Acupuncture can be a major benefit to stroke rehabilitation when
administered correctly. Results are most remarkable in the acute stage. First,
treatment must begin promptly. Earlier intervention promises fewer deficits.
Second, an effective acupuncture system should be employed. Scalp acupuncture
excels over body acupuncture in treating neurological conditions such as
strokes. After insertion, needles should be manipulated to ensure qi flow.
Third, appropriate Daoyin must be carried out simultaneously. Finally,
treatments have to be repeated frequently for reinforcement. In this manner a
stroke patient will achieve a faster and more complete recovery.
Case Reports
1.
2. One night in
1992, Mr. Shen, president of an acupuncturist association in California,
suddenly dropped on the floor and became stupor us. A CT scan of his brain
revealed a big lesion in the left cortex and basal ganglia, due to hemorrhage
of the middle cerebral artery. Within seven hours, we started Zhu’s Scalp
Acupuncture treatment on him, and continued for 20 consecutive days. Two weeks
later, he started to talk. After three months, he was able to return full-time
to his acupuncture practice and administrative work.
3. In 1998, a
55 year-old man discharged himself from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital of
Taiwan despite his doctor’s advice. It was the 8th day after his stroke when he
arrived at our clinic in a wheelchair. His ischemic stroke left him paralyzed
on the right side. Twenty minutes after applying scalp acupuncture needles, he
stood up. An hour later, he took a few steps. After two weeks of daily
acupuncture, he started walking with a cane. He ultimately regained all his
gross and fine movements. Today he is living his life as a fully-recovered
stroke patient and still persists in his daily exercise routine to stay healthy
.
4. In 2007, an
MD referred his 58 year-old male patient to us. This patient had an ischemic
stroke and was bed-ridden for 20 days. On the first visit, he came in a
wheelchair but left our clinic walking down two flights of stairs without
assistance. After 10 daily Scalp Acupuncture treatments of three hours each, he
returned to work.
These four case
histories are a small representative sample of the large number of stroke cases
we have treated. What is common in these patients is that all were treated very
early and had nearly full functional recovery.
- by Ming Qing Zhu, L.Ac., OMD (China)
