Eastern medicine meets Westwood
	ACUPUNCTURIST RELIEVES KIDS OF PAIN
	BY MONA GABLE / UCLA Today Staff      Michael Waterhouse had a stubborn skin condition.  The British man had tried everything, but to no avail. When his American roommates, who happened to be acupuncturists, suggested that he try the ancient Chinese therapy, he wasn't exactly receptive.       "You Americans will believe anything," he scoffed.      Misgivings aside, Waterhouse tried the nontraditional method anyway. He got such impressive results that he  abandoned his notions of medical school and enrolled in acupuncture college.       Twenty-five years later, Waterhouse is a veteran practitioner and one of the few  acupuncturists who treat children for pain. Early this year, after working in the UCLA Pediatric Pain Program, a  multidisciplinary approach to pain management in children and adolescents, Waterhouse became the first nonphysician acupuncturist to be granted hospital privileges at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA.       "Almost all the kids I see have been to their primary doctor and a secondary doctor, with no relief," said the Chinese-trained practitioner. "They've tried almost everything."       Waterhouse's patients range in age from 8 to 18 and tend to be kids who are high achievers and active in sports. Although the UCLA clinic also treats cases of acute  pain, most of the children Waterhouse sees come in with chronic problems such as migraines and stomachaches.       Waterhouse also cares for adults at the Rochford Clinic in Beverly Hills, where he's been in private practice since 1981. But the affable father of two young daughters  finds working with children more challenging.      Before he does anything, he reassures his young patients. He shows them the  needles, which are round and blunt, not sharp. He sometimes even sticks himself to show that it doesn't hurt or bleed. Because acupuncture produces a dreamy, pleasurable sensation, children soon feel comfortable with the treatment.      Waterhouse's appointment at a major teaching hospital like UCLA reflects a sea change in attitudes in the medical community about Eastern medicine.       He attributes much of that change to research proving acupuncture's effectiveness. His own patients typically feel better after three to six months, but sometimes show dramatic improvement even sooner.       He recently treated a 9-year-old girl who was experiencing bad headaches every day. "After the first treatment, it was 50% better," Waterhouse recalled. After three  sessions, her migraines were gone.      Until recently, children's pain has been widely under-treated because of a gap in knowledge about how children's nervous systems develop. By offering a more  progressive vision of medicine, one that combines the best of Western and Eastern traditions, UCLA's pediatric pain program hopes to change all that, Waterhouse said.       "Our goal is to create a model for treating pediatric pain which hopefully will become standard practice."
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