Posts In: paediatric shiatsu

Shiatsu offers very gentle and effective forms of treatment for babies and children and they are very responsive to these. The treatment itself  may include gentle tapping or friction, gentle stroking along the developing meridians and touch, some stretching and movement and stimulation of acupuncture points.

To achieve the best possible response the child is being diagnosed first using traditional methods such as looking at the tongue and pulse. These give a very good indication of what is causing presenting problems. However as kids are still in developmental stage there is more to be taken to consideration. In Shiatsu it is said that females and males develop at different rates. Females develop in cycles of 7 years and males in cycles of 8 years. This must be taken into consideration as specific development milestone take place at different ages. Shiatsu also recognises 5 constitutional types which are water, wood, fire, earth and metal. These play a significant role not only for the treatment itself but also in what approach to take with each individual child.

Children respond very well to Shiatsu treatments and generally one can see improvements of presenting symptoms after a few sessions. However if there is little or no success in treatment of disease or the problems are reoccuring then it is very important to treat the mother as well. Once the mother gets better the child also regains its health back. The explanation behind this is that the connection between a child and its mother is very strong. Children are natural emphats and are very open to the energy of both parents, but the connection with the mother is much stronger.

So what common issues do we treat?

  • Digestive problems
  • Poor appetite
  • Common cold and flu
  • Respiratory issues such as asthma and frequent infections
  • Ear infections and ear pain
  • Reflux
  • Bed wetting
  • Night terrors
  • Growth and/or developmental delays
  • Restlessness
  • Behavioural problems such as hyperactivity or ADHD
  • Reduced immune function