penetrating into peritoneal cavity -- not likely

[Guest guest]

Tamas,

 

It would be my guess, assuming the acupuncturist was following angle and depth

of insertion guidelines, that such needle placements would not result in

penetration into peritoneal cavity, even on a skinny body. Acupuncturists

should know how to modify insertion angles, depths, and manipulations for body

sizes and gender, body types, states of health and intended treatment effect.

 

Do you recall the angle(s) at which the needles were placed? Any recollection

of needle type, length, gauge used? Hopefully you recall the needles were

inserted at low angles of incidence, rather than being closer to perpendicular

(90 degrees -- straight in)? The closer to 90 degrees, assuming deep

penetration, the greater the risk of peritoneal perforation--if inserted deeply

with force--the peritoneal sack is somewhat tough for a reason. There are

points where 90 degree insertions are the correct choice, even for skinny

bodies, and where deep penetration can be desirable, such as ST 36.

 

The worse case risk, if there was a true penetration, would be infection

developing inside the peritoneal sack--and this would be serious enough a

problem to require hospitalization. Think of it this way--you'd likely be in

the hospital by now if peritoneal penetration had happened. My hope is you are

now feeling fine and have no residual symptoms continuing from that needling

episode.

 

Hopefully, the lesson should be that 'inconvenient distention' is not

(typically) a sign of penetration into the peritoneal cavity. There indeed are

bundles of sensitive nerves in this area. The nerves which give you the strong

feelings of pressure and distention are mostly in the skin layers and muscular

layers, above peritoneal sac tissue. These distention feelings should not be

assumed to be reliable indicators of real deep inner harm. And the

acupuncturist would likely have felt the needling had 'grasped Qi' if strong

distention feelings were produced...something regarded a good sign of effective

needling. A needle going in too deep is likely to pass by the layers where

nerves exist which signal distention--so, it may not be likely you'd pick up any

true penetration event up as a strong hurtful feeling.

 

If you continue to be concerned about the risk of a hazardous penetration in the

sensitive lower abdomen/groin areas, you might ask for alternative treatment

options such as moxa or cupping, instead of needling.

 

 

 

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " yakenez " <knz wrote:

>

> Does it have a special feeling when the needle penetrates into the peritoneal

cavity? I'm thin and I was needled at SP13, REN3 (or 4?) and it felt bad

(=inconvenient distention). I'm curious if that was it.

>

> I know for the Chinese it's okay to needle into the peritoneal cavity. But I'd

rather avoid it. I read Deadman also warns against it.

>

> Thanks,

> Tamas

>