The best way to explain the use of acupuncture for post-surgery recovery is to give you a practical example of how I have used Japanese acupuncture for this condition. So I will discuss one of the acupuncture treatments I have done in the last 12 months.
The gentleman undergoing the acupuncture treatment was in his late sixties. He had undergone open heart surgery. For those who are not aware, that means in this case that the manubrium (sternum) is cut down the middle and the chest cavity is actually opened up and then, after surgery, closed back down again and the patient is sewn up.
This gentleman’s family were very, very anxious because he was in an incredible amount of pain and he was unable to sleep. I think he came to see me some ten days after surgery, so the scar was very fresh. The pain killers were not making any inroads into the level of pain he was experiencing. So he was suffering and his recovery was suffering because of his inability to get quality rest.
I am very happy to say that after two acupuncture treatments, this gentleman’s pain level had subsided demonstrably and he was able then to get some good quality rest and sleep. I think I saw him five times for his post-surgery recovery. I would have to say that he recovered extremely well, and rapidly, from the surgery.
He came back into the surgery some six months later – he had hurt his lower back when he was up on the roof renewing the guttering. I was thinking, at the time, that this was an outstanding example of successful surgery followed by successful post-surgery recovery with Japanese acupuncture.
This example highlights the value of acupuncture for post-surgery recovery – it reduces pain, enables rest and sleep and, in the process, speeds up the healing and recovery process.
See Alan Jansson discuss this issue on video.
