A New Month, A New Doctor

I just finished my rotation under Dr. Huang (not Dr he's husband, this doctor is female) and today I began with Dr Chan, the head of the acupuncture department. I will be with him for a month.

It may be a credit to Touro's education, but since I've been here, I've seen much of what we see in the states, but also some of what we have not seen that much of. The results of the common disease, which I have seen in the states, were very impressive. Especially impressive were the facial paralysis patients, many of which had results within a week or a few weeks, and then there was also one young woman with a chronic case, who have been coming for months with little results. Shoulder pain from stroke, cervical spondylosis, and hip pain all had very good reduction in pain. All of these patients came daily and received a lot of needles and moxa to open the channels. Dr. Huang is a wonderful and clear teacher. Each patient she announces the disease and the major points which are most useful for the condition. I can see how observing so many patients would give the student a certain amount of confidence, as it is drilled in your head by the end of the month. The students are ready for the next patient with the disease. But also you get a feeling for the slight changes in the prescriptions to nourish or open the channels.

The hardest to see were severe neurological diseases, especially in the children. Their families bring them everyday, hoping for any help. Before I came, I sometimes would hear about how the Chinese government would encourage abortions of disabled children and force sterilization of them (much like the USA attempted to do in the 1930's and 40's). This could be true, however the people I see are dedicated to their family members, disabled or not.

Dr. Chan is the head of the acupuncture department. Kejian and Dr. He would tell me about how the Hunan Hospital is famous for treating eye diseases, and many people from around the world, especially Japanese and European, come here for treatment of retinal degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa. Dr. Chang is the doctor who they come to see. It's pretty exciting to see these disease treated, an inch and a half needle to the hilt in the points within the orbital. Even a 2 inch needle in the extra point of chou hou (i think) lateral to St 1 at the orbital joint, which Dr. Chan says is very safe. He stresses needle technique and proper location, not just point selection. "A cun (inch) on the skin is miles beneath." Also he uses many non-channel points selections. In addition to the eye diseases, he treats many many children, but also adults, with neurological diseases. More to come on this.