The word “acupuncture” evokes images of thin, tiny needles pricked onto the skin for treatment, but Dr. Shengxiong Jing has mastered many types of needle healing, including using a needle up to 70–80 centimeters long to pierce entirely through the injured body part.
Techniques like these have almost failed to be passed down, but Jing, called the “King Hand” of Monaco, is one of the three acupuncturists who have mastered this skill and are capable of treating with this technique, called the “real feel” needle.
To master this technique, Jing says, he has to be able to feel the presence of the disease and the position of the abnormalities caused by the sickness, via the needle, allowing him to cure it.
An Ancient Art
Jing began studying medicine at the height of the Great Cultural Revolution in China. His school wasn’t teaching students anymore, so Jing’s father decided to teach him Chinese medicine at home. The practice had been passed down from his ancestors for 300 years.At first he studied unwillingly. Jing’s father asked him to memorize a medical Chinese text, but at 14 he was too young to understand it and couldn’t take it to heart.
Then, Jing said, as he watched patients coming and going from their home clinic, his view of Chinese medicine began to change.
There were patients who came by train and by foot, sometimes walking two or three days and nights. Teetering on their feet, they seemed “more dead than alive” when they arrived.
After several sessions of acupuncture and cupping treatments by his father, their health improved and their walking became normal, Jing said, as if magically.
After seeing this, Jing memorized the text given to him by his father, as well as many other texts, with a newfound determination to learn Chinese medicine.
Most of the patients who came to see Jing’s father had been diagnosed by hospitals as having diseases that were incurable, and all had at least three to five fatal symptoms, Jing remembers. Through watching his father, he was able to see the uses of Chinese medicine on a wide range of diseases.
He practiced, applying needles to himself, so he could feel the effects of the different therapies and personally experience the feelings of soreness and swelling. He applied needles to all parts, even the eye sockets, to ensure that he had mastered a technique that was precise, safe, and effective for others.
In addition, he had to train his finger force, Jing said. A steady hand and strength of finger is required to perform stable acupuncture or other point-pressure therapies.
Chinese Medicine and Parkinson’s Disease
Every year, 50,000–60,000 new cases of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) are diagnosed in the United States, according to the National Parkinson Foundation. It is cited as the 14th leading factor of death in the United States, and there is no known cure in Western medicine, only therapies to help with specific symptoms.In 1985, Jing traveled to Japan and opened a clinic downtown in the Ginza district of Tokyo. A Japanese patient suffering from PD came to his clinic, expressionless, strained, and shaking. He had trouble walking, and his speech was slurred.
Jing started with the facial acupuncture points to allow the patient to control his facial expressions. Then the patient came for daily treatments for 2–3 hour sessions. After one week, the patient had regained mobility and coordination, and the trembling and slurring were gone.
The case was sensational, receiving great discussion at the 2010 American International Acupuncture Symposium. Jing’s “Integrative Medicine to Cure Parkinson’s Disease” won an award as the best paper at the conference.
Besides PD, Jing has gained renown for specializing in various areas of pain relief, such as gynecological diseases, spinal lumbar disc disease, and other illnesses considered incurable or difficult, such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, depression, and insomnia.
His hope is, Jing says, that with traditional Chinese medicine, he is able to bring wellness and health to more people through the Bay Area.
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