Management of Infantile Colic; Based on Traditional Iranian Medicine

Abstract

Introduction Infantile colic is a common disorder in the three first months of childhood. There is no clear management in treating this disease which may lead to psychosocial consequences in parents. Due to the importance of infantile colic in Traditional Iranian Medicine (TIM) in this study was conducted. Materials and Methods In this review article, we searched the words for colic infantile like "Maghs e Atfal" in the clinical textbooks of TIM and electronic databases were searched for "Infantile Colic", "Herbal Medicine", "Traditional Medicine" and "Complementary Medicine" keywords to obtain any relevant study. Results In TIM, infantile colic is called "Maghs e Atfal". TIM scholars believed that it can be caused by bloating in stomach, eating a lot of food or milk and subsequently mal-digestion. The treatment is based on the probable etiology. In bloating in stomach, the first step is to modify breast milk by the mother’s eating anti-flatulence drugs and avoiding any flatulent food. Foeniculum vulgare and Trachyspermum ammi are recommended to be consumed with milk by the child. Conclusion According to the benign nature of the colic, complementary medicine can be a priority in treatment. In this viewpoint, the mother's diet modification, and consequently of her milk, are very important. Avoiding any flatulent food and consumption of anti-flatulence plants are based on its treatment