pain: April 2010 Archives

            By: Billy Shonez Singh, M.S., L.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

                                          www.zenohs.com  ©2010

A 69 year old woman came into my office in October 2009.  Her main complaint for the past eight years has been multiple joint pains in her body due to Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Since her diagnosis, she was placed on thirteen different medications.  Four of them were for treating joint and muscle pain associated with her main complaint.  The other four of the medications were used in lowering her cholesterol and her blood pressure.  The side-effects of the medications were headache, bone pain, jaw pain, muscle weakness, swelling of the ankles and feet, and joint pain- among other things.  The last five of her medications were unrelated to her main complaint but were used in treating the side-effects.  She described her joint pain as severely sharp and stabbing variety located in her neck, lower back, knees, feet, shoulders, wrists, and fingers.  The pain would get exacerbated by damp, cold, and rainy environments as well as walking up a flight of stairs.  In addition to this, I noticed that she had swelling along the fingers and toes.  The swelling was due to the inflammation in the joints and had fluid build-up (edema) in both her ankles.  In her previous history she mentioned that she was a pack-a-day smoker but quit smoking fifteen years ago.  Lastly, she consumed two to three cups of coffee a day.  After treating her with acupuncture for seven months at once a week intervals, we both noticed dramatic improvements in the signs and symptoms.  The swelling in her fingers and toes had decreased.  Her ability to walk with more fluidity and speed was noted as well without any stiffness and debility in her knees and ankles.  It was also indicated that her handwriting appeared less rugged and more fluid after the swelling was alleviated in her fingers and hands.  In any case she now visits me every other week for maintenance-style treatments.  After all the progress we had witnessed together, here is what she had to say:

                         "I have been suffering with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis for about eight years.  After researching alternative methods of pain management I came across Billy Singh's web site and was impressed by his credentials.  I have been seeing him for acupuncture treatments for several months with excellent results.  The treatments have given me great relief from the inflammation in my knees, feet, and shoulders. 

            I am thrilled with the results I am getting from the treatments and would highly recommend them as a compliment to conventional medicine."

-          Janet M.

In my humble opinion, after getting a testimonial like this, all I can say is that I am sorry but decrease in severity of signs and symptoms of a disease is one of side-effects of East Asian Medicine.

Billy Shonez Singh is a licensed acupuncturist and a board certified Chinese herbalist by the NCCAOM.  He is currently practicing in Commack, NY.  His primary focus with East Asian medicine is stress, pain management, diabetic complications, and treating chemotherapy side-effects. 

                       By: Billy Shonez Singh, MS, L.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

                                 http://www.zenohs.com ©2009

Reading the title of this new article, you are probably thinking, "How is that possible?"  By treating something as simple as back pain with acupuncture and Chinese medicine, you are taking a preventative measure against cancer.  It may sound unlikely, or even impossible; but on the contrary, it's quite feasible.

            It all starts with an injury.  Let us say a 25-year-old man gets into a 30-mile-per-hour car accident.  He survived the accident and now has minor upper and lower back pain due to the concussive force of the crash.  Over time, the pain comes and goes but the concussive force remains, therefore leading to impeded blood flow to the connective tissues and muscles.  In a great amount of time, impeded blood flow in this case leads to lack of oxygen to the surrounding tissues, which is known as ischemia.  Ischemia leads to another process known as cell death, because no oxygenated blood is going to the tissues.  Eventually, the severity of cell death turns into necrosis because cell death has now spread into other tissues surrounding those affected by the concussive force. Over time, the surrounding necrotized tissues go into a cellular process known as cytotoxicity, which is much more severe than necrosis.  Toxins build up in the surrounding and localized muscle tissue, which later leads to cancer, which spreads into tissues.  How many times have you heard about people dying of cancer, despite the fact that they did not have cancer in their family health history? 

            A perfect real-life example of this theory is the case of Sosai Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama.  He was born in 1923 and was the founder of Kyokushin karate.  He trained under harsh environments and conditioned his hands, legs and feet by striking rocks and trees.  He challenged 300 fighters in Japan and fought all of them in a three-day kumite (which in Japanese means "free fight").  In short, he pushed himself beyond the limits of human endurance.  Yet despite his physical and spiritual strength, he died in 1994 of lung cancer as a non-smoker.  Now this is where the theory of concussive force comes into play.  As a fighter in his time, martial artists did not have protective equipment to shield their bodies as we do now.  When you are fighting the way Masutatsu Oyama did, most of the concussive force coming to your body comes from your opponent's strikes to your ribs, among other body parts like the head, groin and stomach.  Despite his physical strength, he was taking concussive force to his body (in his case, specifically the rib cage), which resulted in ischemic tissues, which over time resulted in his lung cancer.

            Chinese medical practices like Gua Sha can help treat musculoskeletal problems before they can eventually turn into potentially life-threatening issues.  Gua Sha is a modality that incorporates the use of a Chinese soup spoon, or any other hard device, to scrape the surface of the skin until there is bruising and redness.  It can be used as a stand-alone treatment or it can be used with one's acupuncture treatment.  The theory behind scraping the surface of the skin until it is very red is to bring up any stagnated blood and toxins to the surface of the skin.  The stagnated blood and toxins that have been built up cause pain and eventually lead to other problems at a cellular level.  Since there is bruising involved, capillaries are destroyed and allowed to regenerate, thus bringing in a fresh supply of nutrients and oxygenated blood to the connective tissues of the body that have been affected by injuries involving concussive force.  The bruising and redness that occurs fade away within four to five days.  If you want to see this technique done in action go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOF9kvjDPsk.

Billy Shonez Singh is a licensed acupuncturist and a board certified Chinese herbalist by the NCCAOM).  He is currently practicing in Commack, NY.  His primary focus with East Asian medicine is stress, pain management, diabetic complications, and treating chemotherapy side-effects.