Is it really possible for doctors to relieve chronic and erstwhile difficult-to-treat pain simply by applying pressure to various strategic points on a patients' body? A medical society based in Japan believes so.
The Taiwan Medical Association of Collateral Meridian Ther-apy yesterday launched a book on its innovative pain-relief therapy at a press conference in Taipei. The treatment, called "Collateral Meridian Therapy," was invented by the association's founder Ko Shan-chi (柯尚志), a pain management doctor who lives in Japan.
Ko said at the conference that his therapy is a combination of traditional Chinese acupuncture and western pathology, but the pressure points in the therapy outnumber those in acupuncture.
Quick response
Ko said by applying pressure on matching points on the three "body meridians" -- similar to the meridian concept in traditional Chinese medicine -- he found patients' pain can be relieved relatively quickly.
He said the basic concept behind the therapy was to "return to where the illness arises" and "help the `body flow' within the meridians pass through smoothly."
"It's like cleaning a jammed gutter. You need to let the water pass through so that you will not feel painful anymore," he said, adding that the therapy can also be used to treat cancer.
Western medicine fails to consider the human body in its entirety, he said. However, Ko says his therapy, outlined in his new book There is no Pain that Cannot be Relieved starts from the basic premise that the body is a holistic entity.
Non-intrusive
According to Chen Chien-li (
Huang Hsieh-chou (
He added that the therapy can be applied to intractable pain problems resulting from slipped disc and cervical vertebra illness.
New options
Director Chan Rai-chi (
However effective the therapy seems, it may not be affordable to the general public.
Ko said although the pricing has not been confirmed yet, the national health insurance will not cover it. He also said going through one session in his hospital in Japan costs ?100,000 (US$850).
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