The Treatment of Skin Diseaseby Acupuncture

This atti( le is based on a papet given at the ICMART '92 Can!rcss held in Bud,lpcst in lune 1992

SurnmatyThe principles of treating s/Jn r/rsease byacuputlcturc are discussed and illustrated with casehistories. ln teneral, thc skin disc,tsc itsclf should bctreatecl after the patient has been calned byinducint a general relaxatian fo re/ieve ary stress

Key wordsAc n c, Ac u pLt tictu rc, Eczcna, Psori as i s.

IntroductionSkln diseases arc a problem the rvorld over. I 'hevrangle i lonr srnall Lrnirnporlar)t lesiors lo more or lessgeneralised condit ions 5iSnif icirnt ly aitectinS quali \ ,of i fe. Some are even m.rl iSnant and c,rn caLrsedeath- The in(iden(e oi skin disease is di l i icLrlt toassess but, iof inslance, i t is kno$,n that arornd 2%' ' r l r p f r , . r p u p r l ' o r . r . l . r I u t F U . r . r .The treatment of skin dlseases has vaf ecl lronr

century to century ancJ couftfy to country, EVentoday it is nornral t featmeft in Ifdia for psofiasissulJerefs to bathe at one of the holy places \\,herethere are carnivorous f ish and in this way get r d otthe i r sca l i ng ._l-hc

main dcrmatological lrcaLmcll ls In ofthocloxnredicine toda,v are the loca applical ion oi sleroidcrcanr and di i lcrc| l t lypcs ol l iEihl expos!re. lnsevcTc cascs oral stcroids or c),toLoxic drugs may beneccssary. a)vcr thc ycaTs acupuncture has ce(ainlybecn tr icd ior skin discasc, but in Seneral withoulonEl tefm su.cess, so lhat loday you wil l i ind only a. . 1 i . 1 r r * e . * c .

l \ . I n a d r , r l r l r , l r . r . r . r l .Lrse. C)ne might wonder \\ ,hy acL]pLrr]clure seemsunabl-o to r:ure skin disea\e. ls i l a condil ion ior\\ ,hicl) acupunclure is Dot ei lective, oT rs Lt ourapproach 1o the problem that is aL Liult?

Function of the skinTo attempt acupunctLrre treatment of skin disease itis fecessary to have some knowledge of the skinirom an orthodox medical point of view._fhe

skin has many functions. l t is a self-replacinS,mu t i iunctiona, resi l ient covefing that pfotects thebody irom var ations in thc cnvironmcni. l t is a selfcontained organ; .1 semiperDeab e bafrief

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dependent upof thc vascular, JymphaLic and nervesupply oi the bodv.The functiofs of thc skin arc:L Protection against trauma, tcrnpcraturc

variat ion, radiatjon, chem cals,bacteria, virus and fu ngus.

2. Maintenance the s< n maintains tsel l anrJr 1 . r . . o , r , r rou r rJ . .

J. Sccrction thc ski] l produccs gland! ar. , . ̂ o n , o m r i r " r i n p o ^ , l i ' .I t n t .

.1. Mctabolism thc sl<in takcs parl in ther.clabolism of iat, carbohydrateancl protein.

5. Excr-.t ion - the skin is nn excretofy ofgnn.6. Vilamins - fhe sl in i .kes t)art in the

proalLr(t ior1 oi vi lamin D.

Ttaditional Chinese point of viewAccordinS to tradit ional Chinese medicine, rne s<rnis associated with the l-ung and to some extent lvithits paired nrerldlan the Large Intestine f/1. Lunt andsl<in do lndeed share some functions: both excretegas, take Lrp electr ical part ices and assrst I theregLrlation of water and electro )rte balance.

P r i n c i p I es of t re atme ntA lot of sl( ir discascs arc associated $,i th i tching,which is fot o] l ly in-i lal ing for thc paticf l , but can

Therelore i1 is imporlar)l f irst to calnr the patientdown. To a.hieve this, several dif ierenl a.upunclurepornts (:an De Lrseo_

Ino rn ra l l y s ta r t l r ea tmen l w i th genera l re laxa t l onpoifG, using CV20 loEicther \\ t i lh "the laur wiseLrien" (Sishencan9 Extr" 6J and Ll l . :1.A f l e r one o r lwo l f ea lmen ts l he pa t i en t w i l l usua l l y

feport that the ikrhinS has diminishe(1 and that theyfeel more re axed. Aiter this Senernl felaxation I startthe real treatnrent ior rvhich I use points on the LLrngrnd Large Intestine meridians.

I have tf ied vnriolrs polnts nnd, dlthou8h it seemsto me that i t isnl al l that important which polnts Iuse, I ol ien select the combination of 1U.7, Ll.: i dnd1R.3. Init ia ly i treat weekly and would expect to seean improvement alter 2 4 treatments. l then change

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the interval to two weeks and later to 4 weeks.Because these are chronic conditions the treatmentwill need to be carried out for a long period of time.That means that you can't cure psoriasis or otherchronic skin diseases in a few weeks; the treatmentsoflen have to be maintained for six months or more,necessitating up to 20 treatments before the patientis cured.It is often assumed that skin diseases are not only

difficult to treat, but will start up again aftercompletion of the treatment. This has not been myexperience; although, as stress and other factorshave an inf luence on skin disease, i t is sometimesnecessary after a year or so, to give the patient abooster of one or two treatments.

Which skin diseases can he treated withacupunaiure?MaliSnant skin diseases such as melanoma andcarcinoma must be treated by orthodox medicine.Bui ldo f ind the fol lowing condit ions worth ireating:

1 . Chrcnic eczema: However, it would be stupid totreat an acute eczema, which could be cured ina week by employing a steroid cream.

2. Pso asis: I suppose this is the most responsiveskin djsease, and one with which I have had themost experience f2r.

3. ,4c,e: This often gives the patient a lot ofpsychological problems.

4. Heryes: fhis is, strictly speaking, not a real skindisease, but i t causes a lot of pain and is acondition for which we can offer the patient anexcellent treatment.

5. Alopecia areafa: This is a difficult condition,which often does not respond to acupuncture.Nevertheless it is worth trying.Alopecia andrcgenicai In my experience it isimpossible to treat this condit ion byacupuncture. There are some jnteresting articlesabout the subject, but I have had no success.Vitiligo: I have seen this tfeated in Bulgaria withgood results, but certain chemical solutions, notavailable elsewhere, are used in addrtron roacupuncture and these may have a role in theimprovement of the condit ion.Warts. These are treatable with acupuncture.Wrinkles: lI is possible to treat wrinktes andperform a "face lift" with ihe help ofacupuncture,

6 .

'|O. Asthma-Eczema (Prurigo BeJrler)..This is anothercondit ion in which I f ind acupuncture mosthelpful. l treat with a laser machine, usinSexactiy the same points as I do in all the otherskin diseases. After 3-6 months of treatment, thepatient should be cured.

Case histories

Case 1: Acne VulgaisA 20 year old man had been suffering from acnevulgaris for l years. The affliction was located

Acupuncture in Medicine 67

mainly on the face and shoulders. The patient wastreated accordinq to the prctocol detailed above,but, because of lack of imprcvement, after threesessions I added ear acupuncture to the teatmentlusing the points "lung" and "adrenal glands". Thepatient received seven treatment sessions (Figures Iand 2).

Case 2: Chronic EczemaA 66 year old man. who had previously beensuccessfully treated with acupuncturc for itching,suddenly developed eczema on both hands. Thestandard acupuncturc teatment was given and,alter seven treatment sessions, the eczema clearedcompletely (Figurcs 3.and 4).

Case 3: PsoriasisA 45 yeat old man had been suffeing from psoriasisfor morc than I0 years. He had tried varioustreatments without longlasting effect. I am currentlytreating him with acupuncturc and expect tocontinue treatment at monthly intervals lor the nextthree to four months. Figures 5 and 6 show thatimprcvement has already occurred.

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Case 4i PsoriasisA 6B yeat old lady suffering from guftate pso asisfor more than 20 years was given the aboveacupuncturc treatment. Aftet two months there wasa dramatic improvemenl, although there wete stilllesions on the body (Figurcs 7 and B). A lurthetthree ot tour treatment sessions were thoughtnecessary to bring the disease lully under control.

Case 5: PsoriasisA 24 year old woman had been suffering frompsoriasis for 5 years. She had tried various orthodoxtreatmen6 without success- | treated her using theabove principles and adding eat acupuncture- Aftelnine trcatment sessions only slight remnanb of thedisease are visible (Figures I ancl l0).

Dr Palle Rosted200 Abbey Lane, Sheflield SB 0BU

1. Lewas P I (1992) Acupunctlre treatmenr of dermatologicaldieotders. loutnal of the Austtalian Medical Acupuncturesociety. 1o (1):3-8

2. Rosted P (1992) Acupuncture, auriculoacupuncture andpsoriasir. /oonal ol the Australian Medical AcupuncturcSociety. 1a (1):9-10

Case 6: PsoriasisA 19 year old womanhad suffered frompsoriasis since childhood. She had tried allsorts of trcatment without long tem relief. I havetreated her with acupuncture according to mysandatd protocol on 20 occasions, with theaddition of eat acupunctute at several of these5e5SiOnS,There was gradual imprcvement of the disease

with good long tem effect frcm the teatment(Figures 11 and | 2).

conclusionAcupuncture can help even chronic skin diseases,but it may take a long time. So it is impoftant tomake this clear to patients before starting treatment.

II

ocToBER 1993COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS420 WEST .IISTH STREEI, NEW YORK CITY

ORGANISED BY

THE INTERNATIONAT COLLEGE OF ACUPUNCTURE &ELECTRO THERAPEUTICS, AND ITS OFFICIAL JOURNAL,

ACUPUNCIURE & ELECTRO.THERAPEUTICSRESEARCH. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

(Pergamon Press), THE HEART DISEASE RESEARCHFOUNDATION, & THE NEWYORK PAIN CENTER, LONGIsLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL (sUNY.BROOKLYN HEALTH

SCIENCE CENTER)

Ac(ediEd by N.Y Sta|le Boads fot Medicine &Dentistry fot 4A Crcdited HouR Towads 3O0 CreditHour Requhement of Acupunctute Certificate and

Eligible lor AMA CME Credits

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