For most kids in the UK, the academic year has just finished. It's certainly unusual for the summer holidays to start with such amazing weather and most of us will be hoping it continues. While many kids will be relishing the end of the school routine, and the idea of some fun and downtime, for [...]
Author: Rebecca Avern
I have been practising acupuncture for 15 years. As well as practising in Oxford, I am both a senior lecturer and clinical supervisor at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine (www.cicm.org.uk) which is the biggest acupuncture training centre in Europe.
I have treated both adults and children and whilst the benefits of acupuncture for adults are well-known and well-documented, fewer people are aware of how it can benefit children.
I decided that I wanted more children to experience the benefits of acupuncture, and so decided to set up The Panda Clinic. I have to admit to having another motivation - I love being around children and derive great satisfaction when I see children recover from ill health.
I am mother to 2 primary school age children. As well as being an experienced acupuncturist, as a parent I have a good understanding of the stress and anxiety that an ill child can induce. I will always do my best to communicate with the parent(s) of a child I am treating as thoroughly and clearly as I can.
Are our children all exhausted?
Someone asked me the other day what the most common piece of advice is that I give to the parents of children I treat. Without doubt, it is to suggest that they reduce their child's commitments and create more downtime in their schedule. It has become the accepted norm for many school children to have [...]
Snotty noses: illness or a necessary part of childhood?
I have seen several babies and toddlers in the clinic this week who have all been in the middle of what can only be described as ‘outpourings of snot’! They are not ‘ill’, as such, and their parents report that they are happy and energetic. However, they have an almost permanent stream of mucus [...]
Is social media really all that bad?
Almost every week there is a disturbing news item about the detrimental effects too much time on social media is having on our teenagers. In my clinic, I often perceive that a young person's symptoms are, at least in part, related to their social media use. But why is this so and what can we [...]
Babies and emotions
A friend of mine sent me this gorgeous clip of his baby daughter laughing. As well as making me smile, it made me think about babies and emotions. The relationship that babies have with their emotions is so different to that which we have as adults. The first thing that struck me is how wonderfully [...]
Water, water everywhere: how damp manifests in children
This is the view in front of my house at the moment! Very beautiful but very damp! Wolvercote is always a particularly damp part of Oxford - nestled on the flood plain between the river and the Canal, with the odd lake thrown in to boot. But the amount of water at the moment is [...]
Spring is here and yang is rising
Most of us feel a mixture of relief and happiness when the first signs of spring appear. We get a bounce in our step and sometimes a surge in vitality too. In Chinese Medicine, spring is a time when yang (the warm and active part of our energy) rises. One would think that the end of [...]
Children and the wind
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