Paediatric Acupuncture

 

Paediatric acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for many common childhood conditions.  Individual healing programs include a combination of acupuncture or non-needle techniques as well as:

• Acupressure and massage at home
• Changes to diet and/or lifestyle
• Prescribing natural remedies
• Seasonal and preventative support

Pediatric acupuncture can help with many conditions some of which include: 

• Moods/emotions: Children go through so much emotionally and experience anxiety, depression, and fear that can be caused by academic strain and bullying. We can help with this.
• Respiratory: Acupuncture can be effective for asthma, colds, coughs, allergies, and other respiratory conditions.  
• Behavioral: ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and behavioural problems in children can often be effectively managed by Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs
• Sleep: Rest is so important for the whole family. Chinese medicine can help with bedwetting, night terrors, and insomnia
• Skin conditions: Children’s skin conditions are on the rise. We can help with rashes, hives, and eczema
• Digestion: Chinese medicine can help with colic, constipation, tummy aches, IBS, and diarrhea
• Immunity: We offer a variety of different treatments that help boost children’s natural immunity helping to prevent chronic ear infections, chronic colds, or runny noses
• Other: We can also help with growing pains, headaches, sports injuries, ear and sinus infections, and much more.

Most sessions for kids begin with pediatric tui na (Chinese children’s massage), shonishin (a non-invasive, non-needle, painless Japanese acupuncture system that involves brushing and tapping acupuncture points to activate them), mild electro-stimulations of specific acupoints, or laser acupuncture (infared light from a device that resembles a small flashlight delivers an imperceptible dose of thermal energy to the acupuncture point). When children are feeling ready, we may begin to introduce some needles (or taps as we call them).

Aren’t kids afraid of needles?!

Many kids are leery of needles and naturally want to avoid the pain of a shot or blood draw.  We definitely understand this.   Fortunately, paediatric acupuncture is completely different than a shot! 

Because acupuncture needles are so different than hypodermic needles, we call them “taps.” Taps are hair-fine paediatric needles that create a virtually painless experience.   The term “tap” references the rubbing and tapping that is done to desensitize the point before we rapidly tap the needle in. Most kids are pleasantly surprised with how easy and painless acupuncture is. We recommend avoiding the terms needle, prick, pin, or pokey when talking to your child about acupuncture.  Since children’s energy moves and changes very quickly in comparison to adults, there is no need to retain needles for children under 7 (we use the in-and-out technique rather than keeping the needles in place for a period of time). We have so many different treatment options for children, acupuncture itself is always optional.  On the first visit, we will show your child what “taps” are and ask if they’d like to give it a try. When most kids see how easy and fast it is, they’ll try it.   However, it’s most important for us to build trust with your child. So, if your child is still unsure, we can switch to non-needle techniques like micro-current, acupressure, ear seeds, laser acupuncture, or Chinese pediatric massage. Pediatric acupuncture can be useful for babies, kids, and teenagers.