Neck and shoulder pain for children is a more common problem than you might think. Whether it’s due to athletics, poor sleeping positions, chronic stress, screen viewing posture, or other head-down activities, we often have children aged 7-18 at the acupuncture clinic in pain.
If your child is struggling with neck and/or shoulder pain you should know that Chinese medicine can really help!
We have a wide variety of tools we can use to help children with neck and shoulder pain:
- Acupressure. At Inspire Family Acupuncture we often use only non-needle techniques with younger children. This means if your younger child comes in with neck and shoulder pain we will use massage-like stimulation of acupressure points to release the tight muscles.
- Cupping. We tell our clients that cupping is like a reverse massage. By suctioning the muscles gently into the cup, we separate the muscle tissues and help to release muscle adhesions and let cellular waste products flush out of the tightened muscle tissues. Cupping can be very gentle or stronger depending on the age and body type of the child. Sometimes cupping can leave discoloration on the skin but it can also be done gently enough to avoid discoloration.
- Gua sha. Gua sha is a Chinese medicine tool that has gained popularity recently for its beauty applications. However, it can be used for gentle release of tight muscles, especially in the crook of the neck which can otherwise be difficult to release.
- Acupuncture. For older children or those who are not concerned about receiving hair-width acupuncture needles, acupuncture can directly release muscle tightness, decrease chronic inflammation, and improve local healing. Acupuncture also helps reduce the sensation of pain and eases the body into a calmer “rest and digest” state which can also support the release of muscle tension.
- Topical herbal medicine. We have a handful of herbal oils and balms at Inspire Family Acupuncture which are safe to use on children and are effective at increasing local circulation and reducing inflammation. These are helpful tools both in the clinic and for daily home use for reducing pain in the neck and shoulders.
