| Acupuncture as a Complementary Therapy in Clinical Medicine Nowadays |
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Due to the fact that muscular-skeletical originated pain responds to acupuncture in a dramatic form, this therapy is known fundamentally for the benefits and advantages of its use for the treatment of pain than for any other of its indications. However, in the hands of an experienced doctor who receives training in TCM and acupuncture, these tools can be applied to many other health disorders and be incorporated into the repertoire of useful interventions to improve the quality of life of the patient, as a complement, never the substitute, of the "allopathic" treatment for chronical-degenerative diseases and their acute complications.
For example, in allergic sinusitis which is not controlled with antihistaminics, steroids and antibiotics, acupuncture can be an excellent coadjuvant to the routine treatment, often minimizing or even abolishing the need of medicamentous control and liberating the patient from the cycles of exacerbations and remisions. Another example would be the case of an ileo paralythic in a postoperated patient, for example a hip fracture. In addition to fasting and a nasogastric probe at continuous suction , acupuncture can be used to reestablish the intestinal motility and significantly shorten the recovery time for the patient. Bronchial asthma and chronical bronchiospasm are other examples of illnesses in which acupuncture reduces the dose of bronchiodilators requested by the patient, minimizing the colateral effects of such drugs and coadjuvating in the prevention of a dependancy of steroids. In this context, the efficacy of acupuncture should be expected after being submitted to an adequate number of sessions (often more than 6) taking into account the general condition of the patient, the chronicity of his ailment, the medicines and the doses of them used to control it, besides other factors such as the level of coexisting anxiety or depression. In order for medical acupuncture to offer efficacy and safety to patients it is fundamental that the diagnosis of the ailments is performed in the context of more precise clinical standards and with the most advanced medical technology that is most appropiate for it. Once the diagnosis is established with precision and the routine treatments are established for them, medical acupuncture can be used in the allopathic clinical context noticeably reducing the need for further medical intervention and providing an elevated quality of life to the patient. |