A 45 year old woman came to our clinic suffering from stomach pain and bloating, frequent and urgent loose stools, fatigue, anxiety and insomnia. She explained that after getting no help from her doctor she was diagnosed by her chiropractor with leaky gut syndrome. However, her symptoms were not improving so she was trying acupuncture. This leaky gut acupuncture case study describes how acupuncture helped restore her health.
What Is Leaky Gut Syndrome?
WebMD had an honest assessment of the question. They stated, “From an MD’s standpoint, it’s a very gray area,” says gastroenterologist Donald Kirby, MD, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic. “Physicians don’t know enough about the gut, which is our biggest immune system organ.”
“Leaky gut syndrome” isn’t a diagnosis taught in medical school. Instead, “leaky gut really means you’ve got a diagnosis that still needs to be made,” Kirby says. “You hope that your doctor is a good-enough Sherlock Holmes, but sometimes it is very hard to make a diagnosis.”
“We don’t know a lot but we know that it exists,” says Linda A. Lee, MD, a gastroenterologist and director of the Johns Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center. “In the absence of evidence, we don’t know what it means or what therapies can directly address it.”*
From these statements from physicians, it is clear that Western medicine is acknowledging the problem exists, but they don’t understand it. Nor do they know how to treat it. How about chiropractors? They were the ones who came up with the name Leaky Gut. Dr. Axe explains that leaky gut starts with the small intestine “leaking” toxic material into the body.
“The result? A disruption of acute inflammation, and sometimes autoimmune reactions. A normal part of your immune response that serves to fight infections and diseases winds up over-performing, leading to chronic inflammation, which is at the root of most diseases.”**
Common Symptoms of Leaky Gut
Leaky gut may cause or contribute to the following symptoms:
- chronic constipation, diarrhea, or bloating
- nutritional deficiencies
- joint pain
- fatigue
- headaches
- difficulty concentrating
- acne, rashes, or eczema
- whole body inflammation
Leaky Gut Acupuncture Case Study
Our patient in this leaky gut acupuncture case study was a 45 year old woman. Up until three years ago she had been healthy, exercised regularly and felt great. But now her sleep and digestion were poor. She had severe stomach pain, constant bloating, loose stools and fatigue. In addition, she felt anxious, with palpitations and racing heart. She was also cold all the time. She had cut gluten and dairy out of her diet, and that brought some relief. But she felt like the root of her problem was not being addressed.
We told her that acupuncture worked by identifying and treating the root problem. In addition to listening to her medical history we also felt her pulse (which was weak) and looked at her tongue (which was pale, swollen and had scallop marks around the edges). From this information, we determined her Chinese medicine diagnosis to be Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency with accompanying Heart Blood deficiency.
The Importance of a Chinese Medicine Diagnosis
Our diagnosis enabled us to create a treatment plan in this leaky gut acupuncture case study. For example, Spleen Yang deficiency is treated with certain acupuncture points and herbs. Each pattern imbalance is addressed in this way. Often one point can address two or three imbalances simultaneously.
We created a treatment plan for our patient and began treatment immediately. After four treatments, given once a week, she was 40 percent better. Her stomach and bowel function had improved significantly. She was getter better sleep, and her energy was noticeably improving. Most importantly, she felt like the root issue of her condition was being addressed.
It took 12 treatments total to restore her health to 90%. In other words, she felt healed, but not 100%. She still had to be careful with what she ate, and could not over-tax herself. She needed plenty of rest. We dropped her treatments to once every month. We call this maintenance treatment. With each month she got stronger and stronger. It took a full six months for her to feel herself completely.
Next Steps
Acupuncture gets good results treating many types of autoimmune diseases. Many times, like this leaky gut acupuncture case study, our patients return to full health. Other times we can help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
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*https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/leaky-gut-syndrome#1
**https://draxe.com/health/7-signs-symptoms-you-have-leaky-gut/
Autoimmune Disease
Acupuncture is an important tool in addressing the complexities of autoimmune disease. The Chinese medicine pattern diagnosis and treatment strategy are ideally suited to tackle these complex health conditions. This leaky gut acupuncture case study is a good example of how acupuncture treats autoimmune conditions.