Individual food accumulation, poor sleep, wind, heat and cold... doctors will teach you how to solve various minor problems of children in summer.
Experts in this article:
Xu Youjia, Director of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Gao Shan, Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Massage, First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Pediatric massage is a very good external treatment method for children aged 0 to 7 years old, especially younger children who are not suitable for dietary therapy.
Many common minor problems in summer can be solved through massage.
1. Food accumulation: clear and nourish the spleen meridian
Xu Youjia, director of pediatrics at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that children’s spleen and stomach function in summer Poor, especially for children with weak spleen and stomach. If there is food accumulation, severe bad breath, abdominal distension, and sour and smelly stools, family members can push the spleen meridian.
Pushing the spleen meridian is divided into three types: tonifying the spleen meridian, clearing the spleen meridian and pushing the spleen meridian. There are two techniques for tonifying the Spleen Meridian. The first one is to let the child's thumb naturally straighten, and push it straight along the radial edge of the thumb from the distal end to the direction of the base of the palm, which is called the Spleen Meridian (in the opposite direction, straight from the base of the palm). Push it to the fingertips, which is the Qingpi meridian). The second method is to push the ribbed surface on the end of the thumb, which is the "Spleen Meridian Point". You can hold the child's little hand and use your thumb to push it 150 to 300 times.
If your child has spleen deficiency, he or she will have a sallow complexion, fatigue, thin body, anorexia or refusal to eat, or a little excess food and stool. If there are indigestible residues in the stool, the stools are often unformed, easy to sweat, and prone to repeated colds, etc., the child can be given the "Spleen-tonifying Meridian" 300 times a day.
2. Fever: Qingtian River
Xu Youjia, director of pediatrics at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that in summer, many children will Have wind-heat and cold. There are many ways to reduce fever in children. I prefer Qingtianhe water, which is the trump card of pediatric massage. It can be used to reduce fever of various heat syndromes such as excessive heat and deficient heat. It can clear away heat without damaging yin.
Push straight from the midpoint of the wrist crease on the child's palm to the midpoint of the elbow crease, once. Babies under 1 year old can be cleaned about 100 times, children aged 1 to 3 years old can be cleaned 300 to 500 times, and children over 3 years old can be cleaned 800 to 1000 times.
It is usually operated with the left hand. When the body temperature is high, both hands can be operated at the same time or alternately. Smaller children may not be able to stay quiet for that long. It is recommended to operate for 3 to 5 minutes and then rest for a while until the body temperature drops to a safe range. Depending on the fever, the operation can be performed 1 to 3 times a day.
During the massage operation, mothers can dip in water as a medium to improve the antipyretic effect; before the massage operation, pay attention to trimming nails and do not wear jewelry; It is not advisable to feed your baby before he is a child.
3. Poor digestion: abdominal massage
Xu Youjia, director of pediatrics at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that parents are responsible for children’s constipation. Traditional Chinese medicine has many good ways to deal with constipation in children. In addition to traditional Chinese medicine and dietary therapy, I also recommend massage for children. For example, abdominal massage has a good digestion and laxative effect.
However, constipation can be divided into deficiency and reality, and massage techniques can also distinguish between deficiency and reality, so parents must distinguish clearly. It is proven that constipation is mostly caused by food accumulation and stagnation of heat. The course of the disease is generally short and the condition is mild. The child often has dry and hard stools, often has abdominal distension and refuses to be pressed, and is also accompanied by symptoms such as not wanting to eat or feeling nauseous and vomiting. Deficiency syndrome constipation is mostly caused by qi deficiency and blood loss, loss of moisturizing in the intestines, and inability to conduct stools. The disease generally has a long course and is prone to long-term and recurring constipation. The child has very dry stools, but always wants to defecate or cannot defecate.
When massaging the abdomen, use the palm of your hand or four fingers to press and massage around the navel for 3 minutes. Massaging the abdomen clockwise is a diarrhea method, which is suitable for hot air. For constipation caused by deficiency; counterclockwise massage of the abdomen is a tonic method, which is suitable for constipation caused by deficiency of Qi (ie, insufficient intestinal motility).
4. Not sleeping well: rub Xiao Tian Xin
Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Massage, First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Gao Shan talks about it, Xia Yingxin, the heart governs the spirit. In summer, children are prone to be angry and irritable than usual. When going to bed at night, they are also prone to restlessness and tossing and turning. At this time, you can use the technique of rubbing Xiaotianxin to regulate the child, clear away heat and remove heart fire, and calm the mind and calm the mind. The Xiaotianxin point is easy to find. It is located in the depression where the thenar and thenar eminences meet on the palm of your hand. It is advisable to knead 150 times.
You can also rub the Neilaogong acupoint for your child, just on the palm of your child's hand. Hold the four fingers of your hand tightly in the palm of your hand except the thumb. The point where the middle finger touches is the Neilaogong point. Neilaogong acupoint is an acupoint on the pericardial meridian. It can clear the heart, purge liver fire, cool blood and moisturize dryness, soothe the nerves and relieve the stomach. If your child has a cold, internal heat, or is agitated, you can rub it once a day, 300 times each time.
Children who don’t like to sleep are mostly related to the mismatch between the heart and the kidneys. The heart governs fire and the kidneys govern water. Heart fire cannot go down to warm kidney yin, and kidney water cannot go up to nourish heart yang. It will be difficult for people to fall asleep.
5. Dry mouth and bitter mouth: Qinggan meridian
Deputy Director of the Massage Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor Gao Shan said that in summer, liver fire and heart fire often appear at the same time. Children with liver fire will have dry mouth, bitter mouth, dry eyes, and irritability. In the face of this situation, you can use Qinggan Meridian. The technique can soothe the liver and purge the fire, extinguish the wind and calm down. It can also play a certain role in the night terrors, irritability, and bitter mouth that are prone to occur in children in summer.
This acupoint is located on the palm of the child's index finger from the root to the fingertip. When performing massage, parents can turn the baby's palm upward and place the baby's index finger on it. At the tiger's mouth of your left hand, use your right hand to push from the end of the child's index finger to the fingertip with appropriate force. The optimal time is also 3 to 5 minutes.
Such children are often accompanied by problems such as dry stool and constipation, so To clear the large intestine, push along the radial side of the index finger from the base of the finger to the tip of the finger to clear the large intestine. You can also push down the Qijie Jianjie point, which is the straight line from the fourth lumbar vertebra to the coccyx. Pushing it from top to bottom is for diarrhea, which can relieve constipation; pushing it from bottom to top is for tonic, which can treat diarrhea.
6. Cold hands and feet: chiropractic treatment
Xu Youjia, director of pediatrics at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that the weather is hot in summer. Children sometimes lack energy, get tired easily and want to sleep, sweat a lot when they move a little, and have a pale or yellow complexion. These are all signs of Qi deficiency.
Children with yang deficiency are prone to repeated colds and coughs. They are usually more sensitive to the cold, have cold hands and feet, have loss of appetite, loose stools, and are prone to diarrhea. Diarrhea is more serious when eating raw or cold food. , excessive nocturia or even enuresis, etc. At this time, chiropractic can be used to replenish yang energy.
The directions of chiropractic are generally upper chiropractic and lower chiropractic, and their effects are different. They can nourish yang energy and strengthen righteousness in children. , improve immunity, generally use chiropractic. Upper chiropractic pinching means pinching from bottom to top: its main function is to increase yang energy, warm the kidneys and strengthen the spleen. It is suitable for symptoms such as food accumulation, constipation, diarrhea, colds and other symptoms mainly due to deficiency and cold syndrome. It can be used to treat diseases or for daily health care. .
In addition, if the child has symptoms or has a fever, it is not suitable to give the child chiropractic, so parents should pay attention.
(Pictures are based on "Massage to Eliminate All Diseases in Children", China Traditional Chinese Medicine Publishing House, author: He Shizhen)
This article was first published on 2021-06-25 "Pediatric Massage", Issue 1803, of Health Times Cure minor illnesses》