Breakthrough Revelation of Acupuncture for Lymphedema
Your next best option may well be acupuncture for lymphedema in cases where all other treatments don’t suit your body. As defined, Acupuncture is an alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of needles in the body. It is supposed to relieve pain, treats infertility, treats disease, prevents disease, or promotes general health. It is originally from China more than 2,000 years ago which aims to uphold health through getting rid of obstructions of vital energy in our body.
Lymphedema on the other hand is the condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. In detail, it is a build-up of lymph fluid in the fatty tissues just beneath your skin. This build-up causes swelling most often in the arms or legs. Lymphedema may come out from having surgery or radiation therapy to treat particular cancers.
Acupuncture for Lymphedema as an Ancient Treatment
Lymphedema acupuncture treatment could be applied under different circumstances:
- Lymphedema treatment with Chinese acupuncture
The conventional methods of treatment for lymphedema include manual lymph drainage, bandaging, exercise and skin care. However many lymphedema patients want to learn about alternative treatments that may provide relief from this devastating condition. Recent study in the U.S. has shown that acupuncture for lymphedema has produced more obvious result than any form of treatments to this health condition. This breakthrough test concludes that lymphedema acupuncture is safe and that some of the women in the study showed a 30 percent or better reduction of lymphedema related arm swelling. - Acupuncture for treatment of chronic lymphedema
- Acupuncture therapy uses the process of inserting needles into certain regions of the body. In the study conducted most recently, merely following 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment for women with chronic lymphedema, being at least 6 months and less than five years with the disease, it is found out that out of the nine that were given the sessions, with twice a week acupuncture lymphedema therapy, four of them came out with 30% reduction of the swelling in the span of time.
- The participants were mostly patients that have just finished breast cancer surgery and survived from the illness.
Acupuncture Points for Lymphedema
Acupuncture consists of putting extra thin and disinfected needles to acupuncture points of the body. Prior to its placement, a trained practitioner will have to conduct a traditional diagnosis first. The main goal acupuncture is to find out the location of the chi, or energy that constitutes blocked or lacking in the body. The needles, moreover, control the progress of this chi all throughout the body system and ourselves.
Acupuncture Lymphedema Risk
According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, to determine whether or not acupuncture indeed raises the risk of infection in lymphedematous limbs, an exposition chart evaluation was conducted on post-operative lymphedema patients in a community acupuncture clinic beginning January 2005 until May 2009. In this case, all patients were informed about infection risks and that acupuncture is not accepted as a current standard of care (SOC) in lymphedema. Depending on the severity of their lymphedema, acupuncture treatments were given on the affected limbs weekly, biweekly, or every two weeks in addition to their lymphedema SOC.
A total of 1139 acupuncture treatments were reviewed, as well as antibiotics use in the period of the treatment. Infection of the affected limbs occurring within two weeks was counted as possibly a treatment-related infection. Signs and symptoms of infection were evaluated prior to and following every treatment. Results then exposed that 29 women, ages 29 – 79, with clinical lymphedema (N=25) and subclinical lymphedema (N=4) were included in the review. No infection or bleeding occurred related to the 1139 acupuncture treatments. Some patients self-report improvement in symptoms such as decrease in swelling and heaviness, decrease in shoulder pain, and increase in range of motion and function in their affected limb.
Acupuncture Lymphedema Forums
There have been ongoing forums among patients who have lymphedema, particularly those cancer survivors. Among the most recent topics include acupuncture and lymphedema and latest acupuncture treatment for lymphedema.
It appears that most of these affected persons are favorable on the breakthrough of acupuncture lymphedema therapy. One participant discloses:
“I am a breast cancer survivor who has suffered with Lymphedema of the right arm since a mastectomy nine years ago. The swelling is moderate, not painful, but noticeable. I wear a compression sleeve and gauntlet almost daily. Over the years I’ve done Lymphedema drainage massage therapy @ the local hospital, and tried wrapping my hand and arm nightly with the many foam pieces and compression wraps (the 20-minute process). Both these procedures gave temporary, but not total reduction of the swelling.
I’ve joined this forum to tell all of you that I recently began acupunture treatments which, in two weeks and (5) sessions, have reduced the hand swelling to almost normal, and the wrist and forearm noticeably less. I plan on continuing these treatments to see how much more progress can be made, and will keep you posted…”
Some of the forums you can visit who experience lymphedema:
- http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/lymphedema-discussions/introductions-personal-stories/417190-acupuncture
- http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/team_messageboard_thread.asp?board=0x24800x39433271
Indeed, acupuncture treatment for lymphedema is one of the most recommended alternative medicines these days. There are a number of acupuncture clinic around the nation to visit and avail. To maintain good health even after any major surgery, acupuncture lymphedema therapy is one good option to try. Various patients and even doctors have already made evidence that acupuncture and lymphedema are intertwined and may help when the latter surges and acupuncture for lymphedema works well in many individual circumstances.
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Product Description
Once in a great while an extraordinary book is published that sets an entirely new standard in its field. A Manual of Acupuncture, published by Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications, is just such a book. Painstakingly researched over many years by Peter Deadman, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Chinese Medicine, and colleagues Mazin Al-Khafaji and Kevin Baker, this book has become the primary reference in the West for the study of acupuncture points and channels. With the subtle use of color to illustrate the acupuncture points and anatomical features, the new second edition of A Manual of Acupuncture is even more attractive and user-friendly than the first. Introductory chapters describe and illustrate the channels and collaterals, the various categories of points, and methods of selection, location, and needling. Ensuing chapters present each of the points of the 14 channels as well as the extra (miscellaneous) points, identified by their English and pinyin names, and Chinese characters. Each point is located in accordance with the most exacting anatomical standards to be found in any Western textbook. For each point there is a dedicated drawing, followed by regional body drawings. The quality of the 500 drawings is far superior to those in any other TCM text. There are also practical pointers for finding and needling the points, and cautionary information about what to avoid. In addition to point indexes by their English and pinyin names, there is an index identifying every part of the body reached by each of the channels, and separate indexes of point indications listed according to both TCM and biomedical symptoms.
Product Details
- Introductory chapters on the channels and collaterals, point categories, point selection methods, point location and needling
- Over 400 illustrations & text descriptions of all points and primary, extraordinary, divergent, luo-connecting & sinew channels
- The most exacting and accurate anatomical point locations yet published in any English text with practical point location notes to assist in easy location
- Point actions to aid the understanding and memorization of each point’s principal qualities
- Substantial commentaries detailing the principal historical & modern applications of points, drawing on classical & modern texts and the extensive clinical experience of the authors
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