Pediatric Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine employs the same methods to treat children and infants as adults including acupuncture, massage, herbs, dietary and lifestyle advice. The treatment is catered to each child’s age, weight, constitution and diagnosis.
Acupuncture in Pediatrics
Traditional Chinese Medicine employs the same methods to treat children and infants as adults including acupuncture, massage, herbs, dietary and lifestyle advice. The treatment is catered to each child’s age, weight, constitution and diagnosis. Some children do well with acupuncture, while others who are young or have a delicate constitution respond best to needle-less point stimulation in the form of shonishin (japanese technique or tuina (acupressure or massage). Dietary advice is given when appropriate. Personally I use needle-less treatments unless not responding or severe cases. Children respond very quickly.
What to Expect
Initially you will relax in a chair holding your child on your lap and discuss your child's symptoms. The practitioner will make a TCM diagnosis and then perform acupuncture, tuina or shonishin. Usually between four to six acupuncture points are chosen for a child: a very fine, sterile stainless steel needle is inserted from 1 to 2mm deep at each selected point with a gentle tap. This may cause a slight pricking sensation, but because acupuncture needles are so thin the child will barely notice the insertion.
It is an in and out technique not retaining the needles up until the age of 7 or so. The older child gets the procedure may change, the parent may read a story to them. Eventually the child may retain needles for up to 15 minutes. Children have no negative preconceptions about needles like adults and usually sit calmly during their acupuncture treatments. An adolescent may relax on the treatment table for 20 or 25 minutes.
Common Children's Conditions Treated with Acupuncture
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Digestive problems
- Bed wetting
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fussiness & Irritability
- Injury Rehabilitation
- ADHD
- Sleep problems
- Ear infections
- Exema
- Colic
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Pediatric Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine employs the same basic concept methods to treat children and infants as adults including acupuncture, massage, herbs, dietary and lifestyle advice. However, It is not that simple. Children are immature physically and functionally compared to adults. So special care is taken. There are many quotes in traditional texts that allude to the fact that children are fragile and their qi is weak.
They are easily susceptible to disease and they change rapidly. They can get worse quickly or improve quickly. Children are susceptible to diseases associated with three main organs, the lungs, the spleen and the liver. This explains why upper respi rtory tract complaints and digestive disorders are so common. This is why they are easy to anger, or have spasms and convulsions. The good thing is their qi is clear and effective so it easily returns to health. They have not had years of metabolic waste, emotional trauma or injury, so when they get ill they bounce back.
Some schools of thought believe that all the spleen and digestion are the root of all disease in children especially under 7 years of age. The process of digestion and the relationship between stomach and spleen is the creative force behind qi and blood. The essence of the food becomes qi that gets sent to the lung as well as qi becomes blood in the heart. This is the creation of qi and blood. A strong qi and blood presence will lead to a healthy child overall.
