rontal cortex in such a way that it modifies your perception of pain, in the same way that the drugs seem to raise pain thresholds.”
Acupuncture for children with abdominal pain is largely unstudied, but the American Academy of Pediatrics declared in 2011 that the procedure is generally safe for children when performed by trained professionals. Dr. Ann Ming Yeh, who performs acupuncture on 15 to 20 patients per month at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, believes she and de Lorimier are the only two pediatric gastroenterologists using the practice regularly.
They’re working together to research the practice, she said.
Yeh said the needles, when applied to certain pressure points, help tense children get into “rest and digest” mode. At her clinic, she also introduces them to hypnosis, herbal remedies and other aspects of integrative medicine that might help calm them.
“When (the tests) are negative but the kid’s still not doing well, we try to add some more tools to the tool kit from a non-pharmacological standpoint to help children with a more holistic approach,” Yeh said. “Because of this, there are now more pediatric (gastrointestinal) docs interested in integrative medicine.”
Dr. Michael Lawson, a retired Kaiser Permanente gastroenterologist and co-author of “The Gut Solution,” a manual for parents whose children have functional abdominal disorders, said he’s never heard of acupuncture being used on child patients but isn’t surprised that it works. His own program encourages anxiety-reducing practices such as deep breathing, self-guided imagery and time away from screens.
“These patients are so complicated and so different, you’re not going to have one solution for the whole lot,” Lawson said. “The most unifying treatment is to work on the anxiety – that seems to be the best way of helping these patients.”