Chinese Medicine Notes

The First Pages of Julian Scott’s Book

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Yael

A few months ago I told you that I have decided to take a course about the treatment of children with Chinese Medicine.
AFter giving it more thought, I have decided that it is not the best thing to do, take a full year’s course, not because it’s not worth it, but more because I am not about to treat children. I just want to know how to help my child a bit more than just hold him when he’s in pain.
So I thought that maybe I should just read about it, at least as a first step. I ordered my copy of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Children, and it’s been 3 weeks now that the book is on my desk, waiting to be read.
In order to make sure that I actually read it, I will try to give you a book report every two weeks and share with you my thoughts, what I have learned, and other wonderful thoughts that enter my brain.

I’m reading the book page by page, although I admit that I’m jumping ahead every now and then to read Julian’s thoughts about issues that are very relevant to our lives now- like cough. Vomitting.
But those who heard Julian talk know that Julian is an excellent teacher, with a very clear structure to his lectures and his books. One thing is based on another, so reading everything in order will help understand everything a whole lot better.

Taking it from the top
In order to understand the difference between the treatment of adults and the treatment of children, Julian presents a number of Chinese phrases.
Anyone who has children can identify with at least some of those phrases, and personally, after these past 3 weeks of chao in our lives, the phrase “treat the mother to treat the child” sounds like heaven…
We move on to look at the causes of disease in children, looking mainly at the crucial role of the digestive system. The causes that Julian mentions also show the difference between adults and children, mainly LPF and immunizations.

Taking a look around me
Many questions I see on forums, and most questionst that I hear around me from parents have to do with the digestive system- colic, constipation, diahrrea and of course- what is most suitable food for our children.
It seems that no matter where you are- China, USA or Israel- we’re all Jewish Mama’s who want our children to eat everything on their plates, to grow up tall and strong and we all want to know that we give our children what they need in order to grow up and be healthy.
Julian addresses this issue quite early in his book, which also points out just how important this issue is and how many people don’t know enough about it.
For example- Julian points out that at a young age, it’s not good to give whole grain foods, as it is difficult for the young children to digest.

The digestive system
OK, so it’s very clear that the digestive system plays a key role in our babies and children’s lives.
The list of problems that can occur from difficulty to digest is quite impressing, and when you stop to think about it, it’s quite obvious that it will be difficult for a baby to digest food. The system kicks into action only after birth- similar to the respiratory system (and we know that these systems are closely connected), it takes time to get it running smoothly.

What about the emotional digestion?
Julian writes that until the age of 12, children do not tend to have repressed emotions, they let it all out. Therefore we will not see situations that occur from Liver Qi Stagnation in children.

I wonder about the daily digestion of experiences.
My boy is going to kindergarten for the past 2 months, a huge change for him in almost every aspect, and I can not think about the Qi he puts into digesting all the experiences he has in day- a new place, new people, more children, a new routine, new food….
How much Qi is invested in digesting it all? And is this just another aspect of the digesting system- at least part of it?

Next time
Next time I will write more about the difference between an excess child and a deficient child, as Julian sees it.

Now it’s your turn
What are your thoughts about the digestive system? Any experiences you’d like to share with us- from your own child or from your clinic?
I’d love to read about it, please leave your comments below.