Acupuncture, in combination with Chinese Herbs, have been applied to help with different types of infantile diseases, including but not limited to the following.
Infant diarrhea is one of the common disease in department of pediatrics, usually caused by improper diet and bacterial and viral infection in the intestines. The main clinical presentations are frequent defecation, abdominal distension and borborygmus, and watery stool. It belongs to the category of “diarrhea” in Chinese Medicine. It is due to attack of exogenous pathogens, improper diet, insufficiency of the spleen and stomach failing to transport and transform, thus the clear and the turbid mix to enter the large intestine. The disease mainly involves the spleen and stomach, and a prolonged disease may affect the kidney.
Enuresis is one of the common pediatric diseases. It usually refers to involuntary and recurrent urination during sleep in the infants over three years old. In the mild serious patients, enuresis may occur every night, accompanied by lassitude and emaciation. It belongs to the category of “enuresis” in Chinese Medicine, usually caused by deficiency of kidney qi leading to failure in consolidating the bladder; or by deficiency of lung and spleen qi leading to the failure in governing the lower-jiao; or by stagnant heat in the liver meridian leading to disturbance of the bladder; or by deficiency of lung and spleen qi leading to the failure in governing the lower-jiao; or by stagnant heat in liver meridian leading to disturbance of the bladder in the transformation qi. The disease mainly involves the kidney and bladder.
Convulsion is a commonly acute disease in infant due to organic or functional abnormality of the central nervous system. It is clinically manifested by tetany and coma. This disease belongs to the category of “infantile convulsion” in Chinese Medicine, divided into acute and chronic according to the pathogenic condition. A case with sudden onset and characterized by high fever accompanied by tetany and coma is called acute convulsion, which is due to affection by seasonal expathogenic factors transforming into heat after long stagnation, or sudden terror and fear leading to internal accumulation of phlegm-heat, and when the heat becomes extremely strong, the internal wind and phlegm will be stirred; and this type involves the heart and liver. A case with slow onset, repeated tetany and coma or paralysis is called chronic convulsion, which usually seen after severe and prolonged disease, or due to congenital deficit of endowmen, or intractable acute convulsion, insufficiency of the spleen with hyperactivity of the liver, or deficiency of the liver and kidney yin, thus the internal wind will be stirred, and the chronic type involves the liver, spleen and kidney.