Anacortes Family Acupuncture Heather Fairall, L.Ac., EAMP                    360-202-0978            902 28th St. Anacortes, WA 98221

About Pediatric Acupuncture

If there was one thing I could scream from the mountain tops to parents everywhere it would be this:

"Acupuncture for children is not scary!"

So this is why acupuncture for kids is not scary: it doesn't take much to help them to feel better! A.K.A. they do not need many acupuncture needles during a treatment! Their little bodies only need a gentle nudge towards balance and a boost to their immune system to help them to heal. Heal without drugs, antibiotics, Tylenol, ect. ***Of course there is a time and a place for trips to the doctor and antibiotics. But if your child has a viral head cold, for example, acupuncture can be a great treatment option.

Here is a list of reasons why Acupuncture for kids is not scary:

1. I use only a few needles per treatment. The number of needles usually increases with the age of the child.
An infant might get 2 needles during a treatment, where a 10-year-old may get 4-10.

2. I refrain from using language that may be "scary", and encourage parents to do the same. Acupuncture needles are called "taps" in the office (because the needles are "tapped" in). Words like poke, needle, puncture, pinch, ect. are avoided.

3. In young (squiggly) kiddos I usually do a quick "in-and-out" insertion. The needles are not retained. (no, your 3-month-old will not have to sit still with 50 needles poking out of him for 30 minutes!)

4. The needles we use on kids are very small! At my office, I use high quality, small gauge Japanese needle. These needles are the thickness of a strand of hair!

5. Needles are only one treatment option! There are many other ways that we can do "acupuncture" on kids.
Techniques include acupressure, acutonics/tuning forks, sho ni shin "non-insertive" Japanese acupuncture (which involves gentle "scraping" or pressing on acupuncture points and energy channels), superficial electrical stimulation, tui na (massage), cold-laser, dietary suggestions, and herbal medicine.  More info on needleless tools here!

6. It is typically painless. Babies usually do not react when needles are inserted = it doesn't hurt.

7. Kids are interested! The older kids even think acupuncture is "cool", which it is. They want to see the needles, they even ask for more points, and they want to take pictures on their cell phones and post them to Facebook! 

8. I don't do anything that the parent or child is uncomfortable with.