How Does Acupuncture Treat Double Vision (Diplopia)? Double Vision Treatment.

Opening your eyes and seeing a single, clear image is something you probably take for granted. But it sometimes is really big issue for double vision patients. Double vision, also known as Diplopia, is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object - the patient sees two images of a single thing either all the time, or some of the time. The displacement may be horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Diagonal double displacement (double vision) means both the horizontal lines and vertical lines are being perceived as doubled - also known as oblique separation. The following conditions can cause binocular double vision:

• Diabetes. The nerves that control eye movement may be damaged. If the diabetes is controlled (treated effectively) the damaged nerves usually repair themselves and the problem resolves.
• Myasthenia Gravis - this is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder in which the muscles become fatigued and exhausted.
• MS (multiple sclerosis) - the central nervous system (CNS) is attacked by the person's own immune system. That is why MS is known as an auto-immune disease. The CNS includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
• An aneurysm - occurs when part of a blood vessel (artery) or cardiac chamber swells, - either the blood vessel is damaged or there is a weakness in the wall of the blood vessel. As blood pressure builds up it balloons out at its weakest point. The swelling can be quite small or very large - when large it tends to extend along the blood vessel. As the aneurysm grows there is a greater risk of rupture - this can lead to severe hemorrhage, and other complications, including sudden death. If the arteries in the brain bulge there is a risk of developing double vision. 
• A blood clot - if this develops behind the eye, eye movement may become restricted.
• A stroke - a condition where a blood clot or ruptured artery or blood vessel interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain. A lack of oxygen and glucose (sugar) flowing to the brain leads to the death of brain cells and brain damage, often resulting in impairment in speech, vision, movement, and memory. 
• Cancer - a tumor in or behind the eye may distort the image the eye produces. A brain tumor may also be a cause of double vision. 
• Injury - head injuries can sometimes result in damage to the muscles in the orbit (eye socket), or the nerves that control eye-movement muscles, both of which can result in double vision.

"Neijing" said

 “Internal organs of the refined Qi into the eyes and whom Jing(Essence) ...... Jing disappear cause Diplopia, Diplopia is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object . "Under normal circumstances, the blood of the Essence of the internal organs, Liu Fu Clean Yang Qi, are into the eyes and head . Orifices get Qi and Essence, then you can see clearly. “

I mean patients who have diplopia see double vision is because their eyes can not get enough Qi and Essence.

According my experience, most Diplopia patients are 40s to 50s. Most of them have to use their eyes a lot and have pressure in working, such as IT programers and teachers. Their work hours are pretty long and they have to focus on small screen or books, therefore their eyes need plenty Qi and blood to support. When their Qi is blocked, eyes will be easy suffered. Acupuncture is able to help Diplopia. It can help patients to deal with the block and to manage Qi and blood into eyes. Most of my patients can feel different in two or three times treatments. I had a patient who was a teacher retired earlier than normal age because of Diplopia. He told me he went to many doctors but no one could help him. He could not drive and lecture on the podium because of double vision, Diplopia came really frequently and stayed long time it made him dizzy and headache. After two times treatments, he felt much better. He still had double vision but it did not come so frequently. Double vision came and went so quick usually only few seconds compared before double vision had to stay minutes even an hour, it was really huge different. About 10 times treatments, he told me double vision never came again. Acupuncture is a really treatment for Double Vision(Diplopia).

Suggestions for Chilly Weather

The past summer was really chilly. I would like to give some advices to person who suffers from pain such as knee pain, sciatica, low back pain.
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First of all, keep warm is the most important thing for human being even in summer time. Secondly, doing reasonable exercises. I usually suggest my patients walking 30 - 40 minutes a day, at least three days a week. Thirdly, sleeping earlier. Go to bed before 11pm. Last, drinking at least 500ml warm water when you wake up.

Free Traditional Chinese Medicine Consultation Event by Tzu Chi.

In August 23, Tzu Chi Foundation of Canada invited me to give people Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) consultation in TaiwanFest in Toronto.

The event holded from 12p.m. to 6p.m., many people came to ask some medical advice for helping their health. I was really happy, because not only Taiwanese but also a lot of Canadian love Traditional Chinese Medicine! People asked me many questions and I gave them suggestions as much as I can.

At the end of the dat, this event helped many people. I believe Tzu Chi will hold the event next year, and I definitely will join the meaningful event again.

Full story: http://www.worldjournal.com/view/full_tor_14/25667184/article-台灣文化節義診-中醫師望聞問切?instance=to_bull_left1

Cough treatment

Cough is a really annoying symptom. It is some time lasting for a long period of time, and you can not get rid of it. Many patients tell me they have suffered this terrible symptom for a long time. They ask me why  we cough and what the causes of coughs are? Now I will use an easy way to talk about cough in Western Medicine and Chinese Medicine.

Cough In Western Medicine

Coughing is the body's way of removing foreign materials or mucus from our lungs and upper airway passages or of reacting to an irritated airway. Coughs have distinctive traits you can learn to recognize. A cough is just a symptom, not a disease. A productive cough produces phlegm or mucus (sputum). The mucus may have drained down the back of the throat from the nose or sinuses or may have come up from the lungs. A productive cough generally should not be suppressed because it clears mucus from the lungs.

There are many causes of a productive cough, such as: Viral Illnesses, Bronchospasm, Allergies, Asthma, Blockage of the airway by an inhaled object, such as food or pills.

Cough In Traditional Chinese Medicine

Coughing indicates abnormal Qi activity inside the lungs. Tradition Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that the lungs are not only responsible for respiration, but also dominate the qi (vital energy) of the whole body. It inhales pure qi from nature and exhales the impure qi. It also receives nutrient qi from the spleen, combines the nutrient qi with the inhaled qi to form pectoral qi which then enters blood and then is distributed over the body. In a normal situation, the different types of qi flow in a specific and coordinated manner. When the qi flows inside the lungs are interrupted, symptoms like coughing, shortness of breath, weakness and even excess sweating will happen.

Patients ask me why they feel tightness in their chest after taking western medicine to stop cough. Actually, cough is one of our body reaction to clean airway. You can imagine you are on your way to Blue Jays game, and you feel really urgent because the game almost begin. However, there is a really terrible traffic jam in front of you. Many police are trying to flow the traffic. The police are the action of cough.

But, something weird happens. Some really powerful people ask these police to leave. The traffic is still clogged, and you are really angry about this because it does not make sense. This is the reason why you take pills to stop cough, but it turns to chest tightness. The really powerful people are the pills. Most of the cough pills are central inhibition, but the stock thing is still there. That is why you can not get rid of cough.  That is why my patients like acupuncture and TCM to treat their cough.They can stop coughing and getting better.

About My Clinic

My Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic is located in Hamilton.

Treatments

• Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Acupuncture
• TuiNa massage

Equipments

• Massage Table
• Infrared Lamp
• Disposable Needles

Why Acupuncture Can Help Me?

There are many questions that my patients ask me every day, and the common question are why acupuncture can help me and what does acupuncture do? Now I would like to use simple way to make explanation acupuncture theory.

First of all, you can imagine that your body likes a country, and there are many important roads go through your body, from your head to feet, from your head to hands or from chest to feet and so on. In the Chinese Medicine, these roads are known as meridians. Secondly, there are a lot of cars running on these driveways, and these cars are known as chi. When our body is balance, the chi can go really smoothly and gently, and that means our body basically is okay. This is the basic theory of Traditional Chines Medicine Physiological (T.C.M. Physiological).

Now you can imagine that one of these roads is blocked by a really huge rock, and cars are not able to go through. Therefore, many cars would be forced to stop and the car drivers would feel anger, because they cannot do their jobs. The anger from these car drivers is like pain. It is the Pathology of T.C.M.

At this time, the car drivers would really hope that someone can help them to finish their jobs. Needles are playing as police officers. Needles put into specific points likes I send police officers to the scene of the accident to deal with incident. When the police officers come to the accident, the first thing they would do is calming down these car drivers. That is why after acupuncture, you would feel pain relief. The police officers can only regulate traffic, but not remove the rock. They need tow cars help them to clean the rock, and the tow cars are worm water. So after acupuncture, I would ask my patients to drink a lot of warm water.

What Does the TCM Think about Endometriosis and How Do We Treat It?

What is Endometriosis?

Endometriosis is the abnormal growth of cells (endometrial cells) similar to those that form the inside or lining the tissue of the uterus, but in a location outside of the uterus. Endometrial cells are cells that are shed each month during menstruation. The cells of endometriosis attach themselves to tissue outside the uterus and are called endometriosis implants. These implants are most commonly found on the ovaries, the Fallopian tubes, outer surfaces of the uterus or intestines, and on the surface lining of the pelvic cavity. They can also be found in the vagina, cervix, and bladder, although less commonly than other locations in the pelvis. Rarely, endometriosis implants can occur outside the pelvis, on the liver, in old surgery scars, and even in or around the lung or brain.

Who is Affected by Endometriosis?

While most cases of endometriosis are diagnosed in women aged around 25 to 35 years, endometriosis has been reported in girls as young as 11 years of age. Endometriosis is rare in postmenopausal women. Endometriosis is more commonly found in white women as compared with African American and Asian women. Studies further suggest that endometriosis is most common in taller, thin women with a low body mass index (BMI). Delaying pregnancy until an older age is also believed to increase the risk of developing endometriosis.

What Causes Endometriosis?

The cause of endometriosis is unknown. One theory is that the endometrial tissue is deposited in unusual locations by the backing up of menstrual flow into the Fallopian tubes and the pelvic and abdominal cavity during menstruation. The cause of retrograde menstruation is not clearly understood. But retrograde menstruation cannot be the sole cause of endometriosis. Many women have retrograde menstruation in varying degrees, yet not all of them develop endometriosis.
 Another possibility is that areas lining the pelvic organs possess primitive cells that are able to grow into other forms of tissue, such as endometrial cells. (This process is termed coelomic metaplasia.) It is also likely that direct transfer of endometrial tissues during surgery may be responsible for the endometriosis implants sometimes seen in surgical scars. Transfer of endometrial cells via the bloodstream or lymphatic system is the most likely explanation for the rare cases of endometriosis that develop in the brain and other organs distant from the pelvis.
Finally, there is evidence that shows alternations in the immune response in women with endometriosis, which may affect the body's natural ability to recognize and destroy any misdirected growth of endometrial tissue.

What are Endometriosis Symptoms?

Most women who have endometriosis, in fact, do not have symptoms. Of those who do experience symptoms, the common symptoms are pain (usually pelvic) and infertility. Pelvic pain usually occurs during or just before menstruation and lessens after menstruation. Some women experience painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia) or cramping during intercourse, and or/pain during bowel movements and/or urination. Even pelvic examination by a doctor can be painful. The pain intensity can change from month to month, and vary greatly among women. Some women experience progressive worsening of symptoms, while others can have resolution of pain without treatment. Pelvic pain in women with endometriosis depends partly on where the implants of endometriosis are located. Other symptoms that can be related to endometriosis include:

• Lower Abdominal Pain;
• Diarrhea and/or Constipation;
• Low Back Pain;
• Chronic Fatigue;
• Irregular or Heavy Menstrual Bleeding;
• Blood in the Urine.

Rare symptoms of endometriosis include chest pain or coughing blood due to endometriosis in the lungs and headache and/or seizures due to endometriosis in the brain.

What Does the TCM Think about Endometriosis and How Do We Treat It?

In TCM, we do not have this name “Endometriosis,” we deal with the symptoms such as dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, infertility,and recurrent pelvic pain. Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) it attributed to dysmenorrhea, infertility, pelvic mass, irregular menstruation and other symptoms category. TCM's position is concerned, the disease mostly due to qi and blood stasis, qi and blood deficiency, cold in uterus. In TCM, the endometriosis is sperated to many types such as Qi and blood stagnation, Damp-heat and blood stasis, Qi deficiency and blood stagnation,Yin deficiency and blood stasis, Yang deficiency and blood stasis. The basic of these types are blood statsis, therefore, we have to circulate blood and relieve pain. In my experience, pain can be relieved in next period, and after three months treatment (usually the menstruation kinds of diseases should treat three months), most of my patients would feel much better.