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Heavy Periods - A Case Study

5/31/2011

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A female patient in her late 20s came in with heavy periods.  She'd had heavy periods for as long as she could remember, but they'd gotten worse after having her 2 children.  She bled approximately 300 mL/month (with normal being 10-80mL) since having her last child.

She'd been to her biomedical doctor and it was found that she wasn't anemic (which surprised the doctor) and that her thyroid function was normal.  Her doctor could find no other causes for the abnormal bleeding.

We used acupuncture and Chinese herbal formulas to stem the flow, and treat her underlying Qi deficiency.  Her energy levels had risen some (she'd been experiencing extreme fatigue), but found no changes after 9 months of treatment, trying many different formulas and acupuncture treatments.

What I have found when patients don't seem to respond to Chinese medicine is that there is often some sort of underlying nutritional deficiency occurring.  So we started looking into what sorts of nutritional deficiencies may be present.

This patient also has a gluten intolerance and has been gluten-free for 7 years.  Upon doing some research into Celiac disease, I found that many nutritional deficiencies are common because of the changes that occur in the bowels in Celiac Disease.  Most common are the fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A and K.

We started by supplementing with vitamin K because of it's role in clotting, but after 2 months found only minimal changes in her flow amounts.  

Next we tried supplementing with vitamin A.  After only one month, her flow has decreased by approximately half.  We looked into the other symptoms of vitamin A deficiency and found that she has experienced many of those as well!

Food IS medicine.  Unfortunately for this patient, because of an absorptive issue, even eating a healthy diet wasn't helping to rectify her health complaint.
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Manx Disorder: A Case Study

2/18/2010

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As they come along, I'd like to give you some examples of the exciting health changes that can occur because of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

"Sugar" came into my office quite constipated.  She was having maybe one bowel movement a week, and it was very dry, very hard and very painful to pass.  Her owner had taken her to her vet who had done multiple enemas and prescribed laxatives in order to get the fecal matter to pass, and while this brought temporary relief, it didn't seem to last.

This is something that "Sugar" experienced as a kitten and periodically throughout her life, but it was always previously relieved by the medications and enemas - this episode was much more extreme.

"Sugar" is a manx - a breed of cat born without a tail.  The tailless condition is considered a deformation of the spine and in these cats, you will often find more abnormalities in the rest of the spine.  These abnormalities are often accompanied by congenital nerve dysfunction, and often what you see in manx cats is something called "Manx Disorder."  Symptoms associated with "Manx Disorder" include bowel or urinary incontinence and weakness or even paralysis of the hind limbs.

"Sugar's" vet felt that, while she didn't have your typical "Manx Disorder," she certainly seemed to have a mild case of it.

I diagnosed "Sugar" as being Qi and Blood deficient which lead to her Qi and Blood not moving properly (causing her bowels to "get stuck").

I performed electro-acupuncture on "Sugar's" low back and hips to bring Qi to the area.  Essentially, trying to remind her body and her nerves how to send the proper electrical signals to her bowels so that her stools could pass through easily.

To deal with the underlying cause of her bowel paralysis, I prescribed an herbal formula typically used for stroke victims with the idea that promoting proper nerve conduction (in Chinese medicine, Qi and Blood flow) is the same, whether you're treating a head or a tail.

Within one week, "Sugar's" bowel movements were much more frequent and much softer and within 3 weeks, "Sugar" was having completely normal bowel movements again!  I treated her monthly for the next couple of months, at which time she graduated from needing treatments for her constipation.  Every once in a while I run into "Sugar's Mom" and get an update - she's still doing well, with no recurrences, almost 3 years later!
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Helping Benny

6/4/2009

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Picture
Benny is a LOVELY guy. A giant, big-hearted teddy bear of a pup. Benny came to see me after rupturing his cruxiate ligament. Poor guy hurt his knee and was hobbling around like an old man! (Benny's only 7 years-old, by the way, he's got a LONG time left of playing with his pet and human family!) You see, Benny had done what MANY other dogs do during this time of year. It's FINALLY nice outside and when you get the chance to run after a long, shut-in winter, you RUN. Benny was going to have to wait with hurting knee for a month for his surgery because of all the other dogs ahead of him in line!

The vet gave him pain meds to help get him through the pain until surgery day, but his treat-hander-outer was hoping to keep him on lower doses of the medications. So we started doing acupuncture twice a week to keep his pain under control and to prepare him for his upcoming surgery. Benny also went home with an herbal formula that would do the same.

During the time prior to surgery, Benny's treat-hander-outer noticed that he was in good spirits! He was also in very little pain, which required lower doses of pain meds, just like they were hoping.

Benny's surgery day finally came and went and when I saw him for the first time after (a week after his surgery) I couldn't believe my eyes! Not only was he walking on his knee, he wasn't limping very much, either. On his second visit post-surgery, Benny waltzed right in with barely a hitch in his giddyup! The surgery that Benny had is pretty extensive, including reshaping of the bone in his knee. I've seen many pets who've had this surgery (while working at a vet clinic that performed such surgeries), and I've NEVER seen a dog with such a speedy recovery before!

I think this is a great case where biomedicine and natural medicine have worked together. While there was nothing that acupuncture could do to repair the torn ligament, acupuncture and Chinese herbs significantly reduced the amount of pain that was experienced, as well as prepared Benny's body for the surgery. His energy was already flowing smoothly pre-surgery, so it took very little to get back to that point.

Now, if only acupuncture could help keep this rearing-to-go pup calmer while his knee completely heals!

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Treating allergies with acupuncture and Chinese herbs

1/12/2009

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According to a study published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Acupuncture might ease hayfever symptoms. Though this study was done with humans, I've found that I get GREAT results with pets as well! In fact, I find that pets in general respond much quicker to energy medicine than their human counterparts.

Tilly is a Boston Terrier - English Bulldog mix who came into my office with REALLY red, itchy skin. She was entirely covered with inflamed skin. She'd needed to be on prednisone since she was a puppy because of her grass allergies. According to Tilly's owner, the prednisone helped a little bit, but Tilly was still so miserable.

We treated Tilly with Acupuncture and a Chinese herbal formula that matched her presentation perfectly. When Tilly came back the next week, her itchy skin had disappeared from most of her body! All that was red anymore was her belly and under her chin! To tell you the truth, I was surprised that she got such huge relief that quickly! Usually allergies, especially those present since childhood (or puppyhood in this case!) take time, sometimes as long as 2-3 months, to see results. Over the next couple of weeks we were able to get Tilly complete relief! Now I only see Tilly a couple of times a year for a "tune-up."

If you or your dog suffer from allergies of any kind, consider acupuncture and Chinese herbs!

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