Guest guest Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone would like to share their experiences and/or expertise in working with the elderly. I find that my results with folks over 70 aren't as good as my results with younger patients. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Peace, Liz ******* Stop the silence around mental illness. ****** Go to www.nami.org and www.afsp.org to learn more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 i do well with seniors, all ages. i had a great success with an excema case in an 85yf. it was all over her limbs. steriods did nothing. it took some time, but we cured it. another that comes to mind is a 70yf widow wit shoulder pain. again, it took awhile (emo/grief involved) but cured. some respond quickly, others can take time. patience is required. often (but not always) i find the herb dosing needs to be lowered to about 75% of adult. i do this with s/e (usually g/i related). otherwise, i tx them the same as everyone else. in school we were taught to use fewer needles (even contra/lat), but i haven't found that to be necc. hope this is helpful, kb On 3/8/07, Liz <lizzzrd wrote: > > Hi all, > I'm wondering if anyone would like to share their experiences and/or > expertise in working with the elderly. I find that my results with folks > over 70 aren't as good as my results with younger patients. Any thoughts on > this would be appreciated. > Peace, Liz > > ******* Stop the silence around mental illness. ****** > Go to www.nami.org and www.afsp.org to learn more > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 I especially enjoy treating the elderly - they are from a time where herbs where still in general use. In Denmark up until the mid-fifties every pharmacy had it's own herb garden.... They can tell wonderful stories of folk medicine , midwifery and so on - knowledge (some of it superstition) that one could fear will be lost in a couple of decades...... Well........ Kid Yin - especially - declines as we age and get stuck in our patterns of imbalance. This creates def heat drying up body fluids and eventually creating Blood stagnation - a typical issue with the elderly which is, I feel, often overlooked since the symptoms often are weak (often there's no stabbing pains and it's like) darkening of skin color, hardening of the pulse, palpable hard nodules along meridians and on the abdomen, more moles appearing or turning hard, rock hard shoulders and so on are sure to signal Blood stagnation. In the elderly, I find that Blood stagnation often comes with unverbalized symptoms of local cold (patches of cold areas often in Kid/Sp/Liv areas ) - especially in the elderly - due to the Blood stagnation blocking circulation of already def. Qi. There are ALWAYS signs in the pulse as well - hardening of the pulse, wiry, irregular, fast, deep and slippery, superficial and rapid can all point towards Blood stagnation and it's primary location and is also giving you the treatment technique (how many points, how deep, how long, quick or slow, retained needling, contact needling etc.). Undiagnosed Blood stagnation can complicate treating the elderly a lot - not necessarily in terms of worsened condition (though it definitely can cause palpitations, dizziness to worsen, etc on iatrogenesis), but often in terms of lack of progress in treatment. I usually get the best and quickest results if - keeping the above in mind - is able to establish a proper constitutional diagnosis - usually through comparative pulse diagnosis (combined with other findings of during the four examinations) giving you the points to use and then using the pulse quality to determine treatment technique. Evaluating St Qi in pulse and overall Shen (complexion color, demeanor etc) will help you do prognosis so you don't accept patients you can't help or will be better helped elsewhere! Kindly, Thomas 2007/3/9, : > > i do well with seniors, all ages. i had a great success with an excema > case > in an 85yf. it was all over her limbs. steriods did nothing. it took some > time, but we cured it. another that comes to mind is a 70yf widow wit > shoulder pain. again, it took awhile (emo/grief involved) but cured. some > respond quickly, others can take time. patience is required. often (but > not always) i find the herb dosing needs to be lowered to about 75% of > adult. i do this with s/e (usually g/i related). otherwise, i tx them the > same as everyone else. in school we were taught to use fewer needles (even > contra/lat), but i haven't found that to be necc. > > hope this is helpful, > > kb > > On 3/8/07, Liz <lizzzrd <lizzzrd%40optonline.net>> wrote: > > > > Hi all, > > I'm wondering if anyone would like to share their experiences and/or > > expertise in working with the elderly. I find that my results with folks > > over 70 aren't as good as my results with younger patients. Any thoughts > on > > this would be appreciated. > > Peace, Liz > > > > ******* Stop the silence around mental illness. ****** > > Go to www.nami.org and www.afsp.org to learn more > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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