Pediatric Tuina Techniques (3)

"That's good, I'll write that down. Master, I've always had a question."

After Su Ziyang finished memorizing the techniques, he asked the question he had been wanting to ask, "If I teach pediatric massage techniques to people who don't know much about medicine, will they be able to do it well?"

"Yes, it's possible, but the effect will be less pronounced, though it will still be effective. Pediatric massage doesn't require much force; you just need to understand which techniques can reduce fever, calm a child who is frightened, and aid digestion if the child has indigestion. It doesn't require any complicated medical theories."

Daoist Jin took a sip of tea and said.

"However, there are some situations they can't handle, and you should still see a doctor. If you can clearly identify the situation yourself, such as knowing that the child has eaten too much and has an upset stomach, then gently massaging the stomach is definitely better than injections or medication, right?"

Su Ziyang nodded, indicating that he understood.

Daoist Jin continued teaching, gradually increasing the complexity of his techniques from simple ones. The next technique was called "Pressing the Strings and Rubbing Method."

It treats phlegm stagnation, phlegm accumulation, and excessive phlegm.

Hold the child's hand with your left hand, palm facing up, and gently massage from the Yang acupoint to the Quchi acupoint using your right thumb and index finger.

Then gently massage from the Quchi acupoint back to the Yin acupoint. This up-and-down motion is called one repetition. Repeat this nine times each time.

For those with Yang syndrome, the Guan (internal organ) is light and the Fu (external organ) is heavy. For those with Yin syndrome, the Guan is heavy and the Fu is light.

If the phlegm is yellow and sticky, the cough is loud and coarse, and the face is red, it indicates a Yang syndrome.

If the phlegm is white and thin, the cough is weak and the complexion is pale, then it belongs to the Yin syndrome.

As mentioned earlier, this Push the Three Gates and Push Down the Six Fu Organs.

The "guan" refers to the straight line running upwards from the Yangxue point, which is located at the end of the wrist crease on the thumb side.

The "fu" refers to the straight line running upwards from the Yin point, which is located at one end of the wrist crease on the little finger side.

After pushing this part, use both hands to rub from Quchi (LI11) to Guanfu (GB2) 3-4 times.

Then, use your right thumb, index, and middle fingers to pinch the child's thumb, and your left thumb, index, and middle fingers to pinch the child's elbow, and shake it outwards twenty-four times.

That completes the technique.

Learning from books is never enough; true understanding comes from practice. Su Ziyang first listened to Daoist Jin's explanation.

After the explanation, Su Ziyang practiced it many times before he could finally learn and master the technique.

Su Ziyang was practicing when Mr. Mengfei stormed into the house.

Upon seeing Su Ziyang practicing with the dummy with great seriousness, Mr. Mengfei immediately lost interest. He strolled over to Su Ziyang's side, looked at Su Ziyang's focused expression, nodded slightly, and then turned and left.

Su Ziyang practiced diligently, and Mr. Mengfei's steps were very light and quick, so Su Ziyang really didn't notice Mr. Mengfei.

As soon as Mr. Mengfei returned to the house, Yang Tianzheng offered him a cup of hot tea. Mr. Mengfei raised an eyebrow and sighed when he saw Yang Tianzheng holding the hot tea, "Let's warm up together."

The two exchanged a smile and began slurping their hot tea.

The lesson inside the room continued.

Now that we've covered the cooling techniques, it's time to talk about the warming techniques.

This technique is called "Monkey Picks Fruit".

The technique is gentle, or you could say it's neutral to slightly warm.

Its functions are to eliminate phlegm and qi, and to dispel cold and reduce fever.

When performing the procedure, first use the index and middle fingers of your left hand to pinch the child's Yang acupoint, and use your thumb to pinch the child's Yin acupoint.

For children with cold syndrome, that is, children who have caught a cold, rub the right thumb from the Yang acupoint upwards to the Quchi acupoint, and then rub downwards to the Yin acupoint. This is called "Turning from Yang to Yin".

For children with heat syndrome, that is, children who are hot and commonly known as having internal heat, massage from the Yin acupoint upwards to the Quchi acupoint, and then downwards to the Yang acupoint. This is called "Turning from Yin to Yang".

Both techniques involve rubbing nine times. The Yang acupoints correspond to the Three Gates, while the Yin acupoints correspond to the Six Fu organs.

After you finish massaging, use your right thumb to pinch the child's heart, liver, and spleen points once each, and shake each point twenty-four times. For cold symptoms, shake inwards; for heat symptoms, shake outwards.

Here we also need to talk about the relationship between a child's five fingers and the five internal organs (the fingertip is the first joint):

The tip of the thumb represents the spleen, and the second segment represents the stomach.

The tip of the index finger represents the liver, and the third segment represents the large intestine.

The tip of the middle finger represents the heart, and the third segment represents the small intestine.

The tip of the ring finger is the lung, and the third segment is the pericardium.

The tip of the little finger corresponds to the kidney, and the third segment corresponds to the bladder.

So when people say they pinch a certain internal organ, they mean they pinch the knuckles.

The next technique I'll discuss is "Phoenix Spreads Its Wings," which is also a warm technique.

Hold the child's hands with both hands on the Zongjin point, with the four fingers of both hands spread out on both sides below the child's hands, and the two thumbs on the Yin and Yang and Yang acupoints, spread out on both sides.

Then, use your two thumbs to pinch the Yin and Yang and Yang acupoints and shake them outwards twenty-four times, then pinch them tightly for a quarter of an hour.

Then, use the thumb, index, and middle fingers of your left hand to hold the child's elbow and gently swing it downwards three or four times.

Then, support the child's elbow with your left hand and the back of their hand with your right hand, pinching the web between their thumb and forefinger with your thumb, and shake it upwards and outwards twenty-four times.

This technique mainly involves swinging and flicking. When doing it, be light and relaxed; do not use too much force.

When Daoist Jin demonstrated to Su Ziyang, his hands were very gentle and quick, while Su Ziyang's attempt was somewhat childish.

After Daoist Jin massaged Su Ziyang's hand once, Su Ziyang actually felt a little bit of warmth.

After learning for a while and barely grasping the technique, Daoist Jin began to explain the next method, "Pushing the Middle Finger."

This is a simple technique. Su Ziyang discovered that Daoist Jin's teaching was not without logic. Basically, for every few complex combined techniques, he would teach a slightly simpler one to ease the pace.

Pushing the Middle Finger is a technique used to treat alternating chills and fever.

First, use your left thumb and ring finger to hold the child's middle finger, then use your middle and index fingers to support the back of the child's middle finger, dip your right thumb in cool water and Pushing the Middle Finger.

This is simple; it's easy to understand once explained and learned.

The next technique is a bit more difficult, called "Flying through the Meridians and Moving Qi":

This technique is gentle and its main effect is to expel phlegm.

Hold the child's hand with your right hand, keeping the four fingers still. Use the four fingers of your left hand to jump from the edge of the child's cubital fossa to the sacral sphincter nine times.

Then, take the child's Yin and Yang acupoints, extend and retract the right hand upwards and outwards, transmitting the Qi slowly through the passage.

This technique requires a high level of skill and a keen sense of the flow of qi (vital energy).

In massage, "qi" can generally be understood as heat.

When you perform the procedure, can you feel the warmth emanating from under your skin?

This is actually a manifestation of Deqi. For example, when massaging acupoints, the focus is on achieving heat penetration.

The word "penetrating heat" is actually used very cleverly. When you massage an acupoint, if you pay close attention, you can feel a warm sensation. Sometimes it may be more obvious, and sometimes it may be less obvious. This is the feeling of Deqi.

The Flying through the Meridians and Moving Qi, and that qi is what it refers to.

"You've raised your child to be like this, isn't this what you want him to become?"

Yang Tianzheng and Mr. Mengfei stood outside the door, watching Su Ziyang intently studying the notes.

"Haha. This kid's good! He's my only apprentice. Come on, I need to get a cup of hot water and go buy some brown sugar."

Mr. Mengfei clutched his stomach, turned around, and went back inside.

"Master, this last part Flying through the Meridians and Moving Qi, is a bit difficult."

Su Ziyang held the model's hand and kept performing hand gestures.

"Hmm. It is indeed a bit difficult, so that's all for today. You can go do what you need to do. Then practice, and don't forget!"

Daoist Jin gestured for Su Ziyang to go back. As soon as Su Ziyang returned to his clinic, he found Mr. Mengfei and Yang Tianzheng each holding a large cup and drinking brown sugar water.

"Master, let me give you another massage. This time I'm serious!"

Su Ziyang reached out to give Mr. Mengfei a massage, but Mr. Mengfei quickly dodged to the side. "Stop it! Even Master isn't like this. You massage Zhengzai; Zhengzai more resistant to injury!"

"Master!" Su Ziyang grinned at Yang Tianzheng.

"Get lost!" Yang Tianzheng glared at Su Ziyang while holding his water glass.