What causes night terrors?

From birth to adulthood, sleep is very important for children at different stages. If a child suffers from night terrors, he will have restless sleep at night. If a child suffers from night terrors, not only the baby will feel uncomfortable, but the parents will also feel uncomfortable, which will make many parents often physically and mentally exhausted. So what causes night terrors?

Genetic factors: About half of children with night terrors have a family history, with one of their parents also having this condition, so it is speculated that it may be related to brain development defects. Such children are more likely to have attacks due to psychological factors.

Psychological factors: Some psychological stimulation factors can also be the cause of night terrors, such as children being frightened, suddenly separated from their parents, parents quarreling, accidents happening, being harshly criticized, or hearing or seeing something terrifying, etc., all of which can cause night terrors.

Other reasons: Studies have found that some young children may suffer from night terrors due to parasitic diseases such as nematodes.

After a night terror, a child may:

Night terrors, also known as dream fear or night terrors, often occur within 30 minutes to 2 hours of falling asleep at night. They are more common in children aged 3 to 7 years old and occur once a month or several months. The sick children are often awakened by nightmares, suddenly sitting up with their eyes wide open or closed, yelling loudly, talking to themselves, but others cannot understand what they are saying. Some children move their hands and feet around, or jump off the bed, with nervous, fearful expressions, sweating, dilated pupils, rapid breathing, pale complexion, palpitations, and sometimes auditory and visual hallucinations, confusion, and not recognizing family members. Generally, the attack lasts for 1 to 10 minutes, and then the patient continues to fall asleep. When a nightmare occurs, the child cannot recall the situation during the attack; if the attack occurs before awakening, he may recall a feeling of oppression, stuffiness or suffocation. However, most children cannot recall what happened before they were fully awake or can only say that they seemed to be very scared.

Generally speaking, night terrors are caused by certain factors in the process of development and maturation, with an incidence rate of about 1% to 3% in normal children, and will disappear on their own after adulthood.

1. Treat based on syndrome differentiation

Children with spleen deficiency can take spleen-strengthening medicines such as Xiao Jianzhong Decoction and Sijunzi Decoction; children with internal heat or frightened and nervous can take Xiaoer Qizhen Pills orally.

2. Diet adjustment

Eat more yam porridge and vegetables and fruits, eat less fatty and greasy food, do not overeat at dinner, and eat regularly.

3. Chiropractic

The child lies prone, lifts up his shirt, and exposes his entire back. The practitioner first massages the child's back several times with warm hands to relax the muscles, then makes a half-fist with both hands and performs the treatment.

Start from the Changqiang point under the child's coccyx, use the thumb to scratch the side edge and press the skin, press forward with the index and middle fingers, and use force with the three fingers at the same time to pinch and lift the skin of the Changqiang point. Then, along the Du channel from bottom to top, alternate between the left and right hands, and pinch forward from the Changqiang point under the coccyx to the Dazhui point at the upper end of the spine in the order of pushing, pinching, twisting, releasing, and lifting. This is one time. Generally, the skin on the back will be lifted every three pinches. Repeat this 6 times. 2 weeks is a course of treatment.