Pediatric Tuina Techniques (Part One)

Daoist Jin giving a lecture, and Su Ziyang was taking notes.

The first technique is called Push Kangong.

It is primarily used to treat exogenous diseases, but can also be used to treat endogenous diseases.

External diseases mainly include colds, fevers, coughs, and other illnesses caused by external pathogens.

The Kan Palace is located on either side of the child's forehead, above the eyebrows. When pushing, use your thumbs to push outwards to both sides.

When pushing in spring and summer, use water as a lubricant.

In autumn and winter, it is used as a lubricant by dipping it in scallions, ginger, and sesame oil.

This technique can dispel wind and release the exterior, reduce fever and heat, and also treat headaches caused by external pathogens.

Daoist Jin is extremely skilled in pediatric massage. His techniques are light and gentle, making children feel very comfortable. When a child is uncomfortable, Daoist Jin can always achieve the effect of relieving the illness and restoring peace of mind with just a couple of gentle pushes.

For this reason, Su Ziyang specifically sought advice from Daoist Jin, who simply said, "Practice makes perfect!"

The second technique is called "Push Zanzhu," which is also a technique that can treat both external and internal injuries.

This location is between the child's eyebrows; the massage technique involves pushing upwards from the bottom.

Using both thumbs, push upwards alternately from the child's brow center. Similar to Push Kangong, dip the thumb in water in spring and summer, and in scallions, ginger, and sesame oil as a medium in autumn and winter.

The third technique has a particularly beautiful name: "Twin Phoenixes Spread Their Wings".

It is used to treat conditions where the lung meridian is affected by cold.

This technique is not as simple as the previous two; it is a complex technique.

First, use your middle and index fingers to gently pinch the tips of the child's ears. While pinching, gently lift upwards. Repeat this three times, then gently vibrate the acupoints.

First, pinch the Chengjiang acupoint. The Chengjiang acupoint is located in the hollow below the lower lip. When you eat, oil will flow into this area, hence the name Chengjiang acupoint.

Then pinch the child's cheeks, as well as the Tinghui, Taiyin, Taiyang, Meizhong, and Renzhong acupoints.

What's important to note here is that the Taiyin and Taiyang acupoints are actually the same acupoint. There's a saying that the left side is Taiyang and the right side is Taiyin, but they are actually located in the same place.

The next technique is called "Separate Yin and Yang," which sounds incredibly mysterious.

It is primarily used to treat alternating chills and fever.

Let me elaborate on the issue of alternating chills and fever. I discussed this problem before when talking about Minor Bupleurum Decoction.

Alternating chills and fever, where fever rises and falls, is called undulating fever in Western medicine.

However, it usually occurs in children or adults.

When the fever subsides after taking medication, it may soon return, which can also be considered a type of alternating chills and fever.

This technique involves placing the child's palms upwards, then supporting the palms with both hands, and pushing outwards from the middle of the horizontal creases on the back of the palms towards the Yin and Yang acupoints.

Yang acupoints should be differentiated more heavily, while Yin acupoints should be differentiated less heavily. For cold syndromes, more Yang acupoints should be differentiated, while for heat syndromes, more Yin acupoints should be differentiated.

The Yin and Yang and Yang acupoints are located at both ends of this wrist crease; the one on the thumb side is the Yang acupoint, and the one on the little finger side is the Yin acupoint.

Of course, besides being used for alternating chills and fever, the Separate Yin and Yang can also treat irritability and restlessness caused by Yin and Yang imbalance and Qi and blood disharmony, as well as food stagnation, abdominal distension, diarrhea, vomiting, and other symptoms.

Since Separate Yin and Yang, there must also be Join Yin and Yang.

To Separate Yin and Yang and Yang, push outwards from the middle of the wrist crease; to separate Yin and Yin and Yang, push outwards from the sides, in the opposite direction.

The principle of Join Yin and Yang is often used for symptoms such as chest tightness, cough, and phlegm.

The technique I'll describe next was one that Daoist Jin had used before, on a child patient with leukemia.

Named "Draw the Heavenly River Water," this technique is extremely cooling and should only be used when the child has a high fever. It is generally not recommended to use it casually.

Hold the child's palm up, dip it in cold water, and push it from the Milky Way to the Inner Palace.

The location of the Tianhe Water point is in the middle of the elbow crease.

Therefore, to Draw the Heavenly River Water, one should push it from the middle of the elbow crease towards the middle of the wrist crease.

If you dip your wrist in cold water and push from the wrist crease to the Quchi point, that's called the Heavenly River Water Pushing Method".

Dipping the brush in cold water and pushing it directly from the Inner Laogong point to the Quchi point is called the Great Heavenly River Water Pushing Method.

Different acupoints require different pushing lengths, resulting in different heat dissipation forces.

Of course, as you can tell from the name, the Great Pushing of the Heavenly River Water is the one with the strongest heat dissipation capacity.

In pediatric massage, this technique is generally not used indiscriminately. It is only used when a child has a fever, and it usually brings down the fever quickly. Once the fever has subsided, the massage should not be continued to avoid the technique being too cold and damaging the child's vital energy.

Where there is a dragon, there is a phoenix. These usually appear in pairs in poetry, so there's the image of Twin Phoenixes Spread Their Wings, and then there's another technique called "the Azure Dragon Swings Its Tail."

This technique can reduce fever, open the chest, clear lung heat, and relieve constipation, among other things.

When performing this procedure, use your right hand to hold the index, middle, and ring fingers of the child's left hand.

Starting from the main tendon with your left hand, rub down to the Tianhe point and then to the elbow, using slightly heavier pressure. Then rub back down from the elbow to the main tendon. Repeat this three to four times.

At this point, you need to apply more pressure when massaging, but not too much, since it's a massage for a child and doesn't require too much force.

The main tendon is located at the key point of the wrist crease in children, so this upward massage technique involves pushing and massaging along the central "Heavenly River" meridian. Repeat this about three or four times.

Then, use the thumb, index, and middle fingers of your left hand to pinch the child's elbow, specifically the inner elbow area. Then, with your right hand still holding the child's index, ring, and middle fingers, shake the child's forearm nine times.

That completes the procedure.

"Master, why is your technique so smooth? Why can't mine achieve that smoothness?"

This is what hands-on teaching is all about: when the master is teaching, you can ask questions at any time, and the master can correct some details as needed.

Sometimes, when performing simple therapies like pediatric massage or acupressure, the results aren't as good as expected, mostly because some details aren't handled properly. If those details are, the effects will be absolutely fantastic.

"You need to practice more!"

Daoist Jin always says the same thing, "Practice more."

In fact, Su Ziyang's technique seemed very smooth to others, but only Su Ziyang himself knew that he had only grasped the form, not the spirit.

Even without Daoist Jin or any experts saying it, Su Ziyang himself could feel that it was always just a little bit off, lacking the essence that Daoist Jin had conveyed.

The rough work is done, but the high guard is done by God.

This is the principle behind the saying "a small mistake can lead to a huge Qianli".

Su Ziyang knew that if he didn't grasp the essence and simply imitated it blindly, the effect would definitely be greatly diminished.

But Su Ziyang didn't know why, the Daoist Jin taught him was nothing like when they first met, when it was a gentle, gradual process; instead, it was more like cramming.

It felt like everything was being crammed into him all at once, which made Su Ziyang, who was always steady and reliable, feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Seeing that Su Ziyang had basically mastered the "Azure Dragon Swings Its Tail" technique, Daoist Jin immediately began the next technique: "Push the Three Gates".

This is a gentle massage technique that is used to treat cold-related illnesses.

During treatment, place the child's palm upwards, dip it in scallion and ginger soup while massaging, and push from the Yangchi acupoint to the Quchi acupoint.

This technique requires about three to five hundred repetitions, depending mainly on the child's physical condition and age.

The Yangchi acupoint is located in the middle of the wrist crease on the back of the hand. Massage upwards from this point towards the Quchi acupoint.

Another way to use this technique is to dip the brush in scallion and ginger soup, and then push it from the middle of the large horizontal lines straight down to the crease. It's the same method.

This technique can effectively replenish deficiencies and is one of the more important techniques for doing so in pediatric massage.

Push the Three Gates has a significant effect on nourishing the internal organs, especially in children with very weak resistance and low yang energy, where it can play a good role in replenishing deficiency and warming yang.

It is very suitable for children with very poor physical condition who have recurrent respiratory infections and diarrhea.

Push the Three Gates can nourish the functions of the internal organs, thereby stimulating the child's immunity and reducing the likelihood of illness.

This technique has a good effect on inducing sweating and relieving exterior symptoms. Push the Three Gates can induce sweating, thereby reducing the child's high fever.

For example, if a child catches a cold or has a very high body temperature, you can stimulate the child to sweat by Push the Three Gates, which can help reduce the fever.