Chinese HBA Comes to Chicago Holistic Center

In addition to providing acupuncture at The Westside Health Authority, Dr. Wang, his colleagues and I also worked Wednesdays from 9 to 6 at Chicago Holistic Center on Fullerton in Lincoln Park. When I had my first meeting with Dr. Edelberg, the Medical Director, to discuss working there, I also mentioned I would be bringing over hospital trained acupuncturists from Liaoning Provincial Hospital to work with me.
Patients here presented with much more diverse symptoms than at Westside, which was good and bad. It was good in that I got to see more variety of cases as well as more difficult cases, addressed, and resolved by acupuncture techniques that I had never learned in school or in my ongoing studies. It was bad in that the increased patient volume and diversity did not lend itself to the multiple translations necessary both at intake, during treatment, and following treatment, 6 times in all. Two other considerations were that the Chinese Doctors were used to treating patients between 3 and 5 times a week, which accelerated resolution,and patients needed to be prepared for the Manchurian style of deep needling with heavy gauge needles.
In addition to relieving common neck, back, shoulder, knee pain and headaches,there were some difficult cases that I also remember. One was a 50-plus white male who, following a vasectomy, felt that he was being kicked in the testicles with every step he took. Exploratory surgery had been done in an attempt to locate and solve the problem, but to no avail. After many exchanges in Chinese and English between patient and Doctor, Dr. Yang to one thick, long needle and placed it quickly and deftly in Liver 5, known as "Termite Hole," on the inside of the right shin, and manipulated it for several minutes. He then withdrew it and asked the man to walk around the room. To the surprise of the patient and others in the room, his extreme discomfort was totally eliminated.

After 3 months of eliciting this and other remarkable responses, Dr. Yang's 70 plus year old stomach got tired of warm mild and hot dogs for lunch at Demon Dogs under the El Track next to our clinic. And with the prospect of Acupuncture's legal status not being decriminalized anytime soon in Illinois, the good doctors packed up their bags and returned to the friendlier shores of China.