Acupuncture and Leech Therapy

Acupuncture is an integrated part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has been used in China and other parts of East Asia for thousands of years. Today, acupuncture is an effective, natural and increasingly popular form of health care that is being used by people from a wide range of cultural and social backgrounds.

Acupuncture is a wholistic form of medicine and focuses on the prevention of illness as well as on the treatment of symptoms.

Acupuncture treatment involves the insertion of fine, sterile needles into specific sites (acupuncture points) along the body's meridians to clear energy blockages and encourage the normal flow of qi through the individual. The practitioner may also stimulate the acupuncture points using other methods, including moxibustion, cupping, laser therapy, electro-stimulation and massage, in order to re-establish the flow of qi.

As a natural form of healing, acupuncture has the following benefits:

• provides drug-free pain relief
• effectively treats a wide range of acute and chronic ailments
• treats the underlying cause of disease and illness as well as the symptoms
• provides an wholistic approach to the treatment of disease and illness, linking body, mind and emotions
• assists in the prevention against disease and illness as well as the maintenance of general well-being

Acupuncture is known to treat a wide range of disorders including:

• Neurological conditions such as headaches, migraines, difficulty sleeping, nervous tension, stroke, some forms of deafness, facial and inter-costal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, some forms of paralysis, sequelae of poliomyelitis, peripheral neuropathy, noises in the ears, dizziness, and Meniere's disease.
• Cardiovascular disorders such as high or low blood pressure, fluid retention, chest pain, angina pectoris, poor circulation, cold hands and feet, and muscle cramps.
• Respiratory conditions such as bronchial asthma, acute and chronic bronchitis, acute tonsillitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, hay fever, chronic cough, laryngitis, sore throat, influenza and the common cold.
• Digestive system disorders such as toothache, post-extraction pain, gingivitis, mouth ulcers, hiccough, spasms of the oesophagus, gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastric hyperacidity, gastritis, heartburn, hiatus hernia syndrome, flatulence, paralytic ileus, colitis, diarrhoea, constipation, haemorrhoids, liver and gall bladder disorders, and weight control.
• Urogenital disorders such as cystitis, prostatitis, orchitis, low sexual vitality, urinary retention, kidney disorders, nocturnal enuresis, and neurogenic bladder dysfunction.
• Gynaecological and obstetric disorders such as premenstrual tension, painful, heavy or irregular, or the absence of periods, abnormal uterine bleeding or discharge, hormonal disturbances, disorders associated with menopause, prolapse of the uterus or bladder, difficulty with conception, and morning sickness.
• Skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, nerve rash, herpes zoster, acne, scar tissue and resultant adhesions, hair loss and dandruff.
• Eye conditions such as visual disorders, red, sore, itchy or watery eyes, conjunctivitis, simple cataracts, myopia in children, and central retinitis.
• Musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis, sciatica, lumbago, weak back, low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, tenosynovitis, shoulder and neck pain, cervicobrachial syndrome, "frozen shoulder", and "tennis elbow".
• Sporting injuries such as sprained ankles and knees, cartilage problems, corking and tearing of muscles, torn ligaments and bruises.
• Psychological conditions such as depression, phobias, emotional disturbances, anxiety, nervousness and addictions such as smoking.

Medicinal Leech Therapy

This form of therapy involves the application of medicinal leeches to the body’s surface to take advantage of a number of medicinal effects.

The medicinal effect of leeches can be attributed to the active components in the leech’s saliva, the best known being hirudin, a powerful anticoagulant. Besides hirudin, 14 other active ingredients in the saliva exert anaesthetic, anti- inflammatory, vasodilating and antibiotic effects. The combination of extraction of stagnant blood combined with the bioactive saliva produces a profound long lasting effect on diseased areas. For example: study data suggests that a treatment of arthrosis of the knee requires one leech therapy session every six month to significantly reduce pain.

Leech Therapy can also be used for a wide range of disorders including;

- Venous disease
- Varicose veins
- Insufficient wound healing
- Arthritis of joints and the spine
- Lower back pain
- Hearing loss
- Tinnitus
- Eye circulatory disorders
- Peripheral circulation disorders
- Abscesses
- Hematoma (bruising)
- Herpes zoster
and as adjunct to inflammatory diseases of internal organs.

For more information visit http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/doctors-are-practising-what-they-leech-20111029-1mpc7.html