Acupuncture is not just for adults, and it’s not just a pain remedy! This article explains how acupuncture can help children.

1. Acupuncture for Children
Acupuncture is not just for adults, and it’s not just a pain remedy! This article
explains how acupuncture can help children.
Chinese Medicine is not just a pain relief method. It’s actually a pretty
complex medical system that includes pediatric care for infants, toddlers,
and small children. Instead of simply being treated like small adults,
children are treated with a different system of therapies and methods
than adults. What is accupuncture for children? Different methods of
acupuncture for children include the use of shonishin, which is a non-
insertion method of acupuncture that uses a special tool. Chinese
Medicine pediatrics also includes tuina (therapeutic massage) and herbal
medicine.
Shonishin literally translates to “little children needle” in English. This
method originated in Osaka, Japan in the 17th century for the treatment
of infants and children up to the age of seven. Shonishin is a pediatric
method of acupuncture in La Jolla, CA that is known to treat children
with heartburn (GERD), indigestion, attention deficit hyperactivity

2. disorder (ADHD), constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome,
allergies, eczema, hives, bedwetting, and even speech problems. The
acupuncturist uses a shonishin tool by stroking, tapping, rubbing, and
pressing the skin to create a variety of sensations over the acupuncture
meridians. The entire treatment process can take anywhere from 5 to 20
minutes, depending on the strength of the child and his or her age.
Tuina massage, on the other hand, includes traction, motion, massage,
and stimulation of the different acupuncture meridians at specific points.
Both chronic and acute musculoskeletal conditions can be treated with
tuina. Internal conditions such as digestive problems, difficulty sleeping,
chest congestion, colds and coughs, and even anxiety-related disorders
may also respond well to tuina treatment.
Most acupuncturists will show the child’s parents different shonishin
and tuina techniques that the parent can do at home between visits with
the acupuncturist. An ordinary soup spoon can be used in place of
professional tuina and guasha tools for “maintenance” to keep children’s
conditions under control.
It’s important for parents to utilize therapeutic physical touch with their
children. This plays a crucial role in the development of a child’s
nervous system, providing a healthy balance between the sympathetic
and parasympathetic nervous system, the immune system, the digestive
system, and the musculoskeletal system. Oftentimes physical and
behavioral problems in children are simply manifestations of a lack of
therapeutic touch and the usage of inappropriate physical touch
(spanking or hitting).
Physical touch teaches children body awareness. This helps them to
understand that if they are hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, tired, sleepy, hurt,
or sick; they can either utilize some self-care by using self-massage, or
asking for help. Children without such awareness may act out, scream,
or be mean to others because they don’t understand what is going on
inside their bodies and they don’t know what to do about it.

3. Herbal medicine is another forgotten remedy of Chinese Medicine that is
relied upon when you get acupuncture in La Jolla, CA. Instead of using
Tylenol, Ritalin, Nyquil, or other potentially dangerous over-the-counter
and “prescription” drugs, Chinese herbalists rely on natural remedies
that have been used for centuries without causing unwanted side effects.
Herbal medicine treats the root of the disease, rather than treating the
branch or symptom only. For this reason, symptomatic relief may not
come immediately after using an herbal formula. However, the disease
process itself will be over much more quickly.