Rehabilitation for Hypersensitivity at Boya Clinic

Oral hypersensitivity is heightened sensitivity of the mouth and face. The child turns away from touch, resists tooth brushing, will not let their mouth be wiped with a tissue, and finds a dental check-up hard to bear. At the table it shows up as sharp selectivity: a familiar set of textures is accepted calmly, while anything new is rejected at once, sometimes with gagging. From the outside this is easy to mistake for stubbornness, but the child's sensations are real: an ordinary touch is felt far more acutely than it would be by their peers.

This feature is most often seen in ASD and sensory dysregulation, and also after damage to the nervous system. It frequently comes together with weak mouth muscles — and then chewing difficulties, drooling, and unclear speech are added to the sensitivity. Boya Hospital (Yuncheng, Shanxi Province) works with such children as part of its core specialization — pediatric neurological rehabilitation. The course runs intensively: 6–9 sessions a day, 6 days a week. The foundation of the program is sensory integration: vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile training in a play format that helps the nervous system process sensory signals more accurately. In parallel, the speech therapist works gently around the mouth, with delicate pediatric Tui Na massage techniques around the face, acupuncture and scalp acupuncture, occupational therapy, and apparatus-based physiotherapy.

Why progress comes in small steps

With hypersensitivity the order of work is always the same: first touch where the child tolerates it — hands, shoulders, back; then the area around the mouth; and only then gentle work inside the mouth and an introduction to new textures. Each step is consolidated until it feels calm and predictable to the child. Trying to speed the process up usually produces the opposite result: resistance grows and the negative experience is remembered for a long time. This is why the specialists at Boya do not force events and explain to parents in advance that the first weeks may look like "just play" — in fact this is exactly how the nervous system is being prepared.

What matters for parents

The honest goal of the course is to widen the range of what the child tolerates calmly: touch to the face, mouth care, new textures. Progress is tracked over time: how the child responds to touch, whether tooth brushing has become easier, whether new textures are accepted without strain. Much of this transfers to family life — the specialist shows how to handle everyday situations so the gains from the sessions are not lost at home. Getting started is simple: send your child's documents and briefly describe their reactions. The document-based consultation is free, and there is no prepayment: you pay on site and only for what your child has actually received.