Working my fingers to the bone...

A patient broke her wrist last November and had it surgically treated with a plate and a few screws. Noting her bone was not healing well about two months later, her surgeon prescribed the use of a bone growth stimulator twice a day, for 20 minutes each session. Subsequent x-rays taken on May 10th, however, did not show any sign of healing. 

Concerned about the non-union of her left radius fracture, Annie began exploring alternative medicine. She came in to see me for her first appointment on June 19th. Based on my previous experience with other patients, I recommended acupuncture, in particular, MCT twice a week for 2 weeks then once a week for two more weeks followed by a re-evaluation with imaging tests.

Time flew! Over the last few weeks, she felt better with reduced pain and swelling, and, happily, also returned to her yoga practice. On July 17th, she had a follow-up visit with the surgeon, who was not aware that I was treating her with acupuncture. Upon reviewing her x-rays taken that day, her surgeon was surprised to see that her fracture was healing up. Happy and excited, Annie blurted out, "Acupuncture really works!" "What?!" the surgeon exclaimed. Then Annie disclosed that she had been receiving acupuncture treatments for her non-union. 

Her surgeon shook his head in dismay and said, "No, no, no, it was the bone stimulator that helped." Annie brought in her x-rays to share with me and said she stopped using the bone stimulator that day after she saw the surgeon.

This is yet another case of bone non-union that improved within weeks with the help of MCT acupuncture. I was very excited for Annie and her rapid healing. However, Annie was very disappointed as was I that her surgeon remained in denial of acupuncture's effectiveness in promoting her rapid healing.

I could not help but ask myself, “When will we see more doctors accept acupuncture as an effective alternative to traditional treatments…and seek win-win-win outcomes in our health care system?”

Frank He, L. Ac., QME, DAOM

Edited by Tom Rigoli