ACUMEDICINE HEALTH

I believe there is a GREAT need out there for serious pediatric TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioners. It is my experience that Chinese Medicine offers quick and effective treatment for the majority of common childhood complaints. TCM pediatrics does not see infants and young children as miniature adults. Children’s anatomy and physiology are intrinsically different from an adult’s.  The child is immature, and this immaturity is reflected in their immature anatomy and physiology just as much as their immature emotional capacities and developmental needs.  This means that in TCM pediatrics have their own treatment principles and treatment modalities.

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I have incorporated a Japanese method of treating children up to 9 years of age where small metal instruments (Shonishin) are used instead of needles. Shonishin is a pleasant but highly effective approach.  I also utilize acupuncture needles (pokey sticks), herbal medicine, moxibustion, diet therapy, medical massage, and  cold laser to help children live happy and healthy lives. If I use acupuncture for children under the age of 3, I briefly insert a very tiny needle and then take it out.  Kids from 4 years of age through 12 years, the needles are retained the number of minutes/ year.  An eight year old would have needles for 8 minutes.  Adolescents retain the needles 15 to 20 minutes. Needles are highly beneficial and effective in acute conditions and young people respond quickly, dramatically!

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After acupuncture treatments begin, I commonly see  a child  show marked improvement in other aspects of their daily lives. Parents, teachers, and people who are in a child’s sphere often note that their spirit, happiness, energy and vitality blossom. In this way, I find that Pediatric TCM can be beneficial for easing infants, children, and adolescents through the many changes they go through in their lives.

Some of the pediatric conditions treated by acupuncture include:

• Allergies

• Anxiety

• Asthma

• Abdominal pain

• Bedwetting

• Bronchitis

• Colic

• Constipation

• Cough

• Depression

 

Here is a testimonial from a mother of a child who got acupuncture treatments from Sheryl:

Our  18 month old son developed chronic diarrhea. We think it started when his brother got a stomach bug. One child recovered, but the other one did not. We kept hoping that the diarrhea would stop. Two months into it we contacted our doctor. Per her recommendation we needed to cut out dairy products. She also suggested we see a pediatric gastroenterologist. It took a while to get an appointment with the GI, so we started taking our son to Sheryl. We told her all about his stomach issues and what we cut out of his diet so far. Sheryl then suggested we also take out gluten from his diet and give him a probiotic.

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Our visits to Sheryl’s office were averaging about one to two per week. The change in his diet wasn’t working well on its own, but once we paired it with Sheryl’s magic hands and “pokey sticks” as my son called them, he started to improve. Sheryl explained that his GI-system was trying to normalize itself, but could not. It was as if it was stuck in this diarrhea pattern.

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While seeing Sheryl and waiting for the GI, we ran a battery of blood and stool tests. Everything came back negative. Once we were able to see the GI doctor she confirmed that there was little to do about his diarrhea because all tests were negative. She said we would need to put gluten back into his diet and if he had a bad reaction to it (such as worse diarrhea than he already had), he would need to return in 4 weeks  for a possible endoscopy, which required full sedation at a hospital. I said, “NO WAY!” that was our first and last visit to the GI and we fully relied on Sheryl to solve this mystery.

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It took about two months of seeing Sheryl on a regular basis for 30 minute sessions, but all of a sudden our son’s stools started to form. My husband and I were so excited about hard poop! Sheryl said once his body is back on track he will be fine. Well, she was right because once he stopped having diarrhea, he was eating better, sleeping more soundly and was in a much happier mood. He averages about 1 formed stool per day (compared to 3 or more huge liquid stools). He is actually eating gluten products without any problems now.

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It was a great experience going to Sheryl for this ailment. She had a great rapport with my son and he often ran into one of the treatment rooms with immense excitement about our appointment with her.

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