Acupuncture & TCM Articles
Acupuncture Articles
by John A. Amaro L.Ac., Dipl.Ac.(NCCAOM), DC
 Dr. Amaro is an internationally known author, lecturer and practitioner beginning his practice of Acupuncture and Chiropractic in 1971. He has led 13 diplomatic Acupuncture study tours of The People's Republic of China escorting more than 500 doctors and practitioners. He has personally studied Acupuncture in nine separate Asian nations.
He has received Certification in Acupuncture through the Columbia Institute of Chiropractic in 1973. This was one of the first Acupuncture postgraduate education programs for physicians in North America commencing in 1972.
He has been certified by the Waseda Acupuncture College in Tokyo, Japan in 1974 and graduated from the Chinese Medical Institute, Kowloon, China in 1976. He had previously taken postgraduate studies at the Tai Chung Medical School Taipei, China 1973.
“When the Student Is Ready
-- The Teacher Shall Appear”
John A. Amaro L.Ac., Dipl.Ac.(NCCAOM), DC
Sometime ago a gentleman sought assistance in my office for severe facial pain which traumatically occurred months prior, when the snow-blade he was operating suddenly struck an immovable object, hurling him nose first into the steering wheel. The discomfort in his cervical region was of secondary importance to the intractable pain this gentleman suffered in his nasal area and entire face and head.
He described the pain as "excruciating" and "unrelenting." The pain in his face and nose was so intense he would be forced to sit still for hours at a time ignoring his family and business. Nothing he attempted or had been prescribed offered even minimal relief. He contemplated suicide.
He had been to two naso/maxilla specialists, a general practitioner, and his regular chiropractor, all to no avail. There was no specific medical diagnosis as to the cause of his intense pain, other than the DC explained it as a pinched nerve at the C2-C3 level. He visited my office, desperate and seeking the possibility of acupuncture as nothing else had offered any relief.
Listening to his case history and the explanation of his pain, I suddenly thought of a similar patient which I treated many years prior. I pulled my "teishein" (noninvasive tapping instrument) from my pocket (I could just have easily pulled out my ballpoint pen), stimulated one acupuncture point on the back of his left hand and the pain was relieved by 50 percent immediately according to the patients personal evaluation. He was elated. On the second visit, the following day, he reported to everyone in the reception room that he had no further pain and wasn't even really sure why he had returned for treatment. He felt great. In discussing the seemingly miraculous outcome with the patient, it was decided to leave well enough alone and only treat him if the symptoms returned. Even though this person became a regular maintenance patient for years, I never again treated his facial pain.
So what about the simple point on the back of the left hand and what does that have to do with the title of this article?
Many years ago I attended to a young lady who suffered a similar accident, except she was cleaning the bathtub when her hand slipped and went face first into the side of the tub. To this day, I have never seen another patient who had consulted with more doctors prior to seeing me. She had seen 23 doctors of all disciplines, including seven DCs.
Her nose and facial pain was agonizing 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and had been for four years. She complained of multiple paraesthesias, and of her teeth feeling like "mush" when felt by her tongue. The last four medical doctors referred her for psychiatric evaluation and counseling, obviously out of total frustration of the unexplained phenomena. The DCs she saw were some of the best ranging from a variety of technique experts to include skull molding, endonasal technique, kinesiology, and a variety of various adjustive procedures from the atlas to the coccyx.
When she visited my office on the referral of a friend, I realized we had nothing to lose and even though she had tried everything, she had not tried acupuncture.
Even though I was young in my practice, I had this incredible confidence, backed by little knowledge and clinical experience. Following 24 visits of acupuncture, manipulations of the cervical spine, hard and soft palates, sphenoid bone and pulling her uvula, I came to the hard fact that I had failed her too. I suggested a psychiatrist. Why is it whenever a patient fails to respond, the first thing we think of is a mental problem?
One evening I felt compelled to find a newspaper article regarding a western museum in a neighboring town I had saved in a large box in the back of my closet. Upon dragging out the box, I sat down and started to extract stacks of papers, old photos, a slide rule, a thousand paper clips, etc. As I was slinging items over my shoulder onto the floor around me, a small, steno-notebook appeared. I threw it over my shoulder, but instead the coiled wire which had been stretched, struck me right between the eyes, scratching my forehead with a sharp edge of the projecting spiral binding.
The notebook landed in my lap, with a page staring up at me which said "for nasal pain -- point #17." There was also a small, barely legible picture of a hand I had drawn with the point illustrated. This was the notebook I used on my first visit to China in 1973 when I visited the Tai Chung Medical School in Taipei. It was here I was first presented with Chinese hand acupuncture.
Talk about something hitting you between the eyes!
On her next visit I stimulated that specific point on her hand. She was openly irritated because that was the only thing I offered to do for her that day. She felt more could have and should have been done, for her treatment as I had in the past. Frankly, I really did not have anything else to offer her. As she walked through the reception room on her way out the door, she slumped into a dead faint in the middle of the floor. Upon reviving, she stated that she was emotionally and physically overwhelmed because as she moved across the room her pain and paraesthesia were suddenly and instantly gone.
No, I cannot explain it, nor does it make any sense to my physiologic or just plain logical mind, but it happened. I shall never forget that point. As a result of that incident years ago the gentlemen with the facial injury and perhaps hundreds of future patients worldwide may ultimately benefit from this lesson. Especially, if you are just reading this by happen chance.
Where's the specific miracle point which affects facial and nasal pain? Two fingerbreadths distal to the dorsal wrist crease in line with an imaginary line drawn down the middle of the index finger. The specific point is not the reason for this article it is the concept behind it.
As we go through our daily routine we are often presented with the answer to our patients or our own problems in unusual ways. The teacher may be anyone, anywhere, anything or take any form. You may be just driving down the street, see a billboard which may trigger a thought -- act upon it. Don't be afraid to let intuition enter your thoughts or to act upon that intuition.
I think one of the most outrageous events I have personally experienced to fully illustrate this point is the time I was quite turmoiled over a particular patients lack of response of which I did not know where to turn. She had exhausted every medical, CAM and other remedies for her lingering serious complicated case. She suffered multiple symptomatologies and her case challenged specialists in every specific field.
One day while in my car stopped at a stoplight I was thinking of this case and what to do to help this unfortunate lady. While just gazing out the window just staring at the pavement in thought waiting for the light to change, a car rolled past me and stopped for the light. The out of State license plate was TH5 P5. As the light changed and the car accelerated out of view, I was left to wonder could these possibly be the two key component acupuncture points which may change the direction of this person´s health. After all they are quite well known individually and especially in combination. I am very open minded but this event was beyond weird.
On my next visit with the patient I naturally used this combination of acupoints, which was without question the motivation for what would ultimately become a completely successful outcome. The patient credits acupuncture for her stellar clinical response and I credit ……………? You may fill in the blank with whatever feels comfortable to you.
The moral of the story: “When the student is ready, the teacher shall appear’. Always be ready to act upon your intuition. Always listen to the teacher wherever and whenever it may reveal itself.
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