THE COMBINATION OF ACUPUNCTURE,BIOFEEDBACK AND HYPNOSIS IN THE TREATMENT OF A PATIENT WITH HEMIPARESIS: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

Abstract

Some studies have shown biofeedback to be helpful in treating patients who have footdrop. An earlier study of this author indicated that the combination of biofeedback and hypnosis was helpful in treating a patient whose respiratory failure was secondary to multiple sclerosis. Dr. C. Chung of the Yang Ming Medical College in Taipei, Taiwan reports encouraging results in the use of acupuncture in patients who have had strokes. A 62 year old male who suffered a right cerebral hemorrhage six years ago was treated. The patient reported that he had no voluntary movements of his left arm or his left ankle since the time of his stroke. He also reported that his right arm did not seem to be part of him. Physical evaluation demonstrated that the patient had a spastic paralysis of his left arm and spastic paresis of his left leg. He had no dor,sif lexion of his left ankle on initial evaluation. The patient has undergone 21 weekly sessions of combined acupuncture, biofeedback and hypnosis treatments. Acupuncture was done at GB 34 bilaterally during most sessions. Hypnosis treatments were started on a regular basis beginning with the third session. Usually the patient was hypnotized twice during a treatment session. Suggestions of the patient visualizing past sports activities were given during the first hypnotic induction and suggestions of rest were given during the second hypnotic induction. The biofeedback component consisted of surface electrode EMG feedback using an Autogen 1100 instrument. The patient received visual feedback of meter needle movement, tone audio feedback, and praise from the author. The electrodes were placed on the patient's left dorsiflexor muscle mass near the tibia. The patient at this point in time, reports that he feels that his left arm is now a part of him, can dorsiflex his left ankle 5°, extend his left wrist from a flexed position 5° and flex his left arm at the elbow 45° while sitting in a trunk flexed forward position. Aggressive combination treatments may be helpful in relabilitating stroke patients who have plateaued in previous rehabilitation.