TAKING ACUPUNCTURE TO JAIL....FINALLY!

He was young, big, burly, and Hispanic (you expected something different?) Legs shackled, wrists manacled ( so tight he couldn't pick his nose if he had too). He had busted his arm up breaking someone elses jaw. Resulting in a plate and screws in his right forearm. And an opportunity to get stuck with needles for the pain, limited movement, and loss of strength. Bottom line is that for both of us, this is worth the possibility of turning one less junkie out on the street.

First needle was Gall Bladder 34, opposite leg. He whimpered a tad. Second was the Zhu Scalp Point above the left eyebrow, and back a few inches. Call it distraction. Or whatever. But the point is that in addition to less forearme pain, where the hardware was installed, he had more mobiity, instantlly, and increased finger strength. Call me "pisher", as my second ex-wife would say. But back to Juan. And his 2 burly guards, heavily laden with restraining, maiming and killing tools of their profession.

Because, although it is important that Juan finds a better alternative than opiates for his pain, his angst, his boredom at not being swooped up to make a meanful contribution to society (at least not just yet), it's the guards that count here.  It reminds me of the story of this guy pushing a wheelbarrow full of straw across the border. And the border guards (how appropriate) riffle through the straw every trip, to detect what he is smuggling. Finally, after the umpteenth time, he finally tells them what he is smuggling, after cutting them in on the deal. Wheelbarrows. Smuggling wheelbarrows right under their sunburnd noses. The point being that it's the guards that are really the story here. Whether it's boredom, a free get-out-of-jail card, or curiosity, it is on their backs that this revolution in prison care will be carried,

And Juan keeps on coming back. Weekly. Three visits now. But who's counting.

y.

VAMPIRE ACUPUNCTURE FOR SHINGLES

Ben/Biao. Roots and Branches. Causes and Symptoms. The symptoms were sciatica down the left leg.. It started after her back surgery.  Five years ago. She had a breakout of shingles following surgery. From her hip to her ankle. Ben. Inflaming the sciatic nerve. Biao. Heat. What do you do to cool heat? Bleed.

The points? The tip of the ear. The apex. I used a lancet and then squeezed a few drops of blood from it. The other point, Governing Vessel 14. The intersection of all the Yang Meridins. Again, pricked with a lancet and squeezed a few drops of blood out. Relief. After 5 years of suffering. Cooling heat. Inflammation. Restoring functkon.

 Without drugs. Without side-effects. I learned the technique from a Korean Acupuncturists in the Western burbs years ago whose name I forget. Two days after the first patient I saw another patient with the same problem. And used the same solution. It worked. Thank you Seoqsa!

y.

No Pain, to Cane

This was another of those patients I have been treating for awhile for his back pain and leg pain with routine care. It would work for a while. Then he would come limping back. No real breakthroughs. No significant, sustainable improvements. My silent question tickling the back of my throat is in those instances, "How good can you stand it? I speak for both of us.

As I stared at his smooth, cloesely shaved head....you know by now what was running through my silver-coifed cerebellum.  Why haven't I asked him if he would like to try scalp acupuncture? So I gave him the usual advantages. I allows us, real-time, to see how it's working, since he can use the the affected part of the body because, rather than pocupine peppering the affected area, rookie style, we are going up to the CPU to do a software fix. Reprograming operating systems that drive the hardware. His muscular/skeletal hardware. Reminding him that software operates hardware. And we were needling over that part of the brain that operates the affected part of the body. With the bonus that we would get immediate feedback how the rewrite was working, Kind of like an instantaneous neuroplasticity patch. Installing modified drivers to help improve affected back and leg function, along with simultaneous pain reduction.

The the first round of needle insertion in the Zhu points, and mindful "bucket down the well" stim, allowed him to get up caneless, and do the stroll down the central corrider, while the Attendings, Fellows and Nurses clapped their ears muttering "La, La, La, La, La, too much information!" (just kidding, not that overt).  Rather "Oh no here comes Yurasek again, rubbing it in. "Has he no respect? Or humility?" Actually I have neither. Just a deep respect for my paired teachers. In this case Dr. Zhu. And my patient at the time. They teach me whether what I have learned works or not. "No tickee, no laundry." That simple. Following my the Barefoot Doctor operating principle. "See it. Do it. Teach it."

 Perfect practice makes perfect. And with each stim and stroll he got up easier and walked better. Pain-free. You can't tell me we didn't have some real-time Neuro-Plastics going on. Even though it catches everyone by surprise (get over yourself) it's really quite predictable. One just has to risk looking like a fool (both patient and pricker) and do what might mean more to the patient, than just hanging another scalp on your belt.