A new treatment is said to reduce anxiety and stress in children undergoing surgery, according to an article in Science Centric . This acupressure treatment, which is applied to children during the anesthesia process, is noninvasive and drug-free.
In the study, by Yale colleagues, Dr. Zeev Kain and Dr. Shu-Ming Wang, adhesive acupressure beads were applied 52 children between 8 and 17 years of age. During their endoscopic stomach surgeries, half of the children received a bead to the Extra-1 acupoint, which is located between the eyebrows. The other half received a bead over the left eyebrow.
After a 30-minute wait, the researchers indicated that the anxiety levels of the children with the bead applied to the Extra-1 acupoint had decreased. In the other half, anxiety levels had increased. Neither acupressure treatment had any affect on the surgery itself. (Science Centric, 11/3)