Tongue Acupuncture – New Hope For Human Health
• Recently, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China (SATCM) listed the Tongue Acupuncture as one of the “practical medical treatment” to be promoted across the country.
• In addition, the World Federation of Acupuncture – Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) also has been promoting Tongue Acupuncture treatment globally.
• Earlier, the USA-based media Discovery Channel released a programme featuring this TCM therapy, and was followed by another USA TV channel, National Geographic Channel, came to Hong Kong on their own to shoot a programme introducing Tongue Acupuncture as well as released the programme worldwide.
Tongue Acupuncture has been listed by the SATCM as one of the major medical treatments promoted on the national level, the treatment is mainly applied to the following problems:
• Autism (including cerebral palsy, mental retardation)
• Severe stroke (including cerebral contusion, cerebral coma)
• Various kinds of pain
• Nerve deafness
• Depression
I. Advantages and Highlights of Tongue Acupuncture
1. Quick pricks, little pain, no side effects and easily acceptable by patients.
Usually, a single session of the treatment lasts less than one minute as needles will not be left on the tongue, which fits the fast pace of modern life.
As Tongue Acupuncture elicits minimal pain, it generally does not cause children to cry and thus is easily acceptable by patients.
Basically, Tongue Acupuncture leaves no side effects, with the rare exception of a small
number of patients experiencing localized oedema, bleeding and stasis. No special care is
required as the body will absorb it in three to five days.
2. Instant relief in some symptoms can be felt in three to five minutes after receiving Tongue Acupuncture.
Examples:
Finger-nose test for spinocerebellar ataxia;
Slurred speech in stroke, pseudobulbar palsy and articulation disorder patients;
Scissor gait, in-toeing, out-toeing and toe-walking in cerebral palsy children;
Blocked ears, “qi” stagnation, eye fatigue, pollen allergy, dizziness, physical fatigue, etc;
Various pain in shoulders, arms, legs, lower back, etc.
3. Tongue Acupuncture is a more effective treatment for some complex and refractory diseases around the world.
Autism : After around 20 sessions of Tongue Acupuncture, autistic children will display better eye-contact, improved emotion, friendlier behaviour and higher intelligence (better cognition). During a continuous treatment, the patients will also perform easier receptive to knowledge, better comprehension and ability of self-expression.
Cerebral Palsy : After around 20 sessions of Tongue Acupuncture, patients with cerebral palsy will experience greater strength in the lower back and neck. Their body movements will improve and show better coordination and stamina. Improvements can also be seen in hands and feet spasms. Problems, such as scissor gait, in-toeing, out-toeing and toe-walking, which have baffled medical experts all over the world can also be improved.
Mentally retardation : Patients with mental retardation are incurable in the eyes of the medical experts, because improving the intelligence is unimaginable. However, Tongue Acupuncture can bring hope and incredible help to those children. After about 20 sessions, we can usually observe improvements in their intelligence. Tasks that the patients could not perform previously – such as switching on the TV and selecting channels, going to the washroom by themselves, choosing their favourite food and drinks, playing games, and even articulating clearly – are possible now. Some children who perform badly in school also show improved learning and higher class rankings.
Depression : Tongue Acupuncture shows significant results for depression, which is a more common problem in recent years. A short period of the therapy can help to ease chest tightness, short of breath, melancholy, insomnia and other symptoms. This therapy is suitable for menopausal syndrome.
Other : Tongue Acupuncture can be used for brain comatose patients (due to traffic accident, stroke, etc); hand and foot spasms, speech disorder and facial palsy of patients with severe stroke (duration of illness over one year); dysfunction of multiple sclerosis; muscle spasm of Parkinson’s disease; optic atrophy; glaucoma; articulation disorder; and Meniere’s syndrome. It can also combat fatigue from exercise and improve your performance in sports. Meanwhile, it also has the effects of easing the side effects of cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
4. Wide Applications
Tongue Acupuncture can apply widely to internal medicine, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory system, digestive system, urinary system (frequent urination and urgent urination), and the endocrine system; external medicine (spine, limbs, shoulder and back pain, and sports injuries); endometrium displacement, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, menstrual cramp, irregular menstruation and ENT diseases.
5. Scientific basis for tongue acupoints verification
According to the holographic theory, the positioning of the acupuncture and tongue acupoints are scientifically verified by overlapping them with the human anatomy. The acupoints on the dorsum of the tongue are corresponding to body’s internal organs. These acupoints are consistent with the human anatomy. The holographic diagram of the tongue dorsum is an inverted human figure. The positions of some acupoints are verified by PET and fMRI scanning and research.
6. Scientific basis for Tongue Acupuncture
Observations after Tongue Acupuncture are conducted mainly with the use of modern and internationally standard norms, such as randomised placebo-controlled trial and the double- blind method; while some are performed by using the most advanced medical diagnostic methods, including P.E.T. scan, fMRI scan and EPs. The research articles have been published in different western medicine journals in America, Britain and Canada.
7. Patients with brain diseases are found to have swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue. Positive matter on the underside of the tongue is also found to be consistent with the human anatomy.
In a survey involving over 2,000 people, 95.8% of brain disease patients have swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue, indicating a very useful clue to treating cerebral diseases. The positive matters (kernel-like nodules) on the sublingual frenulum are directly related to diseases of body parts reflected as acupoints on the tongue.
8. The significance of Tongue Acupuncture to diseases (autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation) regarded incurable by the world is different from that of other therapies offering only rehabilitation and training.
II. Achievements Articles released on international medicine journals
Randomised Controlled Trial of Acupuncture Versus Sham Acupuncture in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Publication: Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Country: U.S.A.
Date: May 2010
Pilot Study of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Brain Glucose Metabolism to Assess the Efficacy of Tongue and Body Acupuncture in Cerebral Palsy
Journal: Journal of Child Neurology, Volume 21, Number 6
Publication: Canada
Original language: English
Date: June 2006
Pilot Study of Efficacy of Tongue and Body Acupuncture in Children With Visual Impairment
Journal: Journal of Child Neurology, Volume 21, Number 6
Publication: Canada
Original language: English
Date: June 2006
Note: This article has also been issued on the 5th International Congress of the European Paediatric Neurology Society,held in Taormina, Italy, 22-25 October 2003
Clinical Research on Treating Pseudo-Bulbar Paralysis with Tongue Puncturing
Academic Conference: The 5th World Conference on Acupuncture WFAS
Date: 13-15 November 2000
Place: Seoul, Korea
Clinical Study of Tongue-Acupuncture Therapy of Paralysis Agitans
Academic Conference: The 5th World Conference on Acupuncture WFAS
Date: 13-15 November 2000
Place: Seoul, Korea
Traditional Chinese Medicine (Tongue Acupuncture) in Children With Drooling Problems
Journal: Pediatric Neurology
Date: July 2001
Publication: USA
FDG PET BRAIN SCAN IN MONITORING THE EFFECT OF TONGUE ACUPUNCTURE (TAC) IN TREATMENT OF AUTISM
Journal: The Journal of Nuclear Medicine — The 49th Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting
Date: 15-19 June 2002
Place: Los Angeles, CA, USA
CAN ACUPUNCTURE OF THE TONGUE HELP AUTISM?
Magazine: Autism & Asperger’s Digest Magazine
Date: September - October 2002
Publication: USA
Randomised control trial of tongue acupuncture versus sham acupuncture in improving functional outcome in cerebral palsy
Journal: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
Date: July 2004
Publication: U.K.
Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial using tongue acupuncture in autistic spectrum disorder
Journal & Acadamic Conference: European Journal of Paediatric Neurology--the 4th International Congress of the European Paediatric Neurology Society
Place: Baden-Baden, Germany
Date: 12-16 September 2001
To Study the efficacy of TAC in affecting visual recovery in children with visual disorders
Journal & Acadamic Conference: European Journal of Paediatric Neurology--the 5th International Congress of the European Paediatric Neurology Society
Place: Taormina, Italy
Date: 22-25 October 2003
III. Three major contributions to global medicine
1. In the diagrams below, partial acupoints are scientifically verified
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Based on clinical practice and TCM theories about the tongue’s apex linking to the heart, the mid-section linking to the spleen and stomach, and the base linking to the kidneys, in combination with the most advance fMRI and PET scanning, studies revolving partial positions of tongue acupoints for the insertion of needles are completed.
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Examined and confirmed by world renowned acupuncturist, Prof Wang Xuetai, and anatomy expert, Prof Guo Guangwen.
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Tongue acupoints reflect the human anatomy and perfectly fit the modern holographic theory of the human body.
2. Link discovered between swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue and brain diseases
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Clinical studies found that an absolute majority of patients diagnosed with brain diseases have swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue.
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In clinical observations, 95.83% of 2,496 patients with brain disease, or 2,392 of them, have swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue.
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Among 768 adults with brain diseases (mostly patients with stroke, insufficient blood supply to the brain, Pakinson’s disease and dementia), 722 have swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue, which equate 94.01% of the total patients (see Figures 1 to 8 below).
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In a study of 1,728 children with brain diseases (mostly cerebral palsy, autism and mental retardation)involved, 1,670 or 96.64% of them have swollen sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue (see Figures 9 to 20 below).
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The extent of swelling in the sublingual fold on the underside of the tongue is directly related to the seriousness of diseases. When a patient’s clinical condition improves, the swelling will also shrink gradually until normal (see Figures 21 to 24).
3. Relationship between positive physical signs of acupoints on the underside of the tongue and pathological changes in the human anatomy
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In the book “Practical Tongue Acupuncture ”, the foreword mentioned that the positive matters (kernels-like nodules) on the sublingual fold and frenulum are related to diseases of the corresponding parts of the human anatomy.
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Back then, preliminary findings showed that of the 867 patients in the clinical study, 803 displayed positive physical signs, which made up 92.6% of the patients. Of these patients, 93.9%, or 346 patients (295 cases displayed positive physical signs), had neck pain; 92.9%, or 197 patients (183 cases displayed positive physical signs), had lower back pain; 91%, or 324 patients (295 cases displayed positive physical signs), had pain in the shoulders and limbs.
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The positive physical signs are nodular protrusions, cord-like protrusions and blood congestion, which usually appear on the tongue acupoints that reflect the spine and limbs.