Acupuncture Helps Control Asthma Better in Children and Adults

For some children with asthma, medication isn’t enough to manage their symptoms. And for others, the side effects of conventional treatments are just too much.

If you’re looking for alternative therapies then you should know that acupuncture and acupressure can treat your child’s asthma symptoms while healing the underlying root cause.

Acupuncture and acupressure work to treat health conditions by stimulating the body’s innate ability to heal itself.  

In the case of asthma, acupuncture has a positive effect on two components that contribute to asthma attacks.

First, it helps regulate the immune response that triggers inflammation.

Second, preliminary studies suggest that acupuncture reduces the reflexive response that causes airway constriction.

A recent nationwide cohort study from Taiwan found that children with asthma receiving acupuncture along with regular medical care had better therapeutic outcomes.

The children in the study in this integrative group did not require ER visits or hospitalizations. Researchers concluded that an integrative approach appears to help control asthma symptoms better than a single isolated treatment, thus reducing ER visits and school absenteeism. (1)

Routine Acupuncture Visits Can Help 

It’s All About The Diet

Dietary and lifestyle changes are a powerful combination and work together to reduce the frequency and severity of asthma overall. Removing foods such as dairy, gluten, orange juice, peanuts, and sugar along with food additives, like artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, from your child's diet can help to reduce inflammation and limit mucus production.

Healing with Herbs

Children with symptoms such as chronic runny nose (rhinitis) or allergies that trigger asthma can also find significant relief with herbal medicine. Chinese herbal remedies are a safe & effective way of managing allergies & asthma - and may have far fewer side effects than conventional medications.

Even Kids Can Do Nasal Rinsing

Acupressure at Home

If your child is experiencing the symptoms of asthma such as cough, shortness of breath or chest tightness there are several acupressure points that parents can use to alleviate these symptoms.

While acupressure points cannot replace fast-acting inhalers or nebulizers for acute symptoms, they can be used safely in conjunction with them. For the strongest effect, we recommend kneading the above points on a daily basis to help prevent symptoms.

Knead the acupressure points on both sides of the body for 30 - 90 seconds each.

How long you knead depends on the age of the child and the severity of the symptoms; the older the child or the more severe the symptoms the longer you should massage the points.

The potential for healing with acupuncture is enormous and can be life-changing!

Acupuncture is an extremely safe method of treatment that is well tolerated, even in babies and children. With its ability to address part of the underlying components of asthma, as well as ease symptoms during treatment, it can be an integral part of any treatment plan for asthma.

(1) Hung, Y., Hung, I., Sun, M., Muo, C., Wu, B., Tseng, Y., & Hu, W. (2014). Integrated traditional Chinese medicine for childhood asthma in Taiwan:a nationwide cohort study. BMC Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, 14(389). Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/14/389