Dr. Na Zhai Clinic Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Amy Free from 11 Years of Shack

 

Amy came to Springfield, Illinois, from Iowa to see Dr. Na for her 11 years of mysterious pain. She was 17 years old when it started.

"On September 18, 1989, my right leg and right foot felt like they were on fire — swollen and red-colored," Amy recalled. "Seven days later, the affected area became tender to touch, with a burning sensation."

A bone scan suggested muscular dystrophy. She had steroid injections. She had physical therapy. Nothing helped.

According to the NIH, all forms of muscular dystrophy grow worse as the muscles weaken. Most patients eventually lose the ability to walk. There is no cure.

Dropping out of school was the only choice left for this ambitious young woman. She returned home for help — and was admitted to Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, where she was treated with a constant intrathecal drip for five days. Intrathecal administration injects medication directly into the spinal canal, bypassing the blood-brain barrier.

It worked. Amy felt better. She walked well. She resumed school in January 1990.

Nine months later, the same episode started over again.

Back to SIU. Same procedures. Same physician. This time, nothing worked.

Despaired and exhausted, Amy started walking with crutches. She endured constant burning pain. The prescribed painkillers made her nauseous. She was losing weight. She fell hard into depression.

"I seriously thought of taking all my prescribed painkillers and ending my life," Amy confessed, tears in her eyes.

The Years of Searching

By February 1991, Amy was admitted to the Mayo Clinic, looking for a miracle cure. Instead of painkillers, Mayo took a different road: behavior therapy, counseling, and physical therapy.

Surprisingly, it worked.

Amy did well at Mayo. She returned home fairly healthy — until November 1992, when everything started over again. The same symptoms. The same cycle. Six steroid injections over two months at the Iowa Pain Clinic. She did well. She walked again. She went back to school and was an excellent student.

And then again, and again, from 1993 to 1996, she had multiple episodes.

Her mother, Mary, watched it all.

"She had six steroid injections over two months at the Iowa Pain Clinic," Mary recalled.

"She did well, walked again, and was fairly healthy. She went back to school and was an excellent student. And then, again and again..."

Mary slowly turned her head and looked at her daughter. Love and affection filled her eyes. She gently held Amy's hand, as if Amy were still her baby.

The Cycle Continues

In March 1997, Amy's right knee locked up. Her right foot was red, swollen, painful, and hot. She had Bier blocks four times at Burlington Medical Center — intravenous regional anesthesia — with no improvement.

In July 1997, her right hand was swollen, red, and painful. She had a series of high-dose steroid injections. One month later, in August, both hands and her right foot were red, swollen, and tender to touch. She was limping again.

From September 1997 to February 1998, Amy was in constant pain. Walking was very difficult. She became addicted to pain medication, especially narcotics. She stayed home in bed. She couldn't work. She didn't go out with her friends. She spiraled into darkness and depression.

In June 1998, she went back to the Mayo Clinic. It was an unsuccessful trip.

In September 1998, she was admitted to Rush Rehab Center in Chicago, where she was helped with narcotic withdrawal, counseling, and extensive physical therapy. She got better again. Both hands and her right foot were still swollen, but she started exercising again.

By November 2000, her foot problems were spreading to her leg. She had continued extreme pain.

The Last Resort

"Have you got any confirmed diagnosis so far?" Dr. Na asked Mary while checking on Amy.

"Not really," Mary replied.

Dr. Na quickly scanned the database in her mind — over 20 years of clinical experience in both Western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She too was baffled and confused. Amy presented an almost perfect physical condition, otherwise.

Erythromelalgia?

According to Amy's symptoms, it looked like Erythromelalgia — a rare, devastating disorder that typically affects the skin of the feet or hands, or both, causing visible redness, intense heat, and burning pain. First described in 1878, it remains poorly understood. It affects about 1 in 100,000 Americans, many of them white women who develop the condition in middle age. Some scientists say a genetic mutation causes it. There is no cure.

The TCM Principle: The Holistic Method

In ancient China, there was no microscope or ultrasound. There was no other choice but

to regard the body as a whole — a Black Box. TCM developed over five thousand years of struggling with disease, honing skills in diagnosing and treating patients, advanced by generations after generations. TCM is a unique, independent, and adequate medical system. Its unique ways of diagnosing disease — checking the pulse, analyzing the tongue, and other aspects of the body — as well as its effective treatment modalities, have been widely utilized, not only in China but around the world.

While diagnosing Amy's inner landscape through her pulse and tongue, Dr. Na discovered a different Amy. The presented smiling, calm young woman harbored incredible stress — so strong that she had built a tornado-like wildfire inside her body. After all, the body cannot function under such pressure.

Amy anxiously looked at Dr. Na. Dr. Na slightly squeezed her arms with confidence and smiled back.

The TCM Weapon: Acupuncture

Our body possesses an incredible healing mechanism. It is designed to heal itself. That is why we don't feel pains and bites, even if we just swallowed a bunch of junk food. Amy's symptoms only indicated that her inner fire was overwhelming — that her body could not handle anymore. Thus, her body's healing power was compromised. Acupuncture can positively trigger the whole body, returning it to its harmony stage through the meridian system.

The meridian system is a network that covers our entire body. Meridians have three primary functions:

1. They bind our bodies tightly together as a whole — connecting internally to externally, top to toes, organs and tissues, and are closely related to all hormonal and circulatory functions.

2. They function as a protective door for our body, blocking environmental pathogens and intruders.

3. They neutralize and condition the entire body function.

The effect of acupuncture comes from stimulating meridians.

Dr. Na performed acupuncture treatment on Amy, focusing on smoothing her mental state and promoting the entire body's function. It lasted for 40 minutes. Most patients fall into a deep sleep, relaxed by the waves of ocean music. Meanwhile, Dr. Na went to Mary to find out more about Amy.

"Amy is very demanding of herself and often extremely tense," Mary recalled. "Her. periods without oral contraceptives are heavy and associated with a great deal of cramping."

That was the true Amy under Dr. Na's fingertips — the pulse diagnosis.

Amy looked peaceful, relaxed, and happy when she woke up from her treatment. Dr. Na asked her to stay on the treatment table for a couple more minutes before getting up and let her family into the room. Just before closing the door behind her, Dr. Na heard Amy say to them, "I feel so refreshed..."

Dr. Na's services — consultation, acupuncture, and herbal therapy — are not covered by health insurance. Amy's family eagerly committed to a treatment plan of three acupuncture treatments weekly. They were not bothered by the 7-hour drive each time from Iowa to Springfield.

Frustration

Amy had been coming for two months, but her pain and swelling remained the same. In her clinical routine, Dr. Na has designed a New Patients Plan for all new patients, which consists of four acupuncture treatments within two weeks. It allows her to jump-start the healing. It usually gets a great result.

But not for Amy.

Dr. Na began to doubt her ability with her. Instead of giving up, she tried harder and harder — until one day, she felt that they were not going anywhere. This case had been haunting her mind, even in her dreams. She finally decided to ask Amy to stop coming. It was the hardest decision she had to make. Because she doesn't like to admit failure, and she didn't want to give up on Amy, especially knowing she was the last resort for her. But she had to tell her about her struggles.

"Amy, I am so sorry. I believe I can't help you."

When those words came out of her mouth, Dr. Na could feel her heart crushing inside her. Quickly, she grabbed a nearby table to make herself stand still.

"Oh, Dr. Na, so far you are the only one who has helped me so much. I don't want to stop. Please continue treating me, please." Amy pleaded anxiously.

"Really? But your symptoms are still the same each time you come."

"I am not the same. I am feeling much better." Amy firmly confirmed.

Mental health is a main part of the focus in my acupuncture protocol design. That is why Amy felt much better receiving my acupuncture treatment, while I could still see her symptoms.

Another two months continued. Her problems were still the same. At this time, Dr. Na could feel Amy was killing her — day and night, nothing but Amy and her swollen hands and foot in her mind. She read all she could find late at night. Searched online aggressively. Tried harder and harder each time seeing her. Nothing seemed to change for the better. Finally, she thought, "Perhaps, it is an incurable disease as everyone was saying."

One day, during her treatment, Dr. Na asked about her bowel movement.

"Oh, I am fine with that part." Amy tried to ignore the question.

"How fine?" Dr. Na insisted.

"About once a week." Amy answered quietly.

Boom! That is it!

The TCM Weapon: Chinese Herbal Formula

Immediately, Dr. Na prescribed two of her advanced herbal formulas: #16-1 Intestinal Clean and #28-1 Pain Reliever.

Because Amy had suffered for 11 years, the problem was no longer singular. The root was stagnation — the clots and blockages that had built up since infancy. But years of stagnation had compromised her circulation, and that compromise had created its own damage. Dr. Na used both formulas together:

• #16-1 Intestinal Clean — to resolve the root: the stagnation and clots

• #28-1 Pain Reliever — to restore circulation, which had been compromised after years of blocked flow

When a patient has suffered for a long time, the root cause and its downstream effects must be treated together. One formula alone would not have been enough.

And then, waited, anxiously.

Next time, Amy drove herself. She came in and stated that all of her symptoms went away within a couple of days of taking the herbs. She was pain-free and painkiller-free since. Dr. Na examined her hands and her foot carefully — could not find the swelling that had been haunting her for four months. Her hands and feet looked beautifully healthy.

Tears poured down Dr. Na's face while giving her the last treatment.

On that same day, Dr. Na ended Amy's scheduling. Amy was so worried that things would get worse again, just like before. Dr. Na insisted on her decision and told her she could always find her if she needed more help.

The very next week, however, without an appointment, Amy came in again. She stood in the hallway, waiting for Dr. Na, agitated.

"Amy, why are you here?" Dr. Na was surprised to see her, thinking she might have come to pick up some paperwork.

"I am afraid." Amy murmured.

"Do you have a regular bowel movement?" Dr. Na asked.

"Yes, every day." Amy was happy about it.

"Do you have any pain?" Dr. Na asked while checking her hands; they looked perfectly reasonable.

"No, but..." Amy started crying.

"Oh, Amy!" Dr. Na hugged her tight and whispered, "I will write to you to explain why you shouldn't be worried about the recurrence. Please go home. Enjoy your life."

Dr. Na raised Amy's face using both of her hands and looked into her eyes to make sure she was okay. She had to say goodbye to her quickly, as other patients were waiting.

That same evening, Dr. Na wrote Amy the letter — hoping to ease her mind as soon as she could.

 

The Letter to Amy

Dear Amy,

It was nice to see you today, and I was pleased to know that you are free from your 11 years of shackles. Life feels excellent without pain, doesn't it! It is now yours. Enjoy it without worrying.

You may wonder how I can be so sure it won't happen again. I talked to your mother after I discovered your constipation. She told me that throughout your life, even when you were a baby, you always had constipation and eczema at the same time. Your skin appeared rough, and you frequently attracted infections. You also had been having problems with migraine headaches.

All of these symptoms indicated that you had a sluggish digestive system, especially the colon. It is the root of your illness. The garbage stored in your colon was gradually built up, fermented, and putrefied. More and more toxins entered your whole body system, resulting in a massive systematic inflammation. Your arteries inflamed, your blood flow stagnated. Without healthy circulation, your muscles showed dystrophy on the bone scan. Dystrophy is a simple matter of lack of nutrition.

These were the reasons that caused your swelling and pain, as well as your painful menstruation and migraine headaches. Your coarse, choppy skin was the sign of blood stagnation, according to TCM.

For some reason, you had this sluggish bowel movement condition since you were a baby, and that laid the foundation for your years of suffering. Just like our house sewer — if the main drainage is blocked, the whole house will cripple; you won't be able to use the kitchen, toilet, washing machine, and so on.

The same situation happened in your body. When the garbage continuously built up, it would eventually explode, which was your flare-ups. It was also the reason why you were so easily infected. When your immune system was busy handling that garbage stored in your body, it failed to protect you from virus or bacteria. I hope this all makes sense to you.

Wisdom in TCM

Thousands of years ago, TCM doctors recognized this body condition and figured out ways to handle it. They then documented their successful experience in our textbook. It says, "Coarse skins are the sign of stagnation." By following TCM, I prescribed the two herbs designed to resolve the stagnation and unload your garbage to enhance your body function. In other words, the reason I am so sure it won't happen to you again is simple: I found the root, and I nailed it down! From now on you won't need to worry about recurrence — but remember to watch closely your bowel movement and keep your digestive system as healthy as you can.

TCM and Modern Medicine

You had faced so many ups and downs, so many horrible episodes. These happened all because your doctors did not address the root of your problem. They kept focusing on your inflammation symptoms and did not pay attention to finding the cause — why this was happening. But please, don't get mad at your doctors, and don't think they took away your precious 11 years simply because they would treat their own families in the same way. That was what they learned in medical school, and that is what they are practicingtoday. Modern medicine has been saving lives in heroic emergency conditions; we can't live without it.

We need both medicines — TCM and modern. The former for chronic illness, while the latter for the car accident, heart attack, stroke, and so forth. TCM is a unique, independent, effective medical system. It is different from modern medicine. The former developed in clinical practice, while the latter establishes in the laboratory. Modern medicine focuses on symptoms; TCM treats the roots by holistic approaches. Modern medicine started hundreds of years ago; TCM crystallized over five thousand years.

The Power of Our Mind

Amy, have you ever wondered why you got better by psychological counseling the first time you were at Mayo Clinic? You might think, "Were these all in my head?"

Our mental state has an enormous impact on our physical condition through the autonomic nervous system, which travels from the brain and mostly ends on the body vessels. So you know, it was not all in your head, but our powerful mind dominates our physical wellbeing.

What happened to you was, at first, your stress of handling school and other aspects of your life aggravated your constipation and systematic inflammation. Your illness further mounted up your pressure by continually dealing with the annoying pain and being frightened by the unexpected recurrent episodes. You were in a vicious circle.

From now on, you should pay more attention to your mental state, make time for yourself to relax your body. That was why I advised you not to worry, and I hope this letter serves you well.

Herb or Acupuncture — Which Worked?

You might have a question: it seemed that the herbs did the work, because all of your symptoms went away as soon as you started the herbs.

The truth was, four months of acupuncture treatment forced your body into a relaxed healing mode and stayed that way. It had a tremendous effect on your body system and its function positively. That was why you liked the acupuncture treatment and felt better. But not until removing your body's garbage and resolving the clots that had built up in your system did you become completely symptom-free. This tells us: acupuncture was needed, but alone was not good enough.

How about only taking herbs, you might ask? The answer is: if your car broke down, you wouldn't just put new oil in it without repairing the vehicle. Acupuncture can directly improve the whole body system, which herbs won't be able to accomplish — at least, not in a short period. In other words, it is acupuncture that laid out the healing foundation, but the garbage and stagnation were on the way of complete healing. Both acupuncture and herbs work together to achieve the best and quickest result.

Amy, we had an incredible journey together. Your pain had taught me valuable lessons, and you, on the other hand, gained the knowledge you need for living a healthy life. Now, your health and your happiness are all in your control. Have fun!

And remember, I am here for you whenever you need.

Dr. Na

 

A Mother's Words

"Please don't hesitate to call if you have questions. I would say that Amy is as healthy now as she has been since 12–13 years of age! Thanks Dr. Na!!" — Mary, Amy's mother

What Amy's Story Shows

Amy's case is not just a story about acupuncture or herbs. It is a story about looking deeper — and about what happens when the physician doesn't give up, even when the patient's symptoms say she should.

For four months, Dr. Na treated Amy and saw no change. She doubted herself. She considered stopping. But Amy refused to stop — because she felt something shifting inside, even though her hands and feet still looked the same.

That was the acupuncture working on her mental state, her nervous system, her whole- body function. It was laying the foundation. But the root — the stagnation that had been building since infancy — was still there. Not until Dr. Na asked the right question —

"How fine?" — did the missing piece appear.

One question. One answer. About once a week.

Everything changed.

For Amy, the acupuncture gave her immediate relief she could feel, even when her symptoms persisted. The herbs addressed the root — the 11 years of stagnation that had compromised her circulation and created the pain. Together, they did what 11 years of conventional treatment could not do: they gave her back her life.

This is the system Dr. Na built. This is what she offers.

And it began with a patient who refused to give up — and a physician who refused to stop looking.

There was never a medical diagnosis for Amy's long-term severe illness. It remained a mystery — until it wasn't. What modern medicine could not name, TCM could treat. Because TCM does not require a name. It requires a root.

We human beings are still far away from thoroughly understanding our own bodies. Therefore, we need to welcome TCM into the battlefield, together, for the best health care service of all.