While some turn to iced beverages amid rising temperatures, others resort to a popular folk therapy called “gua sha” (skin scraping, 刮痧), but a doctor yesterday said that gua sha could cause flesh-eating diseases and other complications.
Gua sha involves repeatedly scraping lubricated skin with smooth-edged tools to produce light bruising. The practice is believed to stimulate blood flow and treat heatstroke.
“A 40-year-old man from Taichung’s Fongyuan District (豐原) was recently rushed to an emergency department after developing bacterial infections on his inner thighs following a self-applied gua sha session,” Feng Yuan Hospital Department of Surgery director Wu Chien-ting (吳建廷) said yesterday.
Photo: Lee Chung-hsien, Taipei Times
When the man arrived at the hospital, Wu said red and swollen ulcers were found on both of his inner thighs. He also had a fever of 39°C.
Wu said the complications could have arisen because the patient used an unsterilized tool to carry out the therapy and also caused minor skin injuries in the process.
The man later developed necrotizing fasciitis — a serious bacterial skin infection that spreads quickly and can cause tissue death — and was required to undergo emergency debridement and irrigation, and was put on antibiotics.
“He regained his health and was discharged from hospital after two weeks of treatment,” Wu said.
Hospital Department of Infectious Disease director Wang Wei-yao (王唯堯) said the germs that cause necrotizing fasciitis are commonly found in the soil and can infect humans through skin wounds.
“This type of bacterial infection could result in sepsis, a severe blood infection that can lead to organ failure and death if the condition is not properly controlled,” Wang said.
Department of Chinese Medicine director Lin Ching-chung (林慶鐘) said that while gua sha is conducive to easing headaches, sore muscles and heatstroke, it cannot be practiced on injuries or dry skin, or on people with a deficiency of energy.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS