Acupuncture can offer relief from stomachache, a frequently encountered problem in the fall and winter. To study its effects, I conducted a study for a year in 1994 by administering ear acupuncture on 68 cases of epigastrialgia. It is often caused due to overwork, low spirits, and uncontrolled diet. As per acupuncture, the patient is attacked by an exopathogen which provokes a wind-cold affection; these pathogenic factors induce liver-qi stagnation, deficiency of stomach-yin, excessiveness of the stomach-heat, and an accumulation of body fluid and blood.
The stomach is the sea of water and grain. If spleen-stomach qi is sufficient it can transport and digest water and grain; otherwise, it will promote dampness which accumulates a damp-phlegm stagnation in the stomach thus blocking the stomach-qi which ultimately result in pain.
There are some ear acupuncture points which can regulate the function of transportation and digestion of water and grain, to dissolve damp-pathogen stagnation.
Of the total, 56 were male and 12 female; they were mostly 20-48 years old. The shortest disease course was three days and the longest was eight months. Twenty eight had undergone gastroscopy, and 48 had been treated by Western medicines.
Method of Treatment
Ear Acupuncture points were used to treat stomachache. During the treatment, the patients were forbidden from smoking tobacco, drinking wine, and eating sour, spicy, cold and hard stimulating materials. At the same time the patients were asked to try to rest and sleep well, and not be stressed or angry. They had to maintain their daily patterns, and sustain the body and mind with an optimistic spirit. The patients were asked to eat only easily digestible and absorbable foods. Multiple meals in small amounts was the recommended regimen of food intake.
Criteria
Cured: Body signs and symptoms disappeared, reexamination by gastroscopy showed the gastric mucosa tissue normalised.
Effect: The symptoms basically disappeared.
Improved: The symptoms reduced.
Therapeutic Observation
Of the 68 cases, 1-3 therapeutic courses achieved the status of cure in 46 cases accounting for 68 per cent. Treatment proved effective in 15 cases accounting for 22 per cent, and improvement was observed in seven cases accounting for 10 per cent. The total effective rate was 100 per cent.
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