Japanese Acupuncture benefits seriously ill Q Fever patient

In November 2008 Will presented in clinic suffering from sequelae of Q fever.
Manifestations

Incubation period is usually 2 to 3 weeks. The most common manifestation is flu-like symptoms with abrupt onset of fever, malaise, profuse perspiration, severe headache, myalgia (muscle pain), joint pain, loss of appetite, upper respiratory problems, dry cough, pleuritic pain, chills, confusion and gastro-intestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The fever lasts approximately 7 to 14 days.
During the course, the disease can progress to an atypical pneumonia, which can result in a life threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), whereby such symptoms usually occur during the first 4 to 5 days of infection.
Less often the Q fever causes (granulomatous) hepatitis which becomes symptomatic with malaise, fever, liver enlargement (hepatomegaly), pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and jaundice (icterus). Retinal vasculitis is a rare manifestation of Q fever.[7]
The chronic form of Q fever is virtually identical to inflammation of the inner lining of the heart (endocarditis),[8] which can occur months or decades following the infection. It is usually deadly if untreated. However, with appropriate treatment the mortality falls to around 10%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_fever

In June last year Will was infected by this rather diabolical organism and his life as a grazier in central Queensland, Australia was directly threatened.

Hospitalized for some time, he was  medicated and received 24/7 emergency care and supervision but became ‘sicker and sicker’ suffering from explosive headaches, severe sweating and a horrendous aching in the bones not to mention overwhelming lethargy, he was told he had the highest levels of Q fever ever recorded in Queensland.

After being discharged but still in ailing health Will was readmitted with severe blood poisoning from an additional micro cocci infection.

He was placed in the care in the special disease unit at the Royal Brisbane Hospital.
As well as coming extremely close to dying from the blood poisoning his Q-fever levels were still very high.

Married with three children Will was unable to carry out many of the essential tasks required to maintain thousands of acres of pastoral land and I don’t know how many head of stock, he struggled to get out of bed!

He would wake up around midnight and 3am with severe cramping pain (not unlike how he imagined inflamed kidney stones would feel) , the pain focus was located in the GB 25 region and radiated all the way around to the pubic symphysis, a phenomena that obviously involved Dai Mai, Girdle Vessel or Belt Meridian as it is variously known.

His medical treatment included a heartbeat echo examination every four months, a nuclear bone scan and medication for the Q-fever (which unfortunately triggered headaches) plus medication to assist his sleeping,

He had 2 fused vertebrae as a result of Schumann’s disease and had suffered from shingles two years ago.

In the last two weeks he had experienced overwhelming, growing fatigue and had begun to doubt his ability to recover.

1st treatment

Diagnosis
Will’s pulse was difficult to read, suffice to say it was very superficial, the liver and gall bladder position on the left wrist being strongest.

Having successfully treated a number patients suffering variously from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Glandular Fever, Ross River Fever and Barmah Forest Fever over the last 15 years, Spleen deficiency root treatments had proven to be by far the most effective.

If the patient was suffering from high fevers and/or swelling I would use the fire points, otherwise I found the Earth points worked very well.

Relying primarily on my experience I diagnosed the patient as suffering from Spleen deficiency Liver excess fever syndrome with excessive heat in the Yang Ming Meridians.

Treatment
The Pericardium and Spleen Meridian’s were tonified using Pe 7 and Sp 3.
The Liver meridian was dispersed using the fire point Liv 2 and Stomach meridian shunted utilizing St 36.
Back Shu points utilized included Bl 14, 18, 20, 23, 40, 58 I also included in this phase of treatment the point Governing Vessel 9 and the1/2 inch points between L5 S1.

2nd treatment
2 days later
Patient Report
The aching was that same, radiating from the spine to the side of the hips and into the inguinal groove, his energy had improved a little but he had to sleep in a chair this morning to ease the pain.

Diagnosis
I was less than happy with the results of treatment, pleased that Will had more energy but concerned that there had been no relief from the pain.

I repeated a full diagnostic examination during which Will mentioned that he used to get a lot of pain in the Lu 5 area, this comment was triggered by palpation of the area.

My initial diagnosis of Spleen deficiency had been swayed by my previous experience, closer examination of the pulse and symtoms assisted me in re-diagnosing Will as suffering from Lung deficiency Liver excess fever syndrome.

Treatment
Conception Vessel 12, 17, 4, St 25, Ki 27 and Yintang were applied during the first phase of treatment followed by a Kidney deficiency root treatment using the water point of the Lung meridian Lu 5 and the metal point of the Kidney meridian Ki 7 and the Liver meridian was dispersed using the fire point Liv 2.
The final phase of treatment included Bl points 13, 18, 20, 23, 40, 58 ( needle head moxibustion on Bl 23).

3rd treatment
3 days later
Patient Report
Felt on top of the world for a few hours, sleeping improved, throbbing pain in the spine not as tight.

Treatment
Same as previous treatment although I decided to subtly change the Root treatment substituting Ki 10 (water point) for Ki 7 (metal point) in an effort to extend the longevity of these very positive results.
Also shunted Li 3 .

4th treatment
2 days later
Patient Report
No pain at all for over 24 hours, this morning there was minimal pain in the inguinal groove and lower back area.
Right-hand side Lu 5 was tender, he had slept through the night (first time in many months) with an unusual amount of dreaming and had experience no headaches (for the first time in many months)

Treatment
As above with the addition tonification of KI 2 to help control the degree of heat reaching the heart as a result of the Kidney deficiency and subsequent shunting of Pe 4 to ensure that the excessive heat (unusual dreams) was removed from the upper heater/warmer

I will reveal the subsequent 6 treatments right up to last Saturday and what we did when Will presented in clinic some two months after his 4th treatment in very poor shape, once more experiencing terrible sleep and significant pain.

I am so grateful to Masakazu Ikeda sensei for his re assurance 10 years ago that as practitioners we are obliged to make errors throughout our clinical journey.

It is in the recognition and subsequent correction of these errors that many of the cognitive/logical/essential qualities of  Traditional Japanese Acupuncture are revealed,  our skill in translating that understanding into the effective treatment of  our patients is at the very heart of our medicine.

More about Traditional Japanese Acupuncture and our Q Fever patient soon.

In the meantime I trust you have a good time.

Lotsa,

Alan

PS.

Here are some more images of World Acupuncture visiting the clinic  of  Master Acupuncturist, Masakazu Ikeda in Imabari, Shikoku, Japan.

Hope you enjoy 🙂

Lunch on most days, delicious fo sho.

A Wall of Books

My Bed

Full Moon, Japanese Style

Full Moon Rising

Still Full, Still Moon

There it is again!

A Language with Character

Working After Hours

Best seat in da house

My seat in clinic when not observing treatment

Alan Jansson is an internationally recognized teacher and practitioner of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture.  For well over a decade, independent of and in conjunction with Masakazu Ikeda sensei and Edward Obaidey, Alan has presented, convened and hosted in the vicinity of 30 Traditional Japanese Acupuncture workshops in Australia, New Zealand and USA. Driven by a strong desire to promote the consumer friendly nature, clinical efficacy and potency of Meridian Based Traditional Japanese Acupuncture, Alan is a staunch advocate of practically based workshops and draws upon his 25 years clinical experience and 14 years post and undergraduate teaching in a concerted effort to lift the bar globally in the clinical application of this most amazing medical art.

Join him in Exploring the Art of Acupuncture in the 21st century at http://www.Worldacupunctureblog.com

For more info, please visit: http://www.Worldacupuncture.com