Recently, our pediatric department has received numerous calls from parents whose children are suffering from colds, coughs, and fevers! It’s difficult to manage injections and medications while watching your little ones in discomfort. Are you also feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how to cope? Here’s a powerful tip—Cupping Therapy (吸痧走罐) to quickly relieve symptoms. Are parents intrigued?
Little Zhi, a 5-year-old boy, was reported by his mother to have played at the beach a few days before falling ill, just two days after returning. He was alert, developmentally normal, but had nasal congestion, clear nasal discharge, chills, no sweating, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, a preference for cold drinks, and hard stools. He experienced recurrent fevers, with a maximum temperature of 39.0 °C. His tongue was red with a yellow coating, and his pulse was floating and rapid.
Diagnosis Analysis: Chills, clear nasal discharge, and cold hands and feet indicate an exterior cold pattern; dry mouth, preference for cold drinks, and hard stools indicate a heat pattern; red tongue, yellow coating, and floating rapid pulse indicate a heat syndrome.
Pattern Type: Mixed cold and heat, exterior cold with interior heat.
Cupping Therapy Plan: Three lines on the back of the neck + Governing Vessel (督脉) + Bladder Meridian (膀胱经).
That night, the child’s nasal discharge slightly decreased, and the frequency of fever reduced from once every 4 hours to once every 10 hours (the interval between fevers extended from 4 hours to 10 hours). With the addition of pediatric massage, by the third day, symptoms were largely alleviated.
Cupping Therapy
Based on the theories of TCM meridians and organ systems, Cupping Therapy has been developed from Gua Sha (刮痧) and serves to promote the flow of Qi and blood, and to adjust the balance of Yin and Yang. Following the principles of the twelve meridians and the eight extraordinary vessels, and adhering to the “treat the symptoms urgently” principle, strong stimulation is applied to the meridians, causing local skin redness and congestion, thus achieving preventive health and therapeutic effects.
Cupping Therapy is suitable for: exterior heat, colds, coughs with heat syndrome; fever, cough, and colds with cold evil obstructing the exterior; loss of appetite, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and stagnation.
Dietary Therapy—Ginger and Jujube Tea
Take 3 slices of fresh ginger, 3 jujubes, and 10 grams of reed root (芦根) or 10 grams of bamboo leaves (淡竹叶), boil in water for half an hour, and drink warm in small sips until slight sweating occurs. Fresh ginger is slightly warm, pungent, and enters the spleen, lung, and stomach meridians, helping to warm the middle, disperse cold, and open the lung Qi. Jujube is sweet and warm, entering the spleen and stomach meridians, nourishing the spleen and stomach, calming the lungs, and when combined with ginger, effectively warms the spleen and stomach, disperses exterior cold, and can resolve early-stage colds with sweating. Additionally, drink plenty of water, maintain good sleep habits, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, keep a cheerful mood, and live a regular life.Special Note
Each child’s condition is different, and treatment methods and dietary therapies vary according to the pattern. If needed, please visit our pediatric department for consultation!
Visiting Nursing Experts Introduction
Tang Lingqun Head Nurse of Pediatrics, Deputy Chief Nurse, National Level 3 Nutritionist, Health Gua Sha Practitioner, Senior Pediatric Massage Therapist.
Has studied pediatric specialized nursing and management at Guangzhou Children’s Hospital and has 26 years of nursing experience, with 16 years in pediatric management. She has published 6 nursing papers in national and provincial nursing journals and participated in 2 projects from the Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has rich clinical experience in nursing common and frequently occurring diseases in infants and young children. She specializes in infant feeding guidance, nutritional assessment, and common TCM treatment techniques such as pediatric massage, Gua Sha, Cupping Therapy, bloodletting therapy, etc., to assist in treating children’s colds, coughs, digestive disorders, constipation, malnutrition, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, enuresis, and pediatric convulsions.
He Meirong Deputy Chief Nurse, Pediatric Massage Therapist.
Since 1998, she has been engaged in pediatric clinical nursing, accumulating rich clinical nursing experience, mastering the growth and development patterns of children, and specializing in infant feeding guidance, nutritional assessment, cognitive training, intelligence testing, TCM physiotherapy, massage, etc.; she has extensive clinical experience in nursing common and frequently occurring diseases in infants and young children. She specializes in pediatric constipation massage and nutritional guidance.
Li Yuanyuan Pediatric Nurse, National Maternal and Child Health Practitioner, Level 3 Pediatric Massage Therapist.
With a bachelor’s degree, she is a Level 3 National Maternal and Child Health Practitioner and has 4 years of experience in pediatric clinical nursing, accumulating considerable clinical nursing experience. She specializes in pediatric massage, spine kneading, four-point needling, bloodletting therapy, and other TCM nursing techniques, with rich experience in nursing common and frequently occurring diseases in infants and young children.
Liao Junxing Nurse, National Level 3 Nutritionist and Infant Care Specialist (Senior).
With a bachelor’s degree, he has 4 years of nursing experience, including 2 years in pediatric neonatal clinical nursing. He is skilled in nursing common and frequently occurring diseases in neonates and children, infant feeding guidance, nutritional assessment, cognitive training, intelligence testing, and related nursing skills for neonates, such as foot bathing, skin care, umbilical care, and buttock care, applying TCM nursing techniques such as pediatric massage, spine kneading, ear acupressure, Cupping Therapy, bloodletting therapy, etc., to assist in treating children’s and neonates’ diseases and health care.
Ye Huixin Nurse, Pediatric Massage Therapist.
With 8 years of experience in pediatric clinical nursing, she has accumulated considerable clinical nursing experience and is skilled in dietary guidance for infants and young children. She specializes in pediatric massage, acupoint massage, spine kneading, four-point needling, bloodletting therapy, and other TCM nursing techniques, with rich experience in nursing common and frequently occurring diseases in infants and young children.
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