Children with stagnation and refusing to eat, acupuncture can help you find a solution

This is the 3822nd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

one

Overview

Stagnation is a gastrointestinal disease caused by the accumulation of milk and food in the middle of the child's body, which is not digested and stagnant. The main symptoms are loss of appetite, indigestion, abdominal distension or pain, sour and rancid belching, or sour and smelly loose stools or constipation. It is equivalent to pediatric gastrointestinal indigestion in Western medicine.

The disease can occur in all stages of childhood, but it is most common in infants and young children. Those with insufficient endowment, weak spleen and stomach, artificial feeding and post-illness disorders are more susceptible to the disease. This disease can occur alone or in combination with other diseases such as colds, pneumonia, diarrhea, etc. The prognosis of this disease is good. A small number of children may suffer from long-term accumulation and delayed treatment, which further damages the spleen and stomach, leading to a lack of Qi and blood, nutrition and growth and development disorders, and transform into malnutrition. Therefore, the ancients said that "accumulation is the mother of malnutrition, and malnutrition cannot occur without accumulation."

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Etiology and pathogenesis

The main causes are improper feeding, uncontrolled milk and food intake, which damage the spleen and stomach, leading to dysfunction of the spleen and stomach transportation and transformation, or spleen and stomach weakness, which leads to inadequate digestion and transportation, and stagnation of milk and food. The disease is located in the spleen and stomach, and the pathogenesis is that milk and food stagnate and cannot be digested, accumulate and cannot be transformed, and qi stagnation.

1. Milk and food accumulation Children's spleen is often insufficient, and they do not know how to control their milk and food. If they are not properly cared for and fed, they are easily harmed by milk and food. The harm to the milk is mostly due to improper breastfeeding, excessive frequency and quantity, and improper cold and hot conditions; the harm to food is mostly due to improper diet and feeding, partiality, overeating, or overeating fatty and sweet food, fried, roasted, or greedy eating raw, cold, hard and difficult to digest food, or adding too much and too fast complementary food. If milk and food are not moderate, the spleen and stomach are damaged, the reception and transportation are impaired, the ascending and descending are disordered, the old food accumulates, and it accumulates and cannot be digested, which causes stagnation. The harm to the milk is milk accumulation; the harm to food is food accumulation.

2. Spleen deficiency and accumulation If the constitution is insufficient, the spleen and stomach are weak: or the disorder after illness, spleen deficiency; or excessive use of cold and attacking products, resulting in spleen and stomach deficiency, insufficient digestion and transportation, and a slight increase in milk and food will stagnate and become stagnant. If the accumulation is not eliminated for a long time and is delayed and not treated, it can further damage the spleen and stomach, leading to a lack of source of qi and blood, malnutrition, growth and development disorders, and gradual weight loss and transformation into malnutrition.

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Syndrome Differentiation

Main symptoms: loss of appetite, abdominal distension or pain, vomiting of sour and rotten milk and food, sour and smelly stools, or loose or constipated stools.

1. Internal accumulation of milk and food: abdominal pain, distension and refusal to press, irritability and crying, restless sleep at night, short and yellow urine like rice water, low fever, hot hands and feet, red tongue, thick white or yellow greasy tongue coating, slippery and rapid pulse, and purple and stagnant fingerprints.

2. Weak spleen and stomach: Pale complexion, thin body, drowsiness and fatigue, restless sleep at night, abdominal distension and pleasure of pressing, loose and thin stools with milk and food residues, pale red lips and tongue, greasy white tongue coating, and thin and smooth pulse.

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Basic treatment

The basic principle of treating this disease is to digest food and eliminate stagnation, regulate qi and relieve stagnation. In addition to oral medication, acupuncture and moxibustion are also commonly used.

[Therapeutic Method]: Strengthen the spleen and stomach, digest food and eliminate stagnation. Focus on the Mu points and lower He points of the stomach and large intestine.

[Main acupoints]: Zhongwan, Tianshu, Zusanli, Shangjuxu

[Acupoints]: For internal accumulation of milk and food, Liangmen and Neiting are recommended. For spleen and stomach weakness, Pishu and Weishu are recommended. For vomiting, Neiguan is recommended.

[Meaning of the prescription]: This disease is caused by abnormal gastrointestinal metabolism, so the stomach's Mu point Zhongwan and the large intestine's Mu point Tianshu are selected to dredge the Qi in the abdomen, which are local acupoints; the He point of the Foot Yangming meridian, the stomach's lower He point Zusanli and the large intestine's lower He point Shangjuxu are matched, which belong to distal acupoints and can regulate the gastrointestinal tract.

[Operation]: Select 3-5 acupoints each time, moderate stimulation, do not leave the needle in place, for internal accumulation of milk and food (excessive syndrome), use the purgative method as the main method, supplemented by the tonic method. For spleen and stomach weakness (deficient syndrome), use the tonic method as the main method, supplemented by the purgative method.

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Acupoint Location

1. Zhongwan

[Location]: In the upper abdomen, on the anterior midline, 4 inches above the umbilicus.

2. Tianshu

[Location]: On the abdomen, horizontally at the level of the umbilicus, 2 inches lateral to the anterior midline.

3. Zusanli

[Location]: On the outer side of the calf, 3 inches below the outer knee pit, 1 finger width outside the anterior crest of the tibia, on the line connecting Dubi and Jiexi.

4. Upper Juxu

[Location]: On the outer side of the calf, 6 inches below the outer knee pit, on the line connecting Dubi and Jiexi.

5. Liangmen

[Location]: 4 inches above the umbilicus and 2 inches lateral to the anterior midline.

6. Inner Court

[Location]: On the dorsum of the foot, between the 2nd and 3rd toes, at the junction of the red and white flesh behind the edge of the toe web.

7. Spleen Shu

[Location]: On the back, inferior to the spinous process of the 11th thoracic vertebra, 1.5 inches lateral to the posterior midline.

8. Stomach Shu

[Location]: On the back, beneath the spinous process of the 12th thoracic vertebra, 1.5 inches lateral to the posterior midline.

9. Neiguan

[Location]: 2 inches above the transverse wrist crease, between the palmaris longus tendon and the radial flexor tendon.

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Other treatments

1. Ear acupuncture ear points: stomach, large intestine, Shenmen, sympathetic, spleen. Select 3-4 points each time, press with fenugreek seeds, alternate left and right, press 3-4 times a day.

2. After routine disinfection, use a three-edged needle or a blood collection needle to quickly prick the acupoints and squeeze out a little yellow-white mucus or blood. Do this twice a week for one course of treatment. It is used for milk and food accumulation syndrome.

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Preventive care

1. Adjust the diet and feed the child properly. Milk and food should be taken regularly and in fixed quantities, rich in nutrition and easy to digest. Avoid overeating, overeating fatty, sweet, roasted or cooked food, raw or cold fruits and vegetables, etc.

2. According to the growth and development needs of infants, add the types and quantities of complementary foods according to their age to enhance the spleen and stomach function of children.

3. Children with stagnation should temporarily stop drinking milk and food, and be given medication. After the stagnation is eliminated, they can gradually resume a normal diet.

4. Maintain a regular diet and daily routine. The diet should be nutritionally balanced, and ensure adequate sleep and more sun exposure.

Author: School of Acupuncture, Massage and Rehabilitation, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine

Professor Chang Xiaorong's team

Written by: Peng Han, a master’s student

Instructor: Professor Chang Xiaorong