Massage and Acupuncture Services

The Jane B. Pettit Pain and Palliative Care Center offers massage and acupuncture to all children who seek these unique services. Children do not need to be Pain Clinic patients.

Pain Clinic staff often has encouraged patient families to seek these natural health therapies to complement the pain treatments received at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, but many said they couldn't find traditional health spas or wellness centers that would schedule appointments for children. In addition, clinic staff felt many other children could benefit from these services.

These include children who:

• Are under stress.
• Suffer frequent headaches.
• Have muscle or skeletal pain.
• Have muscle fatigue or soreness.
• Feel tense or stiff.
• Have a variety of allergic problems, including sinus drainage.
• Have abdominal pain.
• Have chronic nausea.
• Have dental pain.

It is critical that parents first seek traditional medical attention for any child who has headaches or other painful conditions that seem worrisome.

Massage is a service widely used by adults and should be considered for many children to release muscle tension, reduce stress and help treat minor aches and pains.

Acupuncture, one of the oldest forms of medicine, has gained mainstream and medical acceptance in the last 10 years. Based on the Chinese belief that illness results from the interruption of qi ("chee") flowing through channels in the body, acupuncture needles are inserted at various points along the channels to restore or rebalance the flow of qi. Lynn Rusy, MD, pediatric anesthesiologist, has offered it at Children's Hospital for six years with great results in patients with chronic pain.

Appointments range from 30-60 minutes and are provided by contracted therapists. Christine Jablonski, RN, is a licensed acupuncturist and has a master's degree in Oriental Medicine. Nancy Brittain is a licensed acupuncturist and a certified massage therapist.

Since many insurance providers will not cover massage and acupuncture, the services have been priced competitively, and all forms of payment are accepted at the time of service.

Children do not need to be prior Children's Hospital patients, and no physician referral is required, although parents are encouraged to consult their child's physician before arranging an appointment.