By Dr. DAI Dechun, the 16th Chinese Medical Brigade

I HAVE experienced the diverse, active culture of Guyana in the passing year. Clear blue sky, quiet nights and the magnificent Kaieteur Falls left an unforgettable impression on me.

I really remember that I felt a little nervous when I had just arrived in Guyana. It is my greatest happiness as a consultant of the 16th Chinese medical Brigade to gradually be recognised by the patients, relieve their pains and become their friends. Some patients expect me to stay in Guyana for two more years or copy my hand for them. I am deeply moved and saddened.

In an instant, it was time to leave. I would like to share the wonderful stories of acupuncture in Guyana with my friends as an impressive memory. Thank you for your kind support, encouragement and tolerance! I hope that more and more friends will take acupuncture as one of the means of health preservation to protect the health of themselves and their families in the future.

TEN YEARS OF MIGRAINE GRADUALLY GONE
Crystal Griffith lives in West Street, Ruimveldt Housing Scheme. She suffered from photophobia, migraine headaches and sleep disorder over 10 years, particularly to the right side of her head.

When the attack is serious, she felt nausea, vomiting and weakness. Fatigue was more likely to induce her migraine. Her older sister also suffered from migraine for many years, but her parents and grandparents have not similar syndrome. Neck stiffness was exposed in physical examination. Her neck X-ray revealed that the cervical curve become straight and degeneration changes occurred in the cervical spine. There were not abnormal findings in her brain CT scan.

Migraine is a recurring type of headache, which causes moderate to severe pain that is throbbing or pulsing. Every cloud has a silver lining. Crystal is a resilient and brave lady. She received 21 times of acupuncture treatments combined with the guidance of acupoints self-pressing of neck and head. She felt much better than before and enjoyed better sleep. The episode of migraine was reduced, the duration of each attack is significantly shortened, and the severity of headache is mitigated.

HEMIPLEGIC LIMB MOVED NINE YEARS LATER
Davendra Budhoo lives in 926 Section C Golden Grove, East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
He suffered from hemiplegia without obvious inducement in 2012 and had a history of stroke and chest pain. He takes medications regularly to maintain stable cardiovascular status such as blood pressure, and occasionally receive physical therapy of rehabilitation.

However, he still had no any movement of the left upper and lower limbs and felt sensory loss by December 2020. He started to receive acupuncture treatment from December 16, 2020, which was once a week.

On April 21, 2021, he felt his left limb “waking up” gradually. On May 12, he can gradually raise the biggest toe of his left foot and restore his tactile sensation of left hip. On May 19, he could move his left thumb, and on June 16, he could move his left upper arm slightly.

The function of his left upper and lower limbs was further improved gradually. With the support of a stick, his independent walking and self-care ability were improved, his gait was more stable, and the risk of accidental falls was reduced. From the rehabilitation process of the patient, acupuncture can significantly promote the rehabilitation of hemiplegic patients, which is recommended as one of the important methods of stroke rehabilitation treatment.

SEVERE NECK PAIN RETURNED TO NORMAL
Vanessa Darlinton lives in 107 Dr Miller Street Triumph, East Coast Demerara (ECD). She experienced neck pain for a couple of years and frequent numbness in the upper extremities; the symptoms were evident after hard work. Neck pain affected her work and temperament. She was referred to the Acupuncture Department for acupuncture treatment.

Her neck MRI results in February 19, 2020 showed that significant left postero-lateral disc herniation was noted involving C5-6 intervertebral disc causing significant spinal canal compromise, severe left lateral recess compromise. The herniated disc showed subligamentous downward migration and compression of left C6 nerve root was noted. There was no doubt that it was another severe case and filled with challenges.

Her neck condition was improved obviously after 10 times of acupuncture and targeted Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) physical exercise. The patient’s cervical spine MR, reviewed on June 17, 2021, showed that the original, huge prolapse of the cervical disc had been significant resorption, and that nerve compression and spinal stenosis had been significantly reduced, which is a very rare case in patients with cervical disc herniation worldwide. She created a miracle of recovery.

SEVERE SPINAL STENOSIS IMPROVED
Kemton Glen lives in Blue Sackie Drive, Georgetown. He is a taxi driver. He suffered severe, low back pain over six months after an injury accident of scuffle because of a robbery in March 2021. He could not sit or stand for a long time, while walking on crutches.

An X-ray examination showed obvious scoliosis with spine degeneration and hyperplasia. His spine MRI revealed that significant circumferential disc bulge was noted at Dorsal spine 11-12 level along with ligamentum flavum thickening causing severe spinal canal compromise, significant right lateral recess and right neural foramina compromise, mild left neural foramina narrowing.

Luckily, his back pain was reduced after seven sessions of acupuncture treatment and self-pressing acupoints. Kemton’s rehabilitation suggests that acupuncture still has a significant therapeutic effect on back pain caused by severe spinal stenosis, which is helpful to improve the patients’ ability of daily living and quality of life.

SEVERE, LOW BACK PAIN IMPROVED
Pettie DeNobrega, lives in Lot 1302 Section B, Sophia. She is cheerful, talkative and athletic. When she was young, she loved cricket, cycling and diving. Her lower back pain and right sciatica had lasted over 10 years after a car accident, which frequently occurred from mild to more severe with a slight limping. She had a history of lumbar spine surgery and diabetes. Sometimes she felt her right leg tighten and shooting pain, both feet numbness, she could not walk for a long time.

Her lumbar MRI revealed that significant postero-central bulge was noted involving L5-S1 intervertebral disc causing significant spinal canal compromise, significant bilateral recess narrowing. More seriously, there was an extruded nucleus pulposus marked in the L5-S1 intervertebral disc, in addition to circumferential disc bulge in L4-5 level.

The patient has a long medical history, severe lumbago, possibly complicated with diabetic neuropathy.
Heaven rewards the faithful. After nearly nine months of acupuncture treatment, her low back pain was significantly relieved, but her feet were still numb, and she could walk three miles continuously. She used the song “I feel so good.” by the famous singer James Brown to describe her feelings. Said with a smile, “doctor, your hand has magic.”

KNEE PAIN RETURNED TO NORMAL GAIT
Joseph Branes, a resident of Region 10, lives in Lot 203 Half Mile, Wismar, Linden. He complained of left knee pain for one and a half years. He had got worse about his walking. He felt tension in the back area of his left knee.

His left MRI knee result revealed that complex tear in the body and both horns of medial meniscus, medial collateral ligament bursitis, tendinosis of quadriceps and patellar tendons, moderate changes of osteoarthritis in the knee joint and grade ? chondromalacia patellae. Inter and intramuscular edema involving the muscles of distal thigh and proximal leg were noted. It was a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Linden to Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and was not easy for the 75-year-old patient.

Fortunately, Joseph’s knee pain was reduced significantly and his gait gradually returned to normal after 15 sessions of acupuncture treatment, combined with rehabilitation guidance of stability exercise of knee joint.

Acupuncture has been known to be highly effective for knee osteoarthritis (KOA), which was recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in an official report.

I hope that more friends in Guyana will be familiar with acupuncture and experience it. I hope that Chinese medicine will be as different as Chinese food. “She” is not just a legend!

It is suggested that Guyana speed up the training of local acupuncture talents, recommend promising young talents to apply for Chinese government scholarships to study in China and systematically study Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), or jointly train talents with well-known Chinese universities to enrich TCM theory and strengthen practice.