Do Kids Really Get Acupuncture?
By Naomi Skoglund,
L.Ac. MSTCM, MS. Ed. P
arents look at me with shock and surprise when I say that I treat kids with acupuncture. Many parents wonder how kids sit still and whether they are afraid of needles, but using
acupuncture techniques with children is very different than with adults. Once parents see how easy it is for their kids to be treated with acupuncture techniques, they often prefer to try it before other interventions because it is less invasive and has no unwanted side effects.
With children, the treatment always depends on the tempera-
ment of the child. Some children come in wide-eyed and excited to try something new, while others are more cautious. I always watch a child’s body language to see how open they are to trying any of the tools I use.
I always explain that just like when they
get a cut, the body can heal itself, and we are helping the body to heal itself.
Acupuncture and pediatric massage can help kids with a long list of issues, such as: • ADD/ADHD • Allergies • Anxiety/depression • Asthma • Chronic ear infections • Constipation • Difficulty putting on weight • GERD • Sleep troubles • Stomach aches
There are many ‘acupuncture’ techniques that can be used for
children, to increase the bodies’ ability to heal itself. besides the typical needles most people associate with acupuncture.
Point Stimulation After that, I will target certain points on the body just like
I would with an adult, but using different tools. I have a point stimulator, which I call it a ‘blinky’ because it has a blinking green light that kids like to watch. It sends a very mild current to the acupuncture point to stimulate it. Another tool I use is a cold laser, which excites the tissue at the point. Both of these draw the brain’s attention to the acupuncture point in a similar way to needles.
www.EssentialLivingMaine.com 13 JAPANESE SHONI SHIN TOOLS Shoni Shin massage
When kids come in for an acupuncture treatment, there are toys and books for them to play with. If they’re small, they often sit on a parent’s lap or on the treatment table or floor with a parent. I always start with a Shoni Shin mas- sage of the meridians. Shoni Shin is a pediatric massage practice from Japan that uses small metal tools on the surface of the body. Kids, who are past the stage of putting everything in their mouths, can play with them and use
them on their parent before we use them for treatment. Some kids like to come up with names for them.
Once we’ve done a general Shoni Shin massage, I might do some target- ed Gua Sha or cupping, if the child’s condition warrants it, for allergies or asthma for instance. Gua Sha is done with a ceramic soup spoon. It is a scraping technique for the upper back that we do through the clothes until the skin turns pink. Cupping is simi- larly done until the skin turns pink. Unlike celebrity pictures you may have seen with cupping bruises, kids don’t need to get bruises to receive a therapeutic effect.
CUPPING WITH SOFT SILICONE CUPS
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