Acupuncture Deemed Safe for Children

After reviewing studies spanning more than 60 years, Canadian researchers have concluded that treating children with acupuncture is safe when administered by trained practitioners. The details of the review were recently published in the journal .
Although the evidence did show that some hospitalizations occurred due to serious infections and other effects suffered from unsuccessful procedures, senior study author Dr. Sunita Vohra, a professor in the department of pediatrics at Edmonton Canada’s University of Alberta, noted that little risks exist when a qualified practitioner provides acupuncture treatment. She pointed out, “When you’re dealing with children, you really would like to know about safety before you go ahead and try a new therapy.” She also added that this is especially true if you are not sure about a treatment’s effectiveness.
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine used in the treatment of such ailments as joint pain, headaches, migraines, constipation, and nausea due to chemotherapy. The treatment involves the insertion and manipulation of thin, solid needles at various points in the body.
Until now, little evidence has existed regarding long-term safety or effectiveness of the treatment’s use in children. Based on the review of more than half a decade of evidence gathered from 37 studies, Vohra concluded that “in trained hands, acupuncture is safe for children.”
The studies in the review included both randomized trials that looked at the side effects of acupuncture in comparison to those of other treatments, as well as isolated incidents of illness and injury due to treatment with acupuncture.
Findings showed that among the 1,422 children and teens included in the analysis who received treatment with acupuncture, mild side effects, such as pain, bruising, or numbness, were experienced by 253 of them, while one suffered moderate side effects.
Another 25 experienced more serious side effects, including 12 thumb deformities among patients at one particular Chinese center during the 1980s, a 16-year-old who suffered nerve damage due to more than 70 needles having been left in his body, and a French male diagnosed with HIV at age 17 after being treated with acupuncture for tendonitis. Other serious side effects included bleeding, infections, and heart and lung problems. source: healthnews