In this Feb. 23, 2009 interview at Vital Directions in Chicago, acupuncturist Tom Hurrle discusses how he supports patients innate healing ability.
With Tom is Tanya Nikolaychik, a Vital Directions patient who, in October 2008, after five years of recurring, debilitating facial nerve pain (trigeminal neuralgia), Tanya was on the brink of undergoing surgery.
To that point, five physicians, including two neurologists, could offer little more than medication, only minimally helpful, to ease the pain that radiated from the left side of her face.
Cold weather typically triggered the pain, with October to early April being an especially tough time for her.
Its horrible. The pain is unbearable, said Tanya. When I have this pain, I am not able to talk, I am not able to sleep, I am not able to eat, and I am not able to drink. Any movement, or any flow of the blood to my face, will cause this pain.
Leery of surgery and its potential side effects, Tanya, 51, of Plainfield, nonetheless was beginning to resign herself to that major step. I said, `I just cannot continue living like this, she recalled.
As she explored the Internet to research trigeminal neuralgia, Tanya discovered acupuncture and Oriental Medicine was a possible avenue.
From there, she selected Vital Directions, a Chicago-based practice of Tom Hurrle, a board member of the Illinois Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
She selected Hurrle for the simple reason that his clinic is close to her job as an accountant. And when she arrived for her first appointment, she brought along a healthy dose of doubt.
I was one of those skeptics who said its not going to hurt but I didnt think it was going to help me much, said Tanya. All the doctors said theres really nothing they could do about it.
Within five appointments, over the course of a month, her pain was gone altogether. That was in mid-November 2008, and she was pain-free until late January, despite the harsher-than-normal winter that blanked the Chicago area.
I cant believe that, all of a sudden, its gone, said Tanya. I can sleep so much better now. I am so grateful, the results have just been amazing. Every day I wake up and Im just waiting, wondering, `How long is this going to last?
She does not believe that her condition is cured, though she has peace of mind knowing that she can turn to acupuncture and Oriental Medicine when it recurs.
Mild pain returned in late January, prior to a vacation to a warm climate, so she had two treatments to prevent pain that significant temperature change has sparked in the past. During the vacation and thereafter, she experienced no pain.
About five years ago, the ailment first surfaced when she was driving on the highway from work to her home in Naperville. I was biting an apple and felt a sharp pain for a second. It was so bad I almost control of the car. I thought, `Oh my God, what just happened?
As quickly as the pain arrived, it left. Two weeks later, though, it returned as she was brushing her teeth. The next time, laughing triggered the pain.
The condition grew gradually worse, and the next year the pain became so intense that she went to an emergency room, fearful that she had a brain tumor. Thus began a long, difficult journey that eventually resulted in a diagnosis and, several years thereafter, the first truly effective treatment in the form of acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
I guess I was just lucky, said Tanya. I selected Tom randomly and obviously he was the right one.
For more information about how acupuncture and Oriental Medicine may be able to help you or someone you know, visit the Illinois Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at http://www.ilaaom.org.
Loading...
10:44
Eye on ILaaom: Trigeminal Neuralgia Reliefby MB60302911 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)