Leech therapy
They say that everything new is well forgotten old. We offer today to resort to the ancient healing method and try the treatment with leeches. Immediately it should be noted that such procedures should not be carried out independently, many modern clinics offer such services. But first of all, let's find out: treatment with leeches benefit or harm brings?
Treatment with leeches: the benefits and harm, reviews
It turns out that only a few species of leeches have medicinal properties, and they are bred on pharmacological farms with strict observance of sanitary standards and under the supervision of specialists. From there they go to pharmacological enterprises, research institutes, pharmacies and clinics.
The medicinal leech is a ringed worm up to 15 cm long and 1.5-2 cm wide, the color is black with a green tint. In Russia, leeches are registered as an official medicine, because their saliva and microflora have bactericidal properties.
What is treated with leeches and what are their benefits?
Treatment with leeches is called hirudotherapy. This method of therapy is considered more preferable than the traditional one. It is often used when other treatments have been ineffective.
The procedure is as follows:
- Leech is placed on the skin surface above the organ that requires treatment.
- Having stuck, the leech absorbs up to 10 ml of blood.
The place where the leech was, continues to bleed after its disappearance. Bleeding lasts a few more hours, and the total blood loss from one leech is up to 30 ml. In this case, the leech is put not one, but at least five. Bleeding from a place over a diseased organ takes about one hour to last until the leech reaches saturation, and about a day after its disappearance. This ensures stable and long-term drainage, as well as venous outflow in the diseased area of the body, as a result of which microcirculation and cellular metabolism are improved. Fabrics are actively saturated with oxygen.
Hirudotherapy is prescribed for such pathologies:
- in diseases of the cardiovascular system;
- to relieve puffiness, cramps and pains;
- to improve blood circulation in the spinal cord and brain;
- in diseases of the musculoskeletal system;
- with endocrine diseases;
- with urological pathologies;
- with obesity;
- for the treatment of inflammation of the skin;
- with gallstone disease;
- for the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- with pathologies of the respiratory system;
- for the treatment of radiculitis;
- to strengthen the immune system.
Leeches contribute to the improvement of blood clotting, scab, tumor and blood clots resorption. So, for example, treatment with varicose veins with leeches is quite effective. The whole secret in hirudin - a substance that is contained in the enzyme saliva leech. It dilutes the blood, slowing down its clotting, which, in turn, inhibits the process of blood clots.
Here are reviews of a patient with varicose veins after hirudotherapy: "Two years ago, the doctors insisted on surgery to remove blood clots. I decided to wait a little and began to be treated with leeches. There is no talk about the operation. Of course, leeches are not a panacea, but the improvement is substantial."
Can leeches cause harm?
And yet, with all its miraculous leech remains a parasite. And parasites, as is known, can harm a person. As a result, we have the following risks:
- the leech microflora contains a harmful bacterium aeromonas hydrophilic, which protects it from infections, and a person may be provided with an upset stomach up to poisoning;
- leech saliva contains substances that can cause severe skin irritation;
- and no one has canceled hirudinosis - this is when the leech gets inside our body.
Although, of course, if you perform hirudotherapy under the supervision of a specialist, the latter option is practically excluded.
Hirudotherapy: reviews
Apply treatment with leeches and in gynecology. Patient reviews about this method are mostly only positive. This is what women who have undergone hirudotherapy due to various problems with women's health say:
- Julia: “I couldn’t get pregnant for a long time, I just didn’t try it. I was completely desperate. And after 10 procedures of treatment with leeches in two courses, with a six-month break, I got pregnant and already gave birth.”
- Nina: “After a course of treatment with leeches, a 2 cm polyp disappeared in the uterus, and the ovarian cyst significantly decreased. At the end of treatment, there was a weakly positive pregnancy test, and ovulation tests are good, but, unfortunately, menstruation began. However, I don’t lose hope ".
- Oksana: “The procedure turned out to be very painful, even the bruises remained 10 cm each. And then the bite sites became inflamed, itching and wet blisters appeared. I suffer from insomnia.”
While the women were treated with leeches, the men did not stand aside either:
- Oleg: "I visited 10 sessions, the spectacle, of course, was not for the faint of heart people, they were soiling all the clothes in the blood, and it was painful. But prostatitis retreated, let's hope that forever."
- Peter: “Do you have a disease that you can’t see or see for yourself? Then you should go to a hirudotherapeutist. I myself suffered from hemorrhoids, I couldn’t sleep at night. I went through a course of hirudotherapy: I forgot about the pain and forgot about bleeding. ".
- Nikita: "Hemorrhoids. There were internal nodes. Six sessions passed with leeches. Now there is a lump on the outside and it hurts. It turns out that an external hemorrhoid was also added to the outside. Here you have leeches!"
Attention! Ministry of Health warns that self-medication is dangerous to health! Incorrect setting of leeches can lead to bleeding, infection of the bite site, and allergies. Take a course of hirudotherapy only in certified institutions that guarantee the purity and quality of the procedure.