Eastern Medicine

Posted on May 21st, 2007 by admin.
Categories: Health, Eastern Medicine.

In my late teens, I had a terrible problem with migraines. Migraines occur when blood vessels in the back of the head contract, thus reducing the amount of blood flowing to the brain. This reduction in blood often causes people to see flashes of light or get tunnel vision. After a short period (usually a few minutes), the blood flow returns to normal and there is great clarity. This is then followed by intense pain and, often, nausea. Although the true causes of migraine are unknown, many people believe that they are the result of stress or food allergies.

In my case, when the phenomenon started, I consulted doctors who prescribed a couple of different medications, all of which had horrible potential side effects. In the end, none of them worked. I then saw a doctor who told me I was allergic to a variety of foods, such as wheat, egg, milk, and sesame. I was fine for a couple of weeks (though very hungry), but the headaches came back.

One day, after a particularly bad attack, I was told about a Vietnamese monk living in southern Vermont. Although he was a doctor in Vietnam, he was not given any kind of official medical status in the US. He examined my wrists (presumably my pulse), looked at my tongue, and checked my eyes. After a minute or two, he said I had too much “heat” in my stomach and liver. He then disappeared into the back room only to return with a bag full of plant matter, sorted into paper envelopes. He told me to boil them in water for several hours, then drink them.

I left with the bag - a four week supply of “medicine” costing around $40, including consultation - and began the treatment. The stuff tasted worse than anything I have ever drunk in my whole life. I found it really annoying boiling everything down according to his specifications every day for a month, and it made the house small pretty bad for a while. However, I have not had a single migraine since then, and that was ten years ago! There were absolutely no side effects. There were no chemicals used whatsoever. And there was no money being poured into pharmaceutical companies.

That was a life-changing and eye-opening experience for me. Since then, I have constantly questioned why the government has been so reluctant to open its arms to homeopathic medicine. I suppose if there is no money to be made, there is very little impetus to promote it. But if we could save all that money that we have been so generously contributing to giant pharmaceutical companies for potentially dangerous medications, couldn’t we put it into something else that would help the economy…without side effects?

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Repetitive Stress Disorder (RSD): Bursitis

Posted on May 13th, 2007 by admin.
Categories: Repetitive Stress Disorder.

One thing that has me scared out of my mind is the idea of repetitive stress disorders. Although I may admittedly be a bit of a hypochondriac, I spend the majority of my waking time either playing musical instruments (usually guitar) or using a computer. Recently, I’ve been dealing with a constant dull pain in each arm, so I decided to check things out, both in print and in person.

First, what I had heard so much about were repetitive stress disorders, or RSD, which are medical conditions resulting from overuse and overexertion of certain joints. Basically, when you make the same motion too many times, your body can react with pain, which is usually the result of inflammation. People who play tennis and golf often get pain in their elbows, and baseball pitchers feel it at several places in their arms. Unfortunately, those of us behind computers are also at risk. Scary.

I found out from my doctor that I had a problem with the fluid in tiny sacs in my wrist joints. These sacs are called “bursa”, and they become inflamed when they experience too much friction. He told me to alternately ice them and heat them, and take some over the counter painkillers if they hurt. That was a relief. It turns out, however, that the condition is called bursitis, and is, indeed, an example of an RSD.

Luckily, most bursitis cases heal fairly well and can be treated at home with ice and ibuprofen. If you are feeling regular pain at work, I highly recommend getting checked out. If it is something simple, you might as well just get rid of the pain. If it is something more serious, though, getting rid of it before requiring serious treatment and immobilization will save you a lot of agony and money.

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