Nature’s Little Helpers

In recent years baby massage has become recognised as a potential remedy for curing a baby’s colic. Experience is now teaching that alternative therapies and medicine aren’t just for adults; children can also benefit from them. We look at how nature can provide complementary remedies for children, which can be beneficial and safe.

Nature’s little helpers

Naturally, if a child is suffering from a serious illness, then there is no alternative to formalised healthcare practice, but complementary or alternative therapies can often help in dealing with minor ailments and non life-threatening chronic conditions.

It’s easy to understand why many parents are wary of using non-conventional treatments for their child, but, as with any form of healthcare, complementary therapies are safe and effective when carried out by a trained practitioner. A child’s body reacts differently to an adult’s and, as such, should be treated differently by a therapist. Certain herbal remedies, for instance, are safe for children, while others are not.

There are a wide range of complementary therapies available for children, such as herbal remedies, dietary supplements, massage and acupuncture.

Acupuncture

Children, who suffer with asthma and dislike their puffers, could benefit from acupuncture or acupressure. The needles, which an acupuncturist uses, are ultra-fine and do not hurt. What they can do is get your child to relax more and this, in turn, will make your child’s breathing easier.

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Childhood eczema has become increasingly prevalent over the last few years. Recent research and trials involving the treatment of eczema by using Chinese Herbal Medicine has resulted in some dramatic results. Indeed, recent studies by Great Ormond Street Hospital in London on this issue produced very encouraging results. Atopic eczema, the most common type of eczema and one that affects one in ten children, is treatable with a ‘pentaherb’ Chinese herbal formulation. The herbal remedy has been found to reduce the need for topical steroidal creams and also has a beneficial clinical effect on the immune system. For Chinese Herbal Medicine to be effective for your child’s skin condition, you should first consult your GP and then book an appointment with a trained and accredited Chinese Herbalist.

Dietary supplements

Obviously there is never an alternative to a balanced, wholesome diet, but sometimes dietary supplements can assist in dealing with minor health issues.
Essential fatty acids are a key part in the construction of good cells and good cell walls, and Omega 3 is one of the hottest buzz words in nutritional medicine. A recent study from Oxford showed that children, who received a fatty acid fish oil supplement, showed significantly better progress in both reading and spelling than children who received a placebo, while a study in Belfast showed that children taking an Omega-3 supplement experienced highly significant reductions in ADHD-related symptoms.

But, while Omega 3s are essential fatty acids, they are not produced by the body, and can therefore only be obtained in the diet or by supplementation. Whereas we may have had fish as part of our diets when we were younger, however, our children and our children’s children see very little fish at all.

Chiropractic therapy

It may not be a parent’s first thought when trying to help their child to stop wetting the bed, but chiropractic therapy has proved to help children overcome bedwetting. While bedwetting is most common in children under seven, it can also affect teenagers and adults. For children over the age of five who have never had proper bladder control, the problem is defined as ‘primary enuresis’, while children ,who have established bladder control, but then slipped back into bedwetting, the problem is termed ’secondary enuresis’. Chiropractic treats children, who are frequently wetting the bed, by adjusting the lumber and sacrum areas of the spine. It has proven extremely successful in many cases.  

Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of medicine that uses very dilute substances from nature in a matching process, where a medicine is chosen according to the symptoms of the patient. It seems to work by stimulating the child’s immune system to function more efficiently and it gently re-balances emotional ups and downs.

Homeopathy has been proven to be effective in children for many minor problems, such as colic and teething, allergic disorders such as asthma and eczema, and even complex emotional ailments, such as confidence issues and attention deficit disorder. Homeopathic medicine is not suppressive and is holistic, ie it takes into account every aspect of a child.

The Society of Homeopaths, the UK’s largest professional body registering homeopaths, recently teamed up with Nelsons, one of the leading manufacturers of natural medicines, to raise awareness of the benefits of homeopathy for children. They recommend the following for many growing children:

• Belladonna for high temperatures and fevers
• Mag-phos for painful, trapped wind
• Bryonia or Pulsatilla for coughs and colds
• Arsenicum or Nux vomica for stomach bugs

All are available from Nelsons’ range in pharmacies and independent healthfood shops

Alternative to antibiotics

Antibiotics were once reserved for the treatment of serious bacterial infections, but are now prescribed for a multitude of minor infections and complaints that are frequently viral and hence inappropriate. In recent years, the medical profession has become aware of the need to curb prescriptions of antibiotics except for serious bacterial infections. Again, homeopathy can be useful in this instance since it stimulates a child’s energy system to heal itself naturally. The diluted and potentised remedies are not toxic, or addictive, and are safe to use.

Your opinion, and that of your GP, is necessary when opting for alternative medicine and complementary therapy for a child. You’ll want to research and discover as much as you can about the treatments available to try and remove that initial reluctance you may have. That’s perfectly natural. But don’t forget to include your child, if possible, in that process.

If you’re considering alternative medicine and complementary therapy for your child, follow the same process as if choosing a therapy for yourself. Consider the options, discuss them with a GP and research the therapy. Once you have the knowledge, seek out a trained practitioner and speak to them about any concerns you have. A professional therapist will be able to put you and your child at ease before, during and after treatment.