Recently I have had the opportunity to treat my friends newborn baby @ An Sen Clinic using a combination of Pediatric Tuina, Herbal Medicine & Dietary & Nutrition advice. For those of you unfamiliar with the term Tuina, it means 'Finger Pressure', in Chinese. It is a form of massage and acupressure techniques based on many of the same guiding principles that are used in Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine. You can actually use Acupuncture on newborns and babies, but Pediatric Tuina is a little less invasive, which in my experience- offers mothers a chance to feel more comfortable bringing their newborns into the crazy & unfamiliar world of Chinese Medicine for the first time. I learned the techniques of Pediatric Tuina from one of my teachers, Dr.Yan Lu, during my schooling @ the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. Pediatric Tuina can be used as a form of therapy for, well, just about any Pediatric condition. Bedwetting, Colic, Phlegm, Earaches, Cold's and Flu's, you name it. It's about bringing the babies bodies/organs, minds and sprits back into balance. Besides, who wouldn't feel better getting a little massage anyway?!!
On the first visit to the clinic, (We'll call him Baby E) Baby E showed no letting up on his crying fits. I barely had the opportunity to even attempt the Pediatric Tuina on him. (For I wanted him to associate the treatments with something happy and fun, so I did not want to push his little buttons without him being in a good place emotionally). So I did just a little, but I showed his mom all of the techniques and wrote them down for her and explained what they were going to do for the little man, and that she should do them daily- any chance she got him into a relaxed state. With baby in carriage intact,( alongside him I also included his herbal granule formula & dietary and nutritional recommendations), he and mom were on their way until his follow-up visit one week later.
Colic is considered 'food stagnation' in Chinese Medicine, (aka indigestion, gas, bloating and possible acid reflux in Western medical terminology). Plain and simple, babies just aren't comfortable, with all of that stuff going on down there. Would you? From a Western and Eastern perspective, babies digestive systems are not fully developed yet (which is why they cannot eat big ole cheeseburgers right out of the womb), thus thanks to the powers that be, mother's milk was created! Whala! But even this can sometimes be overpowering to a newborns digestive tract. There are different patterns of colic pathology in Chinese Medicine. For instance there's 'hot colic', 'cold colic, 'Liv Qi stagnation Colic', etc. so no baby is treated exactly the same. I try to hone in on the babies total symptom picture before coming up with the Pediatric Tuina prescription, and herbal formula. Mom's of course need to be involved as well, as 'feeding on demand' is not advised in Chinese Pediatric recommendations, rather 'feeding on schedule' is the preferred method, as well as restricting mom to certain foods that may be causing that unwanted gas.
As for baby E, the second visit into the clinic proved uplifting. His facial color was richer, and his eyes were more focused and sparkling, and this time he did not cry but rather laughed and smiled all through his Pediatric Tuina Session. And, mom reported that he even slept a whole 6 hours through the previous night before. A record for baby E! Along they went again, with a refill of his formula and a much more content baby and experienced mom!
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