Spine treatment in China: access to advanced medical technologies

What spinal diseases are treated in China?

Patients suffering from injuries and diseases of the spine, which often cause pain and discomfort, come to Chinese clinics.
Back and neck pain is one of the most common complaints among adults. Approximately 8 out of 10 people experience spinal pain due to a malformation, injury, tumor or degenerative disease at least once in their lives. Almost any spinal clinic in China has modern diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and offers a wide range of treatment methods for various spinal diseases. Medical care in the country is focused primarily on patients, therefore, in each individual case, a personalized treatment protocol is drawn up, taking into account the individual characteristics and needs of the patient. Treatment is carried out by a whole team of experts in such fields of medicine as neurosurgery, neurology, neurophysiology, orthopedics, physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

Clinics in China provide treatment for the following diseases:

• Arthritis and osteochondrosis
• Herniated disc
• Severe back pain of various etiologies
• Myelopathy (spinal cord damage)
• Neurogenic claudication (pain, tension, and weakness in the legs when walking)
• Osteoporosis
• Scoliosis and other spinal deformities
• Spinal stenosis
• Spinal injuries (domestic and sports)
• Tumors
• Vertebral fractures
• Whiplash

This is not a complete list of diseases that are treated in orthopedic centers in Chinese clinics. In addition to common diseases, rare and non-standard pathologies are also treated here.

Cellular immune therapy for diabetes

Type II diabetes mellitus has long become a common disease and a serious threat to the health of many people.

Hyperglycemia causes damage to all cells in the body due to high blood sugar levels. Some tissues, such as the endothelial cells of blood vessels, are very sensitive to elevated sugar levels. High blood sugar causes metabolic disorders of the endothelial cells of blood vessels, leading to their damage and death. Vascular endothelial cells gradually die, which leads to vascular sclerosis, the vessels become rigid and lose elasticity.

Thus, diabetic hyperglycemia causes vascular sclerosis, which results in cardiovascular diseases, brain diseases, kidney diseases and secondary uremia, eye diseases, diabetic foot lesions and many other complications.

The main way to reduce mortality from diabetes is control of blood sugar and early prevention of general sclerosis of blood vessels.

Cellular immune therapy brings new hope for diabetes patients. Many years of research have led scientists to great successes in cellular immune therapy. This is especially true for the development of the use of cellular immune therapy (CIT) in the treatment of type II diabetes. New immunotherapy has been successfully used to treat thousands of patients with type 2 diabetes.

After CIT treatment, most patients experienced significant improvements in blood glucose and lipid levels. Complaints of poor sleep, poor appetite, dry mouth, nocturia, physical weakness and poor vision also decreased. It was subsequently found that the length of time results were maintained and symptoms improved was related to the amount of food consumed. If the patient is cooperative, a low-calorie diet and exercise should be developed and administered. After treatment, the positive effects on blood sugar and lipid levels were observed to persist for a full year, with individual changes for each patient.

Compared to drug therapy, the advantage of cellular immune therapy for type II diabetes is the ability to restore normal metabolism of sugars and lipids, which leads to an increase in the elasticity of hardened blood vessels and the prevention of complications, as well as recovery from complications that have already appeared.

Contraindications:

• History of a malignant tumor.
• A history of myocardial infarction in the previous three months.
• Progressive/uncontrolled infectious disease.
• Presence of HIV.
• Allergy to certain blood products.
• Platelet count below 30,000/ml.
• Episodic loss of consciousness (fainting)

Spine diagnostics in China

Chinese diagnosticians use the most modern equipment to identify spinal diseases. Advanced medical imaging technologies such as digital X-ray, myelography, MRI and EOS provide highly detailed 3D images without the need for high doses of radiation.

Most often, diagnostic studies are aimed at finding the source of back pain and its possible causes. In addition to the physical examination, laboratory and instrumental studies are carried out. Patients may be prescribed:

• Arthrography
• CT or MRI
• Electromyogram
• X-ray
• Myelogram
• Densitometry
• Radionuclide bone scanning, etc.

In cases where the source of spinal pain is an external disease, a wide range of medical procedures are available to Chinese doctors to make a differential diagnosis.

Basic qigong complex for the back

Qigong gymnastics is an entire Eastern practice that combines various sets of exercises. All of them are aimed at achieving certain results. It is recommended to start the training process with exercise; it will prepare the joints and improve the flow of blood to the muscles. The optimal approaches for improving the condition of the joints and spine from the practice of qigong are:

• Stand up straight, bring your legs together. Raise your arms above your head and clasp them together. Slowly stretch up, standing on your toes. During the process, a gentle stretching of the spine should be felt.
• Stand up straight, bend your arms at the elbows and clasp them together, raising them above you. A tilt is made in one direction, then in the other. The movement is more like a pendulum that slowly swings. At the extreme point of the inclination, you should linger for a few seconds.
• Perform the exercise described above with your knees slightly bent.
• Stand up straight, press your chin to your chest, slowly bend your back. There should be no jerks in the process.
• Stand up straight, spread your arms to the sides, turn your shoulder in one direction, and then repeat the movement in the other.
• Raise your arms up, legs slightly apart. The torso leans forward, forming an angle of 90 degrees. You will need to stay in this position for a few seconds. Then return to the starting position and repeat the action.
• Stand up straight, spread your arms to the sides, legs make smooth swings. You should try to touch your toes to your hand.

To perform all approaches correctly, you should first familiarize yourself with the training videos. Dr. Butrimov’s lessons, presented in the public domain, have proven themselves well.

Qigong is suitable for people of all fitness levels

Spine treatment methods in China

After a comprehensive diagnosis, Chinese doctors collectively consider all available treatment options. The therapeutic protocol is drawn up taking into account the characteristics of the disease and the individual needs of each patient.

• Conservative therapy. The vast majority of spinal symptoms can be treated conservatively. Treatment includes relative rest (if exacerbation occurs), medication, orthopedic devices, and/or active physical rehabilitation. These measures are almost always included in the main treatment program for spinal diseases, since it is an integrated approach that allows success to be achieved in the long term.
• Treatment of spinal tumors in China. Only the most experienced neurosurgeons treat benign and malignant spinal tumors in Chinese clinics. Many of them have developed their own unique approaches, which are now used by their colleagues from prestigious foreign clinics. If the tumor is benign and does not cause symptoms, conservative therapy is used. Cancerous tumors must be removed. For this purpose, methods such as radiosurgery, minimally invasive surgery and open surgery are used.
• Image-guided injections into the spine. Previously, steroid blockades were carried out blindly, so even the most experienced doctor could make a mistake when administering the drug. Today in China, powerful anti-inflammatory drugs are injected into the affected area of ​​the spine under X-ray guidance. The cost of treating the spine in China with this method is relatively low, however, its effect is short-lived (several months).
• Spinal cord stimulation. This type of treatment is used when the cause of back pain cannot be determined or is not treatable. The essence of the method is to transmit electrical impulses to the brain to activate neurons that inhibit pain sensations. During the operation, the surgeon places electrodes in the epidural space and connects them to a stimulator sewn under the skin.
• Radiosurgery. A non-invasive treatment method that involves exposing the affected area to a focused beam of radiation. Radiosurgery is suitable for removing tumors that are dangerously close to nerves or blood vessels. Because this technique does not require any incisions, it may be considered as an alternative for patients with contraindications to surgery. Reviews of spine treatment in China using this technique are always positive.
• Spinal fusion. A surgical procedure that involves fusing (fusing) one or more vertebrae together. With its help, fractures, scoliosis and spinal instability are treated. Chinese surgeons perform hundreds of similar operations a year, which has allowed them to gain invaluable experience and develop their own unique surgical approaches.
• Intervertebral disc replacement. Serves as an alternative to spinal fusion, in which the range of motion of the spine is limited due to complete fusion of the vertebrae. Clinics in China use only high-quality high-tech prostheses made of durable metals and medical plastics. Good candidates for this surgery are young, active people who want to maintain spinal mobility.
• Spinal decompression. Relieving pain and/or numbness by removing bone or part of an intervertebral disc that is putting pressure on the spinal cord or spinal roots. The cost of spinal decompression treatment in China depends on the choice of surgical technique. Examples of such procedures are laminectomy and microdiscectomy.
• Minimally invasive spine surgery. This innovative approach makes it possible to perform surgery through smaller incisions and with minimal tissue trauma. This, in turn, helps reduce postoperative pain and speed up the patient’s recovery process. In China, about 50% of spinal surgeries are performed minimally invasively.
• Image-guided spine surgery. To improve the accuracy and safety of operations, Chinese orthopedic surgeons use modern imaging technologies in their practice, such as spinal navigation, three-dimensional fluoroscopy, diffuse spectral tomography and intraoperative CT. These innovative devices help the surgeon obtain three-dimensional images of the structures being operated on in real time.

conclusions

The needle knife technology makes it possible to improve the condition of patients with diseases of large joints, improves joint function and reduces pain, which gives patients the opportunity not only to adapt socially, but also to avoid expensive and traumatic methods of surgical treatment, and also to significantly delay arthroplasty.

The prospects for the development of acupotomology in Russia can hardly be overestimated, since this method will not only reduce the cost of treating patients with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, but also significantly increase the number of patients treated with good long-term results due to the simplicity and low cost of the method.

The method and technique of carrying out such manipulations require the doctor’s absolute knowledge of the profile anatomy, training of specialists in medical centers that have not only a theoretical and practical basis, but also significant experience in acupotomology.

Articles / 07/10/2020

Breathing while performing

Qigong is not simple gymnastics; it is important to pay attention to technique and breathing. Moreover, it does not matter significantly what exactly the exercises are aimed at, improving the health of the body, strengthening the spine or losing weight. Eastern practice includes approximately 8 types of breathing, each of which is aimed at performing a specific task. But in practice, only two options are most often used:

• Breath of fire. It is suitable for dynamic gymnastics classes where rhythmic actions are provided. All movements are performed by the diaphragm, due to active inhalation of air and sharp exhalation.
• For static gymnastics. Breathing in the process is slow, as deep as possible. The phases of air entry and exit are equal. The main feature of this process is strong relaxation.

Performing exercises for the spine requires normal breathing through the nose. It is important to control the process and prevent shortness of breath.