Children’s Health
Paediatric Acupuncture is a specialist area within Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and practitioners are required to complete additional training. If you would like to know more, the Evidence Based Acupuncture organisation has produced a document compiling all the recent studies involving paediatric acupuncture.
Acupuncture and acupuncture-related therapies have shown particular promise in the treatment of many paediatric disorders. Furthermore, acupuncture is considered safe and well-tolerated with a very low risk of serious adverse effects.
One of our greatest fears as parents is that our children might become sick and just like you, I wanted to do everything I could to prevent this. What I have learnt has revolutionised how I think about illness in my own children and will help me to make better decisions for my children's future. I hope that I can empower other parents with knowledge that will help them too.
What to Expect.
Contrary to popular belief, Acupuncture is actually a very gentle way to treat illness and can help with many conditions. We can even treat using non-needle techniques such as low level light lasers or flower essences.
Chinese medicine views illness as an imbalance so it is always our aim to treat the root cause rather than simply abating the symptoms as this gives the best chance for long term recovery.
Acupuncture treatments for children differ from adult treatments as we do not expect children to sit still for long periods and the needles are only inserted for a very short amount of time. We may also use cupping or acupressure if applicable.
Initial appointments are 1 hour and follow up treatments last 30 mins.
Safeguarding your child.
During the treatment of any minor (under 16yrs), the parent or guardian must be present at all times.
I work with the child to make sure that they are comfortable with where we place the needles. Many children are hesitant to start with or have certain areas of their body they don't want to be needled, it is important that their wishes be respected. Instead we can find alternative places or even use different techniques altogether, such as, laser acupuncture, flower essences, nutrition or bio-resonance.
Please note that in the United Kingdom it is obligatory for a parent or guardian to seek conventional medical help for a minor, i.e. a child under the age of sixteen. Complementary medicine of any form does not constitute `conventional medicine’.
