Acupuncture now treats many children

11:35 AM PDT on Saturday, September 3, 2005

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - The Northwest has long been a good source for alternative medicine. But now acupuncture is going mainstream. Young patients at Seattle’s Children's Hospital are being treated with the ancient Chinese medicine for everything from pain to ADHD.

Seven-year-old Sophia visits her doctor with no hesitation, even though what awaits her are needles -- four of them in her legs.

After abdominal surgery two weeks ago for a urinary tract problem, Sophia is getting an acupuncture treatment to ease pain and improve muscle strength in the problem area.

"From my experience, I think its helped me a lot and it's not very scary, but at first you're a little nervous when you first start because you're like, ‘is it going to hurt?’" said Sophia.

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This type of acupuncture uses bandaids with small needles in them.

Tiny needles are encased in an adhesive tape to look like little band-aids. They are perceived better because they don't give patients the sensation of a long needle.

Bubbles distract and force Sophia to take big breaths of air. She is remarkably at ease with the prickly procedure, but many children and their parents are terrified by the idea.

Dr. Anjana Kundu spends a lot of time reassuring patients,"explaining to them what to expect even demonstrating it to them on a parent, on their toys, sometimes even on myself."

Children's Hospital now uses acupuncture to treat children with all kinds of health problems, not just pain. Its used to help with the nausea related to chemotherapy, asthma, seizures, reflux, even behavioral disorders like ADHD.

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Sophia blows bubbles to distract herself during acupuncture treatment.

"Because parents have felt that it is difficult to deal with ADHD as it is, the side effects of the conventional medications, families are looking for a good balance,” Dr. Kundu said.

That may mean a family can manage the disorder with fewer medicines or none at all.

At Children’s, acupuncture treatments come with a full medical assessment of the child's health needs and it's offered in coordination with other doctors and conventional medical treatments.

If you decide to seek acupuncture from someone other than a medical doctor, Dr. Kundu suggests you find a practitioner with credentials from the National Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.