Is Acupuncture Safe for Children?
Acupuncture offers an effective treatment method for many health issues affecting adults and children. If you're considering acupuncture treatment for your son or daughter, you probably have a few questions about safety. Fortunately, acupuncture offers a safe, natural way to treat your child's conditions or symptoms.
How Safe Is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a safe treatment for children, according to several research studies. A 2015 review of systematic reviews published in Pediatric Research revealed only six adverse events and no fatalities. The authors examined 24 systematic reviews comprised of 142 research studies conducted on more than 12,000 children.
A systematic review published in Pediatrics in 2011 revealed an 11% rate of mild adverse effects, like bruising, pain, or bleeding. Although several serious adverse events were also identified, substandard practices were to blame for the events. The researchers concluded that acupuncture is safe for children when performed by practitioners appropriately trained in acupuncture techniques.
What Are the Benefits of Acupuncture for Children?
Acupuncture can be helpful for:
- Nausea. Treatments reduce post-operative nausea and nausea associated with chemotherapy or motion sickness.
- Colic. Acupuncture could calm your colicky baby, according to a 2014 Swedish study published in the Natural Medicine Journal. Babies who participated in the research study received six, two-second-long acupuncture treatments over the course of three weeks. Infants treated with acupuncture experienced significantly less fussing and colicky crying than those who received no treatment.
- Pain. Acupuncture treats pain without any side effects, unlike pain medication. Treatments can be helpful if your child has back pain, arm or leg pain, headaches, migraines, endometriosis, gastrointestinal pain, and other types of pain.
- Bed Wetting. Acupuncture could reduce the number of nights your child experiences bed-wetting episodes. Treatments may improve communication between the nerves and the bladder.
- Cerebral Palsy. Treating cerebral palsy with acupuncture could decrease muscle spasms, improve gross motor function, and improve daily activities in children when combined with rehabilitation, according to researchers. The researchers, who published their meta-analysis in Neural Regeneration Research in June 2018, cautioned that more studies are needed to explore the benefits of acupuncture for cerebral palsy.
- Asthma. Acupuncture could help your child keep asthma symptoms under control and avoid flare-ups.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder. Evidence Based Acupuncture's Evidence Summary of acupuncture examined several studies that reported improvements in language comprehension, communication, self-care, and cognitive and global function in autistic children who received acupuncture treatment.
How Is Acupuncture Performed on Children?
If your child hates shots, you may be worried that acupuncture might be a traumatic experience. Fortunately, that's not the case. Acupuncturists use thin needles that are the same thickness as human hair. Your child may not feel the needles or only feel a slight pricking sensation when a needle is inserted into the skin.
Acupuncture sessions for children don't last as long as those for adults and use fewer needles. In some cases, needles may not be used at all. Depending on your child's age and tolerance for treatment, your acupuncturist may use acupressure or laser acupuncture instead. Although needles aren't used in these methods, treatments still generate energy that eliminates blockages of the lifeforce Qi. Qi blockages create imbalances in the body that cause or worsen pain, disorders and illnesses. When Qi flows normally, symptoms improve.
Wondering if acupuncture could help your child? Contact our office to schedule an appointment with the acupuncturist.
Sources:
Nature: Pediatric Research: Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture in Children: An Overview of Systematic Reviews, 5/7/2015
https://www.nature.com/articles/pr201591
Natural Medicine Journal: Colic Improves with Acupuncture, 3/23/2014
https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/colic-improves-acupuncture
PubMed: Neural Regeneration Research: Acupuncture for Cerebral Palsy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials, 6/2018
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29926839/
Evidence Based Acupuncture: Evidence Summary: Pediatric Acupuncture
https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org/pediatric-acupuncture/
American Academy of Pediatrics: Pediatrics: The Safety of Pediatric Acupuncture: A Systematic Review, 12/1/2011
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Acupuncture: Effectiveness and Safety, 10/2022
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture-effectiveness-and-safety