I love treating children of all ages from babies to teens, and I have since 1975.

At The Zoll Center offer a safe, gentle and non-drug solution for treating children with acupuncture. We treat “children in arms, children under 7 sit on their mothers lap while they are being treated. The needles we use are not painful like an injection needle. The needles go into the acupuncture points and are removed immediately; you’re child leaves with a smile and feeling better.

One of the most important things I learnt in treating thousands of children is that children are not small adults. Children can get sick easily and what they have a turn serious very rapidly. The good news is that children can get better very rapidly even from serious health problems.

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We work with the areas best pedestrians, and a pediatric surgeon is consultant when needed. We are one of the few acupuncture clinics in the area that uses acupuncture for pediatrics, and herbs for pediatrics.

I have four children and my first rule is always doing what’s safe for your child in the most natural way possible. Click below: Pediatric Conditions Acupuncture Treats.

ADD is a complex disease involving both the mind and the body, together with some degree of social adjustment. What we find in the clinic is that in the majority of cases there is a significant energy imbalance, and once this is corrected the child can settle down well in school, and concentrate when needed. Typically 15 to 20 treatments are needed along with diet and nutritional medicines. If you’re willing to make a significant change in your child diet the results will be very good. This may call for eliminating certain foods such as refined sugars and carbohydrates, soda, dairy product s, in some children wheat and gluten and colorings and dyes. We may also recommend specialized testing for food allergies, heavy metals and other environmental toxins.

Colic is something that babies usually grow out of. However, the suffering and broken night sleep is difficult for child and parent to endure. We find that colic responds well to acupuncture and homeopathy. Often it may take four to eight treatments for the baby to feel much better.

In theory this should be easy to cure, but in practice its not. The child’s frustration and pent up anger is a hidden causal factor in many cases of teen acne according to traditional Chinese medicine. If the child is going to school, and just doesn’t want to be going to school, there may be not much that can be done.

The basic cause is accumulation of phlegm. The adenoids often become so swollen that the child becomes a “mouth breather” because the nasal cavity has become so reduced that it is easily blocked by phlegm. There are times when it is advisable to remove the adenoids surgically. Often the adenoids can be reduced in size enough by acupuncture for the child to have no further trouble; but there are also cases when the lack of air flow in the nasal cavity allows one infection after another to develop. The child’s Qi can then become severely depleted. Generally we don’t advise surgery until at least 12 treatments have been given.

Acupuncture is extremely effective curing allergies to common foods, molds, and pollen, house and dust mites. The allergies arise from an imbalanced immune system, which can usually be correct with acupuncture. The number of treatments is variable, ranging from less than 10 to more than 50, depending on the severity of the case. Many European naturopathic type doctors believe food and or skin allergies are triggered from a focal disturbance in the abdomen or pelvis relating to an imbalance of the Liver, Pancreas, Kidney’s and Intestines.

Anxiety is very common in children. As adults we don’t see the problem, but children can be very frightened by quite simple things. Usually the anxiety passes, but sometimes it builds up an gets worse so that the mother is really anxious about her child.

A very common pattern for asthma is for it to start with a cough or a cold. At first it is just a cold which is treated with antibiotics. Maybe a month or two later, another cold or cough occurs and then another round of antibiotics are prescribed. This cycle is repeated with increasing severity until eventually the child becomes asthmatic.
Acupuncture is very effective in treating asthma. It can relieve the symptoms during an attack, by treating in between attacks; the child can be strengthened so they are no longer prone to asthma attacks. Typically, a course of fifteen to twenty treatments is given with further five monthly treatments given to consolidate. These figures are somewhat variable for those children that have very stubborn cases and have been on steroids for long periods of time. As with adults, the acupuncture can be combining with orthodox drugs therapy so that if the child is taking bronchodilators this can be combine during treatment. As the child makes progress he or she can gradually be weaned off the drugs under their physician’s supervision.

In so far as autism is a disturbance of the it does not respond directly to acupuncture. However, in a few cases we have seen, the mind disturbance has been accompanied by severe stagnation of Qi, and heat, both of which would affect the mind. Acupuncture is certainly of help in the cure, and sometimes is the key to unlocking the problem. Some experts believe that certain vaccinations may be a trigger for autism. I don’t believe that the vaccination is the primary cause of the problem but rather their maybe a predisposition for the child to develop autism and the vaccination may act as a catalyst in certain children.

Acupuncture is wonderful at treating this –far quicker than just antibiotics. Chinese herbs are essential at resolving phlegm and improve lung function.

As with adults, acupuncture has three uses;
To reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. Treatments may need to be given daily
To support the Qi, to enable other therapies to be more effective.
To relieve pain. It does seem that in this role, acupuncture is very effective.

Acupuncture can be of help, though dietary changes are necessary in addition to Chinese herbs and nutritional medicines.

Acupuncture can be helpful but is not really the treatment of choice. Chinese herbs and homeopathy is more effective.

Some cases of crossed eyes are congenital, but the majorities are functional, and come from lack of nourishment of the eye muscles. This may be due to stress or the result of feverish disease. In these cases, the divergence can often be corrected by acupuncture. Treatment must be given before the age of 6 years old.

A harsh cough, if it comes during an attack, it is relatively more severe than an ordinary cough, because it means that the phlegm has become very difficult to bring up. In the past, before the days of antibiotics, it was seen a s a good sign when the cough broke and became more productive. In chronic cough, croup is a sign of lingering pathogenic factor often from whooping cough immunization, pertussin. Croup can be a scary thing for both child and parents the cough is loud and barking and child becomes scared easily. Fortunately it responds quickly to homeopathy and Chinese herbal medicine, in an acute case of the croup bring child into bathroom turn on shower to steam the room, hold child in arms until they settle down.

Every child gets a cough at on time or another, and it usually just goes away. For those children who are threatened with an asthma attack, every time they get a cold or cough, we strongly recommend coming for acupuncture treatment and Chinese herbal medicine. Acupuncture given at the right time can often avert an attack.

By far the most common cause is phlegm blocking the cavities in the ear. This will respond well to acupuncture. Occasionally deafness is due to damage of the nerves in the ear-either by a disease, an immunization or damp. In principal this can be helped with acupuncture, but it takes lots of treatment ( 50 -150) and the treat can be painful using point located around the ear. Most parents have a fear of the unlikely pain, on behalf of their children, and will not submit them to long and painful treatment-even though it is the only hope of saving their hearing.

Results are often good with acupuncture, but basically unpredictable. Chinese herbs work well along with diet and nutritional medicines.

Some babies have recurrent diaper rash in spite of the most scrupulous attention to hygiene. In Chinese medicine, this is considered to be due to an imbalance in the digestive system which results that the urine and the stool are somewhat acid and corrosive. Both of these can give rise to irritations of the skin to the genital area.
Acupuncture is very helpful in treating and restoring the balance of digestion and clearing the rash. Typically about five treatments are necessary.

Acupuncture is good for almost all types of diarrhea, although some change in the diet is needed for the cure. For example, we often find that it is necessary for children to stop drinking juice.

Often the first few periods are painful. If they do not quickly settle down into the regular and pain free pattern, then treatment should be given, otherwise the pain may recur again an again for many years It is above all important to avoid stress and over work during these years. The treatments are basically the same for adults, with on important difference: the pain may be due to anxiety and fear of the periods themselves, and of becoming a women and leaving childhood behind. If you correct this problem in the early stages it can likely be resolved for life.

Eczema in children responds very quickly to acupuncture, where the cause is usually a digestive malfunction. In adults the cause are usually more complex-often there is a nervous system component. Acupuncture is effective in curing eczema especially if it is fairly recently occurred, and the symptoms are rather severe. If the eczema has been there since childhood, and is rather slight, then acupuncture is less effective.

Low energy can, of course, be helped by acupuncture. Collapse of energy which happens again and again can be due to food allergies; when this occurs with out obvious cause, it can be due to a lingering pathogen factor.

Acupuncture is very helpful in curing bed wetting provided the problem is primarily physical in origin. It occurs when the lower part of the body is weak, so that the sensations in the bladder are not strong as they should be. This, combine with deep sleep means that the child is unaware of the need to urinate. Acupuncture can strengthen the energy in the lower part of the body and so strengthen the signals which the nerves transmit to the brain, indicating that the bladder is full. Acupuncture is not so helpful in cases which are more psychological in origin.

This covers a multitude of different conditions. Very often the child has very poor appetite and is a fussy eater and so they can not take in enough food to grow and thrive. Likewise, when a child’s energy is too weak for it to thrive, acupuncture can usually be of help. Westerner medicine may treat this condition with growth hormones. We have a much gentler and safer approach. Acupuncture does not work for every child but those that are helped are very pleased with the results.

In itself German measles rarely leads to anything other than mild discomfort, and it is not worth giving acupuncture ( itself a mild discomfort) The real danger is to the unborn baby in the first three months of pregnancy, and it is unlikely that acupuncture would have the slightest effect.

Children should not have headaches at all, because the root cause is over thinking, and they should not be forced into this. However, the truth is that in the US, lots of children are forced into doing too m much mental work, too early on, and this gives rise to headaches. Other causes are eye strain, toxins in the body that are never completely expelled from the system, specifically measles immunization. Acupuncture is very effective in treating headaches and if treated when the child first complains of symptoms the headaches will b e completely resolved.

The two common hernias are inguinal and umbilicus. Both are due to weakness of the abdomen, but they can occur in babies that are quite strong. One of the commonest causes is roaring with rage for too long! This only happens in strong babies. The Western medicine treatment hernias are surgery.

In some cases bed wetting at night is” normal”, and children do eventually grow out of it, while incontinence of the urine in the day cannot be ever considered normal. It is invariably due to local weakness of Qi, and is due to kidney defieincy, sometimes due to damp-heat. It responds well to acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Acupuncture is especially good at taking down bad inflammations. In acute conditions like tonsillitis and acute otitis media, the pain caused by acute inflammation can disappear within minutes, and the inflammation itself within a few hours.

One of the most common complaints in our clinic is from children who do not sleep at nigh. After a month or two of sleeplessness the parents are quite exhausted, their nerves are frayed and what was previously a happy household becomes one of strife. Acupuncture has very striking results in curing screaming children. The number of treatments varies according to the condition of the child and often some significant results are noted after only three treatments. Typically, a courser of ten treatments is needed.

Acupuncture is very helpful in promoting milk production in nursing mothers.

Measles is a relatively uncommon now, due to immunizations. However there are some children who are not or cannot be immunized and they are at risk. There are some children who get measles even through they have been immunized. We have experience in treating such children. Acupuncture should be combined with Chinese herbal medicine and homeopathy.

It is normal for babies and toddlers to look obese. If the obesity persists after 5 or 6 years, then it should be taken seriously. From the point of view of Chinese medicine, obesity is accumulation of damp. This may com from damp producing foods (especially sugary foods, and candies) poor quality food, or simply eating too much. It also can come from LPF, lingering pathogenic factor, usually of damp nature, especially when the original pathogenic factor was treated with antibiotics. If obesity remains over the 14 year transition, it is difficult to cure.

Otitis media is a more localized problem, and does not usually affect the whole body. As a result, it is common for pain to subside actually after a few acupuncture treatments. A complete cure may take a few treatments. If a child suffers from frequent attacks of otitis media they should come for treatment in between the attacks as well, and it may take ten to fifteen treatment to cure the tendency. We have seen excellent results with homeopathy.

Pneumonia does respond well to acupuncture. Chinese herbal medicine can also be very effective. However treatment must be given quickly and frequently. It also depends on how sick your child maybe as you may feel more comfortable about combine acupuncture and orthodox medicine.

In adults, psoriasis is very difficult to cure completely, even with herbs. In children it seems to be easier. We have treated many children ages 7-14 years old all with good results. In all of them there was a significant anxiety component in their life such as not getting along with their teacher.

The treatment of respiratory tract infections such as colds, coughs, bronchitis and so on, is very similar to treating adults. However, children respond much more quickly, so colds and coughs, and even acute bronchitis can be treated with one or two treatments. Children who have had many attacks which have been treated with repeated rounds antibiotics may not respond to acupuncture at first, and antibiotics may need to be used in combination with acupuncture to begin with. When acupuncture is combine with herbal medicine children respond faster. The key is to improve the Childs immune function so that they are not prone to repeated attacks. Often identifying food and environmental allergies are also important.

The pain and inflammation of tonsillitis is reduced almost immediately with acupuncture even in the most severe cases. If the child has chronic tonsillitis, with frequent recurrent attacks, it may take ten to twenty treatments. Acupuncture is usually combined with Chinese herbs. Only in a few children that we have seen at our center is surgery necessary. We would certainly recommend acupuncture and herbs as a first step.

Warts can grow only if there is damp in the system. Warts on the hands are more likely from the spleen and lungs while warts on the feet from the spleen and kidneys. Very often when damp is cleared, warts disappear. Homeopathic remedies are very effective in resolving warts along with diet.

We don’t see many cases of whooping cough as a result of immunization. Some states however do not require children to receive the vaccination, (DPT) before entering school. In these states there is a rise. I saw a family that had whooping cough they had been on antibiotics and steroids before seeing me. Acupuncture relieved the symptoms of harsh hacking cough to a softer more productive cough and Chinese herbs improved their defensive Qi, lung and kidney function.

Responds very well to acupuncture especially in vomiting milk babies

Acupuncture is not a treatment of choice for worms. Chinese herbs are more affective.

Hpakids.org this is a wonderful website where you can find very useful information on treating children with holistic medicine, including acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs, and information on what to do about vaccinations, ear infections and other childhood aliments also has good references for doctors that treat children with a holistic approach.