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| Home > Articles > Acupressure and Children
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| | Acupressure and Children
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Acupressure for children may be calming and help reduce the fever. Gentle massage may relieve discomfort. A foot massage may help relax the child. Some children will not want to be touched, however. Because yin and yang are intertwined halves of the same whole, all things, and all people, contain elements of both, although at any one time, one or the other will be predominant. Thus, a baby or young child is more yin; an older child more yang. When your child asserts herself, it is her yang that is coming to the fore.
Massaging a particular point will help relieve symptoms as well as strengthen and balance the yin-yang in your child`s body. For example, applying acupressure to the point identified as "large intestine 11" helps relax the intestine, thus relieving constipation. Another related point is stomach 36; massaging stomach 36 helps tone an upset digestive tract. When your child is ill, the appropriate acupressure points, as well as other areas of your child`s body, will be tender. Use your intuitive sense. Ask what feels good.
When your child is ill, gently working the acupressure points recommended in the appropriate entry in part two will probably be beneficial (the illustrations in part three provide guidelines for locating all of the acupressure points recommended). Your child will very likely love receiving an acupressure treatment. When you give your child an acupressure treatment, your tools are your hands, notably your thumbs and fingers, and occasionally your palms. For the most part, you will be using the balls of your thumbs and fingers, never the nails. Before administering acupressure, make sure your fingernails are clipped short, so that you do not inadvertently scratch your child.
Choose a time of day when your child is most relaxed, perhaps after a warm bath and just before bedtime. Have her take a few deep breaths. This aids relaxation and will automatically focus your child`s attention inward on her body. You might want to start an acupressure session with a loving and comforting back rub, a treat most children welcome, especially when ill. Remain calm and unhurried. Make sure to keep your child warm throughout the treatment. You can apply pressure to the points directly onto the skin, or through a shirt or light sheet.
When your child is ill, acupressure is a wonderful way to use your hands with a loving, nurturing touch, while also stimulating your child`s body to heal. By using the acupressure points described in this book, you will be working to relieve the underlying cause of illness. At the same time, your gentle healing touch will convey your love and concern to your child. Children`s behavior, diet and health are so finely woven together that sometimes, little ones respond better to the `whole person` approach of complementary medicine than the five minutes that your gp has to spare in his hectic schedule. Skin, sleep and eating complaints are thought to react particularly well to treatments like acupressure; reflexology and herbal medicine whilst the almost imperceptible doses used in homeopathic medicines are so gentle they can be used on teething or colicky babies.
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