Pediatric Care/Healthy Kids

Acupuncture for Children

As a parent, you wnat nothing more than for your child to be healthy. Regular checkups with your family doctor are an important part of maintaining good physical health. These visits allow for your doctor to detect and correct minor problems before they become major health concerns.

You may not think of acupuncture as an important piece of your child's health care. However, it can be an esential alternative therapy to help regain and maintain your child's health. An acupuncturist can check the overall quality and balance of your child's Life Energy, called Qi (pronounced "chee").

What is Qi? Qi is the Life Energy that animates the body and protects it from illness. It flows through a series of pathways called Meridians, and provides nourishment for every cell, tissue, organ, and gland.

Think of Qi as water flowing through a garden hose, providing nourishment for flowers to grow and thrive. If, the amount of water were to become restricted, eventually the flowers would wilt and wither.

Likewise, in order for a child to thrive and remain healthy, every part of his or her body requires adequate and balanced supply of Qi flowing through it.

What affects Qi? In today's world, children are exposed to many stressors. Over time, they build up and can cause problems. Here are a few that can affect a child's health:

Accidents/falls: Children often fall and hurt themselves. Physical trauma blocks the free movement of Qi. Eventually, this can lead to less-than-adequate nourishment for the body and organ systems.
Environment: Exposure to environmental and chemical hazards can have a direct impact upon a child's health. This may make them susceptible to things like colds, allergies, asthma and digestive troubles.
Diet: A diet lacking in proper nutrition can affect organ function and eventually overall health and well-being. Acupuncture helps strengthen and support out-of-balance organs.
Emotions: Children may experience unpleasant situations that affect them emotionally. They can internalize the stress from these situations, and over time, this stress can mainfest into various signs and symptoms.

If not properly detected and cared for, stressors can lead to an inadequate supply of Qi necessary to nourish and support health. Eventually, your child may have symptoms and signs of ilness, disease and pain may appear.

How Does Acupuncture Work? Your doctor will begin by taking a full health history. This may include asking questions, assessing pulses, looking at the tongue and/or abdominal palpation. These are effective diagnostic tools that enable your acupuncturist to obtain a clear picture of your child's overall health.

If signs of weakness, imbalance or blockage are found, your acupuncturist may use a variety of non-invasive and gentle treatment methods to restore the balance and flow of Qi, thereby facilitating your child's natural ability to heal. Some of these techniques may include: acupressure, herbs, tuina, pediatric massage, acupuncture, moxabustion or cupping.

An acupuncture checkup could be valuable in determining the present and future health and well-being of your child. Caring for your child's health with acupuncture is safe, natural, drug-free and effective. It's the perfect way to allow your child to grow and thrive.

Chiropractic for Children

Even today's birthing procedures can put tremendous pressures on a child's spine. And while the injury from forceps deliveries may be less common today, vacuum extraction and eager hands can do even more damage by pulling, forcing and twisting the baby's young spine.

Without the language to explain, many newborns experience colic, unexplained crying, lack of appetite, frequent ear infections or other signs of poor health. A chiropractic examination is essential to determine if birth trauma to the spine is involved.

Then if indicated, a gentle, life-affirming adjustment is given. With no more pressure than you'd use to test the ripeness of a tomato, nerve-compromising subluxations can be reduced. Almost miraculously, many parents see instant improvements in the well-being of their child.

Later, regular chiropractic checkups are helpful to monitor spinal development as infants sit upright, support their heads, learn to crawl and take their first brave steps. Many experts believe that uncorrected spinal problems during this early stage of development cause the chronic, hard-to-correct subluxations seen in adults.