溫氏現代針灸 溫崇凱中醫診所-耳針眼針頭皮針舌針權威-跟診日誌

Immediate Effect of Acupuncture Upon Needle Insertion for Patients with AS

Ankylosing Spondylitis, abbreviated to AS, is a disease related to heredity, although it is not purely a hereditary disease. So far, the pathogenesis of AS is still unknown. It can only be determined that it is a chronic autoimmune disease. Although it is self-evident from the name that AS attacks the spine, the spine covers 33 bones, including 7 cervical vertebral columns, 12 dorsal vertebral columns, 5 lumbar vertebral columns, 5 sacral vertebral columns, and 4 caudal vertebral columns. Patients often disclose that they have suffered from lower back pain, which could be vaguely considered as a symptom of AS. In addition, some of the affected areas also include the knee joints and stiffness of the torso upon getting out of bed. If the symptoms have not been alleviated by at least 3 months’ rest, it is suggested that patients go to see a doctor of Allergy-Immunology-Rheumatology to check if they have contracted AS.

The pain that AS patients suffer from is obviously different from that of general back pain sufferers; in the latter case, exercise should be avoided whereas patients with AS will find that exercise will alleviate the pain. Therefore, it is better for them to stay active instead of static. In order not to impose more pressure on the spine, the advice from medical circles is always that swimming is the best form of exercise for patients with AS. Buoyancy can help minimize the pressure that the body weight puts on the spine.

Patients with AS are predominantly male. Clinically it is not uncommon to see hip joint involvement in patients with AS. Coupled with inflammatory limbs, patients tend to limp when walking, and will struggle even when standing. When I observed my master Dr. Wen at his clinic, I had seen several patients with AS, one of whom was a young female in her twenties. She had worked as a hotel receptionist and had to stand most of the time at work. She said that she had suffered from such pain that she had wanted to quit her job. However, her boss had not allowed her to do so. At the time of her visiting the clinic, she had been working flexibly on an hourly basis. After my master inserted the needle, the patient said, 'I can run now!' I felt bewildered. The girl who had been limping just then seemed to have vanished.

Before I brought myself back down to earth, the next patient happened to be another one with AS. It was a male patient in his thirties who had been taking painkillers (steroids) since he was in his twenties. Even though the medication had resulted in constant hair loss, due to the unbearable pain of AS, he had continued the medication. Although the medical effects had not been significant, he would have suffered more pain had he stopped taking the medicine. It was not until he was in his thirties when the painkillers were no longer effective that he had started looking for another solution.

The patient indicated that his hair had thinned out a lot. However, the main motivation for him to come here for the acupuncture treatment was still that AS had been giving him too much pain. After the western medicine had ceased to be effective, he had been kept awake at night because of the pain, and would find his body becoming so stiff that he could not move at all. After having struggled for 20 or 30 minutes, he would manage to get up and walk around, and end up not being able to get back to sleep. This had recurred every day, almost to the point of him getting neurasthenia. According to this patient, he had never received acupuncture treatment, but he guessed that the pain inflicted by the needles, however severe it might be, would not be as bad as that brought on by AS. Therefore, he took courage to come here.

My master checked his condition. In addition to inserting needles in the patient's head and ears, he also embedded threads in his lower back. The patient said that the stiffness was relieved immediately. His facial expression revealed the total relaxation of his body, so much so that people around him could feel it. He turned and bowed to my master straight away. With a low voice he said, 'thank you, Dr. Wen.' His sincerity and humility were so unforgettable to me. I can understand the mixed feelings of patients who, having suffered from a long-term illness and become weary of the world, then encounter a doctor who can immediately relieve and improve their conditions. Their feelings of surprise and admiration for the doctor must be very complex. I guess most of the time the feeling they would have was 'unbelievable.'

Acupuncture has the fascinating power of 'immediate effects upon just one needle insertion'. There are only a handful of doctors who have mastered needle insertion, and my master - Dr. Tsung Kai Wen - is the outstanding one among them.