Case of Edema with positive outcome from Acupuncture

By James Lu
18/07/2018

Patient had severely sprained his left ankle during hiking and instantly swelled up on Sunday afternoon. He came into my office on Monday morning limping with edema and zero range of motion in his left ankle.The ankle and foot were tender and most of the swelling occurred on the anterior/lateral aspect of the ankle (just slightly below the lateral malleous). Plantar flexion was the most painful (8/10) and he had extreme difficulty walking and also complained of glute tightness (due to compensation).

@ Diagnosis/Sick Meridian:

Gallbladder, Bladder, Stomach

@ Balance Meridian:

San Jiao (Gallbladder), Small Intestine (Bladder), Large Intestine (Stomach)

@ Images/Mirrors:

Hand and wrist, both below and above the wrist. More focused on the actual wrist joint as well.

@ Point Selection:

Contralateral – SJ3, 5 – LI4, 5 – HT3/7 thread to SI

@ Pattern Changes:

The primary complaint was pain during any movement (especially plantar flexion) and the swelling. After most needles were inserted, the pain moved back onto the Achilles tendon (more so on the Bladder meridian). I inserted a few needles along HT/SI and the pain had significantly decreased.

@ Progress/Results:

The pain and swelling had dramatically decreased during the first session. Minutes after the needles were inserted, I asked the patient to stand up and walk around and his gait was improved (you can this in the video).

Follow up treatments consisted of the same points (also added some points on the toes for guiding) and by the third session, his pain and mobility had completely restored to normal.

After the insertion of the needles, I asked the him to stand up and walk around. He noticed a dramatic decrease in pain and most importantly, he was able to bear weight on his ankle (you can see his gait cycle had returned to normal)

It’s very important to treat your injuries as soon as possible for maximal clinical results. Neglecting immediate treatment causes scar tissue to form and increases the likelihood of the injury to not fully recover.

VIDEO: / style=”text-decoration:none;”>https://www.instagram.com/p/5u_3yRqx_l/