The sooner acupuncture treatment for stroke disease, the better

  Stroke is a common clinical disease, which is characterized by sudden fainting, unconsciousness, paraplegia, confusion, and slanting of the corners of the mouth, etc. Most of the patients have an acute onset, and most of them are middle-aged or elderly. In ancient literature, this disease was also called “stroke” and “partial depression” according to its rapid onset and clinical symptoms. Stroke is a common and frequent disease that seriously endangers human health and is characterized by high incidence, disability, mortality and recurrence.  In China, it is one of the top three causes of death along with myocardial infarction and cancer. Most of the stroke patients have lost their ability to take care of themselves or work to varying degrees, and their quality of life is generally low, and the patients and their families suffer from great pain and many burdens.  At present, the acute treatment of stroke in China is generally based on Western medical or surgical emergency diagnosis and treatment, and some hospitals with scientific research conditions will be appropriately supplemented with Chinese acupuncture treatment, while the vast majority of patients or their families and medical institutions rarely think about the early use of acupuncture treatment, so that the best treatment time is missed, until the exhaustion of Western medical methods, the three-month “golden treatment period” has also passed. The golden treatment period” has also passed, then it is too late to find acupuncture, so Chinese medicine can only be the “slow doctor”.  In contemporary times, many acupuncture experts have proved through in-depth clinical research and practice: the earlier the acute stage of stroke disease receives acupuncture treatment, the better the prognosis, the lighter the sequelae, the less, the course of treatment will also be significantly shortened, and the patient’s quality of life is significantly improved.  It is understood that the recovery period of stroke is generally two weeks to six months after the acute period, when the patient’s consciousness is gradually awakened, the condition has been stabilized, and the remaining main clinical symptoms are hemiplegia, limb paraplegia, strong tongue and language or incoherence. It is observed that the course of treatment in this period is relatively long, and it is less likely to recover on its own without treatment, so the treatment in this period is extremely critical and important to improve the efficacy, reduce the sequelae and decrease the disability rate.  Six months or one year after the stroke, there are physical or speech, hearing and visual impairment as the post-stroke period. Most of the symptoms are: blurred vision, droopy eyelids or strabismus, partial blindness, strong or short tongue, astringent speech, tinnitus and deafness, and occasional vertigo. Although the internal wind has been extinguished, the patient is depleted of essence and fluid, the vital energy is not filled, the orifice is closed and the blood is dried up, the vital energy is weak, the tendons and veins are not nourished, and the spirit is weakened and the limbs are disabled, so its treatment is quite difficult, and some even have difficulty recovering, leaving a lifelong disability.  Generally speaking, the treatment and training of acupuncture and rehabilitation of stroke disease can be started after the patient’s consciousness is clear and the vital signs are stable. The cause of stroke, whether it is cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction, is different, but it is the cause of the disease.  Therefore, acupuncture can help to wake up the brain and open the orifice, smooth the blood, help to remove the evil, and open the meridians. It is observed that the acute treatment should be early rather than late; the selection of acupuncture points should be less rather than more; the amount of stimulation should be moderate; and the acupuncture technique should be applied to identify the evidence. It is understood that some patients are not very serious at the onset of the disease, but after the disease, especially in the recovery period or sequelae period only with some Western medicine treatment, although the acute attack of the disease is under control, but the body function recovery is poor, lost the best time for acupuncture treatment in Chinese medicine, and eventually can only drag the body to spend the rest of their lives, the quality of life is very poor, very unfortunate. It is proved that the combination of Chinese and Western medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, and rehabilitation methods used in all stages of stroke disease is a more ideal treatment method.  In China, as an important part of Chinese medicine, acupuncture has accumulated rich experience in the treatment of stroke in thousands of years of development. Long-term theory and practice have shown that acupuncture has good efficacy on this disease, with little side effects, low cost and quick effect.