Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Pilcopata Clinic #1

 Let's get started! This is what we came for...acupuncture in the jungle! We worked 2 days in Pilcopata. Our little clinic room, located in the hospital was filled with chairs and one stretcher table. We had dogs pass through, even an occasional chicken...and people, oh my did we have people! Our second day there we saw (at least) 105 patients. Back pain, achilles tendinopathy, frozen shoulder, neck pain, ganglion cyst and some internal medicine stuff. The air was thick with the smell of moxa and PoSum liniment and the sounds of our Spanglish translations. Many thanks to my brothers here in AZ whose Spanish lessons proved invaluable!

My most memorable patient in Pilcopata was a young man with a pretty nasty elbow injury. He came in with about a 45 degree flexion contracture. With a lot of coaxing, a lot of patience and some superior tolerance from this dude, that contracture was eliminated by day two. This was quite an accomplishment and a great testament to the power of some well placed needles! I've been thinking about this fellow and I hope he has continued to improve. He was one tough Hombre'

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