Painful scoliosis patient soothed and restored health with Chinese medicine
Due to an accidental injury not completely cured when young, patient suffered from excruciating pain in her old age. The female patient of this medical case was also a new friend of mine. She came to me to seek treatment in 2013 when she was 61 years old. When she was 18, she lost her footing when she skied and fell off the hill from a height of 40 feet. Her injured spine continued to grow under uneven pressure for a long time and had deformed into an S shape. The spine is protruding to the left, and a muscle was swollen in the lower part of her chest and back. It had been fine until half a year ago when she began to feel pain in the injured area, which affected her walking. At that time, we traveled to Alishan, Taiwan together. As we climbed up and down the mountains more, the pain in the affected area recurred, so much that she could not stand or walk. It was fortunate that I was with her. I used my energy (qi) to open up her blocked meridian first and the pain was greatly relieved. After that, she bought a lumbar belt from a pharmacy to put on, which relieved some of her pain, so she could go on a plane to fly back to Hong Kong. The day after she returned to Hong Kong, she came to my clinic for treatment immediately.
The patient was thin with a dull complexion and deep wrinkles on her forehead. When she walked, she leaned to one side with a distorted posture. She had ovarian cysts, which were surgically removed. In my opinion, apart from scoliosis, she must have bumped her head, resulting in accumulated stasis in her brain. Due to unbalanced growth of her body, there should be more stasis in her left brain. There were also problems in her first and fifth vertebra. If the protruded part of her body was not treated early, coupled with her weak heart, it would evolve into a variety of symptoms, such as multiple sclerosis. To sum up her symptoms: the patient’s complexion was dull as her heart was weak and the blood failed to reach her brain. In addition, her liver and kidneys might also be poor, she had insufficient sclerotin, and muscle and tendon problems. Fortunately, she had been doing yoga exercise and meditation, so she maintained a healthy mind without depression. People with weak hearts and brain stasis usually suffer from depression. I first observed how she walked. Her movements were slow, dragging her legs a little. Her blood pressure was normal. Her palms were very warm, but her body always felt cold.
Pain relieved with blood flowing into her brain
Shortly after she started drinking the medicine, she felt heat in her body. There was heat flowing along her spine reaching up to her brain. It then hovered in the back and the top of her head for about half an hour. In addition, heat also reached the pain spot on her spine, moving up and down, as if opening up the meridian. Soon, her pain was relieved by 70% and the protruded muscle on the left of her lower back gradually flattened. When she walked, she felt much more relaxed. There was still some pain in her muscles on the right, probably the medicine had not reached that part of the meridian and it was still blocked. The patient said that her heart seemed to have been “opened”, which is a sign of blood stasis being discharged. When she woke up in the morning, her eyes were stuck with excrement. It was very thick and she couldn’t even open her eyes. I explained to her that these excrements were toxins from her major organs, which were excreted through her lacrimal gland after reaching the back of her brain. After a while when a large amount of toxins was excreted, things would return to normal. The secretion of tears would be restored, and her eyes would be moisturized. Her defecation was smoother than before, even spurted, indicating a large amount of liver toxin flowed into the intestine through the portal vein and was excreted through her stool.
During the first follow-up visit, the patient told me that she had extraordinary powers that she could see through the inside of her body and feel there was viscous fluid flowing in her ventricle. I thought that was the large amount of embolism in her ventricle mainly caused by her cardiac muscle problem. The inflow and outflow of blood in and from her atrium and ventricle were uneven. Blood that did not flow out stayed in the apex of her ventricle, forming a thick blood stasis. The blood stasis would occasionally go up to her brain along with the blood flow, blocking her blood vessels, causing ischemic stroke. In addition, if the blood tissue that died from a lack of oxygen remained in the ventricle, it would cause uneven heartbeat, resulting in atrial fibrillation and arrhythmia. As the effect of the medicine had not yet reached the pain spot on her right femur, she still felt some inflexibility while walking. The skin on her front chest and upper back was rough with black spots. Looking closely, I thought they should be marks from eczema after recovery. As such, there should be a lot of toxins in her liver (she once told me that she liked sashimi and sushi very much) to have eczema. I asked her to expect that her eczema would recur when her liver toxins started to be discharged in later days.
About a week later, everything was normal. The patient was energetic. Her back was no longer painful when she walked. During sleep, she could hear her heartbeat, her whole body was hot, and she sweated, which was very stinky. The excretion from her eyes reduced and her vision became clear. She called and told me excitedly that her physical fitness had improved a lot. After drinking the medicine, she felt heat flowing up to her brain, which automatically entered the blocked area in the body to open up the meridian. Soon after she switched to a new prescription, her health improved significantly. When she looked into the mirror in the bathroom in the morning, she found her complexion rosy and her skin smooth, which made her very happy. She used to have urine extravasation problem before, but now her urination was strong in large amount. She had no more nocturnal enuresis and could sleep till dawn. Another piece of good news was that when she went to the gym for Latin dance, she changed from being stiff and having difficulty with the movements two weeks ago, to having agile waist and legs. Her steps were light and her body could turn flexibly. Compared with before, she had been completely transformed into another person. Recently, she went to Mong Kok to shop for materials for moving renovation with the contractor. After walking for four or five hours, she still didn’t feel tired. Her physical strength had significantly improved after taking the medicine. The pain in her back had also greatly reduced and no longer affected her walking.
Wrinkles on forehead gradually faded
At the second follow-up visit, she was energetic with a smile on her face. The wrinkles on her forehead reduced as the medicine and exercises had revitalized her blood flow. When walking, she reminded herself to straighten her spine. Over time, I believed her walking posture could be improved. The urine she brought in this time was purple-red, almost black, indicating that in addition to accumulated blood stasis in her heart, there was also stagnant blood and toxins in her liver. The rest of her urine was light orange-brown with white fat on the surface, which was excreted from her fatty liver. Later, she called and reported that one morning when she went for exercise in Hong Kong Park near her home. She sat on a bench to enjoy the natural scenery and she felt her vision wider and brighter. The strange thing was that the pain in her knees had completely disappeared. Her left and right femurs felt balanced when she walked. Her sciatica was relieved a lot. When participating in social dance activities, she could dance Tango, feeling her body more flexible and controllable.
During the detoxification of her liver, her body had some special reactions, such as the spurt of loose stool, itchy skin, and, as I said, the recurrence of eczema, which were all normal detoxification reactions. At the third follow-up visit, everything was fine after she took the medicine. She slept well and sweated every night. She still felt blood rushing to her brain. The pain in her knees had disappeared, but she still felt a bit tired. I told her despite the removal of accumulated stasis, her nerves had not yet recovered. It would take a while for blood circulation to improve before it fully returned to normal. Two bottles of her urine were orange and the rest were light orange. Two bottles had fat excreted from her liver on the surface and also some cholesterol deposits. The patient said she walked much faster and felt her spine continued to be corrected and straightened.
After shifting to a new prescription, the patient had different reactions. After drinking the medicine, she looked through her body and saw red and blue current going straight up to the top of her head and then hovered there. At the fourth follow-up visit, due to the drizzles and humidity those days, she felt very uncomfortable at the right of her pelvis, and even had some pain in her femoral joint, which should be related to the weather. Her bone usually ached all over her body during rainy days that she needed to take painkillers in the past, but this time there was no need, showing that the pain in her right femoral joint had improved a lot. The patient said that this time, her head seemed to be tied by a loop, which made her very uncomfortable. I said that this was caused by her weak heart. A lack of blood supply to her brain led to a lack of oxygen, so her complexion was still dark and dull without brightness.
Flexible body and sharp senses
The patient’s health gradually improved and she was cheerful. She was no longer bothered by the pain. The pain in her left body, left foot and left knee had disappeared. Her whole body felt relaxed, without the restlessness before which affected her mood. There was still mild pain between her right pelvis and femur, but the condition continued to improve. She walked better and better and her body no longer leaned to one side. There was no stiffness and she could turn her body flexibly and walk around. The patient said happily that her mind was also clearer than before with sharper senses. When asked if she still felt hot air going up to her head after drinking medicine, she answered yes and that it would travel and reach different body parts.
Since I had to return to the United States to visit my relatives, I gave the patient two prescriptions. After a month, she came back for a follow-up visit and her physical conditions improved a lot. The sciatica in both her buttocks had disappeared, except for some discomfort after walking too much. The patient pointed out that her muscles in the scoliosis-affected area began to relax without feeling tension. The whole body felt straightened. Three bottles of urine she brought in were purple-red, and many bottles were dark orange-brown, light orange-brown and light yellow-green, etc., indicating that a large amount of stasis and toxins were still being discharged from her heart and liver.
In the middle of the treatment, the patient had completely forgotten about the back pain problem when she walked. She felt her spine much straighter, and joint pain in her limbs had disappeared. Compared with the last trip to Taichung, her physical condition had become totally different. The eczema on her chest and back had reduced and was no longer itchy. In the past, when she was weak, she wore thick clothes to keep warm even during summer, but this time when she came to my clinic for follow-up consultation, she only wore short-sleeve thin clothes and did not worry about the air-conditioning. Her hands and feet were still warm. Her appetite was good and her defecation was normal. The patient stated that she felt her muscles firmer than before and she became sharper when observing others carefully.
During the treatment, the patient travelled to Taiwan again. She walked a lot without physical problems or recurrence of pain. She often felt hot at the tail of her spine, which should had been caused by the opening up of her governor vessel. Her whole body was full of positive energy, which even influenced her family. Later, she went to Japan again, but this time she developed back pain, which might be related to the radiation pollution of local water and food. I said radiation would cause swollen lymph easily and also pain all over the body.
Towards the end of the treatment, her illnesses had generally been cured and her energy level was very good. Since there was no one to cook the medicine for her, she had to stop the treatment. I also agreed. I especially instructed her to be careful with her diet to avoid damaging her liver. The patient was first diagnosed on 8 March 2013 and the treatment ended on 21 February 2014, spanning about one year with a total of 41 consultations.
This article was written by Dr. Sik-Kee Au
June 13, 2017
For enquiries, please email to sikkeeau@gmail.com
Medical case number: 130308