The Acupuncture Treatment of Stomach Reflux and Vomiting

Digestive

Chief Complaint: vomiting/stomach reflux

Medical History: 3and a half year old, white male, autistic. Slow development. Not talking or walking. Has been seeing occupational therapist for over 2 years. Mild improvement. Patient has been vomiting food since birth. Mother is very persistent in following recommended procedures with past doctors. Diet is high in sugars, particularly fruit juice, cold foods,little to no daily water intake. No recurring medical problems besides those listed above. No history of ear infections or frequent colds/flus. Some fear of nutritional deficiency and lack of food intake causing growth problems.

Questioning exam: Mother states child will vomit immediately after eating, 2 hours after eating or 6 hours after eating. No steady pattern. The vomit is usually clear, with little food expulsion, mostly watery to yellowish, occasionally bitter, foul smelling. His stools are dry. Patient is easily frustrated and angered. Throws tantrums. Urination is normal. Still in diapers. Appetite low.

Pulse exam: Pulse is wiry, sl. rapid, deep, slippery

Tongue exam: Tongue is hard to observe. With his autism, he will easily bite down on anything. However, he occasionally opens his mouth nicely for me and I have observed a reddish body, sl. swollen, and no coat. Hasn’t changed much through treatment.

OM Diagnosis: SP/ST weakness with counterflow qi.
KD yin deficiency
LIV/SP disharmony

Treatment Principle: Mostly support sp/st and liver right now. Some kidney support but want to reverse counterflow, warm spleen and tonify spleen.

Point Prescription: Classic points were choosen to support stomach counterflow, spleen and kidney tonification, liver coursing.
CV12, ST 25 or SP15, www.health-canada-pharmacy.com/meridia.html ST36, SP 6, P6, LI4, LIV 3, CV6 occasionally ST37 for constipation, alternating with UB 18, UB 20, UB21, UB23. I also added si shen cong for sensory and motor impairment. We used moxa on CV12 and ST36 with mother using moxa daily on these points. I used ear tacks in place of needles because the child was unable to hold still and want to pull out needles. The tacks seemed to work wonderfully.

Herbal Formula: No herbal formulas given

Lifestyle Prescription: Child was given a spleen tonifying diet. WE added barley, warm cooked foods like soup and vegies. Started giving him organic baby foods that had rice, lentils etc. in them instead of fruits. Mother was asked to avoid sugar, fruit juices and cold food. Also, to give room temperature water and no other drinks. Apple cider vinegar was used in water after meals to aid digestion. Chamomile tea was used occasionally and lemon water in the morning to stimulate digestion.

Results: Results have been tremendous. Two visits and patient went from vomiting every meal to no vomit. His mother was able to give him more food at each meal. 3 visit he was up to 1x/day of vomiting. After 5 visits he is now consistently only vomiting 1x/week or less. Mother has continued his strict diet and moxa. Patient has starting crawling.

Synopsis: We continue to monitor his diet and exercise program. He his now coming in for follow-up treatments monthly.

Courtesy of:
Laura Zaranski M.S., Dipl. Ac.
East Wind Acupuncture
325 N. Calumet
Chesterton, IN 46304
eastwindacup@verizon.net

Restoring Health Naturally

Last modified: September 6, 2009  Tags: , ,  В·  Posted in: Digestive