Internal Problems cover a wide range of different problems; here I only list some common problems.

 

Cold, Flu, Cough

Chinese Medicine is extremely effective for treating Cold, Flu, Cough, and other Cold Related Problems (Lung Infection, Bronchitis, Asthma, etc.). The famous classic Chinese medicine book Shang Han-Treatiseon cold pathogenic Diseases’ which was written in 1800 is mainly discuss about Cold and it related problems. The treatment has been proven effective throughout history. I follow the same principle to treat cold and flus, it seldom failed me.

Case study: J. H, a 50 year old man, caught a cold in Christmas 2010, four weeks later the cold developed into a lung infection. He coughed a lot of green colour phlegm, and felt constantly tired. After antibiotic treatment, he temporally felt better and then the cough came back again. When he came to see me in March, he was feeling very ill, had to be signed off work for one month. I diagnosed him with wind and cold attacked lung, and prescribed him with one week herbal tea, he felt much better after one week; after one month treatment, he was completely recovered, and he was feeling more energetic and went back to work.

Note: In TCM’s view: his coughing was caused by cold element that came into his lungs then causing different symptoms; clearing the cold element out of his lungs, also cleared his symptoms.

 

IBS

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is an intestinal disorder. Stress and diet play a big role in the onset of IBS symptoms. In TCM’s view: body and mind are one; emotional stress can affect physical body. Modern food process also causes a lot of food intolerance. All of this could be decreasing the body energy, and disturbing the energy balance, then causing IBS.

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine could restore and balance the energy, to solve the root cause of problem. Once the symptoms disappear treatment can stop, when IBS has been healed using this method it is not easy come back.

 

Colitis

Case study: K. M. a 36 year old man, who suffered from colitis for 6 years. He had a bloated stomach, abdominal pain and bleeding stool. He was having bowel movement more than 10 times a day. The Colonoscopy test showed his large intestine was damaged. He had 6 months steroid treatment, but the symptoms were still there. I gave him acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatment. After two weeks, the bleeding stopped; the bloating became less and bowel movement reduced to 3 times a day. After another 6 week treatment, all the symptoms disappeared. He still wanted to carry on the acupuncture treatment for a month, so I followed him for 2 years, he was fine. Later the Colonoscopy Test show: the large intestine is normal.

Note: In Chinese Medicine theory, Colitis can caused by imbalance energy of liver, stomach, spleen. The treatment aims to balance the energy and function of liver, stomach, and spleen.

 

Bell’s palsy:

When I worked in China, Bell’s palsy was one of the most common problems people came for Acupuncture treatment, we treated it at daily basis. When I worked in UK, I rarely saw any Bell Palsy patients; I guess people here didn’t know Acupuncture is effective for Bell’s palsy.

Acupuncture has a long history in China treating Bell’s palsy; it can reduce recovery time and avoid permanent damage that is caused by Bell’s palsy (such as facial paralysis, loss of taste, eye mouth synkinesis.) I would advise Bell’s palsy patients to treat it as early as possible with Acupuncture. If you have lost the best treatment chance, and have some symptoms left, you still have the opportunity to improve your face and recover most functions back with my acupuncture treatment.

Depression

Western medicine uses antidepressant drugs to treat Depression, this type of drug can help maintain the serotonin levels in the brain, but also has side-effects, and patients need to take them all the time. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine can be a very effective alternative for those who don’t want to take drugs.

TCM views a person as a whole; body, mind and emotion is all connected and inseparable. External stress, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and sunshine, physic tiredness and other factors can cause an internal imbalance which can then develop into depression. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine can improve the energy level, maintaining the balance. So your body will be able to handle the stress better and maintain balance better in times of stress. I had been treating many cases of depression, each individual’s approach can be different, but the results are all quite positive.

 

Insomnia

In TCM’s view: Insomnia is caused by Yin and Yang lost balance. Everything has Yin and Yang; our bodies have Yin and Yang energy. Time also has Yin and Yang, day time belongs to Yang; night time belongs to Yin. In the night time, the Yang energy of the body should return to Yin area of the body, which is the deep and lower part of body.

Insomnia is the result of Yin and Yang lost the balance. I used Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine to balance the Yin and Yang, and had very good result on Insomnia.

Tinnitus

People with Tinnitus will hear noise in one ear, both eard, or in the head. The noise comes from inside, rather than outside sources.

Case 1: this is a 64 year old male, who suffered Tinnitus for 4 years. The Tinnitus started after a fire work exploded near him 4 years ago. He said when he was driving and the noise outside sounded like an aeroplane taking off. He tried varying treatments, only to find hearing masks and paracetamol can help only a little bit. I treated him first with Acupuncture and Herbs to strength Kidney energy, but the symptoms were getting worse. I then changed the method by improving the blood circulation and unlocked the blockage around the ear, he felt better straight away, after 2 month treatments, the noise in his ear disappeared.

Case 2: a 43 year old musician suffered with Tinnitus for 1 year. He played the drum in a band. When I examined him, I found a pain pressure point around his ear and neck. He also had migraines; all of these symptoms suggest he had blood staginess. I used Acupuncture and Medical Massage to improve his blood circulation, after 2 sessions, he felt much better, after a 8 session treatment, the noise in his ear disappeared.

Practitioner’s note: In both cases, the patients had been exposed to loud sound. In TCM’s view, the loud sound can block the energy flow around the ear. In western medicine’s view, the loud sound might disturb the fluid and blood’s circulation around the ear causing the hearing problem.

Although some tinnitus patients have no history of being exposed to a loud sound, most of them have symptoms of poor blood circulation and blockage around the ear. So how to solve this cause is a key to treat Tinnitus. I found Acupuncture and Acupressure are useful to treat Tinnitus.

 

Hay Fever

Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) is caused by pollen, it mainly occurs in spring and summer time when pollen levels are high. Western medicine usually uses antihistamine to relieve symptoms. In TCM’s view, Hay Fever can be caused by deficient energy in the lungs, spleen, and kidneys.

Acupuncture can stimulate our natural healing ability, and enhance the immune system. It can loosen mucus improving the circulation around the head, strengthen the spleen to dissolve phlegm, strengthen lung to make the membrane and skin more tolerant to stimulant and improve the kidneys to increase general energy.

I found Acupuncture is very effective to treat Hay fever. Some Hay Fever patients would come before Hay Fever season to have some Acupuncture; this also could help to prevent Hay Fever.

Baby Massage also called Baby TuiNa has a long history in China. It is very effective for treating most common baby illness, such as Diarrhoea, Eczema, Night Crying, Cold and Flu, Fever, etc. Baby Massage is different from western baby massages as it operates mainly on the baby’s hands and forearms. It can be used on new born babies and children up to 12 years old, the younger the age, the better the result.

 

Eczema

Case Study: A two year old baby boy with severe Eczema, the Eczema started shortly after birth. He had been using steroid cream for a long time. The Eczema was getting worse; the skin became dry, flacking, cracked, and bleeding. It was very itchy, he could not stop scratching it, and he cannot sleep well at night.

I gave him Baby Massage and after 3 sessions the skin started to heal, the itchiness reduced and sleeping was getting better. After 7 sessions of treatment, the skin became normal.

Note: Baby Eczema is an internal disorder. Although the symptom is on skin, the cause is from inside, which is imbalance of Yin and Yang energy. Baby Massage can adjust the Body’s Yin and Yang balance, solving the internal cause, and then the symptom will disappear. This is like calming down boiling water, you cannot keep pouring cold water; you have to turn off the fire.

 

Diarrhoea

This is a two year old baby girl, who had loose bowel for few months. On the first day of nursery, the nursery called her parents to pick up her early because of the diarrhoea, she wasn’t allowed to go back before the diarrhoea symptom disappeared so I gave her baby massage to strengthen her spleen energy, with only one session, her stool became formatted. She went to back nursery without any problems.

Note: baby’s digestive system was weak. Many aspect (like eating cold food; eating too much, weak digestion etc.) could upset the digestive systems, caused diarrhoea. Baby Massage is very effective to restore digestive system’s function. In the case above, after treatment, I also suggested the baby’s parents avoid giving the baby cold food, such as ice cream, cold water and milk direct from fridge.

 

Cough

A three year old baby girl with a constant dry cough for 6 months – The cough started after she caught a cold. Her coughing was worse at night and early in the morning; she also had running nose, cold fetes and hands. In TCM’s view, all these symptoms indicated her Yang energy was weak. I used baby massage to strengthen her Yang energy. After 3 sessions, the cough stopped.

Note: I had used same method successfully treated many babies with lung infection, Asthma, Flu, Cold problems. In my experience, most of the time the cause of all this problems are same, instead of using Antibiotics, to strengthen the Yang energy (the immune system) is key for the treatment.