Monday, July 1, 2013

Stories from China...boy with bells palsy



Stories from China



When I was a new graduate, my first time in China I completed my internship in the Hangzhou Shi Zhong Yi Yuan - Hangzhou Chinese Medicine Hospital. It was a fabulous experience which forever shaped my continued love of Chinese medicine.



One day a boy with bells palsy came into the acupuncture clinic. He was around 5 years old and while his parents were keen for him to have acupuncture, the boy wasn't convinced! Not only was he scared from the sudden facial paralysis that had struck his face literally overnight, he was surrounded by patients with needles poking out from all parts of their body in the acupuncture outpatient clinic of this busy hospital.



It's quite normal in china for people to be treated all together in the same room. Some are seated with needles in their shoulder and face, others lying on beds being treated for back pain etc. While everyone looked quite relaxed and taking the treatment in their stride, the boy was rightly overwhelmed by the whole experience.



Bells Palsy is a condition which causes sudden facial paralysis. In western medicine, they don't know the cause although stress and sudden blast of cold wind to the face are agreed possible causes this conditions etiology in WM remains somewhat mysterious.



In Chinese medicine, we consider Wind - the external pathogenic factor; to be a culprit in causing the sudden contraction of the muscles of the face, resulting in one-sided facial paralysis. THere is often a lot of numbness, the person can't smile or close their eye properly. There can be moderate to severe pain as well.



Back to China...the boy with this condition was coaxed onto the bed by the doctor and they chatted in Chinese for a bit while I looked on and wondered if they would just force the kid to have the treatment? ...what would be the outcome of this situation?



The doctor, was Dr Zhu and was experienced over 30 yeas in his role. As he proceeded to calm the kid down, it was clear he had treated many children before. Taking an acupuncture needle he turned it around and tapped the points on the kids' face with the handle end, asking the kid if it hurt or not (Tong Bu Tong?). For each point the kid said (Bu Tong) "no" "no" "no". The kid's crying had now stopped and he lie there quite relaxed as the doctor cleverly quickly switched the needle around, inserting each point on the boys face quickly and painlessly.



He came in every day for 10 treatments. By the third day he was starting to look better, his facial paralysis was reducing he was able to jump up on the table and didn't need any coaxing to get the rest of the treatments. The doctor had given him a great first experience which caused him to accept the rest of the treatments.





PHOTO: Doctor Zhu and myself all the way back in 2001.

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