Acupuncture is an effective stroke therapy. I have treated many stroke patients with good results in improving sensation, motor abilities, speech, stability and depression. Improvements are sometimes remarkable even with the first treatment.

How does it work?
In the brain, motor fibers of corticospinal tracts originate from the cerebral motor cortex. About twenty-five percent of these fibers connect to the extremities on the same side, the other seventy-five cross over to extremities on the opposite side. The cross over fibers are dominant; the same side fibers are dormant. However, after a stroke damaged one side of the brain, neuron axons sprout from the sensorimotor cortex of the unaffected side and connect to areas of the cervical spinal cord and midbrain that previously received projections from the damaged side. In other words, the dormant fibers wake up to repair the neural system. Acupuncture promotes neural repair by stimulating the motor sensory nerve cells in the unaffected side of the brain to connect to the same side extremities. Acupuncture also stimulates the damaged cerebral cortical neurons to grow new cells, to regroup, and to create new circuits.

The development of my stroke treatment owes a lot to scalp acupuncture as developed by Dr. Jiao Shun Fa. During the 1970's Dr. Jiao worked in the Shanxi province of China. Shanxi province is a mountainous region with many coal mines. At that time there were a lot of accidents and Dr. Jiao developed his scalp acupuncture to treat the injured coal miners, many of them suffered brain damage with consequences similar to those those of a stroke. His system worked so well that it was adopted by hospitals all over China. Dr. Jiao’s system is based on stimulating areas of the scalp adjacent to functional areas of the brain. While I still use this kind of local needling, I am more focused on stimulating and promoting neural repair as described above. I also use microcurrent electrical stimulation to augment treatment results.

Other than the patient’s constitution and the degree of damage, two factors affect the expected therapeutic results. First, how promptly the patient starts acupuncture after the stroke. In most cases, acupuncture should begin three weeks after the stroke. The earlier the start, the better the final result. Second, the frequency of treatments. Two to three treatments per week is good. Frequency hastens the recovery but it also maximizes the amount of repair possible.

Among my current stroke patients is a gentleman who suffered bilateral damage to the cerebellum. This condition is rare as is surviving it. He has a robust constitution and a very positive attitude which bode well for his healing. So far, there are improvements in his muscle contracture, notably in the throat area which helps his vocalization, his sleep, and relaxation. Most significant is his spirit. He has become so much more with it, with the environment, people around him, and what's going on. As his beloved wife puts it, "something is connecting". I feel honored to work with them. We are expecting wonderful healing to come.

Here's testimonial from one of my stroke patients who became a motivational speaker for stroke victims:
http://www.energymedicinechicago.com/therapy/chuck-hofvander