The needles that heal

Teresa, a married, young Canadian mother could not even lifther child because of her chronic Slip Disc and sever Sciatica pain that livedwith her for five years. She tried all kinds of treatments in Canada butnothing helped. While on a trip to India with her husband who is a film maker,Teresa came across an advertisement in a local newspaper and tried to testacupuncture for her slip disc problem at Sai Acupuncture Research Centre(SARC-Goa) at Porvorim in Goa. So at the end of September she walked in andenrolled herself for the treatment with Dr M B Prabhu, a practicing acupuncturetherapist in Goa who has treated 36,000 disorders since 1989 and has numerousIndian and international awards to his credit.  

“Simply walking too, meant pain for me, leave about swimmingor dancing. Life was a nightmare until three months,” shares Teresa, who isenjoying her acupuncture treatment since then. “It’s been just 60 sittings intwo-and-a-half months and my slip disc pain is gone forever. You won’t believe,last weekend I could dance, go to the beach and carry my baby too, all that Ilonged for all these years,” she quips happily as she had missed these simplejoys for the past five years. Curing her Slip Disc, Acupuncture helped her turnher life into a song.

Teresa shares further, “I was only diagnosed for Slip Discproblem in Canada which was cured by Dr Prabhu but he suspected another problemin my hip joint. MRI confirmed that I had hip joint sclerosis (hardening ofjoint) too which no one had ever diagnosed earlier. That was the reason forsevere pain and stiffness in my hip joint. I experienced difficulty in movingthe joint, was limping and bending on one side.”

Now Teresa is undergoing treatment for hip sclerosis andtaking three sittings of 30 minutes each a day and feels absolutely normal.“She will be given 12 more sittings for hip sclerosis for total cure and beforeJanuary 1 she will be totally free from it,” affirms Dr Prabhu who is treatingTeresa’s sclerosis with long needle therapy. He is one of the 16 acupuncturistdoctors in the world who are expert in long needle therapy. It is interestingto note that there is no cure for hip sclerosis in modern allopathic medicine.

Another patient Angelo D’Souza, who was denied treatment inallopathy, was treated for Diplopia (double vision). Likewise Agnelo MeninoDias and Domingo Rodrigues who suffered from various chronic illnesses likesinusitis, numbness, back pain and cervical slip disc, got results. Patientswho lose hope in getting treated their impossible disorders by differenttherapies get solace and their cases are taken for research. 

Elderly Savitri has Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout,Osteoarthritis, Severe Slip Disc and Left Sciatica – all affecting her kneesand back very badly. “Savitri came to me after trying all other treatments for5 years but no relief. Her case had worsened and the diseases are in advancedstage so she will need more sittings. A patient who comes in the early stage ofany disease is more likely to get cured in fewer sittings,” says Dr Prabhu, whois treating Savitri free of charge. At SARC, patients from economicallybackward class are treated under charity, provided they get it certified fromtheir local MLA or Sarpanch. Free medical camps are also held for all.

Dr Prabhu shares his own childhood experience which made himbelieve in acupuncture and learn it – “I had spasms in my neck when I was aschoolboy and no doctor could relieve my pain. Some declared that the pain waspsychological and not real though I could feel it. Finally I saw a ray of hopewhen I attended an acupuncture camp where I got some relief in only fewsittings. This made me turn to acupuncture, learn this ancient Chinese way of medicineand help others to ease their pain.”