acupuncture and phytotherapy

ABSTRACT

Male patient with 28 years of age. The patient turned to acupuncture consultations due to the presence of anxiety. The patient refers to him as being very nervous and angry.

When the patient was angry his hands start´s shaking and  in the presence of anxiety will appeared  the very strong need, not always  controllable, of hair pulling.

The patient, during the semiological analysis, showed no symptoms that would allow one to conclude with certainty any clinical pattern. The acupuncture treatment principles were defined in order to calm the mind and intervene in more possible  patterns as  stagnation of qi and yin deficiency.

For treatment acupuncture was selected. The patient reported great improvements being made in all three treatments. After these treatments the patient decided to have acupuncture on a regular basis to prevent the onset of symptoms and maintain a good quality of life.
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ABSTRACT

Female patient, 78 years old, turned to acupuncture treatments due to the presence of pain in the wrist and base of the thumb caused by the presence of arthrosis. The patient reported the existence of this complaint for several years which hindered movement of the thumb.

Alongside the patient had a complicated medical history but that was not part of their treatment priorities. As such, the treatment was directed to the chief complaint. Although it was developed interrogation was not done traditional Chinese diagnosis.

The acupuncture treatment was used and attention was given to the use of ashi points and selection of points according with the nervous system. In all, three acupuncture treatments were necessary, and at the end of these treatments, the patient referred the total disappearance of symptoms.
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Great australian TV show that shows the fraud homeopathy really is. Check it out and comennte the show.

One of the lectures given at the Seventh National Congress of SPEM (Portuguese Society for Multiple Sclerosis) was about electro acupuncture, electro acupuncture’s effects in Multiple Sclerosis and physiological explanations for the effect of acupuncture.

As always worth it to hear a lecture by APAE (Portuguese Association of Electric Acupuncture). And the will after listening was I “want more”. One of those “want more” turned out to be expressed in a question that has not had a complete response.

To say that acupuncture is good for treating a given disease may not be the most accurate information for patients, since this disease, particularly multiple sclerosis, may have varied symptoms. The question remains: For what symptoms, in multiple sclerosis (MS), acupuncture can offer relief.
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Two years ago I received a patient, 45-50 years age group, that reported insomnia as the chief complaint. During interrogation, I patient told me that insomnia originated as early as 30 years and had started with a strong emotional trauma.

The patient reported that the trauma was overcome. However referring insomnia since the incident and had never been able to talk about it with friends, husband or even her shrink. By the time the patient had endured insomnia with medication prescribed by a psychiatrist. However the diagnosis of a tumor sensitive to female hormones caused the patient to stop taking the medication and acupuncture become needed to get to sleep.
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ABSTRACT

Female patient, between 60-65 years, turned to acupuncture treatments due to the presence of back pain that had existed since the age of 20. Massage relieved the pain temporarily. Before had Japanese acupuncture which relieved the pain enough, allowing three months without pain.

The pain was due to bad posture due to prolonged work. A semiotic analysis did not allow to conclude the existence of a clinical pattern associated with pain. Acupuncture treatment was selected with attention to local points of pain (ashi), selection of points according to the nervous system and in accordance with the theory of meridians.

The patient responded very well to treatment and required a total of 5 sessions of acupuncture to be without pain. Patient was advised to do some maintenance or return to acupuncture treatments if the pain returned to emerge.
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One of the most important aspect in clinic is aseptic practice. Normally I work in medical clinics. These clinics provide me a strong infrastructure to ensure the safety of my patient. The medical clinics, has, for example, autoclaves which allows me to use sterile cups.

Another important aspect of my practice is the use of gloves (disposable needles always of course!). Personally I do not do acupuncture without gloves. Gloves in acupuncture and sterilized cupping are rarities in the world of alternative medicines.
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As the reader might have noticed I have particular fondness for discussions on the basic concepts of Chinese medicine. Especially when they are maimed by vitalist beliefs. The conversation always ends up in energy and its many esoteric variations that are never completely unbderstood.

Generally when it gets resolved the issue of poor translation of some chinese medicine tecnical terms some of my interlocutors tend to confront me with their personal experiences. These experiences range from feeling “energy points” to “see the energy and the energy channels”…  which are the meridians…, and never described by the TCM as energy channels (technical details!).

Feel the energy of the points is always something I like to discuss. Because people just feel the points they were taught. The points that they curiously never learned should not have much energy to be felt. Obviously, professionals who learn different acupuncture points will only feel the acupuncture points they have learned so that you never quite understand what are the points that really can be felt. On this subject I published an article and even did a professional critique.

This new article focuses on another personal experience: seeing energy. But before we proceed with the energy fantasies let’s talk a bit about the electromagnetic spectrum and human anatomy.
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ABSTRACT

Male patient with 54 years of age. He had pain and difficulty of movement in the head due to torticollis suffered three months earlier. Were recommended 20 sessions of physical therapy that the patient did with no success.

After 20 sessions of physical therapy the patient went to the Office of Sports Physiotherapy for consultations with the physiotherapist Ernesto Ferreira. Did osteopathic treatment and the patient improved greatly of pain symptoms presented and joint mobility. After that he was recommended acupuncture.

In consultation with acupuncture muscular tension was observed in sub-occipital muscles and trapezius. Was not performed traditional Chinese diagnosis and selection of points followed two criteria: points of agreement with the theory of meridians and points of agreement with the nervous system.

The patient responded positively to treatment and at the end of the third consultation was noted without significant symptoms.
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ABSTRACT

A female patient, aged 30-35 years come to acupuncture/Chinese medicine treatments due to bruxism of which intensity had worsened considerably in recent times. The patient had pain in the jaw, temporal region and high muscle tension level of the trapezoid muscle. Moreover also mentioned the existence of states of irritability associated with a worsening of the chief complaint.

A semiological analysis on Chinese Medicine (TCM) indicated the existence of a pattern of liver qi stagnation. The therapies used were acupuncture and materia medica. The patient made a whole of 5 acupuncture treatments, showing significant improvement of their symptoms. At the end of the five acupuncture treatments withdrew treatment due to personal reasons.
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