for your baby's colicky symptoms.