Hirudotherapy is one of the most popular and thoroughly studied methods of alternative medicine. Treatment with leeches is used in most chronic diseases of the internal systems of the body, but qualified doctors are skeptical about it.
Hirudotherapy - indications and contraindications
In developed countries, medical leeches are grown exclusively for plastic surgery to prevent possible thromboses and improve the survival of the implants. Modern foreign scientists have conducted a large-scale study of the actions that hirudotherapy has - the benefits and harms of this method of treatment are considered incomparable. The use of leeches is fraught with serious complications.
The intestine of these worms is populated with bacteria necessary for vital activity and digestion of food. During the bite of a leech, not only its saliva with beneficial substances and hirudin enters the human blood, but also pathogenic microorganisms. It is fraught with local bacterial infection, the appearance of purulent ulcers on the body and even sepsis, which will require long-term treatment with strong antibiotics.
Hirudotherapy - indications
Domestic medicine is still neutral with respect to leeches. In some industries, hirudotherapy is often prescribed - the benefits of the worms described are the ability to prevent blood clotting, dilute it, and block the formation of blood clots. Previously, this effect was indispensable in the fight against varicose veins, but modern medicine has more effective methods of solving the problem.
Girudoterapevty recommend almost all diseases use leeches medical - treatment with worms is used in the following diseases:
- inflammation of the uterus and appendages;
- infertility;
- miscarriages;
- gynecological infections;
- cysts in the reproductive organs;
- fibroids;
- endometriosis ;
- intervertebral hernia;
- osteochondrosis ;
- post-traumatic pain in the joints;
- arthrosis ;
- radiculitis;
- propensity to thrombosis;
- hemorrhoids;
- arthritis;
- varicose veins ;
- thrombophlebitis;
- rheumatism;
- swelling;
- bruises ;
- hematomas;
- neuroses;
- insomnia;
- sinusitis;
- hearing loss;
- otitis media;
- hypertension;
- cirrhosis of the liver;
- chronic hepatitis ;
- gastritis;
- pancreatitis;
- heart failure;
- pneumonia;
- bronchitis ;
- peptic ulcer and other pathologies.
Hirudotherapy - contraindications
Traditionally, the use of medical worms during pregnancy and breastfeeding is prohibited. It is preliminary important to get acquainted with all the nuances that have leech treatment - indications and contraindications, side effects, the risk of allergic reactions. If you are not sure of the safety of the procedure, after hirudotherapy, dangerous complications may appear.
Treatment with leeches has such contraindications:
- individual intolerance to hirudin;
- hemophilia;
- low concentration of erythrocytes in the blood;
- severe anemia;
- hemorrhagic diathesis;
- stable hypotension;
- menstruation and open bleeding.
Hirudotherapy in gynecology
The opinions of professional doctors and specialists in the field of alternative medicine do not coincide on this topic. Qualified doctors believe that treatment with leeches in gynecology is not only impractical, but also dangerous, calling girudoterapevtov charlatans. Adherents of this method insist on the effectiveness of using worms in the fight against inflammatory, infectious and hormonal diseases of the female reproductive system.
Treatment of infertility with leeches
The main argument of hirudotherapists for the purpose of manipulation is the ability of medical worms to update blood and eliminate stagnant processes. Problems with conception arise for many reasons, including endocrine disorders, physiological features of the structure of the uterus and fallopian tubes, acidity of the environment in the vagina and other factors. Among them there are no thromboses, therefore hirudotherapy with infertility in official medicine is recognized as ineffective. At best, the bites of worms will have a placebo effect, at worst they will cause severe complications.
Treatment of endometriosis with leeches
The described disease is a pathological proliferation of tissues lining the walls of the uterus. Treatment hirudotherapy in this situation will not work, it can only aggravate the progression of the disease. The only effective options for fighting endometriosis are surgical intervention (laparoscopic surgery) and long-term intake of an individual course of hormonal drugs, often involving the challenge of an artificial climax (temporarily, for several months).
Treatment of a cyst with leeches
Benign gynecological neoplasms often have a hormonal origin. In this case, leeches are similarly useless - hirudotherapy practically does not affect the endocrine background of the female body, so it can not lead to resorption of the cysts. Large and rapidly growing neoplasms should be removed by modern surgical methods. Treatment with leeches of potentially dangerous tumors is fraught with their degeneration into malignant structures. Small cysts can dissolve independently after stabilizing the hormonal balance.
Hirudotherapy with varicose veins
Presented pathology is associated with increased blood viscosity and a tendency to form blood clots. Treatment with leech varicose veins is practiced on the basis of the properties of the saliva of medical worms, containing the following substances:
- apyrase - prevents atherosclerosis;
- hirudin - dilutes blood;
- bdellins - suppress enzymes that cause clotting;
- destabilase - dissolves thrombi;
- Bradykinins, Eglins - have anti-inflammatory effect;
- kininase - stops pain syndrome;
- histamine-like agents - dilate blood vessels;
- Orgelase - normalizes the fluid flow in the capillaries;
- Hyaluronidase - promotes the penetration of other components.
According to the statement girudoterapevtov secret salivary glands leeches produces the following effects in thromboses:
- decongestant;
- restoring (in relation to the vascular wall);
- anti-inflammatory;
- anesthetic;
- draining;
- bacteriostatic;
- antiseptic;
- thrombotic and lipolytic;
- normotensive.
Treatment of leeches with varicose veins on the legs
Hirudotherapy is still actively used in the expansion of deep veins of the lower limbs, but in modern medicine it is considered to be an outdated method. Phlebologists have proved that the treatment with leeches has only a short-term positive effect. After biting and penetrating into the wound of saliva worms, local blood thinning and spasm of the venous wall take place for 1-2 days. First treatment with leeches varicose facilitates the condition and improves well-being, relieves pain syndrome. A few days later the symptoms return, sometimes with serious complications.
Treatment of hemorrhoids by leeches
Proctologists allow the use of the examined worms for inflammation and swelling of the nodes in the rectum, but do not recommend the use of this technique. In this case, too low efficiency girudoterapiya - treatment with leeches helps to temporarily reduce the size of hemorrhoids and briefly improve health, stop pain. Gradually signs of inflammation and stagnation of blood in the veins of the rectum will return, because the bites of worms do not eliminate the cause of the problem, but struggle with its symptoms.
In addition to insufficient effectiveness, treatment with medical leeches often provokes negative consequences:
- infection of hemorrhoids;
- profuse and uncontrolled anal bleeding;
- accumulation of pus in the rectum.
Hirudotherapy of the spine
Another area in which it is often advised to use leeches is the pathology of the musculoskeletal system. Mostly prescribed hirudotherapy with osteochondrosis and intervertebral hernia, sometimes used for the treatment of joints and cartilage structures. Vertebrologists and neuropathologists negatively relate to the presented technique, offering patients more modern variants of struggle against the listed diseases.
Treatment of osteochondrosis with leeches
The described pathology is accompanied by severe discomfort and limited mobility, worsening flexibility of the back. The treatment with leeches is the suctioning of stagnant blood by worms in the affected area. Thanks to the enzymes contained in the secretion of the salivary glands of medical worms, the inflammatory process decreases in the bite zone, puffiness disappears and the intensity of pain decreases. Hirudin molecules prolong this action for 6-8 hours, while bleeding continues from the wound.
The most common treatment of cervical osteochondrosis leeches, but hirudotherapy is often prescribed and if other parts of the spine are damaged. First, the procedures facilitate a person's state and improve their health, but after a day the pain returns, and the mobility of the back deteriorates again. Such treatment is absolutely ineffective, it can be combined with conservative methods of therapy as auxiliary manipulations.
Treatment of a hernia with leeches
This diagnosis is a complication of osteochondrosis, in which protrusion of the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral disk occurs. This is a serious inflammatory disease that can lead to a temporary loss of efficiency and even disability. Hirudotherapy can temporarily stop intolerable pain, remove swelling and normalize local temperature, but the cause of the pathology, it does not eliminate. It can be used as an auxiliary treatment only in combination with conservative methods.
To combat intervertebral hernia it is necessary to consult a qualified vertebrologist, neurologist or surgeon. Attempts to solve the problem independently end in an intensification of the inflammatory process and with severe consequences, up to disability. Especially dangerous is the treatment with leeches at home. Worms grown in non-sterile conditions can provoke allergic reactions, bacterial infection, abscess at the site of bite and sepsis.
Hirudotherapy for joints
Painful sensations in the limbs during their flexion and extension are associated with abrasion of the cartilaginous layers and inflammation of the surrounding soft tissues. This is accompanied by stagnant processes and swelling, so the treatment of joints with leeches also helps to ease pain, but for a short period of time. Professional doctors do not advise using medical worms in the therapy of arthrosis, bursitis, arthritis and other pathologies. Modern methods of treatment are faster and more effective.
Hirudotherapy - suction points of leeches, schemes
If it was decided to stay on the alternative treatment option considered, it is better not to experiment on your own, but to find a specialist with a good reputation. Medical worms should be installed only in certain biological active points, responsible for the functioning of specific organs and systems. Otherwise, the course of treatment with leeches will not have the desired effect or cause complications.
Below are the basic variations of suction schemes for medical worms. It is strictly not recommended to install them at home, especially if they were not purchased in a specialized institution. Worms grown and contained in the wrong environment can infect a serious infection. Similarly dangerous is the incorrect use of leeches - poor-quality antiseptic treatment of the intended site of bite, use of non-sterile wipes to stop bleeding from wounds.