Pediatric Wellness Care: The Full Moon Kids Clinic
Interested in Wellness Care for your children?
Tired of fighting endless colds, coughs,
and earaches with your child?
Can’t seem to stay on top of seasonal allergies?
Hyperactivity, sleep disturbances, or anxiety preventing your child from getting adequate rest and focused down time?
Asian Medicine offers a comprehensive, holistic health care approach that has over 2000 years of history behind its strategies for maintaining pediatric wellness and addressing acute or chronic illness or injuries. Consider Asian Medicine as an alternative or as an effective complementary treatment strategy alongside your western medicine approach to pediatric well-being.
- Will kids really sit still long enough and be open to acupuncture?
- What is a Shonishin treatment?
- What conditions can Shonishin help to treat?
Shonishin translates as pediatric acupuncture: Sho= Little, Ni=Children, Shin= Needle. It is a Japanese Tradition developed during the 17th century and does have roots to earlier use in China. Shonishin treatments gained significant popularity in the last 50 years in Osaka, Japan.
The basis for pediatric care begins with the understanding that children’s bio-energetic systems are not “fully formed,” they are still developing and can easily fall out of step, be over-stimulated, and thus can be more prone to health issues. Children’s bodies consume a tremendous amount of energy as they grow and change. Generally Shonishin is considered most advantageous when done on or before the full moon. This is a time when children were observed to be undergoing more profound changes; growth spurts, cutting teeth, having sleep disturbances, behavioral issues, bedwetting, ect. These monthly full moon Shonishin treatments were used to promote general wellness, boost the immune system and address any conditions of disharmony or illness in children. Clinics that offered Shonishin treatments were traditionally a place of gathering for parents and children, and often a time where parents could exchange helpful information and experiences.
A Shonishin treatment, usually lasts about 20-30 min. During the treatment acupuncture channels and points on the body are stimulated with specialized gentle tools, seashells, rocks, massage and on occasion very thin, painless pediatric needles to enhance a child’s immune system. The Shonishin technique involves gentle tapping, stroking, brushing, and rubbing along specific acupuncture channels and points. Children are considered to be in their most “Yang” phase of life, where their bodies, energy and illnesses move rapidly. This dynamic nature of a child’s developing system is in constant change. Gentle stimulation of acupuncture points and channels are all that’s needed to obtain results. The “less is more” philosophy is the general approach that works best. Shonishin is safe, holistic, and mostly non-invasive. A child is never forced to experience pediatric needles if he or she doesn’t wish to do so. If pediatric acupuncture needles are applied, they are removed immediately in an “in and out” technique until a child is of age where it is appropriate to leave needles in for longer. However, acupuncture is not the only reliable tool we have in the box, massage, shells and specific Shonishin tools are also useful in giving an effective treatment.
Through coming to monthly full moon Shonishin treatments, children get to know and trust their practitioner, so that when a more acute illness shows up, they are more likely to be receptive to care from that practitioner. Building this rapport with your child over time allows us to work together smoothly in guiding them back to optimal health through infancy, childhood, and the adolescent years. Additionally, parents will gain valuable information and tools to use themselves to help their children maintain wellness.
The following is a list of some of the conditions that Shonishin can help to address in your child:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Anxiety, restlessness
- Colic
- Digestive disorders, constipation, diarrhea, stomachache
- Ear Infections: acute and chronic
- Failure to thrive, weak constitutional health
- Frequent colds and flues
- Hyperactivity, unfocused attention
- Skin issues: eczema, rashes, hives
- Night terrors, sleep disturbances
Join us in our monthly Full Moon Kids Clinic for a Shonishin treatment. For more information or to schedule a 10-minute phone consultation regarding your child’s health issues and questions you may have about Shonishin, please call the Santa Cruz or Los Altos clinics.