KCTV 5: Children’s Mercy Hospital offers patients acupuncture to help ease pain

By Amy Anderson

If you’re a parent, you know a trip to the emergency room usually involves some kind of pain for your child. Now, patients at Children’s Mercy Hospital have another option when it comes to pain relief and so far, it’s pretty promising.

“It’s a nice way to make them feel better quick,” said ER physician Dr. Jami Jackson.

That’s why Jackson and others at Children’s Mercy Hospital are offering acupuncture for pain.

The acupuncture works best on kids from about 10-years-old through the teen years. In many cases, doctors have found it calms anxiety which is a common feeling to have in the ER.

“Works well for headaches and abdominal pain as well as other muscular skeletal types of pain,” said pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Dilts.

Dilts says they’d seen such great success treating patients at their headache center, it was only natural to want to offer it to all their patients.

“Parents want what’s best for their kids, and sometimes that might not always be a pill. Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for pain. It’s well tolerated by most children and teenagers,” Dilts said.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Learn more about Acupuncture at Children's Mercy