What is a stroke?
A stroke is the result of blood supply to a part of the brain being suddenly cut off. The brain cells need a constant supply of oxygen from the blood. If the blood supply is restricted for long enough, the cells in the affected area of brain become damaged and die. A stroke is sometimes called a brain attack. If the blood supply is temporarily restricted but returns before any permanent damage is done it is called a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), or ‘mini-stroke’.
Facial Palsy
Facial palsy in stroke cases is a result of damage to the facial nerve inside the brain. In case of an ischaemic stroke, damage to the brain tissue and nerves is caused by lack of oxygen. In case of a haemorrhagic stroke, the bleeding puts pressure on the nearby tissue and nerves. In both cases, cells are killed within minutes.
Case Study of TIA & Facial Palsey Recovery
Acupuncture & TCM treament was provided Adil Adilijiang, R.Ac TCM, RMT.
Our patient is a 63 years old female from the Phillipppines visiting her daughter in Edmonton. Our patient has a past history of hypertension and experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA) after one month in Canada. Her episode caused right side facial palsy, right side arm/hands weakness, right arm/hand numbness.
Our patient reports no treatment intervention or discharge recommendations following her emergency room visit. She was referred to our clinic by her daughter. Her daughter had previously received treatment for chronic lower back pain.
Our patient began acupuncture care with Adil 5 days after her TIA episode. Seeking care within this 5 day “golden window” period is important for any potential recovery.
Acupuncture & TCM treatment involved the application of electro-acupuncture treatment with moxibustion, 3x per week for the first 3 weeks. Treatment frequency was then reduced to 2 visits per week for 2 weeks.
After 13 acupuncture treatment sessions (over 6 week) our patient experienced improvement to right side facial drop. She reported full recovery of right arm weakness as well as numbness.
About the Acupuncturist
Adil graduated from Xinjiang Medical University of TCM and earned his bachelor degree of medicine in 2004, and received master degree from the faculty of TCM in the same university in 2007. Then he worked as TCM doctor in Xinjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital for one year. After that he continued his PhD program and earned his degree in pharmacology in 2011. During his ongoing PhD research, he awarded scholarships from university of Vienna in Austria, and participated in an exchange research program from 2009-2010. During 2012-2014, he served as postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatry department in university of Manitoba, and continued his research in major depression as a visiting scholar in the University of Alberta in 2015.
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