Acupuncture has proved to be an effective medical treatment over the years. It is one of the safest and effective way of treating a wide variety of medical conditions. Many people suffering from serious ailments have found relief by the help of acupuncture treatment. As a matter of fact acupuncture is a 5000 year old medical treatment, it has even got recognition from the World Health Organization and National Institute of Health. It is known to treat a number of health issues which includes chronic pains and serious disease. It is said that the acupuncture treatment offers quick relief. With the popularity of this treatment even little children are given acupuncture treatment to get rid of health issues.
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary found out that acupuncture has proved to be effective for treating lazy eye or Amblyopia. In a small study conducted by Chicago based Rush University Medical Center it was revealed that acupuncture can help in pain and nausea alleviation in children suffering from chronic illnesses. Many questions have however been raised on how safe and suitable acupuncture is for the little ones. Many premier organizations have conducted studies in this regard and have come up with different statements, most of which are in favor of acupuncture.
Is it really that serious?
Acupuncture is one of the most sought after alternative treatment method with bare minimum side effects. The chances of side effects post acupuncture treatments are rare, only one in thousand patient might complain of certain side effects. Acupuncture tends to be extremely beneficial for treating ailments of adults. On the other hand, when it comes to little children most of the people start to fret considering acupuncture as a painful treatment that might pose some serious side effects. It is believed that the needles might cause damage to the delicate skin of the kids leading to acute painful situations and even infections. Different people have different takes on acupuncture treatment. However in reality in the hands of reputed trained practitioner acupuncture for kids is pretty much safe and helpful in curing ailments.
What the research says?
Many research have been conducted on this 5000 year old treatment method. After many years of research it was found out that needles are relatively painless and extremely helpful in curing ailments like chronic pains and other ailments. Kathi Kemper, MD of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section of complementary and integrative medicine believes that the needles used for this treatment are very tiny and are not hollow, they thus do not tear the skin of the little children. Attention must be paid on finding the right service provider. One can seek advice of any reputed doctor to find out a good acupuncture service provider. Someone who has a license in pediatric acupuncture might be best suitable. Many organizations and institutions around the globe have been conducting serious research to find out the reliability of acupuncture treatment for treating children’s ailments.
The developments
In one of the studies conducted for finding out the effectiveness of acupuncture as a medical treatment method for children, it was found out that only one in ten kids experienced some mild side effects post acupuncture treatment. These side effects include bruising, numbness and pain; some serious side effects which acupuncture might lead to are nerve impairment and other infections. In fact acupuncture can even help in dealing with migraines, pains and other complaints. Besides post taking acupuncture treatment many teenagers have reported to have less painful mensuration.
Many studies have been done over the period of time but none has been able to substantially prove that acupuncture is 100% safe for kids. In a research conducted by the University of Alberta data of 37 individual studies on effectiveness of needle acupuncture were taken into account. This study took into consideration children between 0-17 years of age over the period of 60 years. The researchers were able to find out several adverse events out of which 253 were mild, 1 was about moderate and 25 were serious.
Certain side effects like bleeding, heart and lung trouble and infections were mainly due to substandard acupuncture providing conditions.In one serious incident of irresponsibility one child caught HIV infection after taking acupuncture treatment. In the end the researchers concluded that pediatric acupuncture is extremely safe if provided by proper licensed pediatric specialist.
The main hurdles
There are still several hurdles in assuming acupuncture as an 100% safe and reliable method of treatment for children. On of the major issue is that most of the studies have taken into consideration adolescents only, however in reality it is believed that the effect of acupuncture treatment might differ to a major extent in case of young infants. Little kids can not be exposed to harms of acupuncture specially for the purpose of study. Due to lack of substantial study, a firm statement can not be presented. The studies need to be more elaborate and considerate.
What can be done?
The research conducted so far is insufficient to substantiate the fact that acupuncture is entirely safe for kids. Further research is essential to prove that the treatment is safe. If the present studies are to be considered it can be said that the treatment is quite effective. However on the part of parents it is extremely essential that they seek treatment from reputed pediatric acupuncture treatment providers only. It must be ensured that sterilized needles are being used by the doctors and that they are well trained in giving the treatment.
There is no harm in checking the license of the acupuncture treatment provider. The cases of side effects of acupuncture treatments are rare and the treatment can be considered suitable to a major extent till the time no new study comes up with an alternative picture. Over the years this treatment has helped many people find relief from some serious medical conditions, it can be quite helpful for the little ones as well.
