It’s all about needles being used in treating not just a symptom but the root-cause as well, ultimately bringing about holistic healing.
The afflicted come once and keep returning, sometimes long after the pain, the ache or the symptom has disappeared because for most of them this acupuncture clinic is also equivalent to a place of peace and tranquillity, where the mind too can rest and recuperate.
The lure of the Devi Clinic and Faculty of Integrated Medicine down Glen Aber Place in Kollupitiya is not just for the locals. Djamila Booker, 40, has taken long leave from her job as a TV journalist, left her 16-year-old twin boy and girl behind and travelled half a world, from Germany to Sri Lanka, seeking this healing which she had heard about from others and also read on the worldwide web.
"I couldn’t work, I couldn’t do anything and I just couldn’t sleep. The noise in my ears was bad," says Djamila a sufferer of tinnitus. Yes, she tried out many a doctor in Berlin but there was no relief.
Coming to Devi Clinic and consulting Dr. Selva Selvakumar was the “last choice” and she has come with all hope. Nearly three weeks into her treatment the “noise is gone”.
“Every now and then I hear some noise but it is not as bad as when I was in Berlin,” says Djamila.
The experiences of numerous others MediScene spoke to on Monday are the same. Yamuna de Silva, 64, and husband Maurice vouch for the healing they are undergoing.
Yamuna who runs a school for infants and toddlers and carries them all the time, had “excruciating pain running from my neck along my right hand”. This was three years ago and sleepless nights aggravated her plight. She tried not only orthopaedic surgeons but also native treatment. “Nothing worked. I took a lot of painkillers but the moment the effects of the medication wore off, the pain was back,” says Yamuna.
All that changed after acupuncture sessions with Dr. Selvakumar. Eight days of “needling” and the pain brought on by spondylosis is going down and she can even carry the infants and toddlers again.
Maurice suffering from severe arthritis, could hardly walk and went to the clinic on crutches. “When I was living in America I took treatment for it and back here I sought the help of orthopaedic and ayurveda doctors. Nothing worked,” says Maurice, until he came to Dr. Selva.
An added bonus for him has been the ability to fall asleep. “He could never sleep more than an hour or two, but now he’s snoring while watching TV,” says his wife.
Referring to the treatment that is invoking praise from a cross section of people, Dr. Selvakumar says that it is a mix of acupuncture practised in traditional Chinese medicine and auricular therapy (recognized by the World Health Organization).
Traditional Chinese medicine goes back to the 3rd century BC, MediScene learns.
Acupuncture is based on the belief that living beings have a vital energy that circulates through 12 invisible energy lines known as meridians as well as by-channels on the body.
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| Dr. Selvakumar attends
to a patient |
Each meridian is associated with a different organ system. An imbalance due to a block or a disruption in the flow of this energy throughout a meridian causes disease, explains Dr. Selvakumar, adding that inserting needles, applying heat or electricity stimulation at precise acupuncture points can influence the meridians to unblock the obstructions and re-establish the regular flow of energy.
The improved energy and biochemical balance thus achieved stimulates the body’s natural healing abilities, while promoting both physical and emotional well-being, it is understood.
Meanwhile, in auricular therapy, first based on traditional Chinese medicine and later developed by researchers in modern France, the auricle of the external ear is used to ease certain conditions in other parts of the body.
While the acupuncture points on the human body are at specific locations, the points on the ear can be detected only if there is an illness in the corresponding body part or function, it is learnt.
In this therapy, through the ear stimulation, a signal is sent to the brain which is the ultimate regulator of the body’s healing capabilities, and the brain in turn directs that area onto its path to wellness, says Dr. Selvakumar who learnt his skills from Prof. Anton Jayasuriya.
"From the ear stimulation, I make the diagnosis without first asking the patient what is wrong, he says adding that in 95% of the cases the diagnosis is precise.
And for Parameswary Wijenathan, 73, who has osteoporosis, Dhulka Anthony, 65, debilitated by arthritis, Rohini Paranavitana, 68, with an unbearable shoulder pain, Yasawathie Hettiarachchi, 60, who has sciatica and many more acupuncture and auricular therapy have helped immensely.
Be it addictions, migraine, sinusitis, allergies, sciatica, obesity, acne, hair loss………the list is long, this holistic treatment is an answer, according to those who come here regularly.
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