WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Health Alert: acupuncture for acid reflux

Health Alert: acupuncture for acid reflux

(Columbia) Nov. 25, 2003 - These days Bill Moore starts his mornings at his printing company in good spirits, but for 35 years he suffered from acid reflux. Prescription medicine helped, but he still found himself up at night, "It burns like mad, and it feels like someone stuck a hot poker down your neck."

Being the conventional type, Bill didn't buy into alternative treatments, "My first thought of acupuncture? I said, 'No way, that can't help me any.'"

But having suffered enough, he turned to acupuncture physician Tom Elman to give it a try, "The idea is to bring the stomach acid into balance with where it's supposed to be."

While treatment is different for each person, typical needle points for acid reflux are on the foot, near the knee, and in the middle and on the side of the abdomen. Patients are also given herbs.

"If you are on some sort of treatment, and you're still getting acid reflux, there's a potential danger to you. This is ultimately what killed my father," Tom's dad died of esophageal cancer after years of acid reflux disease. "That becomes a driving force for me. I'd like to see that nobody else has to go through that."

After 18 treatments, Bill says he's finally free from acid reflux, "Now, when I go to bed, I have just one pillow underneath me, and I sleep all night," and can even eat his favorite foods.

Elman says an acupuncturist should not tell you to stop taking your prescription medicine without first consulting with your doctor. But, he says some patients are able to stop or reduce their medication with this alternative treatment, while others just find more relief with the combination of acupuncture, herbs and medicine.

by Dawn Mercer

posted 11:12 by Chris Rees