| History
of the Department
The Department of Acupuncture, at
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, is the oldest. It was started about 20 years ago and
it has been actively involved in treating patients both privately as well as
at the Free O.P.D. level. A continuous endeavour is always on to make this
department well known and towards that end , the department of acupuncture had
recently organized a free acupuncture treatment and awareness camp at the
hospital.
New Facilities
added recently
A new system of diagnosis known as
the Pulse Analysis System has been recently added to the Department of
Acupuncture. This system utilizes the measurement of energy flow at the Pulse
level to diagnose a disease and accordingly treat it. Just recently we have
launched the first online course of its type in the world on Acupuncture which
is essentially meant for the busy medical practitioners who can do the entire
theoritical learning on the Internet and thereafter come to us for one week
for a intensive clinical training course. We also conduct a 100 hours class
room course for medical doctors. Our website address for the course is :-
http://www.icanm.com and email address is: sunita@icanm.com
Other facilities
Each patient coming to the
department of acupuncture is assessed and the diagnosis made according to
Traditional Chinese medicine. It is then reconfirmed by Acutech, the latest
diagnostic computerised equipment from Japan, to measure energy flow in
different channels of the body.
Diseases belonging to different
organ systems can be treated here by acupuncture:-
- Diseases of Head and Neck :- like
migraine headaches, cervical spondylitis.
- Diseases of limbs and musculature
:- like muscular pains, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, low backache,
slipped disc with sciatica.
- Diseases related to digestion :-
like irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis and constipation.
- Diseases related to respiratory
system :- like chronic bronchitis, and bronchial asthma.
- Diseases related to
cardiovascular system :- like angina pain and high blood pressure.
- Diseases related to genito
urinary system :- like bed wetting in children, frequent urination,
enlarged prostate.
- Diseases related to
gynaecological system :- like irregular menses, leucorrhoea etc.
- Diseases related to sexual
disorders :- like Impotence, Azoospermia.
- Diseases related to eyes :- like
optic atrophy & blurred vision.
- Diseases related to ear, nose
& throat :- like sinusitis, earache, tonsilitis, laryngitis &
nerve Deafness.
- Diseases related to skin :- like
Acne, chronic eczema, psoriasis, skin rashes & falling hair.
- Diseases related to nervous
system : - including paralysis, polio, epilepsy and coma.
- Diseases related to psychiatric
disorders (including stress related disorders) :- like insomnia, anxiety,
mania, depression, anxiety,
schizophrenia and behaviour disorders.
- Acupuncture also cures addictions
:- like smoking, alcohol and other addictions.
- Acupuncture is also helpful in
Diabetes and over weight.
- Laser Acupuncture is extremely
useful for cosmetic problems like black circles under the eye, Wrinkles
and for tightening the facial muscles.
- Preventive Acupuncture is also
given for patients with family history of Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma
etc.
Here, acupuncture is performed with
an without needles. Very fine hair-thin silver needles are inserted under
complete asepsis and utmost care is taken to make the procedure absolutely
painless.
Many advanced needle-less techniques
are also available for patients who are very apprehensive of needles. They
are:-
Soft Lasers:- very
effective for cosmetic problems, like acne, wrinkles, crow's feet, scars,
skin diseases-like eczema, psoriasis etc. They can also be used on all
acupuncture points for different diseases.
Sonopuncture:- A high
frequency beam of sound is available, to be used instead of needles.
Acutron:- A recent
non-invasive device has been introduced in our hospital in which
interferential and micro currents are used at acupuncture points to treat all
types of acute and chronic pains.
Management of
complicated cases
1. BRONCHIAL
ASTHMA
Miss Mona, a 14 year old girl, had
recurrent cough and cold since she was a child, started wheezing at 11 years
of age. She was put on steroids for 3-4 months. When she came to us, she was
on oral deriphyllin twice a day, 6-7 times asthalin inhaler in a day and
unlimited use of the inhaler at night when she gets up with episodes of
wheezing and salsol nebulizer 2-3 times a night.
She started Acupuncture treatment
for her bronchial asthma from 24/4/2002. Initially her treatments were daily
for the first month, during which time her nebuliser was stopped and oral
medication (deriphyllin) was stopped in the first 15 days of starting
treatment. She felt so much better that by the end of the first month she had
totally stopped even her inhaler.
Subsequently, her treatment was
reduced to thrice a week in the second month and then to twice a week in the
third month.
She was so pale and underweight when
she started treatment and as she progressed, her complexion became rosy and
she gained about 5 kg. Weight. Her appetite became normal and she has never
experienced any wheezing till now. She will go onto once a week treatment in
the next month and then her treatment will be over. Since the problem of
asthma is getting rampant among school going children, more so due to high
level of pollutants in the atmosphere and low immunity levels.
It is important that such children
be given Acupuncture as the first line of management so as to cure them of the
disease by improving their body immunity.
2. FACIAL
NEURALGIA
Ms. Neeru Gulati, aged 28 years,
developed Lt. Sided facial paralysis in october 2000. She took Wysolone and
electrostimulation and recovered. However, she developed an acute pain in the
left eye since last 5 months and she was put on pain
killers. As she got no relief, she
was started on Tab. Mazetol, initially once a day, to now upto four a day with
little relief. She came to us on 27-4-2002, when acupuncture treatment was
started on her. Initially she was given daily treatment for 20 days, during
which time she totally stopped all her medication and had substantial pain
relief. Later, this schedule was made to alternate days for 2 weeks, then
twice a week for 2 weeks. Her pain is now totally cured and there has been no
relapse since her treatment was completed.
3. MIGRAINE
Mr. Krishan Kant , aged 32 years,
complained of left sided headache since the last 8 years, gradually became
more worse and also shifted to the right side of head since 3 years.
Presently, his pain was only left sided and he was diagnosed as a patient of
migraine. When he came to us for treatment, his headaches had become so severe
that he was taking 1-2 tablets of vasograin daily, and he would be suffering
from headache almost 4-5 days in a week. His headaches used to get worse with
sunshine. He was started acupuncture therapy from 27-4-2002. Initially for
first 20 treatments, the treatment was given daily. Within the first 10
sessions only, he got so much relief that he stopped taking vasograin.
Gradually , the frequency of headache got less. After 20 treatments, the
session was reduced to alternate days for 2 weeks, by which time he had
totally stopped having any headaches. He could now even move in sunshine
without any headache. He had once a week treatment for 2 weeks and then we
stopped his treatment. Follow up till now has not shown any relapse.
4. BILATERAL
POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN DISEASE WITH INFERTILITY
Mrs. Anita Shora, aged 37 years,
came to us with history of amenorrhoea ( no menses) since December 2000. Her
ultrasound showed her to be having polycystic ovaries and she was put on
hormone therapy. Even with hormone treatment, she was not getting regular
menses, and the bleeding used be very scanty. Acupuncture treatment was
started on 21-8-2001. Initially patient was treated daily for first 4 months,
during which time, her cycles became normal and all hormone therapy was
stopped. Thereafter, she was given acupuncture only for 7 days in a month,
prior to onset of menstrual cycle. This process continued for about 6 months.
In the month of april 2002, she missed her cycles. A pregnancy test was done
and it came positive. An ultrasound revealed a normal growing foetus.
Acupuncture thus helped this lady recovery from her problem of hormonal
imbalance and then conceive a child.
5. CENTRAL SEROUS
RETINOPATHY
Mr. Manohar das, a 35 year old
patient came to me in November 2001. He is a pilot with Air India and during a
routine eye check up he was informed that he is suffering from Central Serous
Retinopathy in left eye, a condition which causes gradual deterioration of
vision. He developed this problem since July 2001 and since then he was not
allowed to fly anymore. He took all treatments available but to no avail. His
carrier was in jeopardy and with this problem, he may have to stop flying
totally.
An angiography done in November
2001, showed changes of retinopathy and vision in his left eye was 6/18.
Acupuncture treatment was started on
10th Nov. 2001, and gradually the vision of the patient started improving. By
April 2002, his vision had become 6/6 in the left eye. He was seen again by
doctors at Jaslok Hospital who did a repeat fundus angiography and found that
central serous retinopathy had resolved and his vision in the left eye was
6/6. His license for flying which was temporarily cancelled was renewed after
this latest report. For a man whose career is of a pilot and a condition like
this can ruin his career, acupuncture came as a boon.
6. LUMBAR DISC
PROLAPSE WITH ACUTE SCIATICA
Mrs. Saroj Modi, aged 67 years, had
been suffering from acute pain in her left leg since March 2002. She had an
episode of similar pain in the right leg last year but in 6 months she got
relieved with pain killers and exercise. However, this time the pain was so
acute that inspite of pain killers, no relief was there and she was unable to
walk for a few steps also. Clinical examination confirmed a left sciatic nerve
root compression. She came to us in June 2002 and her treatment was started on
10th June 2002. Initially she took 20 sittings daily followed by alternate
days and then twice a week sittings.
Her leg pain is totally gone and she
is able to go on her morning walks like before. Acupuncture is considered to
be the first treatment of choice today for lumbar disc prolapse and sciatica,
the world over.
7. LUMBAR CANAL
STENOSIS WITH PARAPARESIS AND ASTHMA
Mrs. Sukhda chadha, aged 60 years,
developed paralysis of her right leg along with numbness in May,2001.
Gradually the left leg also became weaker. Her situation became so bad that
she was totally bedridden and had to use a walker for support to walk at home.
She came to us in February, 2002. An examination of the patient revealed that
she had lumbar canal stenosis which had resulted in gradual reduction of blood
circulation to her legs with constant pain in the legs and numbness and
gradually diminishing muscle power.
Acupuncture treatment was started
from 12th Feb,2002. Initially she was given daily treatment for over 1 month.
She showed such tremendous improvement that her leg pains disappeared and she
felt more active. After 3 months of treatment by May ,2002, she was able to
leave her walker and walk independently.
Now in July 2002, she takes only
twice a week treatments and her muscle power is returned to near normal. She
also had a chronic bronchial asthma since last 20 years for which she was on
heavy medication. We concomitantly also treated her for asthma and now she is
fully cured and does not use any medication for the same.
8. CERVICAL
SPONDYLOPATHY
Mrs. Kamlesh Dua, aged 65 years, was
suffering from acute pain in her left hand since November,2001. The pain used
to start from her neck, travel to the shoulder, then upper arm and forearm and
then spread to all the fingers of her left hand. She was unable to even lift
her left shoulder, and developed gradual weakness in her left hand. She was on
regular proxyvon twice a day, with no relief and used to be constantly crying
in pain. X ray of her cervical spine had showed markedly reduced disc spaces
at C4-5-6 levels with osteoporosis. MRI showed degenerative disc disease with
disc bulge at C4-5-6-7 levels.
She visited us for treatment on 17th
April ,2002. Her pain was agonizing and she was even unable to sleep due to
the severe pain. Within just 3 sessions of Acupuncture , the acute pain
disappeared. Thereafter, in another 15 sessions her left frozen shoulder got
cured. Thereafter, we reduced her treatment to alternate days, then twice a
week and now to once a week. She is totally pain free and even the pain in her
fingers has gone. She recovered completely from all her symptoms.
9. CALCANEAL SPUR
IN BOTH FEET
Mrs. Anuradha Bhandari, aged 45
years, was suffering from severe pain in both feet since the last 2 years. She
was diagnosed as having calcaneal spur in both the feet for which she took
ultrasonic, laser, pain killers but with no relief.
She came to us on 13th , April,2002,
for treatment. Regular acupuncture treatment over a period of 2 months
completely relieved her of pain in both the feet. Her pain was so intolerable
that she was unable to even keep her foot on the ground and walking or
standing for long was impossible for her. She used to be mostly on bed because
of her acute pain.
After she got cured of her ankle
pain, she told us about her chronic lumbar pain which has also been taken care
of with acupuncture.
10. Mr. G.N.
Khaitan aged 78 years, chairman of Radico Khaitan, used to suffer
from Chronic migraines since he was 30 years of age, He had tried all types of
treatment without success. He came to know about Dr. Kapur after watching a
programme on acupuncture with him about 10 years ago. He took a total of 30
treatment sessions with Dr. Kapur and thereafter has never suffered from any
migraine headaches since the last 10 years. Recently he developed a prolapsed
disc in his back which caused an acute sciatica pain in his right leg. He
immediately contacted his acupuncture doctor and in just 10 treatments his
pain was cured.
11. Mrs.
Sunita Sharma, a 42 years old woman, suddenly had a brain
hemorrhage and developed optic nerve atrophy in both her eyes. This led to
complete vision loss in both eyes. The doctors at the hospital where she got
treated told her that her vision can not come back. Acupuncture treatment with
Dr. Kapur has been able to bring her vision back by 60% in over 6 months time.
Future plans
We wish to develop the department of
Holistic medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital which would be the first of its
type which is going to provide patients with therapy by using Acupressure,
Reflexology, Yoga and meditation in addition to Acupuncture which is already
available.
Departmental
Publications & Other Achievements
Our department has been involved in
continuous research work and presently we are doing our study at the hospital
on the "Role of Acupuncture in Pain Relief for Cervical Spondylosis". The
interviews of Dr. Raman Kapur appear regularly in National Dailies and also on
the Television where in difficult cases treated with acupuncture are
interviewed and their opinion regarding the science told to the lay person. |
