Acid Reflux

Case1

A 55 year old woman came into the center complaining of ringing in her ears that she had incurred from a snorkeling trip in Hawaii. She had been dealing with it for the past six months and her primary care physician could not discern any problem. She described the ringing as a high pitched buzzing sound that drove her crazy, especially in quiet areas. This ringing was also the cause of her daily headaches. During the initial treatment with Dr. Song, the ringing was significantly reduced and her headaches were completely gone. After the 2nd treatment, the ringing was reduced to almost nothing and by the 3rd treatment the ringing was completely gone!

One year and a half later, she returned but with a different problem, acid reflux. For the past four months, her symptoms included stomach discomfort, sleep disruption due to the stomach upset, and headaches. She started taking Prilosec a month after the acid reflux began. The drug made her feel sick, attributing to poor appetite, burping, and a discomforted digestive tract. After her first acupuncture treatment at HolliBalance Well-being Center, she felt for the first time in four months that her digestive system was back to normal; and following a second treatment, the acid reflux was completely gone! It has not recurred since September 2007!

Case2

A 60-year-old male has been having chronic lower back pain for the past 25 years.  He was diagnosed with degenerative disks and arthritis in the lumbar vertebrae.  Every time he has to sit for a long period of time, for example, driving 4 hours from Boston to New York to see his daughter, he would suffer.  His back pain would last for up to two months after the trip.  Two weeks before coming to HolliBalance, he developed severe lower back pain and a muscle cramp.  He was experiencing sharp shooting pain in the left lower back while turning or bending the torso.  In one week he was taking another trip to New York and he was worried. 

He wanted to try acupuncture to see whether it could get him through the week and the long trip.  At the end of the very first acupuncture treatment, he could turn the torso without feeling any sharp pain!  Dr. Song taught him simple effective back exercises to help loosen the back muscles and reduce the pressure on the lumbar disks.  To further assist his pain reduction he was given pain reducing healing patches.  The acute severe back cramp, that he had just developed two weeks prior to his first visit, was completely gone after the first acupuncture treatment.  After two more acupuncture treatment, he could go on the trip to New York without stressing his back out.  This time he did not need to spend two weeks in bed recovering from the long drive.  With acupuncture treatment once a week for another three weeks, he was able to do yard work and lifting without feeling back soreness.  He has been doing a lot of physical work lately and only needs to come every two to four weeks to continue to live a back pain free life.

Along with back pain he has some problems swallowing and frequent urination.  His frequent urination is from an enlarged prostate problem.  He goes to the bathroom 2 to 3 times every night and many times during the day.  After acupuncture, his frequent urination has improved, so he doesn’t need to go to the bathroom as often and can sleep through the whole night.  He has trouble swallowing sometimes and feels things are stuck in his esophagus.  Many times he feels pressure and pain in the esophagus.  Western medicine believes that he either has acid reflux or that the valve from the stomach and esophagus does not work well.  He went through a surgical procedure to have this valve fixed. His procedure was scheduled after he had already had three acupuncture treatments.  He noticed that his chest pain was gone before he even had the procedure.  He stopped feeling most of the pain and choking sensation after acupuncture.  He had hoped that the surgical procedure would improve his condition even more; however, the surgery did not help.
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