TAO SUN O.M.D. & L.Ac.
In last issue I talked about how acupuncture entered the Untied States and its present situation and also about what acupuncture can do and why in a basic language.
Since acupuncture was found by the Western world many medical people have tried to solve the mystery of this oriental healing art with thousands-year history. The researchers found the needles of acupuncture treatment trigger the nervous system, releasing painkilling and inflammation-reducing substances e.g. endorphins and neurotransmiters. This is a great achievement for the development of acupuncture world widely. The acupuncture efficacy must be recognized by the physicians in western medicine and be confirmed by the lab testing reports. In order to promote its service to the whole people around the world acupuncture-TCM should be going on the way integrated with the western medicine.
However, about the efficacy of acupuncture, TCM has its own explanation, more completely and widely. Let me begin this from the chronic pain caused by the muscular atrophy.
Muscular atrophy is a very common ailment to the people who complain different kind of chronic pain over their bodies. But, most of them don't know they have muscular atrophy on some part of their bodies, because normally people can't look over their bodies very carefully and clearly. At beginning they just have a feeling of soreness, tender and tight and weak on some part of their bodies that have muscular atrophy, and then the feeling will develop into different kind of pain, which is usually progressive if not healed. Knowing this, you can check by yourself or by a mirror or by somebody else to help you to the part of your body, in which you have a chronic pain. You'll be surprised to see the part of your body with muscular atrophy has abnormal shape than the normal one: smaller and flatter or there's a hollow, sunken, concave ,even a deep hole with dark color of the skin, caused by the malnutrition of this part of muscle.
Muscular atrophy causes chronic pain and the limitation of the activities of your body function, which will disturb your life and work. Muscular atrophy may be caused by the injury, surgery or the disease of nervous system.
In my clinic among the cases of muscular atrophy I received 50% were caused by surgery for herniated or degenerated intervertebral disc or the injured ligament and tendon; 20% caused by auto crash that injured the lumbar or cervical vertebrae that resulted the muscular atrophy in arms and legs; and 30% caused by the diseases of nervous system e.g. disease of cervical vertebrae, Prolapsed Intervertebral Disc (PID), Brachiplex, Sciatica and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome etc.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) calls all of the ailments above-mentioned under a general term: Wilting (Wei) Pattern, whose main symptoms are muscle weakness of the 4 limbs and restriction of their movements that caused by the muscular atrophy. The Wilting Pattern is made of the malnutrition of the sinews that results the dysfunction and disability of the body. Based on the etiology and pathology in clinic the Wilting Pattern can be divided into 4 types: Lung-heat burning liquid, Damp-heat damaging Yin, Depletion of kidney and liver and injury of Channels. I'm going to discuss the latter 2 types as follows.
The type of the Depletion of kidney and liver is caused by the chronic sickness and overwork that results the insufficiency of blood and essence, the malnutrition of the sinews and muscular weakness and atrophy. It's main symptoms are aching lumbar and limp knees, dizziness, tinnitus (ring in ears) or Enuresis and Seminal Emission, menstrual disorder and pain or dysfunction of one side or both sides of the body. The doctor's check shows a reddish tongue and thin tongue fur and the pulse is fine and rapid .
The type of the injury of Channels is caused by knocks and falls or wounded by knives and blunt forces in an accident that results the injuries of the channels and obstruction of the movement of blood and Qi and malnutrition of the sinews and restriction of the body function so as to wither and lose the use of some parts of the body. The main symptoms in clinic are numbness , insensitive and wilting in parts of the body or incontinence of feces and urine, with an injury history of an accident. The doctor's check shows that the tongue is dark and purple and the pulse is slow and rough. And in the most cases the Du Channel is damaged, which will cause the incontinence of the faces or urine.
Let me tell you some cases in the clinic:
Case A. A lady had a surgery for her herniated lumbar vertebrae 3 years ago. And after surgery she had pain in the lower back and without any improvement after several times of physical therapy and she had to take 4 times of medication each day to relief the pain. The doctor's check showed the area with muscular atrophy was as wide as 21/17 cm and 2 cm deep, in which there's dry and wilted skin. Her low back and 2 legs were weak and tongue was dark and purple and pulse was rough. Because the surgery injured her Du Channel and The Bladder Meridian, her symptom belonged to Yin-vacuity kind. The acupuncture treatment was arranged to quicken the blood and transform stasis and enrich Yin and drudge the Channels. Though her pain relieved even after the first acupuncture treatment but the recovery of her muscular atrophy took 4 periods (one period consists of 10 sessions of treatment) and her pain was completely gone. And she visited my clinic to have a re-check in 6 months after she finished her treatments and was found everything is OK now.
Case B. A lady. An auto crash injured her neck and lower back that resulted her intervertebral disc prolapsed and muscular atrophy in her left leg that was 4 cm smaller than the normal one. She was cripple and while walking she suffered a severe pain in her lower back and the left leg and in the evening the pain was so severe that she couldn't fall asleep. The doctor's check showed her tongue was dark and purple with some spots caused by the blood stasis on it and light blue veins revealed in her four limbs and her pulse was rough and slow. She took 3 period of acupuncture treatment in my clinic and found her pain was gone and she can walk as normal and her two legs are the same size as the muscular atrophy was recovered.
Case C. A man. 2 years ago he was diagnosed as multiple neuritis in his two legs. And his feet touched cold and he felt pain while pressing the both sides of gastrocnemius muscle. His legs were weak and felt pain while walking. Sometimes he had dizziness. The doctor's check showed his tongue purple and pulse thin and two legs had muscular atrophy to varying degrees respectively. TCM maintains that his symptom belongs to the depletion of kidney and liver. And acupuncture treatment with reinforcing method helps him to nourish Qi and tonify the blood and warm the channel and dispel the cold so as to reopen the meridians. After 48 sessions of acupuncture treatment (near 5 periods of treatment) he recovered himself to be normal.
Case D. A man.3 years ago he was diagnosed as a patient with cervical vertebrae disorder. He felt dizzy very often. It's difficult for him to move his 2 arms with pain, especially he didn't know where to place his 2 arms while sleeping at night. He also felt pain and tender in his muscle of back and waist. The doctor's check showed his blood pressure was not stable and his deltoid, trapezius and rhomboid muscle had muscular atrophy; he couldn't raised his arms to turned around. According to TCM his symptom belongs to the deletion of liver and kidney I used the method in acupuncture treatment to drudge his meridians and nourish his Qi and blood . After treatment his 2 arms recovered and can move as normal and his dizziness is gone. Since he took acupuncture treatment he stopped any medication to relief the pain.
In a word to sum up the above-mentioned cases, human body as a part of the Nature, has the capability to recover from the injury and ailment by himself, if they can get the help from a proper healing therapy.
Any question you can call Dr. Sun Tel:(801)355-8668 or
E-mail: sunrise_clinic@hotmail.com