Tuesday 28 November 2023

TCM treat Cirrhosis (Liver Hardening) with Herbal Medicine


TCM treat Cirrhosis (Liver Hardening) with Herbal Medicine  

中医治疗肝硬化

Clinically, we do have patients telling us that when they go for their blood test, the blood test showed that they have fibrosis or cirrhosis. 

Fibrosis describes some degrees of scarring in the liver, while cirrhosis is referring to the most severe of scarring and the chance of complications of liver disease is higher. 

Liver fibrosis has an insidious onset, slowly progressing over many years and typically taking over 20 years to develop into liver cirrhosis. Some may not realize that they have liver fibrosis until they go for medical check-up. Rapid progression over a few years to liver cirrhosis can also occur in some cases. 

Some may wonder how they have liver fibrosis, however, genetic as well as environmental factors can be the cause of liver fibrosis.  But TCM views that unhealthy food can also contribute to liver fibrosis.

Our clinics have seen many cases of Cirrhosis cases, there are many cases where their cirrhosis was mild, and they were asked to do regular exercise by their western doctor, but usually no medicine was prescribed for them. There were quite a numbers of patients who told us that they did not want to wait till her cirrhosis became serious and wished to get some treatment from us to prevent her liver from deteriorating further.  With our medicine, they could see that their cirrhosis is better. 

There were also many advance cirrhosis cases who came to seek treatment from us, usually they were diagnosed to have liver cancer.  Their symptoms are weakness and tiredness, loss of appetite, easily feel nausea and vomiting, weight loss and muscle tenderness or pain around the liver area.  Some may have big stomach and could see some crochet veins or tiny red lines (blood capillaries) on the skin.  They may also have yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice) and itchy skin.


Traditional Chinese Medicine is not that we can treat everything.  Basically, we treat based on symptoms 辨证论治Syndrome differentiation and treatmentFor example, if the patient has poor appetite, we can prescribe 麦芽 谷芽to increase his appetite; If he feels nausea and vomiting, we can give 旋复花, 代赭石, 炒竹茹 If he cannot pass motion, we can give 大黄素,if he feels very tired, we can give him 党参, 黄芪, 人参 etc. TCM makes sure that he can eat, he can digest his food and he can pass motion.  Also we can also help him to be more relax and not to be too worried and can sleep better.  


Of course, we can also add some medicine to reduce the hardening of his liver, and nourish his blood and enhance blood circulation. There are a lot of TCM herbs that have anti-cancer property. TCM herbs also help him to have enough energy to do his daily activities such as exercise, cooking, bathing, eating, and so on.


He may not be able to get well with his liver cirrhosis but in some ways  he may be able to prevent further deterioration.

 

The symptoms of liver cirrhosis:

1) Itchy skin;
2) Jaundice (yellowish eyes and skin);
3) Loss of weight and loss of appetite;
4) Fluid build up in the abdomen (ascites);
5) Nausea;
6) Sleeping difficulties;
7) Swelling of legs (oedema);
8) Lethargic;
9) Vomiting blood;
11) Red spider-looking spots on your chest and back (spider angiomas);
10) Confusion in severe cases.

Tuesday 17 October 2023

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) Skin Diseases

One Indian lady 46 years old came to our clinic in Eastern Healing (Telok Blangah) to consult us for her Hidradenitis Suppurativa.  She said she had Hidradenitis Suppurativa for almost 20 years. She said that she was suffering pain all the time when she walked or she touched the lesions, the the pain was very bad, but if she did not touch them, she was fine and had no pain.

She had a few surgery operations before.  A few years ago, she had operation on her arm-pits, After the operation to remove the Hidradenitis Suppurativa on her arm-pits, it never occured again. Unfortunately, her Hidradenitis Suppurativa spread to her upper thigh near her private parts, that made her difficult to walk and felt pain whenever it touched on her lesions. So, in order to avoid pain, she wore a short pant so that it would brush on her lesions when she walked. 

She went for two operations to remove her Hidradenitis Suppurativa lesions on her thigh. The surgent had to cut away the lesions and grafted a new skin taken from her buttock to patch up on the wounds. 

She said that after 2-3 years new Hidradenitis Suppurativa would start to grow again and she had now no more skin to be grafted.  So she came to see us in our clinic, looking for a way to cure her Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

When she came she was in pain, her Hidradenitis Suppurativa on her upper thigh was big and inflamed and a bit swollen.  We administered acupuncture on her and gave her herbal wash and medication to reduce her inflammation.  She came back and told us that it worked on her, the pus came out from her Hidradenitis Suppurativa and the lesions were smaller, and she had less pain.  We told her that she had to refrain from taking spicy food and toxic food like prawn heads, shrimps, squids and clams.



Saturday 7 October 2023

Other Important Clinical Cases

 DRY EYES

Dry eyes can occur when you are unable to produce enough tear fluid to lubricate your eyeballs. Many people when they are old, they have mild dry eyes.  But there are cases that they suffer from very serious dry eyes that causes them to be very uncomfortable.  Dry eyes can be very frustrating as you will lose all your interest in everything because you will experience very bad mood.  There was a woman who had very bad dry eyes came to our clinic and complained of dry eyes.

She told us her story that she was asked to go to Gleneagles Hospital to delivery her fourth child. The gynecologist suggested that she should opt for induced delivery because her vagina was slightly opened.  She was young did not know that that was her fourth child, the delivery should be easy.  Not suspecting that the gynae wanted to do delivery in the daytime, also he could earn more money. 

She checked into the hospital at 8 am, he gave her medicine to take and to chew in her month.  The baby did not come.  She was given Epidural to reduce her pain. The anesthesian was anxious to go home and the baby still was not ready to come at 5pm. So she was told to have a second to-up of Epidural and the anesthesian went home.  After the second dose of Epidural, she felt numb and she felt very cold, her womb was numb that there was no contraction. She was also semi-conscious.  And because there was no contraction, the womb cannot push the baby out.  The doctor was nervous, and she could hear the nurses were calling her to push the baby out. Eventually the baby managed to come out.  Everyone was relieved for the time being.  Then she was sent to her ward.  She was happy that she had another son. Her husband also never suspected anything would go wrong and went home happily at around 8pm.  At about 11pm, the nurse on duty watched over her, and realize that she was bleeding. The nurse alerted the gynae, but he was too tired to come over.  Until the nurse called him to tell him that the bleeding did not stop.  He came eventually at around 3am to do a cauterization, and to give her blood transfusion urgently. She said that it was the blood transfusion that caused blood clots in her eyes that she subsequently had very bad dry eyes. She suspected that the blood transfusion was not properly defrosted due to the urgency.

After the episode, she had very bad dry eye, she suspected that it was caused by the un-defrosted blood transfusion.  She said that her dry eyes were so bad that she wanted to close her eyes most of the time and could not read small words.  Her mode was so bad that she could not attend to her new-borne child. To her the experience was a nightmare to her. She said that she was so sad that she wanted to commit suicide.

On recommendation, she came to our clinic, she was given acupuncture for the first time.  She could feel that the tear was flowing down on her eyes and did feel less dry of her eyes.  She marveled at the miracle of acupuncture. She came for acupuncture every week and took medication as well.  She said she was happy that her dry eyes had recovered about 95%. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MYOPIA

Myopia, commonly known as short-sightedness, has remained one of the biggest public health challenges in Singapore, which has very high myopia rates. Myopia typically begins in early childhood and progresses during childhood.  Myopia typically begins in early childhood and progresses during childhood.

Based on unpublished data from routine vision screening done by the School Health Service, the prevalence of defective vision amounting to unaided visual acuity of 6/12 or worse among Primary 1 students was 33% in the year 2000, prior to the inception of the National Myopia Prevention Programme, 65% of Singapore students suffered from myopia by the age of 12 years. Among these 12-year-old students, the prevalence of severe defective vision (i.e. unaided visual acuity worse than 6/60) was 13% (unpublished data).

We have a few numbers of parents who care about their children’s eyesight, brought their young children to come for acupuncture and eye massage.  Most of them have short-sightedness, some of them have high myopia.  One of the mothers who has only one daughter was so caring that she refused to allow her daughter to read story books, instead she will read to her every night.  She brought her daughter fortnightly to do acupuncture.  Whenever they came, after the acupuncture, the mother will sit by her bed side to read story books to her, this went on for three long years.  The feedback the mother gave was her high myopia was slightly decrease (usually, the myopia would jump every 3 months by 100 degrees).

Acupuncture and regular massage of one’s eyes can really prevent further increase in a person’s eyesight.  Usually, children who are willing to do massage can be as early as 6 years old.  But for acupuncture, only when they are 8 years old and on the parents’ persuasion, then they will be willing to do acupuncture.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SQUINT EYES

Here are some of the pictures of squint eyes:



Some websites suggest surgery to correct the squint eyes.

Good news, we acupuncturists are able to correct their squint eyes, only less than ten sessions of acupuncture will be able to see some good effects.

We have done acupuncture for young kids and adults who suffer from squint eyes.  Depends on cases to cases some of them without serious eye diseases, usually takes about less than ten sessions of acupuncture to see some good results.

The reasons are that the eye balls are controlled by 6 ligaments, we adjust the tension of ligaments, the squint eyes can be rectified.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following are some of pictures taken during Dr. Ong post graduate days in Nanjing University of Traditional Medicine. Jiangsu Province Hospital is the subsidiary of Nanjing University of Traditional Medicine.







------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GLAUCOMA  青光眼




Operation of Glaucoma


Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye(s) and sometimes leads to blindness if untreated.
In Singapore, TCM physicians treat glaucoma with acupuncture and Chinese herbal Medicine.  It is to enhance circulation, expel excess fluid, nourish the eyes etc. In many cases, it helps to maintain glaucoma from deteriorating further. I have seen a patient, a young man age 26, who told me that he went through more than ten rounds of laser and ended up losing his eye sight. He wondered whether his blindness was due to too many times of laser.

青光眼属严重眼疾,预后不佳。正常人眼压不应高过21 mmHg。中医认为青光眼的病因是肝经实热、肝郁气逆、阴虚火旺或其他兼症如高血压,糖尿病导致。
急性青光眼(闭角型青光眼), 患者会感觉眼睛剧痛, 眼压突然升高,非常不舒服, 必须马上到医院治疗。慢性青光眼(开角型青光眼) 也可根据病情, 眼压是否受到控制的情况, 尽早寻求治疗。除西医手术治疗外, 中医中药也是一种的辅助治疗。
        在新加坡,中医治疗青光眼主要以针灸与中药治疗。 中医以活血化瘀,健脾利水之法或辨证论治方法来治疗青光眼。重点是改善青光眼视盘血供, 减少房水生成或促进视神经细胞代谢等功效。中国有很多大学研究与论文发表提示通过针灸与中药治疗,在一定程度上可缓解病情,达到协同治疗作用,优于单用西药。

Glaucoma can be divided roughly into two main categories:

  1. “Closed angle” glaucoma 闭角型青光眼—Closed angle glaucoma can appear suddenly and is often painful.  If it is untreated it can lead to visual loss. One must seek medical attention immediately before permanent damage occurs.
  2. “Open angle” glaucoma 开角型青光眼--- Open angle glaucoma tends to progress at a slower rate and patients may not notice they have lost vision until the disease has progressed significantly. Very often raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma (intraocular pressure above 21 mmHg is considered as high 眼压高).


GLAUCOMA 青光眼的问答
:
1) 有个私人问题想请教。我的叔叔患有青光眼,医生说已很严重,需要动手术。请问手术后,他应该做什么,尽快帮助眼睛康复呢?手术成功的话,是否表示他就不会变盲呢?
2) 请问手术后,他应该做什么,尽快帮助眼睛康复呢?
3) 手术成功的话,是否表示他就不会变盲呢?

:
1) 你的叔叔有青光眼,医生认为已很严重必须手术。手术的选择通常是眼压继续不降(不能通过外滴眼药水而达到眼压下降。手术治疗通常是建立一条人工引流通路,使房水流通,眼压就不会增高。
2) 手术后多休息,少用眼神最好暂时别做剧烈或低头的运动,眼睛的伤口会慢慢康复。伤口康复以及病情稳定后,可以进行针灸治疗及吃一些中药,使视神经受损或视野缺损的程度改善。
3) 手术成功的话,临床观察,病人一般不会盲。根据本人的经验青光眼的病人若激光治疗次数超过10次以上通常会盲。


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Retinitis Pigmentosa (Night Blindness)




From our clinical experience, these people suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa (commonly known as Night Blindness or RP), Age-related Macula Degeneration, Maculopathy, Retinopathy, Optic Nerve Atrophy etc do see improvement after seeking TCM treatment in our clinic. Especially, after acupuncture, they find that they see things brighter and sharper.  Some of them also find that their eyes are less itchy.  Many of them found that their vision improved and also their eye deterioration was slower.  Traditional Chinese Medicine can help to nourish the eye balls, enhance eye circulation, prevent deterioration of photo-receptors, improve general organ functions, prevent stagnation of water flow, improve "qi" flow, hence improve better vision and maintenance of eye ball health condition.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Address of our three clinics:

(1) Yong Kang Medical Hall Pte Ltd.,

Blk 78A, Telok Blangah St 32, #01-05, Singapore 101078.

Tel 9663 5600 (for appointments) 6272 6400

Email: ong.swee.ling@gmail.com

Email: yongkangmedicalhall@gmail.com

Website: drongsweeling.blogspot.com



(2) Eastern Healing TCM Clinic Pte Ltd.,

Blk 345, Clementi Ave 5, #01-88, Singapore 120345.

Tel: 9299 9168 (for appointments) , 6276 6872

Email: ong.swee.ling@gmail.com

Website: drongsweeling.blogspot.com


(3) Eastern HealingTCM Clinic (Telok Blangah) Pte Ltd

          Blk 46, #01-85, Telok Blangah Drive, 

         Singapore 100046.

         Tel: 6957 3033,

         HP: 8125 5212

         Email: ong.swee.ling@gmail.com

         Website: drongsweeling.blogspot.com

......................................................................................................................

Please note::
Please do not put up any comments that are of commercial or of advertising nature or link to another website. Such comments will be deleted.


All photos on this blog are copyrighted material and all rights are reserved
...................................................................................................

Thursday 9 March 2023

Chinese Tonic Herbs Medicine during Confinement 中医坐月子产后调理

 

Chinese Tonic Herbs Medicine during Confinement  坐月子产后调理

 

“Confinement Prescriptions” are customized for your need during your confinement.


In olden days, it is important for women to condition their physique during their confinement period, and menopausal period.”

The maternal body will undergo drastic change in the physical structure in order to nurture the fetus during their pregnancy.

Women health is weak when they undergo natural birth.  They can feel weak in Qi and Blood气血.  Therefore it is time to give them tonic during the 30~40 days of confinement period so the maternal body can recovery and restore to a good healthy conditions. 

The lack of proper conditioning during their confinement period may lead to  potential problems in your body in the next pregnancy and future menopausal period.

Some people may take ginseng 泡参,人参 which is not recommended.

Hence, we recommend you come to our clinics where our Singapore qualified TCM physicians will customize and prescribe TCM herbal medicine for your confinement period. After the natural birth, for the first week, we need to expel the lochia 恶露(Lochia is the vaginal discharge you have after giving birth) from your body  After that we will prescribe herbal medicine tonic to nourish your body, strengthening your Qi and Blood 气血 for the next 30 days. 

Menopausal period

Some women may experience discomfort such as hot flushes, palpitations, agitation, bad mood, depression during their menopausal periods.  Our team of physicians are trained to prescribe herbal medicine for woman during their menopausal period.

Restriction of food during confinement period

·         Avoid cold and cooling food such as

Ice-cream, gassy drinks, cold drinks, watermelon, coconut,        

cucumber, bitter gourd, winter gourd, Chinese cabbage and kelp.

·         Avoid roasted, deep-fried, spicy, coffee, curry and chili.

·         Eat less acidic food such as preserved plum and pickled food,

·         Avoid prawn, scrabs, squids, shrimps

·         In 7 days after postpartum and if the wound is swelling and aching, do not eat food prepared in sesame oil and wine.

·         Do not eat ginseng.


  

This lady gave birth to a lovely child after taking TCM medicine and also taking tonic herbs to nourish herself during her confinement period



Monday 7 November 2022

TCM Treat Hypertension and Diabetes with good results

Hypertension 高血压

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Having blood pressure measures consistently above normal may result in high blood pressure

Blood pressure numbers of less than 120/80 mm Hg are considered within the normal range.

Hypertension is when blood pressure consistently ranges at 140/90 mm Hg or higher. At this stage of high blood pressure, doctors are likely to prescribe a combination of blood pressure medications and lifestyle changes.

Dr. Ong Swee Ling have been working in Tan Tock Seng Hospital as an acupuncturist before she started my own clinics.  She has seen so many stroke patients in the Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital.  Most of them had a history of hypertension.

We have many patients who came to see us in our three clinics for hypertension problems.  Most of them were taking hypertension medicine every day. But some of them find that even with hypertension medicine, their blood pressure is still unstable, it is usually above 140/90 or even higher.  Some of them are taking 2-5 types of hypertension medicine and the blood pressure still cannot be controlled.  These people will usually come to see us. 

We have patients telling us that even while taking hypertension medicine, they still have giddiness, fainting spell, face turning red 满脸透红, anxiety etc. They told us that they are taking hypertension medicine every day, and they feel that something is not right with them, they usually would request us to regulate their body in order to stay healthy and prevent stroke.  TCM can help in circulation of the blood vessel and nourish the blood, clearing blood clots as well as diluting the blood in the vessels.

Many of our physicians Cassandra, Teo Seow Huang and Yeo Li Li are good in treating hypertension.

 

Diabetes 糖尿病

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects your body. We eat food every day and require energy to carry out our daily work.

Our body breaks down most of the food we eat and turn into glucose and releases it into our bloodstream. Our pancreas release Insulin to let the blood sugar goes into your body’s cells to use as energy.  

With diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such  as heart disease, vision loss and kidney disease.

Generally by losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active can really help. Other things you can do to help.  Diabetes is the No. 1 cause of kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and adult blindness.

There are three main types of diabetes: type1, type 2 and gestational diabetes (diabetes while pregnant).

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). This reaction stops your body from making insulin. Approximately 5-10% of the people who have diabetes have type 1. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes often develop quickly. It’s usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin every day to survive. Currently, no one knows how to prevent type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes

With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2.

Of course, eating healthy food and exercise should help. But many people while taking western medicine may still have other problems such as stomach bloatedness, indigestion, fatigue, insomnia etc. TCM can help in maintaining body “Ying” and “Yang”. We regulate your body condition, expel dampness (湿气), (祛湿热) promote generate health,  especially in Singapore weather where the humidity is high. 

Clinically, we see many patients have dampness in their body, 脾胃蕴湿。  Many of them have skin rashes, eczema, bloatedness, giddiness, vertigo etcWe can advise them what to eat, what not to eat. 

We have people coming to see us regularly to do acupuncture to maintain their health well-being.  We are also glad to see many Indians coming to see us in our three clinics as many of them believe in natural herbal medicine because in Indian they have ayurveda medicine as well.

Our physician Dr. Wong Wai Fond specializes in diabetes.  Her master degree thesis was on acupuncture and her doctorate degree was on diabetes.  

Our physician Chang Lee Sien specializes in acupuncture for diabetes as well. She has worked in our clinic since 2008 and has a lot of followers.  She has many patients who come to her for acupuncture treatment especially diabetes patients.


Saturday 9 April 2022

Parkinson’s Disease, Trigeminal neuralgia, Epilepsy, Depression

Parkinsons Disease 帕金森, Trigeminal neuralgia三叉神经痛,
Epilepsy癫痫, Depression 忧郁症



Parkinsons Disease 帕金森病

Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic and progressive movement disorder that initially causes tremor in one hand, stiffness or slowing of movement.  It usually affects people older than 60 years old.  It left untreated it can last several years or may be lifelong. Patients with parkinsonism have a reduced life expectancy compared to matched controls. Early signs of Parkinson’s disease may be mild. Symptoms often begin on one side of the body and usually get worse on the same side.  Signs and symptoms may include tremors, trembling of hands, arms, legs, slowness of movement.  Most Parkinson’s cases have trembling. Lately we have a patient aged 65 who does not have any trembling but could not walk steadily. His voice is very soft, and he is not able to raise his voice.  He wife said that he can walk around the house, but when he goes out, he needs to use the wheelchair as he cannot not walk far.

 My uncle was a western doctor and was a very successful GP.  His clinic was always packed with patients waiting to see him. When I was young, if I fell sick, my father would bring me to see him. 

Unfortunately, when he was about 75 years old, he had very severe Parkinson’s. I did not see him for many years. One day I happened to meet him, I was shocked to see that his whole body was trembling. He was a western doctor himself and obviously he could not treat himself.

We have patients who came to see us, some had mild Parkinson while others had severe Parkinson’s:

Almost every Parkinson’s patient took western medicine. The following are some cases:

-- A woman aged 72 had severe Parkinson’s Disease. When she was accompanied by her daughter, we could see that both her legs were trembling, her hands were also trembling but were milder. She told us that she felt very tired in the afternoon as her legs trembled non-stop.  She took western medicine, but her condition did not seem to improve, so she wanted to try TCM. 

-- A man aged 78, had Parkinson’s, but his condition was mild, his hands trembled and sometimes his legs also trembled. Although he had Parkinson’s, he still could play golf. His friend recommended him to come to see us. He conditions had improved a lot after acupuncture and some TCM medication.

-- A man aged 63, had mild Parkinson’s.  His right hand trembled when he held his chopsticks.  He also took western medicine to control his Parkinson. At the same time, he wanted to seek TCM to help control his condition. He faithfully came for acupuncture treatment for nine years. He is a businessman, he travels a lot and whenever he is in Singapore, he would visit our clinic for acupuncture.   He found that if he skipped acupuncture treatment for several weeks, his hand tends to tremble more.  He said if he was  excited or watched horror show, his hand would tremble more. Over the nine years, he persisted in coming for acupuncture treatments.  The treatment was a success, and his right hand does not tremble anymore, but he still comes for maintenance. He is 72 years old now.

-- A man aged 75, had mild Parkinson’s.  Whenever he wanted to walk, his legs would not cooperate with him, and he would stagger a bit before starting to walk. He too came for acupuncture and medication. After a few years, he slowly recovered and could walk normally.

Through our clinical experience, those with milder condition can get well with TCM treatments, they can prevent further deteriorations. We would say Parkinson require long time treatment.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trigeminal neuralgia三叉神经痛

Trigeminal neuralgia mostly affects only one side of a person’s face. When it occurs, the pain can be very acute. Mostly Trigeminal neuralgia affects the elderly.

We had cases where patients said they wanted to knock their face into the wall when Trigeminal neuralgia occurred.

Trigeminal neuralgia三叉神经痛 symptoms are:

-- Episodes of severe, shooting or jabbing pain that may feel like an electric shock.

-- Spontaneous attacks of pain or attacks triggered by touching the face, chewing, speaking, or brushing teeth.

-- Attacks of pain lasting from a few seconds to several minutes.

 

Picture taken from health.harvard.edu

 

Causes of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia usually occurs spontaneously but is sometimes associated with facial trauma.

The condition may be caused by a blood vessel pressing against the trigeminal nerve, also known as vascular compression.

Patients suffering from Trigeminal Neuralgia are keen to have acupuncture treatments as they find that after several treatments, their pain becomes milder, and the frequency is lessened. Many of them are not keen to take pain killers as painkillers have side effects if they are taken too often.

A man aged 68 visited our TCM clinic and complained that he suffered Trigeminal Neuralgia after a fall.

A female patient said she did not know why she had Trigeminal Neuralgia, although she complained of being highly stressed out. However, she found that acupuncture and TCM medicine eased her pain. Patients come to us for these reasons.

A man aged 69, said he has Trigeminal Neuralgia三叉神经痛 on his right face. Very often he would get sharp pains on his right face suddenly. This went on for three years. He said that he dared not open his mouth too wide. Often, sudden pain could be triggered when he brushed his teeth, washed his face, or was chewing his food. When the pain comes, he would close his eyes, hold his fists tight to bear with the pain. However, it usually lasted a few seconds to a few minutes. Sometimes, the attacks would occur several times a day.

It is advisable to take more soft food that is rich in protein such as:

milk with beaten eggs牛奶冲蛋花,

milk with Lotus root powder 牛奶冲藕粉;

Vatimin B1B2B12, cucumber, watermelon, papaya, apples and grapes.

More vegetables, fish, bean curd fruits and less meat.

 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilepsy 癫痫

Epilepsy is a central nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures or periods of unusual behaviour, sensations and sometimes loss of awareness.

The symptoms are temporary confusion, stiff muscles, uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs, loss of consciousness or awareness, a staring spell, Psychological symptoms such as fear, anxiety

Some people's seizures are brought on by certain situations. These situations or triggers can differ from person to person, but common triggers include tiredness and lack of sleep, stress, hot weather, and not taking medication.

The cause of Epilepsy can be due to a stroke, a brain tumour, a severe head injury, a lack of oxygen during birth, drug abuse, a brain infection.

Here are the cases of Epilepsy in our clinic:

A mother came with her daughter who was only  aged 13.  The mother said her daughter recently had episodes of seizures. She was worried that if the seizures happened too frequent it might affect her brain. So, on a friend’s recommendation they came.  The first she came, she was all normal, then she asked to go to the toilet, she mother accompanied her.  On her way back, she suddenly felt giddy lack of strength while the mother was holding her.  Quickly, the mother asked for help, saying that likely she was going to have a seizure. With the help from our staff, she was guided to a bed where she immediately had uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs. She was unconscious for a moment. The mother was shaking her body trying to wake her up.  Our physician immediately pressed her 人中穴soon woke up but did not what just happen. After that we did acupuncture for her.  She had several sessions of acupuncture and also took some TCM medicine, and everything went on well. Her mother told us that the seizure happened less frequent and was happy that the acupuncture sessions were helpful. 

We told her daughter not to be too stressful. She had just finished her PSLE examination. It could be the PSLE examination causes some stress on her.  We told the mother, whenever she has seizure, no need to shake her body, just press on the 人中穴.

        Picture taken fromxuewei.iiyun.com

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is also effective in treating epilepsy.  Through TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment, we use medicine and acupuncture to balance of “yin and yang”.   TCM treatment is to clear heat and detoxify, cool blood and activate blood, expel wind and remove dampness, replenish qi and nourish “yin”, enhance the body's immunity, and gradually bring the  patient's body to a healthy stage.

Traditional Chinese medicines for epilepsy are天麻,琥珀,羚羊角,麝香,柴胡,桂枝,石菖蒲,青阳参,白僵蚕,钩藤,羊痫草,珍珠母,铁胆粉,龙戟草,甘草等. These traditional Chinese medicines can strengthen the body and dispel pathogens, soothe the nerves, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, dispel dampness and dissolve phlegm. They have good curative effects. These herbs can fundamentally regulate function of body organs, alleviate epilepsy. The TCM herbs can effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier to reach its core tissue, thereby inhibiting the abnormal discharge of brain tissue cells, repairing damaged brain nerve cells, and thus controlling epilepsy.

Chinese medicine treatment of epilepsy is a long-term slow healing process, and patients need to persevere and have patience. They should also abstain from spicy and cooling stuff, must have enough sleep, go to bed early and get up early, exercise more, and avoid stressful situations.

中医治疗癫痫也是比较有效果的, 通过中医的辩证论治,能够协调机体的阴阳, 达到阴阳平衡。中医治疗以清热解毒、凉血活血、祛风除湿、益气养阴、增强机体的免疫力,使病人的身体逐渐康复

我们中药来治疗癫痫病,多采用天麻,琥珀,羚羊角,麝香,柴胡,桂枝,石菖蒲,白僵蚕,钩藤,羊痫草,珍珠母,铁胆粉,龙戟草,甘草等草药来治疗。 这些中药可以祛湿化痰, 活血化瘀, 安神镇静, 扶正祛邪 , 疗效是比较好的。利用这些药材提高脏腑的功能, 缓解改善癫痫病。通过辩证论治使药物可以有效地透过血脑的屏障, 到达其核心组织, 进而抑制住脑组织细胞的异常放电, 修复受损的脑神经细胞, 从而控制癫痫的发作

中医治疗癫痫病是一个长期慢慢调理的过程,患者需要坚持, 不要放弃。平时也要注意饮食习惯不要熬夜,  早睡早起,避免吃一些辛辣寒凉的食物, 多运动锻炼, 提高自身的抵抗力和免疫力。通过中医治疗,可以起到很好控制癫痫的发作,缓解改善癫痫病。

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Depression 忧郁症

Most of us feel sad, lonely, or depressed at times. It's a normal reaction to life's struggles, or injured self-esteem. But when these feelings become overwhelming, cause physical symptoms, and last for long periods of time, they can keep you from leading a normal, active life.

Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:
Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
Pessimism worthlessness and hopelessness
Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or sleeping too much
RestlessnessCrankiness or irritability
Loss of energy or increased fatigue
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
Overeating, or appetite loss
Aches, pains, headaches, or cramps that won't go away
Digestive problems that don't get better, even with treatment
Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings
Suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts

We have a number of patients suffering from depression. There are cases where they also had health problem.  Some of them lose their self-esteem. Some of them did not raise their head to look at us. They feel sad and depressed.  Some of them did not even want to come to see us, sort of given up in life. Some of them will cry in front of us. Some parents told us that their child wanted to commit suicide.

However, depression should not be ignored. They can be treated. For those who have illnesses must first address their health issues. When their sickness is resolved, their depression will soon disappear.

One of my patients who is a university student had eczema for 6 years.  Since then, he always wore long sleeves and long pants to cover his dried skin.  He did not play footballs he once enjoyed.  He had no girlfriend. He also said that he wanted to commit suicide. Although he had very bad skin condition, he managed to pass all his exams in the university.  When his eczema was very bad, he skipped one semester. However, he still managed to graduate.  After his graduation, he could not find jobs for two years as his eczema was on his whole body. The most obvious part was his fingers, they are broken and oozing with fluid.  When he turned up for interviews, potential employer looked at his fingers, immediately rejected him. He was so depressed that when he came to see us, he always berried his face on our table.  He only raised his head when he had to answer a question.  Eventually, he found a job in a cooking school.

He came to our clinic and was treated for his eczema and his depression.  After 6 months, he eczema recovered, and his depression also disappeared.  TCM adopt acupuncture and medication to treat Depression. They are effective!