Cooper gets acupuncture every day that he doesn't get stem cells. They do a consistent pattern across his head with 11 needles: 3 in the top, 6 along the sides and 2 in the back. They explained to me that the needles on the top of the head are to stimulate his consciousness, the needles along each side are to stimulate his speech and the 2 in the back are to stimulate motor function. They have large charts in the acupuncture room of the various meridians used in acupuncture that run throughout the body. Along the meridians they show points and their corresponding function. I noticed on the charts there are many areas where Cooper needs help that they are not using for acupuncture. I inquired about this and they said that using needles in his limbs would increase spasticity (tightness) in his muscles.
Cooper continues to flinch when the needles are first inserted, but he's fine after that. The needles stay in for 30 minutes. The therapists said that there is no benefit past that time limit. They remove them by placing a Q-tip over the insertion point first and then quickly pulling it out - checking for any bleeding. He usually doesn't really bleed - once in a while he'll have a little blood, but they press on it for a moment and it stops. Cooper is such a tough guy!
No comments:
Post a Comment