Traditional Chinese Medicine Parenting: Question 8 – What should be done if a child is constipated?
Traditional Chinese Medicine Parenting: Question 8 – What should be done if a child is constipated?
Traditional Chinese Medicine Parenting: Question 8 – What should be done if a child is constipated?
Answer: When a child is constipated, it is essential first to differentiate between heat constipation and cold constipation, rather than following the Western medicine approach of simply recommending more bananas or resorting to enemas. Correct diagnosis is key to effective treatment; otherwise, the condition could worsen. To distinguish between cold and heat, consider the following:
Does the child enjoy having their belly pressed, or do they resist it? If they like it, it usually indicates a cold or deficiency syndrome; if they resist, it typically suggests an excess or heat syndrome.
Does the child feel thirsty, and what temperature of water do they prefer? If they like hot water, it indicates internal cold; if they prefer cool or even icy water, it suggests internal heat.
Observe the child's urine. If it is dark yellow, this indicates internal heat; if it is clear and colorless, resembling tap water, this suggests internal cold.
Clinically, cold in the intestines is more commonly seen in children, often caused by incorrect umbilical cord cutting at birth. According to the Yi Zong Jin Jian (Golden Mirror of Medicine), "When a baby is born, the umbilical cord should be cut and cauterized with fire (for sterilization). It should be cut to about six ancient inches (approximately 10 cm today). If cut too short, it harms the organs; if too long, it damages the navel." The navel should then be covered with a cauterizing cake to prevent the invasion of wind pathogens and wrapped with soft silk and new cotton to avoid moisture and wind pathogens.
Nowadays, umbilical cords are often cut to only 1.5 to 2 cm, which is just half of the recommended length. As a result, many babies develop protruding navels, abdominal distension, navel pain, and colic, leading to constant crying and, in some cases, conditions like navel wind (umbilical hernia) and navel hernia. Parents can gently press upward from below the navel of a child under one year old, and if there is a gurgling sound or a protrusion like a longan seed, it indicates that wind-cold-damp pathogens have invaded the three yin meridians through the navel. This can cause many children to have constipation with hard, pellet-like stools because the cold has entered the intestines, leading to weakened peristalsis.
Treatment Methods: Regardless of whether the constipation is due to heat or cold, it can be treated with massage, although it's challenging to describe the massage techniques in detail with words alone. For more information, interested readers can refer to Li Dexiu's Three-Character Classic for Pediatric TCM Massage.
If using medicinal treatment:
For heat constipation: Use 5 grams of Magnolia bark (Hou Po), 7 grams of bitter orange (Zhi Ke), and 5 grams of rhubarb (Da Huang). Boil them in three bowls of water until it reduces to one bowl, and give the child half a bowl per dose. Stop the treatment once the symptoms improve.
For cold constipation: Use 2 grams of processed aconite (Pao Fu Zi), 7 grams of dried ginger (Gan Jiang), 7 grams of Codonopsis (Dang Shen), 7 grams of white atractylodes (Bai Zhu), 7 grams of roasted licorice (Zhi Gan Cao), and 3 grams of aged tangerine peel (Chen Pi). Boil them in three bowls of water until it reduces to one bowl, and divide it into three doses for the child to drink