04.12.09
Posted in Beauty and Cosmetics, Headaches & Migraines, Herbal Recipes at 6:30 pm by Dr. Pharm Tao
Emperor Guangxu’s Herbal Shampoo Recipe for Hair Loss
This recipe was designed for healing hair loss problems. It can clean and nourish the hair and scalp to make the hair texture smoother and softer. It can also help brighten the eyes. This herbal recipe was used by Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty.
Before using this recipe, the emperor was suffering from headache, dizziness, and severe hair loss. The imperial physicians prescribed this recipe for him. After using this recipe to wash hair frequently for some time, the emperor’s headache and dizziness were considerably reduced, and he no longer lost hair.
Explanations in traditional Chinese medicine and scientific studies of the herbs are also included. The recipe is available here.
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01.14.09
Posted in Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Beauty and Cosmetics, Eye Problems at 10:54 pm by Dr. Pharm Tao
Treatment of Eye Diseases Using Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Acupuncture and moxibustion have been used for the treatment of eye diseases with good effects. Such eye diseases include pigmentary degeneration of retina, macular degeneration, glaucoma and optic atrophy (Xu et al. 2008).
Researchers in China studied the treatment of intractable dry eyes using acupuncture (Gong and Sun 2007). They examined tear secretion and morphological changes of the lacrimal gland after acupuncture treatment using rabbits as the animal model.
They applied acupuncture at these acupuncture points around the right eyes: Extra 1 (Taiyang), BL 2 ( Zanzhu) and SJ 23 (Sizhukong). The results of their study show that acupuncture can be used to treat intractable dry eyes and increase lacrimal secretion. Acupuncture can activate the lacrimal glandular function of synthesis and secretion.
Another group in Taiwan compared the efficacy of acupuncture and silver spike point (SSP) electro-therapy on the treatment of dry eye syndrome (Tseng et al. 2006). They observed that after four weeks of treatment, both the acupuncture and SSP treatment exhibited improvements over the control group.
After eight weeks of treatment, the acupuncture group had a greater improvement in Schirmer tests scores, compared with the SSP group. Their study demonstrates that acupuncture is an effective therapeutic method in promoting tear secretion in patients with dry eye syndrome.
A study done in Hongkong investigated the efficacy of tongue and body acupuncture for visual recovery in children with central and peripheral visual disorders (Wong et al. 2006). The causes of cortical visual impairments among the children included severe perinatal asphyxia, postencephalitis, traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus, and increased intracranial pressure.
The clinicians used tongue and body acupuncture for 60 sessions, with 5 sessions each week. They observed that about 33% of the children had clinical or functional improvement. Among the children with abnormal visual evoked potentials, 56% of them had improvement. Among the children who underwent positron emission tomography (PET), 86% showed improvement in glucose metabolism in the visual cortex.
Their study confirmed that tongue and body acupuncture are effective for improving the visual condition of children with visual disorders. Acupuncture can be used as an adjunct or a complementary therapeutic method to Western medicine in neuroplasticity.
References:
Gong, L. and Sun, X. (2007) Treatment of intractable dry eyes: tear secretion increase and morphological changes of the lacrimal gland of rabbit after acupuncture. Acupunct Electrother Res 32, 223-233.
Tseng, K. L., Liu, H. J., et al. (2006) A clinical study of acupuncture and SSP (silver spike point) electro-therapy for dry eye syndrome. Am J Chin Med 34, 197-206.
Wong, V. C., Sun, J. G., et al. (2006) Pilot study of efficacy of tongue and body acupuncture in children with visual impairment. J Child Neurol 21, 463-473.
Xu, H., Liu, J., et al. (2008) [Analysis on literature of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of intractable eye diseases]. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu 28, 625-628.
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01.12.09
Posted in Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Beauty and Cosmetics, Skin Disorders at 10:12 pm by Dr. Pharm Tao
A study recently done in China reported the effects of using acupuncture on the treatment of acne (Liu 2008). Clinicians used earlobe-bleeding and body acupuncture for the treatment of common acne. They observed that among the 85 cases of common acne, 61 cases were cured, 12 were shown markedly effective, 9 cases were improved, and 3 cases did not show any effects. They found that the total effective rate of using acupuncture on healing acne was 96.47%.
Another group compared the treatment effects on acne using different methods including combined ear point blood-letting therapy, oral administration of antibiotics, and external application of medicine on acne (Song 2007). After about three courses of treatment, they observed that the total effective rate in the acupuncture treatment group was significantly higher than the control groups.
In a follow-up study of a half year later, the recurrence rate in the acupuncture treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control groups. They concluded that the therapeutic effect of ear point blood-letting combined with cupping therapy at Back-shu points was significantly better than that of oral administration of antibiotics, or using external application of an acne ointment.
Some other groups studied the effects of using He-Ne laser auricular irradiation plus body acupuncture for acne treatment (Lihong 2006). The results showed that the cure rate was 77.8% in the acupuncture treatment group and 46.9% in the control group, which confirms that He-Ne laser auricular irradiation plus body acupuncture have good therapeutic effects.
Researchers have also found that the combination of blood-letting puncture, cupping therapy and external application of Chinese herbal facemask is effective in treating acne (Pan 2005). In summary, different therapeutic methods in Chinese medicine, including earlobe-bleeding and body acupuncture, cupping therapy at Back-shu points, laser auricular irradiation, and Chinese herbal facemask may have good effects for the treatment of acne.
References:
Lihong, S. (2006) He-Ne laser auricular irradiation plus body acupuncture for treatment of acne vulgaris in 36 cases. J Tradit Chin Med 26, 193-194.
Liu, Z. (2008) Clinical observation on the effect of earlobe-bleeding plus body acupuncture in 85 cases of common acne. J Tradit Chin Med 28, 18-20.
Pan, H. (2005) Thirty-two cases of acne treated with blood-letting puncture, cupping and Chinese-drug facemask. J Tradit Chin Med 25, 270-272.
Song, S. J. (2007) [Observation on therapeutic effect of ear point blood-letting combined with cupping on Back-shu points for treatment of acne vulgaris]. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu 27, 626-628.
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