The suffering of Shingles
A few months ago, severe itchiness sent me to a dermatologist. After getting a shot and some cream to put on my skin, I was OK, but the itchiness returned. This time, with no desire for injecting more chemical into my body, I let it run its course. Soon the itchiness turned into blisters that covered my inner elbows, armpit, chest, neck, and the top of my ears and I had terrifying pain. I stayed in bed all day, constantly scratching. My left arm had to be raised all the time because of the blisters and puss like stuff in the armpit. Also, because of the blisters all around my neck, I could not put my head on a pillow, nor could I turn my head slightly without popping the blisters. So I had to sit in bed praying to God until I was so sleepy that I just fainted on the pillow. The pictures I took looked scary. I realized my condition was serious and I needed to be seen.
Since I did not believe in treating symptoms any more, I remembered Dr. Yang, who saw me years ago. He would be the only Oriental Medicine doctor I could trust with this sudden and scary illness. From past experience, I knew that many people went to Dr. Yang for serious illnesses that other doctors could not treat. When I arrived at Dr. Yang's office, the pain and itchiness had sucked most of my energy out. Dr. Yang took a look at my tongue, felt my pulse and said "Shingles. Combination of needling and herbal medicine works fast." Indeed, right after the acupunctural needles were pulled out, my neck felt less stiff and painful. I slept a lot better at night, but was still battling the itchiness and pain.
Two days after the first treatment, I felt much better and could even cook a simple meal myself. My neighbor, who sent meals to me in the past few days, was surprised that the blisters on my neck were shrinking.
On the third day, I went to Dr. Yang again. He put even bigger needles in my back, legs and arms, but strangely I did not feel any pain. I guess the suffering from severe pain and itchiness had overpowered my fear of needles! The next day, the scabs on my neck and chest started to fall off and no new blisters emerged! When my neighbor saw me, the first thing she said was "May I have your doctor's name? Just in case I need it. "She thought it was very weird that it only took 5 days and two treatments to clear out the blisters.
About 20 days has passed since my first treatment by Dr. Yang, I am still drinking the herbal medicine he prescribed and I had a total of 7 acupuncture treatments so far to rebalance my chi and release the dampness and heat in my system. All the itchiness and pain has gone. As I continued to drink the herbal medicine, I noticed my stool increased in volume and was horribly smelly and sticky, even with an almost vegetarian diet. I think it might be the process of detoxification to shore up my immune systems.
My life is back to normal now. I am very grateful for Dr. Yang and admire his ability to correctly diagnose, quickly and effectively treat an urgent situation like mine.
Susan W.
September 19, 2017
(Pleasse refer to the pictures on the right.)
