Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Herbs and Kidney Stones
March 2008 A 22 year old female, college student, came to me for right flank pain and right lower pelvic pain. She
had a kidney stone in the right distal ureter. As a matter of fact, she had received treatment six months ago including lithotripsy or shock-way treatment and another procedure called ureteroscopy during which a
scope was introduced into the right ureter with an attempt to remove the stone. She had failed to respond to both and she was quite fearful of going through the same procedures once again because of post procedure
nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain. After one acupuncture session, she passed the stone immediately. Very little is available in the acupuncture literature about treating kidney stones. Even less well known is the use
of tradition Chinese herbal remedy for this problem. I insert acupuncture needles into the kidney and the urinary bladder channel to strengthen the "kidney energy" and to help the patient to eliminate the
stone. This was documented hundreds of years ago in ancient Chinese acupuncture journals. Likewise, herbal remedy, through mixing a number of herbs, can also strengthen one's ability to expel kidney
stones. Traditional Chinese medicine is energy medicine, different energy pathways and energy centers in the body are in charge of different body functions. Inability to pass a kidney or ureteral stone is
viewed as weakening of the kidney energy. This, I suppose, is very difficult for those trained only in Western Medicine to understand. I have previously treated two patients with similar presentations and one of
the two actually was a nurse working for me at that time who passed a stone immediately after one acupuncture treatment. Another person had a history of kidney stone and came to see me for renal colic. Her
pain was relieved right on the spot with an acupuncture treatment and when she saw her urologist a few days later, x-rays failed to show any stone. I do not know whether she passed any stone for sure after
acupuncture. To me acupuncture is a good alternative
to modern medicine's wonderful equipment and technology. Especially, for those who do not respond well initially, those who cannot afford these procedures and especially those who have constitutional issues, for example, for elderly with significant fatigue who might not be good candidates for western procedures.
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