Paediatric acupuncture
- Paediatric acupuncture is a gentle approach that can be effective for many physical problems and psychological problems from babies to teenagers. See here for a summary of the evidence base for paediatric acupuncture.
- There are a variety of techniques included in paediatric acupuncture, not just needles. If your child does not feel comfortable to have needles I will use other techniques.
- It is important that having acupuncture is a positive experience for your child. It is part of the approach of Paediatric Acupuncture to be responsive to each each child on that day, to allow him or her to feel at ease - and even to have fun!
- Although the common perception is that acupuncture is not suitable for children as they would not be able to endure needles, actually if time is taken to gain a child's trust and to assure him or her than nothing will be done to them that they don't want or feel uncomfortable with, most children are willing to try needles after a few sessions. The needles are extremely fine and just a few are used in one treatment.
- I use a ‘child-friendly’ needle technique, which is an almost pain free method of inserting acupuncture needles. Up to the age of about seven, needles are inserted and withdrawn immediately so the child does not need to stay still for any length of time.
Why choose Chinese Medicine for your child?
- The approach of Chinese or Oriental medicine, is not only to relieve symptoms but to address the underlying causes, restoring balance to the whole person.
- Each acupuncture treatment is tailored to the child, with their particular needs and nature.
- Just as children are impacted more strongly by life's experiences than adults, so are they more responsive to acupuncture. This means compared with adults children tend to need relatively little treatment.
- Acupuncture's ability to help in the sphere of mental health means that it can help ease the process of transition, making it particularly suited to supporting teenagers.
Did you know? - Paediatric acupuncture was established as a medical discipline in the sixth century in Japan and has been being developed and refined since then.
How tiny is an acupuncture needle?
An acupuncture needle is really tiny, more than ten times thinner than an injection needle!
Often you can't feel acupuncture needles going in.