Anyone who has suffered the agony of a gallbladder attack needs to know that acupuncture delivers extraordinary results. Many people suffering frightening spasms and difficulty breathing are utterly perplexed by what’s happening to their body. It is often confused for a heart ailment or heart attack. It’s often considered mid-back pain. The case of Narbonne, a 40ish male, was referred to me after six months of futility with bio-medicine.
Narbonne is a big guy, who began experiencing a fit after having a few drinks with some chili over at a friend’s house. Spasmodic pain in the back, a knife stabbing at any unexpected moment, making even sleep impossible. Here’s the kicker. . . Narbonne had his gallbladder removed in 2013. This is 2019. He must be experiencing something else. Didn’t the labs say, didn’t the endoscopy see, wasn’t the gastro-enterologist. . . ? Could it be a case of the Phantom Gallbladder?
Conscious Acupuncture for Gallbladder Issues
If it looks like a duck. . . Narbonne’s symptoms are all gallbladder. Is there such thing as phantom organ syndrome? Additionally, he feels a constant dull ache in the area of the liver. Is the liver upset about the absence of its paired organ? First harmonize liver since its functions are critical to overall well-being.
The second session involved reducing the spasm by in part addressing the complementary organs of digestion, particularly addressing sugar imbalance. The treatment didn’t kick in until two days later. Finding the release points to hold required an involved session of two hours.
By the third session Narbonne was less apprehensive about the success he was experiencing, with no radiating pain along the rib cage, fewer spasms and no liver ache. The next two sessions were for eliminating the spasms. I gave him some pills for gallstones.
Acupuncture Mechanisms and the Gallbladder
Acupuncture is known to treat pain. This includes the gallbladder. All acupuncture theory acknowledges the importance of liver and gallbladder in treating the gallbladder, but the approaches and protocols vary wildly. Japanese style acupuncture takes the guesswork out of needle selection by first testing a point and then checking it at the pain site. The difference is more than trivial, because in Japanese acupuncture only points that show a demonstrable improvement in symptoms are selected.
In the Chinese style, there is no way to cross-check your point selection, not to mention needle depth. Thus, in Japanese acupuncture a true diagnosis only can occur after cross-checking. The fact is many symptoms overlay one another. Teasing one from the other based on symptom picture alone is honed skill, made less subjective when one’s thought process can be verified. Only the Japanese palpation techniques do this.
Acupuncture Protocols for the Gallbladder
There are many ways in which acupuncture can address the gallbladder. In treating someone in great discomfort, the objective is to use points that most accessible and impactful. The gallbladder point of the ear ranks as my number one. A tiny seeded band-aid can be placed on the spot and a patient can walk away having that point treated constantly for five more days.
Another approach involves treating inflammation along the right side of the body, addressing the Gallbladder Channel along with related channels. This approach may precede accessing the ear or be a compliment to it depending on results. Results determine the necessity of extra points and protocols, including moxa.
Conclusion
Treating phantom gallbladder pain is treated the same way as the gallbladder. An important point to take away is that just because one’s gallbladder is removed that gallbladder symptoms won’t persist. This is in part because the gallbladder is part of the liver system and its removal does nothing to address an underlying imbalance.
Conscious Actupunture takes a broad view toward treating any imbalance, not just the gallbladder. Distinguishing cause-and-effect through Japanese acupuncture diagnostics is extremely efficient for distinguishing the two, which translates into less pain, greater mobility, and a normal life. We like normal.