How often does your child complain of having a stomachache? Tummy upset is very common with kids – especially due to overindulgence in sugar or overeating during special events. However if this is a regular occurrence for your child (daily or multiple times a week), acupressure or acupuncture and herbal therapy can make a big difference in making your child more comfortable. There are a few key types of stomachache that tend to happen in children:

• Tummy ache due to emotional concerns
• Tummy ache due to digestive weakness and/or food allergies or inappropriate diet

If you notice that your child typically gets a stomachache only on school days or in the morning before school, before big events, before exams at school, or before spending time with a particular person, your child probably has a tummy ache due to stress or anxiety. In these cases, using acupuncture and herbs to support your child’s nervous system and reduce stress and anxiety will be prudent. The treatment will be comfortable, often including a bit of pediatric massage, and herbal tinctures can be prescribed for use at home to help maintain lower stress levels. If you notice that your child has a stomachache often and either you can’t trace it to a specific event or emotional trigger, or you notice it happens after certain foods, acupuncture and herbs can help to strengthen your child’s digestive system so that food can be digested more easily. Sometimes food allergies take a while to manifest – so your child might have an undiagnosed food allergy or food sensitivity that doesn’t necessarily show up immediately after eating that food. Your child is more likely to have digestive weakness if they also have some of the following additional issues: bloating, some diarrhea or constipation, bowel movements less often than daily, and/or excessive gas. It is also possible that your child has tummy pains due to both stress and a digestive weakness – in which case both of those issues can be addressed together using acupuncture and herbs. Typically, children will require weekly treatment for about four weeks to begin with, then periodic treatment afterwards to improve their digestive health and maintain a calm nervous system. If you have questions about how acupuncture, acupressure, and herbal medicine can work for your child, please give me a call. Here’s to your child’s health!