Why Acupuncture  for children?

Just like adults, many children also experience challenges like anxiety, pain, allergies, sleep issue, etc. Acupuncture can be a beneficial service for kids to navigate and handle these tough feelings and experiences.

Some parents and caretakers might feel a bit apprehensive about the idea of their child getting acupuncture, perhaps envisioning lots of needles. It is important to know that acupuncture is a safe and minimally invasive resource, which can be done on people as young as infancy to school age/adolescence and beyond. While a session could include needles, it is only one of the many acupuncture methods and tools available to support healing. This can include: Acupressure, Shoni-Shin, Cupping, and Craniosacral therapy.

At SuNu, we work with the client to make a very Individualized treatment plan, for kids this can look very different depending on their needs. Children are an active participant in their healing and they get to run the show. We’ll delve into this more in the next section. 

Why consider Acupuncture for your children?

A pediatric acupuncturist’s purpose is to support children at all stages of life. Which means kids and people of all ages are encouraged to try Acupuncture at SuNu.

For infants, this looks like helping with various issues that infants sometimes have including colic, digestive upset, and sleep issues. Often this is less acupuncture focused and more looking at the family’s lifestyle, as well as showing parents how to do some tui na on their baby.

For young adults, the purpose is often to help with sleep, perhaps anxiety, and pre-menarche support to hopefully avoid young women being placed on the birth control pill at the first sign of acne or irregular periods.

Pediatric Chiropractic Care at Sunu

Important things to know/how to prepare for your child’s first visit:

• Please complete the intake form for your child before the first visit to allow more time for the acupuncturist to prepare for the session. 

• The patient (child) is in charge – Our practitioner is committed to created a safe space for healing where the child has control, autonomy and permission to be themselves to share what they want/need. Whatever that might be. A treatment may or may not include any needling – it may just offer time and space for the child to show up as themselves before any “treatment” occurs. Eventually treatments may change and evolve. 

• The child will be addressed directly and empowered to be curious and ask questions in order to create a deeper understanding and connection to/with their own body. This is a valuable tool to develop and use into adulthood and beyond. 
• Children’s bodies are very receptive to work. By work, we mean body work like tui na, cupping, and acupuncture if that is used (it often isn’t for infants). Their little bodies are not bogged down by stress, work, pollution, etc. So their “Acupuncture energy channels” also known as meridians, are more open, so sometimes one or two visits is enough for a little one.Offering a child a safe, supportive environment within which to be themselves and learn ways to manage pain, stress, big feelings in general is beyond beneficial. Whether that includes needles/treatment or not. 

To set up pediatric acupuncture care for your little one, book with an appointment with one of our acupuncturists Adrienne or Carey at our Minnetonka location.