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Chinese MedicineBy Marcy Basel707-824-8747 • marcybasel@aol.comVeterans Unique NeedsRecently a new patient came inwho had back surgery a year agothrough the Veteran’s Hospital in SanFrancisco. He had been suffering formany years from an injury and thedoctor’s decided to fuse his entirelumbar area together in order to givehim relief. They fused L1-L5 togetherand supposedly wrapped the muscleover the top in order to give him somemobility. It is my experience that manypatients which I have treated who havefusions along the spine area have hada Kidney deficiency whereby over timethey have lost the strength of this organand have done very little to build thisback up again. In Chinese medicinethe treatments and the herbs in thisinstance are extremely importantbecause they not only help to alleviatethe pain but they also can build upthe kidney energy over time so that asurgery can possibly be avoided. In allmy years of practice I have found thatthe fusions along the spine are verydifficult to heal from since the spineis built to be flexible and moving. Itseems that even when there is a fusionin one location along the spine theremay be trouble, which occurs along adifferent area of the spine in order tocompensate for the lack of movement.However having said all this, there isrelief for many who have had this typeof surgery.The patient who walked into myoffice came in with severe pain andwas unable to even lie down to sleepwithout experiencing cramps andspasm throughout the night in hislumbar area and also down one of hislegs. Over a period of years he hadchronic degenerative joint disease inboth of his hips and also in his lumbarregion. One of his hips they replacedput the joint disease created a rubbingof bone on bone and the doctors decideit was best to take the pressure off thespinal column by doing the fusion. Imust say that in several case in myclinic I have put patients on a protocolto help reverse this degenerativedisease formation, including womenwho have low bone density tests. Ihave been able to reverse this processthrough acupuncture and herbs.This patient also came to me on fivedifferent medications including sleepmeds, pain meds (ox codeine), andheart medicationside form this his dietwas not really serving him and he wasdrinking five cups of coffee per day.To treat someone like this is alwaysa challenge for me but the amazingthing was the Veteran’s Hospital sincethey could not get him any reliefafter a year actually prescribed himsix physical therapy/acupuncturetreatments, which they would cover.This patient needed relief fast andhis willingness to take his own healthinto his own hands proved to him thathe could achieve astounding results.As an acupuncturist I can recommendand even give Chinese herbs andalternative plans of treatment but Icannot alter medications given fromthe western doctors. Through mysuggestions,, this patient is no longeron sleeping or heart medications sincewe have found alternative formulaswhich have gotten him results. I puthim on alternative products, whichnot only allowed him to sleep 5 hoursbut also took away his spasms and alot of his pain. He is only drinkingone cup of coffee in the morningand has improved his diet andtakes herbs to strengthen his back.Here is his testimonial: “For overa year I have suffered from severecramping of my lower back muscles,a complication from lumbar spinalsurgery. Even taking large nightlydoses of prescription sleeping pills, Icould only sleep about 3 hours beforethe pain whole me up. But after only 2acupuncture treatments and a week’suse of the corresponding naturalsupplements I was sleeping 5 hourswithout sleeping pills at all. Now, after6 treatments and the supplementsdaily, I have eliminated 3 of my 5 dailyprescriptions drugs and I haven’t hadany cramping in over a week. I’mconvinced; I recommend acupuncture(in general) and Marcy Basel (inparticular) to anyone dissatisfied withthe AMA results.’I feel so strongly that the Veteran’sHospital in now acknowledgingalternative medicine to their patientsand paying for these treatments atthe recommendations of their ownneurosurgeons and doctors. This is abreakthrough for Chinese Medicine.Please take advantage of this as aveteran if you have had problems.There are alternatives herbs, whichcan be taken instead of the westernmedications, which have no sideaffects and still can perform as well.One has to be in the same place every day, watch thedawn from the same house, hear the same birds awakeeach morning, to realize how inexhaustibly rich anddifferent is sameness. ~ Chuang Tzu4/16/09 - www.westcountygazette.com - 37