On Point Acupuncture - Offering licensed acupuncture services in Waterbury, Vermont

Can Children Benefit From Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine?

Absolutely.

Kerry Jenni is experienced with treating children for a variety conditions. A typical children’s treatment is a bit different from an adult’s treatment. Children usually have 30-minute treatments. During that time, Kerry adjusts her techniques to the child’s age and comfort. Some children do not receive any needles at all. Rather, acupressure, moxibustion, cupping, dietary changes, and herbalism may be used. Other children are comfortable with receiving an acupuncture needle, as special very small needles are used for children. Much fewer needles are used for children, again depending upon condition being treated and age. Needles are not retained for children, rather they are inserted and immediately withdrawn. Due to children’s resilience, fewer treatments are usually needed to achieve the same results as a similar condition in adults.

Kerry has treated children as young as 5 months. She has treated successfully with children:

ADD
Sinus congestion
Eczema
Asthma
Bed wetting
Sleep disorders
Common colds
Colic

Craniosacral therapy is an excellent adjunct for children. Kerry has performed craniosacral therapy for newborns and all ages above. Children usually enjoy this calming treatment. Parents comment on the relaxed manner of the child after the treatment and the deepened sleep the night following the treatment. This therapy is especially recommended after a traumatic birth of any kind.

Acupuncture in Pregnancy

Acupuncture is a safe technique to use during all aspects of pregnancy, when applied by a licensed acupuncturist. Kerry has experience treating a number of pregnancy related conditions, and specialty experience in the field from her rotations at the Plymouth Hospital in Devon, England where acupuncture is used regularly. Acupuncture is drugless and free of side effects, which brings many women to try it for the first time during pregnancy. Kerry has used acupuncture to successfully treat during pregnancy:

Morning Sickness
Heartburn
Fatigue
Bloating
Sciatica
Pelvic Pain

baby in breech position Further, Kerry has specific training in turning breech positions babies between weeks 31-36 and induction of labor with a doctor/midwife’s recommendation.

Acupuncture and Fertility

Acupuncture may help some women achieve pregnancy. Depending upon the cause of the fertility issues, acupuncture used for a number of menstrual cycles has been used successfully. In general, physical obstructions such as blocked fallopian tubes may not be helped with acupuncture, but stress and hormone imbalances have been treated with acupuncture and resulted in pregnancies.

Physician-scientists at New York Cornell-Wiell medical center report that acupuncture treatments have the following potential benefits for fertility:

Increased blood flow to the uterus and therefore uterine wall thickness, an important marker for fertility
Increased endorphin production, which, in turn, has been shown to affect the release of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a decapeptide involved in regulating reproduction
Lower stress hormones responsible for infertility
Impact on plasma levels of the fertility hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), and Progesterone (P)
Normalization of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, a key process in fertility
A positive effect for women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (P.C.O.S.), a hormonal imbalance present in three percent of adolescents and adults.

IVF and Acupuncture

On October 20, 2004, a study presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine confirmed that Acupuncture used before and after embryo transfer results in higher pregnancy rates. Half of the women in the study received acupuncture and the other half did not.

The results showed:

The Acupuncture group had a 51% pregnancy rate compared to only 36% in the control group.
The Acupuncture group had only an 8% miscarriage rate compared to 20% in the control group.

The above mentioned study confirms the results of a German study, published in April of 2002 in Highlights in Fertility and Sterility (Vol. 77, No. 4, April 2002), which indicates that using acupuncture with IVF treatment significantly increases the chance of successful pregnancy.

The results of this study showed:

34 out of 80 women in the Acupuncture group became pregnant.
Only 21 out of 80 women in the control group became pregnant.

For appointments, call On Point Acupuncture at 802-244-8531