In 2007, I had the honour to provide care for a nice elderly lady who worked long hours as a busy secretary. She explained to me that both of her wrists developed CTS due to all the typing at work.
"I don't want surgery," She said in despair, "They said that my wrists might even get worse afterward."
At the end of her first visit, she walked out of my treatment room with only a slight ache in her wrists. As for her secondary complaints (hot flashes and night sweating), I just prescribed a simple herbal patent for her.
The hot flashes and night sweating were reduced as she took the herbs consistently. However, the pain severity crept back up before our following appointment. "It's fine," I assured her, "your wrists just need time to adjust and heal; I'm expecting gradual permanent improvements as you do your stretches religiously—you are doing your stretches, right?—and come by for acupuncture once a week."
After about two months into our treatments, I noticed that her main complaints gradually shifted to upper back and shoulder stiffness and headaches. The pain in her wrists and the other issues became minor nuances. She was improving very well. Finally, on her last visit, she announced with a big smile that her wrist pains completely disappeared.
Osteoarthritis of the Knee
An elderly man in his 80s who had osteoarthritis in both knees due to a very athletic life came in for acupuncture treatments because he did not want to surgically replace his left knee. He complained of severe pain just from walking from his bed to the bathroom. After 3-5 treatments with both acupuncture, moxibustion, and some tuina massage on the knees, his pain became almost unnoticeable, and he gladly proceeded to pick up his clubs and returned to the golf course every week.
**More to come**
