34 million Poles complain of pain, including 7 million chronic pain. How natural medicine can help them is told by anesthesiologist, acupuncture specialist, Dr. Jan Sobański, head of the Pain Treatment and Acupuncture Clinic at the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Łódź.

Acupunctureworksin the treatment of pain : migraines and other headaches, neuralgia, osteoarthritis, diseases of the spine and back, and even persistent psychogenic pains. These are those that arise only in the patient's mind, because the body is he althy. Acupuncture also helps in the case of vegetative neurosis, certain allergies, metabolic disorders, hearing loss, tinnitus, gastric and duodenal ulcers and arterial hypertension.

Pain warns of illness. So can everyone be treated?

Dr. Jan Sobański: Yes, what's more, in some cases, if we relieve the pain, we will also heal the sick. For example, migraine is both pain and disease. I have twin patients who swallowed handfuls of pills prescribed by specialists, and they felt worse and worse: they felt dizzy, could not study. After acupuncture, the pain became so mild that they stopped taking their medications.

What does the acupuncture treatment look like?

The sick person lies down on the couch. I play quiet music to relax him. This is what the music therapy we use is all about. Often the patient relaxes so that he falls asleep. Very good. An adult lies with needles for 25 minutes, the child is less. Therapy is said to be successful when you believe in it. You don't have to believe in acupuncture, because the inserted needle will do its job anyway. We also use electroacupuncture, i.e. needles connected to electricity, bubble therapy and thermotherapy with moxa. This is the eastern variety of wormwood; after drying the herb, it is rolled up like a cigar, set on fire and with its incandescent end heats the acupuncture points. The essential oils released during combustion have a calming effect.

Do you use Chinese cups during acupuncture treatment?

Yes, I use Chinese rubber canisters. By moving them along the patient's body along the spine, it causes skin congestion and I can insert the needles more easily, and these work more effectively. Cups are also useful when vacuum pressure needs to be applied, such as when a patient falls out of a disc. Then I put one bubble on the sick side and the disk is sucked to the place it was frompulled out.

How many acupuncture treatments do you need to take?

First ten, two a week. For example on Monday and Thursday. You have to come regularly, because it is a stimulus method: the body heals itself by stimulating its own defense mechanisms. After two months, we repeat the series, and the next one only in six months. Acupuncture won't heal your spine, but it's an excellent supportive therapy.

And the pain subsides?

Yes, or it decreases so that you can sleep the night without drugs that harm the liver, pancreas, kidneys. For sensible patients, this is a big deal. In some cases, e.g. inflammation of the elbow joint, it heals completely.

Puncturing the needles hurts a lot?

It depends on the puncture site, the patient's well-being and the atmospheric pressure.

What are the contraindications to treatment with this method?

Infectious, cancer, mental, venereal diseases, dermatitis, haemophilia. This method cannot be used by people with an implanted pacemaker.

Why is acupuncture not used to treat people with cancer?

The cancer patient is very weak and so emaciated that it would be difficult to insert needles. And since the needle accelerates the metabolism, its condition could worsen.

Can acupuncture be used by pregnant women?

No. According to the textbook, this method should also not be used to treat menstruating and breastfeeding women, people who are physically and mentally exhausted and intoxicated. It is also not recommended to perform treatments during a storm, high heat, full moon and when the atmospheric pressure drops. However, I have such experience that nothing bad will happen if I insert the needle. The patient is under my control and should he react badly to the needles, I am able to get it under control.

Important

10,000 BC stone needles were used, and from the 7th century BC. - of iron. The first European doctor to use acupuncture was the Dutchman Houli in the 17th century.

Does the clinic only treat chronic pain?

Acute also, for example, inflammation of the trigeminal nerve of the face. This is excruciating pain.

And can you come to see you with him?

Of course, but the sick person usually comes to me only when it is a chronic condition. Before that, he goes to the family doctor, who refers him to a neurologist, and he to a neurosurgeon or dentist. Eventually someone will come up with the idea of ​​sending him to acupuncture. Some doctors, for example, refer patients with sciatica to me right away. This is an acute condition: the displaced disc presses against the sciatic nerve and it hurtsradiates all the way to the foot. I then perform the procedure three times a week. I use my knowledge of an anaesthesiologist. When an operation is performed on the leg below the middle of the thigh, a needle is inserted into the trunk of the sciatic nerve, which is located on the buttock. I stick the needle in the same place and let the current flow through it. Then, after a light massage, I stick more needles in the place where the disc protrudes and put a rubber bulb, which creates a vacuum. This method is very effective.

But you won't repair the disk?

I won't fix it. But I will ease the pain.

Treatments at your clinic are reimbursed by the National He alth Fund. Who do you need a referral from?

From a primary care physician (pos) or a specialist, e.g. a neurologist, orthopedist, surgeon, ophthalmologist (in the case of orbital pain), diabetologist, because diabetes is accompanied by muscle pain. Unfortunately, acupuncture treatments are generally not reimbursed. In our country, we have about a thousand well-trained acupuncturists who are just waiting to be allowed to act under contracts with the National He alth Fund.

"Zdrowie" monthly

Category:

Alternative medicine