Case Studies

22 year old Hispanic male
Injury mid November 2000
Gun shot wound to T2 - T3 region
Bilateral paralysis of lower extremities
Paresis of the upper extremities

Hospitalized for 3 months:
Felt burning sensations throughout his body
Able to move his finger tips / unable to feed
Could not feel any sensation in the lower regions

Initial hospitalization was told:
Incontinent of bowel and bladder
Never walk again.

Began treatment with acupuncture:
1 ½ months after his injury
Twice a week

Results:
6 months he was able to stand in parallel bars
7 months he could feel legs
Physical therapy for 1 year
1 1/2 years he was continent
Walking with a walker after 26 months
Crutches for the last 10 months

Patient’s goal:
Strengthening his left side, left leg
To be free his crutche

29 year white old male
Hit by a truck on motorcycle August 2002
Spinal Cord Injury at T-7 and brain injury
ICU for 3 wks
No loss of consciousness, but no memory of the time from when the accident occurred to when he arrived in ICU
Rehab for 2 months

Project Walk on April 2003:
No sensation of touch below the level of his diaphragm
No sensation in his bowel and bladder
Insert a catheter to urinate.

Acupuncture treatments:
Improved to bowel and bladder function
His motor function and muscle strength is also improved.

Recently:
Sensation has increased in low back and pelvis
Climbing better

25 year old male
Motor vehicle accident thrown from car on June 2000
Level of injury is a C6-C7 subluxation resulting in quadriplegia.

In the beginning:
Catheter 6 to 10 times daily
Experiencing incontinence, difficult and urgent urination
Feeding tube for 6 weeks after accident
Hospital for 5 months
Placed on a ventilator for one month
Cervical fusion on 6/2000

During Acupuncture treatments
6 months after treatments his legs had great progress
Lifting 8 lbs weights
Began to crawl 15 feet then well up to 25 feet
Leg aches and pains
Sensations in his sacral region radiating down

Areas of improvements
Sleep improvement
Regained his balance
Hand coordination
Standing with help for up to 15 minutes at a time

27 year old male
Spinal cord injury because of a Motor vehicle accident which occurred August 2002
Rehab for 7 weeks and 10 days in ICU

Project walk in September 2002 - performed acupuncture:
Crawling forward and backward 8 months
Increased sensation & muscle mass in his core, legs and below the point of injury
Enables him to enter in and out of his vehicle
Improvement in his Bowel/Bladder

Areas of Improvement:
Standing on his walker in 1 minute intervals for exercise
Can stand for longer period of time and stand by the sink alone
Full sit ups
Able to stand with a walker
Good bowel bladder function
Improving his leg strength particularly in his gluts & quads strengthening his core

20 year old Hispanic female
Motor vehicle accident on May 2002
Truck rolled over she had a head injury
Spinal cord injury at T-8
Initially 70-90% lesion.

After injury:
Unable to transfer from chair to table
Not sit or crawl
Severe pain in left side of back
Incontinent of bowel and bladder and is on a QOD bowel program.

After Acupuncture:
Transfer without assistance
She can crawl & can stand without holding on for several minutes
Continue to work on improving bowel and bladder function