Leech therapy – a new-old treatment technique
Leech therapy also known as hyrudotherapy is one of the ancient treatment techniques that become more and more popular in modern medicine. This article will explain why the method that was used 2-3 centuries ago is so demanded today.
Leeches are hermaphroditic ectoparasites of the class Hirudotherapy. The most commonly used medicinal leech is Hirudo medicinalis. The salivary glands of Leeches are known to improve blood circulation, treat soft tissue swelling, periorbital hematoma, cauliflower ears, bruises and purpura fulminans. They usually reserved for cases that do not require surgical correction such as gumball and facial discoloration.
What is Leech therapy?
While the unpleasant sight of a bloodsucking leech on your body may make you want to get started, this alternative therapy goes back at least 5,000 years in Egypt. Medicinal Leeches, which are worms, have been used traditionally all over the world to cure all kinds of ailments, from fever to flatulence, headaches to hemorrhoids. There is even a word used to describe the use of bad bugs in medicine: Hirudotherapy.
Introduction to Hyrudotherapy
Leeches were popular not so long ago with the 19th-century bloodletters, which believed that getting rid of “bad blood” in the system would improve your health (a bit like Demi). But they made a comeback in the 1980s, when scientists realized how small suckers could be useful for performing medical miracles, such as helping to put limbs back in place and help heal wounds.
The procedure of hyrudotherapy
Leeches are allowed to feed until they fall. It would be about 15-120 minutes. The wound continues to ooze under the action of several substances present in the saliva of the leech. The leech can ingest 8-10 ml of blood. The wound still oozes up to 50 ml of blood from the size of the bite. We know that the success rate is 70 to 80% of the cases treated.
Place a drop of blood on the desired fixation site. It will facilitate the application of the fall. Circle the site with surgical towels. The migration of Leech should be closely monitored.
Complications of leech therapy
Complications of Leech therapy are usually associated with wound infection and bleeding. It often requires a blood transfusion. The success rate drops typically to 30% in the presence of clinically significant disease.
Immunosuppressant or arterial insufficiency of the flap predisposes the patient to infection. The saliva of Leeches has anticoagulant properties. Leech bites are usually painless. Their bites generally leave a Y-shaped scar in the area. Low risk of infection or allergy may also exist after treatment.
Preparation for Hyrudotheapy
Clean the skin with normal saline. The barrier can be made with a 4×4 gauze sponge. Make a hole in the center. Then strengthen with a towel. The leech transfer should be done with a forceps and guided to the right place of the skin. Sometimes you have to pick your skin to draw blood. The leech will then show interest and start feeding.
What causes the infection?
Leech therapy will finish when leeches come off once filled. If you pull it, mouthparts of the leech may remain in the wound and cause an infection.
How to get rid of the leeches?
The detached leech then placed in a cup covered with alcohol and thrown into a suitable container for biological hazards.
Hirudotherapy and appearance of the skin should monitor. Make sure that he does not lose a lot of blood and that the part of the body that is stuck together maintains good circulation.
Last year, the 46-year-old actress, whose husband, Ashton Kutcher, is only 31 years old, admitted to having undergone a Leech therapy to “detoxify” her blood. The method was simple: she shaved her body, dipped in turpentine, and then let the nasty creatures get sucked.
Moore was in Austria filming; she told NBC’s David Letterman when she felt a place for Leech therapy. “I feel that I have always been looking for optimal solutions to optimize your health and your recovery,”
The reason is simple: Leeches are parasites that consume the blood of their host. When they bite a person (or a dog or an alligator), their saliva contains an enzyme that is released, preventing blood clotting. It anticoagulant also has antiseptic qualities: in fact, the saliva of the leech includes more than 30 proteins, some of which can also help relieve pain and reduce numbness.
In plastic surgery, Leech therapy is sometimes used to relieve venous congestion, especially in the case of a transplant. When a limb needs to be amputated, these smart worms can help nourish the bone tissue, stopping swelling and allowing fresh blood to enter the arm, leg or even the breast tissue reconnected, so it does not die. Research on Leeches is also underway to determine if they can help reduce the pain and inflammation with osteoarthritis, a debilitating bone disease (they have placed on the patient’s knees, with excellent results). And the rumor says that they have used in dermatology and ophthalmology, and even to treat the inner ear.
For people like Demi, Leech therapy used listening to the good old days, when people thought that lousy blood makes you sick (it can), and that sucking a leech would make you better ( doubtful). Either that or the whole experience is further proof that she has behind her a great public relations guru.
Facts about Leeches
There is much other interesting information on these versatile worms, including:
- Leeches live in clean, freshwater.
- While Leeches like to suck blood, some people prefer to eat other meals, such as mosquito and mosquito larvae.
- Although they are not marsupials, Leeches have a kangaroo-shaped pouch where they keep their young babies until they are old enough to become blood-suckers themselves.
- Leeches have three jaws, and each has about 100 teeth.
- A leech can suck up to five times its body weight in its favorite food: blood.
- There are many species of Leeches. Those used as baits are not used in medicine.
- Many medicinal Leeches are imported from Eastern Europe or France for use in the United States.
Medical terminology and requirements
There is a word for using live animals to facilitate the treatment of a health problem or the diagnosis of a problem: biotherapy. And Leeches are not the only faunas used for biotherapeutic reasons.
Warning: Never do this alone at home. Try to get help from a professional who specializes in Leech therapy. There is so much at stake during treatment. You must also coordinate your treatment with your doctor.
Leech therapy in Philadelphia
At the Philadelphia Acupuncture Clinic, Dr. Lakeev, who graduated Leech therapy Academy in Los-Vegas, Nevada and officially certified for this service provide leech therapy treatment for the following medical conditions:
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Blood hypertension
- Reconstructive and microsurgery
- Cancer and metastasis
- Diabetes mellitus and its complications
- Arthritis and analgesic
- Audiology and ear abnormalities
- Skin disorders
- Varicose veins
- Thrombophlebitis
To schedule your appointment for leech therapy treatment contact our clinic (267) 403-3085
CONCLUSION
To conclude, leech therapy was a widely held medical procedure throughout the ages for a wide range of medical conditions and it was useful as an intuitive treatment by traditional physicians. Nowadays, leech therapy returns to modern medicine with fewer indications, which are confirmed and reinforced by a vast quantity of methodical revisions and case studies. Leech therapy in the arena of plastic and reconstructive surgery is anticipated to be of dominant reputation due to the simplicity of leech use and virtually with no side-effects. Therefore, more exertions should be assumed to enhance this application. More research is necessary also to measure leech therapy value and safety in the treatment of a variety of medical conditions.
Telephone No.2674033085
