This year ScienceDaily reported that Rush Medical Center, here in Chicago, is offering acupuncture to their pediatric patients with chronic illnesses. These treatments are part of a study to find out how acupuncture might help reduce pain in children and increase their quality of life. The acupuncture is used to relieve pain, nausea and fatigue. Here are a couple of excerpts from the article.

“Treating children with acupuncture is a new frontier,” said Dr. Paul Kent, pediatric hematology and oncology expert, Rush Children’s Hospital. “We are looking to see if there is an effective pain management therapy we can offer that does not have the serious side effects that can be caused by narcotics and other serious pain medications.”

The lack of options for pain management in children has been reported as one of the most difficult aspects of providing care to pediatric patients. Research indicates that up to 70 percent of pediatric patients experience pain and those with chronic illnesses often do not have adequate relief or prevention of pain.

“Acupuncture could be a potential solution to this dilemma of controlling pain in pediatric patients,” said Angela Johnson, Chinese medicine practitioner at Rush.

*To read the full article click here