TCM Pediatric Massage and Western Baby Massage: Are they the Same?
There are many different kind of massages for infants and babies these days and I have been asked multiple times about what the difference with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Pediatric Massage and Western schools of Baby Massage is.
Or are they the same kind of kneading and squishing for our little precious ones but from different countries?
From my interactions with Western trained baby massage therapists and my brief study in Western baby massage, the theory supporting the Western Baby Massage is fairly straightforward. The stimulations and strokes are mainly over the area of concern, which means if it is for stomach, it will be done over stomach. If it is for head, it will be done at the head. So it is more of a body parts based philosophy. Strokes wise for Western Baby Massage are more accustomed to the body part being massaged. For example if it is for stomach, the strokes and force may be slightly softer as the stomach can be sensitive. For areas like feet, the strokes can then be slightly stronger as the feet has no vital organs underneath. I will say basically Western Baby Massage is simple and straightforward, with the whole aim of just getting the body parts all lightly ‘pound up’ in a way.
For TCM Pediatric Massage, the real deal is way more complicated than it seems. Firstly, the theories backing the area for strokes are through meridian and energy pathways. And to make things even more interesting, babies and infants have slightly different energetic pathways in their physiology as compared to adults. So it is a whole set of specialty for TCM Pediatric Massage within the Pediatrics Department.
The strokes for TCM Pediatric Massage are more intricate as we are particular about the depth, the softness, the frequency, the time as we execute the strokes over different body parts and meridians.
Read more about What is the difference between Cupping, Guasha, Bojin and Tuina here.
To give you an example to illustrate how TCM Pediatric Massage can be almost like an artform by itself, let’s talk about constipation.
For Western Baby Massage, the way to alleviate constipation in a baby is to simply stimulate and rub the stomach of the baby, in the hope that with external stimulation the bowel can restart its movement and peristalsis.
For TCM Pediatric Massage, we firstly do a full set of diagnosis for the baby including pulse taking and tongue reading and then identify the elemental reasons for the constipation. Rubbing the stomach is one of the strokes but we are watchful of the directions we go and the depth of the pressure.
Because of meridian connections, we can also look for the hands of the baby to do the stimulation to relieve constipation. There is a stroke with the beautiful name of Moving Water into Earth （运水入土）. In this stroke, we use it only when the diagnosis is that the baby has excessive Earth and deficient Water in his constitution then that result in the presentation of constipation. The stroke, just like its name, is a beautiful and almost magical maneuver where we literally stimulate the balancing on the palms of the baby as illustrated in the picture here.
This is the beauty and intricacy in TCM Pediatric Massage in which it goes beyond the area of ailment and increase the efficacy of the treatments by tapping into energetic connections and elemental balancing in other parts of the body. Each stroke is articulate and intentional as it speaks to the internal energy of the baby’s body.