43 year old male patient came to the clinic on 25 March 2015. Shingles had developed since a week ago on his left chest wall from back to front, presenting as an angry red rash with blisters across his torso. There is a sensation of tightness and fullness on the skin of his abdomen.
Shingles is a painful skin rash that is caused by the herpes/varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox. The rash presents with redness, blistering, and the worst of all, a neuralgic pain that lingers even after the skin rash has healed. The cause of shingles is due to the reactivation of the chicken pox virus which may lie dormant in the body for years. However the cause for reactivation is still unknown.
In Chinese medicine, we believe this is due to the decline of one’s immunity, which may be brought on by stress, exhaustion, poor diet or bad sleep. Therefore, the reactivation of the herpes zoster virus is more likely when you are under stress, or taking care of yourself.
For many years, Bill Fung has used acupuncture to treat shingles. He uses the Loo point, which was identified and named after dermatologist Cyrus Loo. Continue reading…