Acupuncture for Children

Many of my adult patients find it surprising that I treat children with acupuncture. It’s a wonderful non-medication alternative/adjunct to standard pediatric care. Most of the children I see are between ages 5-18, and they come in for treatment for musculoskeletal pain, headaches, allergies and decreased immune function (which often results in frequent colds and coughs), sports injuries, anxiety, and post- concussion syndrome .Adults can’t believe that children will let me insert needles in their bodies, let alone enjoy their treatments. I think this view is common because they think I’m treating children the same as adults.  I usually spend a half hour to forty five minutes with my pediatric patients, but most of that time is spent discussing the problem and offering solutions, which may also include nutritional or herbal suggestions . The acupuncture portion of the treatment is painless and lasts between 5 – 15 minutes. The younger the child, the shorter the treatment time required. Pediatric treatments are very different than treatment for adults.

From the moment children walk through my clinic, they are very aware that this will not be a typical doctor visit. I don’t wear a white coat, the environment is relaxing and calm, soft music plays, lights are dim. When I meet my pediatric patients, I talk to them directly and make sure they understand that I’m here to help them and I respect them and their bodies.
Trust begins as soon as they walk in the door. Parents are present throughout, and are an interactive essential for my treatments, as I often have mom or dad “trying” acupuncture first, so the child can see what the needles look like and that it doesn’t hurt their parent. I generally use smaller ½ inch needles on children that are essentially the thickness of a hair, and are of course, like all my other needles, single- use and individually sterilized.

Children are never  forced to do acupuncture if they don’t want to.  When children refuse acupuncture, I use other non-needle treatments that are very effective  like cupping and low level laser, a  red, cool painless light that effectively stimulates the acupuncture points.   Eventually though, almost every child that walks through my clinic door will try acupuncture. To their amazement, they find it is painless!

Children respond rather quickly to both needle and non-needle treatments, but will generally need follow up appointments in order to make lasting changes.. When children start to make the connection that treatments are helping, they gladly come back for more.

Pediatric acupuncture treatments are very well tolerated by children and effective for treating a wide variety of common childhood ailments. The other benefit of Acupuncture is that it works with the child’s body to heal the underlying imbalances to prevent future illnesses. There are many studies coming out of China and Germany proving the effectiveness of acupuncture treatments for children. I believe it is only a matter of time before pediatric acupuncture becomes a mainstream treatment!