The following is a recent case study from my clinic showcasing the often dramatic positive results of acupuncture for acute health challenges. This patient is a 44-year-old female suffering from acute eye inflammation with concomitant eye pain with headache. Both eyes were close to swollen shut, red and inflamed, and painful. No predictable allergic reactions were present and the condition presented upon waking. Upon visit to her allopathic physician, after examination, the patient was given the diagnosis of “unknown viral infection” and prescribed steroid eye drops.
Examination
Upon examination in my clinic, the patient revealed no other significant subjective symptoms. Digestion, sleep, appetite, and overall energy were unaffected and all normal by her standards. The patient’s eyes were extremely red, swollen and painful, and she described her vision as cloudy. She also complained of a general headache due to the eye pain, and stated that placing a warm compress over her eyes provided minor pain relief. Her tongue was extremely red with a thin yellow coating and significantly swollen purple sublingual veins; pulse was rapid and wiry.
Diagnosis
With no complicating factors outside of acute eye inflammation with eye pain, I diagnosed the pattern of potential wind invasion in the liver meridian with underlying blood stasis with liver qi stagnation with depressive heat. The significantly swollen purple sublingual veins and pain relieved by application of heat are important, often-overlooked signs of underlying blood stasis.
Acupoint Prescription
Based on the pattern presentation, the following acupuncture point prescription was administered: LI 4 + GB 37 + Liv 3 + GB 14 + SJ 23 + SI 6.
LI 4, the yuan source point of the large intestine channel, regulates the defensive qi, expels wind, releases the exterior, regulates the face / eyes, activates the channel, and alleviates pain. GB 37, the luo connecting point of the gallbladder channel, dispels wind-damp, activates the channel, alleviates pain, and benefits the eyes.
Liv 3, the shu-stream / yuan source point of the liver channel, courses the liver qi, subdues liver yang and extinguishes wind, nourishes liver blood, and clears the head / eyes. GB 14, the meeting point of the gallbladder with the yang linking vessel and the sanjiao, stomach, and large intestine channels, eliminates wind, benefits the eyes / head, and alleviates pain.
SJ 23 eliminates wind, benefits the eyes, and stops pain. SI 6, the xi-cleft point of the Small Intestine channel, activates the channel, alleviates pain, moderates acute conditions, benefits the shoulder / arm, and benefits the eyes.
Outcome / Discussion
After the first acupuncture session with the aforementioned point prescription, there was a dramatic improvement. Within 20 minutes after the first acupuncture treatment, the redness and swelling were reduced by at least 50 percent and the eye pain / headache were slightly reduced in intensity. Cloudy vision was unchanged.
I instructed the patient to rest that evening and place a warm compress over the eyes. Another acupuncture session was administered the following day with the same formula. Within four hours after the second acupuncture session, the redness and inflammation were completely resolved, head and eye pain were resolved, and cloudy vision was resolved.
This case is an exceptional example of the often shockingly effective clinical result of acupuncture. Not all cases resolve in two to three days; however, it is important to make note of cases in which acupuncture can provide such unique results. This acupuncture point prescription combines distal and local points, points for acute scenarios, points for pain, and points specific to channels / organs involved. In particular, SI 6 is one of my favorite points for eye conditions and acute presentations of pain.
I hope this short case study inspires clinicians to have faith in the inspiring efficacy of acupuncture to solve challenging and often unexplainable medical challenges.
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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