Antibiotics aren't the only way to treat your child's illnesses. For two thousand years, Oriental medicine has been used to treat a variety of common children's disorders.
It has little or no side effects, and often yields better, faster results than western, conventional methods. Oriental medicine is a viable alternative - particularly when dealing with chronic illness.

What is Oriental medicine?

What makes Oriental medicine unique is its concept of strengthening, or "tonifying," the body - this idea doesn't exist in conventional, western medicine.

In essence, it is a system of balance: Where there is weakness or deficiency, it is imperative to strengthen, and where there is excess, it is imperative to sedate or remove the excess. For example, in this system, a bacterial infection tends to look like an excess with redness, fever, swelling, pain, etc. The treatment focuses on removing the excess by taking the heat out of the system with specific herbal formulas and/or subtle bodywork such as Tui Na or Shonishin, which are based on the system of acupuncture.

Oriental medicine is about bringing balance to the body, either through the immune system or environmental or lifestyle influences (e.g., diet). It does not focus merely on removing a pathogen, as do antibiotics and other conventional treatments.

What are the benefits of Oriental medicine?

• It has little or no side effects. It uses well-balanced herbal formulas that work with the body and not against it. Within each formula, you'll often find herbs that soften the harsh effects of another herb, or enhance the effects of others.
  
• It's effective. Oriental medicine tends to be more effective than many conventional strategies in treating common, long-term and hard-to-treat illnesses such as asthma, chronic ear infections, headaches, digestive disturbances, etc. If a child is treated properly with Oriental medicine, there are usually no recurrences as often happens after using antibiotics. Because of its emphasis on treating the whole body, strengthening the immune system is typically a part of any treatment plan, which leads to longer lasting and better effects of treatment. For example, in Japanese medicine, it is very important to completely eradicate a cold or virus from the body. This implies the tonification or strengthening of the body to prevent the return of the illness and to boost the body's ability to rid it completely of the pathogen.
  
• Prevention: The practice of Oriental medicine is not simply to eradicate symptoms, but rather to understand the root cause of a problem and to work with the body to change it or get it out of the system.
  
• Oriental medicine is tried and true. It's been around for a very long time and the treatments used are well established as being safe and effective, with hundreds of years of experience to prove it.
  

What illnesses can it treat?

Conditions seen in the Oriental medicine clinic are very much like those seen in a general pediatric clinic. All of the following problems are treatable by a properly trained practitioner. (As a note of caution, if there is any concern as to a particular diagnosis or severity of a condition, it is always recommended that the child be seen first by a pediatrician.)

• Ear Infection (especially the chronic ones)
  
• Sinus infections
  
• Colds
  
• Cough
  
• Bladder infection
  
• Allergies
  
• Headaches
  
• Stomachaches
  
• Insomnia
  
• Asthma
  

Oriental medicine can, in many cases, be a viable alternative to conventional care - without side effects and often with better, longer lasting results. It is especially worth considering for those cases that have not responded well to conventional treatments, or where a resolution to a more systemic type of problem is needed.

How is it done?

In an Oriental medicine clinic, one of both of the following methods are used to treat children:

• Bodywork: The second, less commonly practiced method is Tui Na (a Chinese form of massage therapy) or Shonishin (A Japanese form of acupuncture therapy that employs small tools in a massage-type fashion and works on the same principles as acupuncture using special points and meridians.) Most children like this gentle approach and can benefit greatly from these calming and soothing hands-on techniques.
  

Talk with a practitioner

It's best to seek the advice of a qualified practitioner of Oriental medicine before treating your child with over-the-counter herbal formulas. Though, in most cases, these formulas are safe and often effective, some caution should be used in purchasing formulas from China, since there has been some difficulty in ensuring some of their content. Plus, over-the-counter formulas tend to recommend lower than clinically used doses, which often result in under-medicating with little or no effect. A trained practitioner can make a proper assessment of the condition and then recommend the appropriate formula and dose for your child.

Finding a practitioner

Some basic criteria to follow to get the help you need:

• Your practitioner should have experience treating children. Practitioners with their own children will obviously have a better understanding of children and their behavior.
  
• Your practitioner should be well trained. Ask about 1) years in school, 2) number of hours taken, 3) years in practice, and/or 4) additional educational training. Currently, the standard in California is the highest and has been fairly uniform for the last 10 years, with most schools following the same or a similar curriculum. There is a fair amount of emphasis on western medicine, which can be of benefit to understanding an already given diagnosis. Therefore, you can be assured that someone who has been educated in California in recent years will most likely possess the basic skills needed to be a competent practitioner. Besides the California standard, there is an exam in herbal medicine given by the NCCAOM that certifies practitioners who have passed this as "Certified Herbologists." This is typically written as CH or Dipl. CH.
  
• You and your practitioner should have good rapport. You and your child need to feel comfortable and confident in a practitioner no matter what his or her training.