Stroke, also known as "stroke" in traditional Chinese medicine, is a common and frequently occurring disease of the middle-aged and elderly. In recent years, the incidence rate of stroke in China has been rising and the trend of aging is low. It has the characteristics of high incidence rate, high mortality and high disability rate. It is characterized by sudden stupor, lack of care, hemiplegia, eye and mouth deviation, and poor language. Once the disease occurs, it will not only bring great pain to patients, but also bring heavy burdens to patients' families. The common sequelae of stroke are limb dysfunction, and effective rehabilitation treatment has long been a challenge for patients and their families. Below, I will introduce a rehabilitation therapy that combines traditional Chinese and Western medicine, hoping to help patients recover their health and return to society as soon as possible.
Throughout the entire stroke process, patients experience the most significant impairment in their limb motor function. Due to the different locations and areas of the stroke, various functional impairments such as swallowing, cognitive, emotional, and urinary incontinence may also occur. Therefore, active rehabilitation treatment is crucial for stroke patients. However, due to the independent setting of neurology, acupuncture and moxibustion, rehabilitation and other departments, despite cross consultation, most stroke patients often do not receive scientific and reasonable comprehensive rehabilitation treatment.
The combination of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine refers to the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine on the basis of conventional western medicine, plus some traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, massage and other methods for treatment. From the current clinical practice, the integrated rehabilitation of traditional Chinese and Western medicine is very important for post-stroke sequelae and is also a major characteristic advantage of treating stroke in China.
For patients with limb dysfunction, the muscle status of the patient should be evaluated first before targeted treatment. The waveform of the acupuncture current used varies depending on whether the patient's muscles are in a flaccid or spastic phase. Generally speaking, intermittent wave acupuncture is given during the flaccid phase; During the spasm period, if the muscle tension is high, continuous waves should be given, and the technique should be as light as possible, even without electricity or strong stimulation, to alleviate the spasm. It is also possible to needle the antagonistic muscle of the spasmodic muscle, but the stimulation points are different. For example, when the flexor muscle spasms, needle the corresponding extensor muscle, while when the extensor muscle spasms, needle the flexor muscle. Of course, there are still techniques such as botulinum toxin intramuscular injection that can be used for the treatment of spasms.
In addition, Western medicine techniques such as Bobath and PNF can be combined with traditional Chinese medicine techniques to improve patients' limb dysfunction. In particular, traditional Chinese medicine exercise therapy should be integrated with breathing methods. While training patients' limb function, they should be taught to perform movements such as luck, inhalation, and exhalation in coordination with exercise. This way, while training limb function, it also strengthens the training of organs such as the heart and lungs.
For patients with swallowing dysfunction, swallowing imaging should be performed to determine whether it is spasms of the cricopharyngeal muscle or oral problems. If the patient's tongue cannot be flipped while chewing, the tongue needs to be pulled out and stimulated by needling the Jin Jin Yu liquid underneath. This way, the patient's tongue can quickly become flexible. Western medicine also has some training techniques, such as tongue stirring, using tongue aspirator to assist patients with tongue movement, which can be combined with traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion.
For patients with swallowing difficulties, acupuncture points such as the Zengyin acupoint (located at the midpoint of the line connecting the human body and the Adam's apple) have a very good effect on improving swallowing function and articulation disorders. In addition, there are Lianquan, Jinjin, and Yuye. Some patients have urgent dental problems and cannot open their mouths to eat. They must first open their teeth, and relying solely on auxiliary tools is not effective. Acupuncture at the lower, upper, buccal, and Hegu regions makes it easier for the patient's mouth to open, making feeding training easier. There are also other acupoints such as Fengchi and Jiaji, which have shown good results in treating swallowing dysfunction.
For patients with neurogenic bladder, acupuncture and moxibustion at Zhongji, Guanyuan, Sanyinjiao, Yinlingquan, Taixi and other points combined with electrical stimulation of body surface function can quickly improve the symptoms of neurogenic bladder, reduce residual urine volume, and pull out the catheter.
For patients with speech disorders, scalp acupuncture treatment can be applied to the first, second, third, and motor areas based on motor aphasia, named aphasia, or sensory aphasia. Combined with speech training, it can have a certain effect on the recovery of the patient's language function.
Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of treating stroke (stroke) and is widely used in clinical practice. acupuncture and moxibustion has always been the main treatment for post stroke rehabilitation. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy can not only treat stroke patients as a whole, but also provide targeted treatment for a certain dysfunction after stroke. Taking the post-stroke sequelae period as an example, for patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment, speech and swallowing disorders, depression, and other sequelae, on the one hand, Western medicine can be used to control patients' blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids to prevent the recurrence of stroke; On the other hand, it can help patients recover through Chinese medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion and other ways, greatly improving the quality of life of patients.