01
A picky eater
Shows little interest in food and puts
the spoon down after a few bites, saying they're full.
So you don't have to worry
every time you hear "smaller than other kids."
Children's Growth
Eating well, sleeping deeply, getting sick less often, and growing taller at their own pace. Helping your child grow that way is the goal of this program.
Does this sound like your child?
If your child seems slower than their peers
and you don't know where to start.
Even while you wait and watch, bones keep maturing, and the window for growth gets shorter. Knowing where your child is right now makes a real difference.
02
A poor sleeper
Tosses and turns late into the night or wakes often,
and has a hard time getting up in the morning.
03
Irregular bowel movements
Goes days without a bowel movement, often has tummy aches,
and gets gassy.
04
Often sick
Always has a cold or a runny nose,
and sees a doctor several times a month.
05
Runs hot
Moves all over the bed during sleep,
and wakes up with hair soaked in sweat.
06
Poor posture
The neck juts forward, the back is rounded,
and the legs look bowed.
No medicine makes a child taller. We can only help build a body that grows
This kind of care has a time limit.
So we check the growth plates first, and tell you only what can be done in the time that remains.
Children grow when they eat well, sleep well, have regular bowel movements, get sick less often, and don't build up heat.
We start by finding which of these five is blocked.
We pay special attention to heat.
Some children's bodies keep running even when they're sitting still.
When energy goes into making heat, less is left for growing.
Every child is different.
1
Children who
don't eat well
Main Symptoms
- • Little interest in food
- • Says they're full after a few bites
- • Not growing much for how much they eat
Diagnosis Pattern
Weak digestion, so food isn't put to use
Recommended Treatment
A prescription that builds digestive strength first
Before trying to get them to eat more, we help digestion so that what they eat actually gets used by the body.
→ Mealtimes stop being a battle, their tummy feels more comfortable, and bowel movements become regular.
2
Children who run hot
and sleep lightly
Main Symptoms
- • Hot hands, feet and head
- • Kicks off the covers and wakes often
- • Sweats a lot
Diagnosis Pattern
Built-up heat disturbing both sleep and appetite
Recommended Treatment
A prescription that cools heat and restores sleep
We bring the heat down first, so the energy meant for growing isn't spent coping with heat.
→ They sleep more deeply, mornings get easier, and more energy is left for growing.
3
Children who
get sick often
Main Symptoms
- • Always has a cold or a runny nose
- • Sees a doctor several times a month
- • Seems worn out after each illness
Diagnosis Pattern
Growth gets interrupted every time they fall sick
Recommended Treatment
A prescription for a body that gets sick less
When they get sick less often, growth that kept getting interrupted can carry on.
→ The energy meant for growing doesn't leak away along the way.
Treatment Process
How we check
1
We check bone age
A hand X-ray is taken in partnership with the radiology clinic on the 2nd floor of the same building. Seeing whether bone age is ahead of or behind actual age tells us how much growing time is left.
2
We find what's holding growth back
We look at blood tests and a body composition test. Is it sleep, eating, or getting sick often? If posture is quite rounded, we correct that too.
3
We treat where it's blocked
Each child gets a different prescription. We look at which is blocked—eating, sleeping, bowel movements, getting sick, or heat—and prepare the medicine for that. Our nutritionist reviews your child's diet.
4
We tell you whether it's okay to wait
We won't rush you. Based on the tests, we tell you whether now is the time to act or whether it's fine to keep watching.
5
We follow the numbers
Just enter height and weight, and we get a percentile showing where your child stands among peers. We show that graph to you as it is. Numbers tell you which way the growth rate is heading more accurately than words.
Frequently asked questions
Q. My child eats well but isn't getting taller.
A. Eating alone doesn't make a child grow. We also need to look at whether they sleep well, have regular bowel movements, don't get sick often, and aren't building up heat. We find which of the five is blocked and work on that first.
Q. I thought my child slept well.
A. If they keep moving around the bed while asleep, wake up with soaking wet hair, or kick off the covers, it's worth a second look. Children who run hot keep searching for a cool spot even in their sleep. They look asleep, but their body isn't resting. The same goes for children with a stuffy nose.
질문 13개 더 보기 접기
Q. My child goes to bed at 11 p.m. or midnight. Is that late?
A. Growth hormone is released most between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. If your child is awake then, they get that much less of it. Children look taller in the morning because they actually grow while asleep, and their spine straightens out while lying down.
Q. My child often skips breakfast. Does that affect height?
A. Yes, it does. When breakfast is skipped, the body treats it as stress and releases a burst of the hormone that helps it cope, all in the morning. What comes out in a burst drops quickly, and when it drops, children crave sweets. Then it rises again toward evening and pushes bedtime later. Children who droop in the afternoon and perk right up after dinner fit this pattern.
Q. My child often eats malatang or tteokbokki.
A. Refined carbohydrates like glass noodles and rice cakes keep making heat in the body, like firewood. What's left over after making heat is stored as fat, so weight goes up without height to match. Blood sugar rises and falls sharply, which can make children more irritable, too. Breakouts around the mouth are often caused by food rather than acne.
Q. My daughter has had her first period. Is it too late?
A. Girls usually keep growing for about a year and a half to two years after their first period. But growth slows down gradually, so we first need to check how much time is left. We look at a hand X-ray to see how much growth plate remains, and tell you what we find.
Q. From what age can my child be treated?
A. It depends on your child's condition more than their age. If they don't eat well, sleep lightly, or have poor posture, it's better to come in early.
Q. Why does running hot have anything to do with growth?
A. Think of a car's fuel efficiency. Some cars go far on the same fuel, and some don't. A child who gives off a lot of heat even while sitting still uses a lot of energy just getting through the day. Children have to get through the day and grow on top of that—and if energy goes into making heat first, less is left for growing. Built-up heat also makes sleep lighter.
Q. My child isn't keen on treatment.
A. To be honest, it doesn't go well in that case. I compare growth treatment to an orchestra. There's a part for parents at home, a part for me, and a part your child has to play themselves. If even one is out of step, the music falls apart. So at the first visit, I ask your child directly: were you dragged here, or did you want to come?
Q. Won't my child have a hard time taking herbal medicine?
A. We adjust it into a form your child can take. Medicine they can't take won't work, so we take this seriously.
Q. How tall can my child get?
A. We can't promise a certain number of centimeters. Instead, here's what we tell parents.
Every child has a range they grow within each year. During a growth spurt, children usually grow about 6 cm a year—4 cm in a bad year, 8 cm in a good one.
Our job is to help your child stay toward the top of that range. With herbal medicine, plus the meals and sleep you support at home, they move toward the top. Going to bed at midnight or 1 a.m. and skipping breakfast before school pulls them toward the bottom.
How much of that range is still left, we tell you after checking the growth plates.
Q. My child seems to be done growing. Is there anything we can do?
A. We'll look at a hand X-ray and tell you. If the bones have finished growing, we'll tell you plainly that nothing can change that. Their growth rate has probably already slowed a lot, too.
In that case, we suggest a different goal: stamina and how they feel while studying. A body that sleeps well, eats well and gets sick less is what anyone that age needs, regardless of height.
We won't tell you something will work when it won't.
Q. Doesn't deer antler make children gain weight?
A. Deer antler itself doesn't cause weight gain. It's true that children tend to eat more. If they eat foods that add weight, they gain weight; if they eat foods that support growth, they grow taller. So while your child is taking the medicine, we also look at what they're eating.
Q. How long should my child take herbal medicine?
A. We think in terms of about half the year. Some children take it for 3 months and then rest for 3 months; others go in 6-month stretches. It's not taken nonstop—there are rest periods, and we keep tracking height and weight in between. It depends on how much growing time is left.
Q. My child's legs look like different lengths.
A. In elementary and middle school, the growth plates are still open, so there's room to even out the length by adjusting the stimulus. But it may not even out. We tell you that up front, too.
Once growth is finished, the length itself can't be matched, so instead we support the shorter side and shift weight the other way. That's why timing is everything here. If the legs look uneven, it's better to have them checked now.
Children's Growth 건강 칼럼
의료진이 직접 전하는 건강 정보입니다.
Column
Not All Small Children Are the Same
The biggest factor in a child's final height is genetics, and no treatment has evidence that it can push a child beyond that range. Growth care means removing what eats into that potential so a child grows as much as they naturally can. Small children fall into three groups with completely different paths: late growers, children held back by an illness, and children growing too fast. The last two are hard to reverse if you miss the timing. The first step isn't a prescription but sorting out which group your child is in.
Column
Herbal Medicine for Children's Growth: What Is It Aimed At?
Herbal medicine for growth isn't a medicine that makes children taller directly. It's a medicine that clears away what is keeping a child from growing as much as they naturally could. A child who eats poorly, a child who doesn't sleep deeply and a child who is often sick are each held back in a different place. Here we explain, with the numbers confirmed in clinical trials, what we look at and what we aim at when we prescribe.
Column
When your child wakes up at night to pee
Parents tell us their child often wakes up at night to pee, goes often during the day too, or suddenly finds it hard to hold it. Other things often come up along with it: hard stools, a long and painful time on the toilet, frequent gas, and often saying their tummy hurts. Sleep isn't restful either. The child has scary dreams and suddenly wakes up crying, talks a lot in their sleep, or wakes up in the morning with their head and the back of the neck soaked in sweat.
Health column
Our articles on children's growth
We've answered the questions we often hear in clinic, one per article.
Feel free to start with whatever you're curious about.