Acupuncture for Infants and Children

for maintaining health, improving growth and development


"Shonishin"
(sho = little, ni = children, shin= needle)

Japanese Pediatric Acupuncture, called Shonishin was developed over 250 years in Osaka, Japan. Based on theories from Chinese medical texts written over 2000 years ago and still considered the standard used by professional acupuncturistsⁱ today, the techniques have been refined over the past century in Japan designed by a number of master practitioners, including Fukushima Kodo and Miki Shima.

Brought to North America through the Japanese Acupuncture Society, and the International Toyo Hari Association. Shonishin was specifically designed to match the needs for babies and children through age 5 or so, but as children get older, and their problem more stubborn and difficult, regular acupuncture methods can start to be used. In the past 40 years, Shonishin has become an essential treatment modality for children in Japan.ⁱⁱ

How does it work?

A Shonishin treatment consists of the use of small tools that have been developed giving different types of stimulation. They are either held carefully over the acupuncture point or brushed gently along the meridian pathways using Pressing, Rolling, and Tapping techniques.

Works both as a healing protocol and as a preventative treatment modality. As a healing protocol, acupuncture stimulates the function of the immune system and helps your child's body to fight off infection and disease by stimulating the production of endorphins - chemicals the body produces to support the healing process. Acupuncture also affects the nervous system and causes a lowering of blood pressure and creates an overall feeling of wellbeing which is essential to health.

Acupuncture also works preventatively by treating "Lurking Pathogens"ⁱⁱⁱ - the imprint of an illness which has come and gone. These Lurking Pathogens move deep into the body and can disrupt the auto-immune system later in life when the child is exposed to situations of trauma, stress or anxiety, and can cause long-term, chronic illness such as fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, or other nonspecific autoimmune disorders.

How long before I see results?

Children respond very well to acupuncture. According to Chinese Medicine, children are very Yang - their energy is right on the surface and easy to access, which is why they tend to heal faster than adults. As well, children find Shonishin very relaxing and often look forward to their treatments.

It is quite common for a child's well being to show marked improvement in other aspects of their daily lives. It has been sensed by many parents, that during and after a treatment, a child's spirit, happiness, energy and vitality blossom. Not only can they see almost immediate results for some conditions, but they can participate themselves in their child's healing process. Certain simple techniques can be taught which the parent can do with as simple a tool as a toothbrush and kids often really enjoy having their parents treat them right before bedtime.

Is Shonishin painful?

Shonishin is a very gentle and relaxing experience for the child, as well as, the parent.

Can I be in the room with my child?

Parents are encouraged to be present with their child during the treatment. Infants especially can be held in their parent's arms while the treatment proceeds.

How long are the sessions?

Because children respond so quickly, treatments often take a quarter of the time it would to treat an adult. On the principle of "less is more", under the age of 7, the initial visit can last from 30-50 minutes, which includes the intake and examination followed by a 15 - 20 minute treatment (depending on age).

Here's a link to our Pediatric Intake Form.

Follow-up sessions can last up to 30 minutes, starting with a few questions and a brief reexamination to determine your child's progress, followed by the treatment for the day.

When should I bring my child in for a treatment?

Children, like adults, should come for treatment at the onset of symptoms or soon after a Western diagnosis has been established. Often, though, parents will bring their child in for shonishin when other treatments have been unsuccessful or just as a preventive measure.

Preventatively, parents can bring their child for monthly tune-up� treatments. In Japan, it is traditional for children to have monthly preventative treatments on or around the full moon to keep their child's immune system healthy and to prevent any pathogens from leading to chronic problems later in life.

Are other modalities used?

Pediatric Tui Na massage may also be incorporated.

Footnotes
i - A professional acupuncturist has had 4 years of full-time study from a licensed educational institution, and has a thorough grounding of acupuncture based on the theories and practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
ii - The Pediatric Hospital of the Osaka College of Acupuncture in Japan has a staff of 10-15 pediatric acupuncturists who treat up to 1,000 children a day.
iii - The concept of Lurking Pathogens exists in Traditional Chinese Medical theory and is not recognized in Western biomedicine.

Bibliography
Birch & Ida: Japanese Acupuncture, A Clinical Guide, Paradigm Publications, Brookline, 1998
Birsh, Stephen: Shonishin: Japanese Paediatric Acupuncture, EJOM, vol. 3. No. 6 Winter 2002
Fukushima, Kodo: Meridian Therapy, Toyo Hari Medical Association, Tokyo 1991
Shima, Miki: The Channels Divergences, Deeper Pathways of the Web, Blue Poppy Press, San Francisco, 2002
Gold, Jeffery, et al, Pediatric Acupuncture: A Review of Clinical Research, OxfordJournals.com, 2008