What is Dementia?
It is a chronic disorder of the mental processes that is caused by brain disease or injury and is marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning. Some of you may refer to it as mental illness, madness, insanity, derangement, or even lunacy. But these are symptoms of dementia and not an alternate word for the condition.
When is Acupressure Normally Used?
Acupressure is generally used to treat pain in people. The normal approach is to treat patients with neck and back pain. You can also seek this therapy if you are suffering from joint pains, arthritis, sciatica or even migraines. Though it is rare to treat dementia with Acupressure there have been some cases when this therapy has shown considerable amount of positive effects on dementia patients.
Mode of Treatment
Acupressure uses the principle of applying pressure on meridians of the body with the help of needles. In dementia patients as well, this principle is applied. The human body has five key pressure points and the dementia patients are subjected to this pressure therapy for two minutes at a time for a 15 minutes stretch. The treatment is provided for five days a week and twice a day. This treatment when done over a period of one month shows considerable amount of improvement in the dementia patients. The main improvements are noticed in the following:
- The patients do not wander off as before
- There is less aggression in their physical behavior
- The speech is more controlled and the amount of wavered talk is reduced
While some of you believe that it is acupressure that helps in the improvement of the condition of dementia patients, others may disagree. But here is the proof that this method works. An experiment was conducted where 20 dementia patients were treated in the way described above for a month. Once their treatment was stopped, the dementia symptoms returned and it was clear that the acupressure treatment worked for them.
Pressure Points for Curing Dementia
There are two main points where you can apply pressure so that the agitated mind of a dementia patient can be put to ease. They are:
- The HT7 is the one spot that you should concentrate on. It is the spot on the wrist that falls in line with the space between the little finger and the ring finger.
- The next spot is called P6. It is in line with the middle finger but lies about two inches below the wrist.
While it is a good idea to apply the needle pressure, you must not attempt it unless you are trained in this field. Also those people practicing touch therapy opt for these measures but without the needle. This process is also equally effective. To test if you have located the right spots, use your index finger knuckle and tap the spot to see if you get a reaction elsewhere in the body. If you do then you are on track.
Know about:
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