The benefits of spinal massage for children

Spinal manipulation refers to gently pinching the skin along the spine for massage, and continuing to massage along the spine. This is actually a method of treating diseases in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In this way, it can stimulate the nerves of the human body, thereby promoting the development of the human immune ability, adjusting the activities of the human internal organs, making the overall system of the human body more coordinated, and preventing diseases more comprehensively.

Pinching the spine of children can promote the circulation of qi and blood, unblock the meridians, calm the spirit, and harmonize the internal organs. The massage techniques are similar to those for adults, but children's internal organs are delicate, their physical strength is not full, and their skin is weak. The techniques should be light and gentle. The number of massages each time should be determined according to their age, severity of the illness, and physical strength. Pinching the spine is also a type of pediatric massage therapy. It achieves the purpose of adjusting yin and yang, unblocking meridians, harmonizing qi and blood, and restoring the functions of internal organs by pinching the Du meridian and bladder meridian. It is often used to treat children with malnutrition, enuresis, diarrhea and weak spleen and stomach.

Pinching the spine can help promote the circulation of qi and blood in the baby, and is beneficial for some gastrointestinal diseases such as indigestion and anorexia, as well as lung diseases; pinching the spine can also have a calming effect, improving the baby's night crying and unstable sleep; in addition, pinching the spine also has a certain effect on enuresis and hyperhidrosis in children.

1. Gastrointestinal diseases: stagnation, anorexia, indigestion and other spleen and stomach diseases can be treated with spinal massage therapy.

2. Lung diseases: Pinching the spine can stimulate the Du meridian and the bladder meridian to harmonize yin and yang, strengthen the spleen and regulate the lungs, thereby improving immunity and reducing respiratory infections.

3. Night crying and restless sleep: Chiropractic therapy can regulate the spleen and stomach and help the baby fall asleep peacefully.

4. Enuresis and excessive sweating: Pinching the spine to stimulate the autonomic nerve trunks and ganglia on both sides of the human spine can prevent enuresis and stop sweating.

The technique of pinching the spine is simple, and parents can do it at home. Take off your child's clothes and let him/her lie face down on the bed or on the parents' lap. Parents stand or kneel beside the child's legs, relax the whole body, move their fingers, smile, gently stroke the child's back a few times to relax the muscles, and then pinch the spine.

1. Let the baby lie prone on the bed with the back straight and relaxed.

2. The person doing the spinal massage stands behind the baby and makes the middle finger, ring finger and little finger of both hands into a half fist.

3. Half-bend the index finger, and use the middle section of the index fingers of both hands, close to the side of the thumb, to press against the child's coccyx; with the thumb and index finger facing each other, pinch the skin upwards and twist it upwards at the same time. Alternate your hands and push, pinch and release along both sides of the spine from the Changqiang point (3-5 cm above the anus) upwards all the way to the Dazhui point (the bony protrusion behind the neck at the same level as the shoulder). This counts as one spinal pinching.

4. For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th times, continue to pinch the spine as before, but lift the skin on the back upwards once every 3 pinches. Repeat the first action twice more, for a total of 6 times.

5. Finally, use your thumbs to massage both sides of the spine from top to bottom 3-5 times.

6. Generally, pinch once a day for 7-10 consecutive days as a course of treatment. Babies whose therapeutic effects appear later can undergo two consecutive courses of treatment.