Hirudotherapy
Hirudotherapy (from Latin “hirudo” — leech) is a treatment with leeches. It was used a thousand years before the Birth of Christ. Medical leeches were used by the Egyptian pharaohs, and leeches are mentioned in both the Bible and the Koran. Later, the great doctors Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna relieved the suffering of their patients with the help of leeches.
In medieval Europe, leeches were considered a proven and officially recognized treatment for many diseases. In 1665, there was even a scientific treatise called “On the attachment of leeches to the inner parts of the uterus.” Since that moment, leeches have been widely used in gynecology.
Hirudotherapy was especially widely used towards the end of the 18th century and in the first half of the 19th century. However, then the doctors were so carried away by the healing properties of leeches that they overdid it — they prescribed them for all diseases and put 200 pieces per session. The uncontrolled use of leeches gradually discredited the very idea of hirudotherapy, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, many doctors had abandoned this method of treatment.
Today, there is a new surge of interest in leech treatment all over the world. And this is not a tribute to fashion, but a sign of a reasonable and careful attitude of a person to his health
What is a leech?
Leeches belong to the type of annelids and are blood-sucking ectoparasites (“ecto-” means “outside”). There are about 400 known species of leeches. However, only the medical leech and its two subspecies are used in medical practice (Hirudo officinalis) and therapeutic (Hirudo medicinalis).
The leech bites through the skin to a depth of 1.5 mm and sucks blood in a volume of 5-15 ml. The same amount of blood flows out of the bite site later — within 3-24 hours. In one treatment session, from 5 to 7 individuals are usually assigned.
Why are they doing this?
The therapeutic effect of hirudotherapy consists of several factors: reflex, mechanical and biological.
Firstly, leeches are usually placed in such a way that they bite through the patient’s skin only at reflexogenic points (i.e., acupuncture points).
Secondly, leeches have a purely mechanical effect on blood flow — sucking blood and its prolonged outflow from the wound after a bite.
Thirdly, leeches release their saliva into the bloodstream, containing more than a hundred biologically active substances — natural medicinal compounds, the action of which leads to the normalization of the body.
Such substances include:hyaluronidase, girudin, bdellins, eglins, destabilase complex (natural liposome) and others. Leech saliva also has a moderate antibacterial effect.
Hyaluronidase is an enzyme that promotes the breakdown of the main substance of connective tissue (hyaluronic acid) and the penetration of other biologically active substances into the patient’s body when blood is sucked by a leech. The resorbing effect of hyaluronidase is of particular importance in the treatment of diseases accompanied by scarring and adhesions.
Destabilasecleaves E-lysine bonds in stabilized fibrin (important for blood clot resorption) and E-lysine bonds between various proteins, the formation of which is noted in a number of pathological conditions, such as lens cataracts.
Hirudin is a substance that slows down blood clotting (preventing the formation of blood clots), has analgesic and anti—inflammatory effects.
Eglins (protease inhibitors)They can reduce inflammation and tissue damage in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, emphysema, and others.
In addition to curing a specific disease, the leech has a beneficial effect on the body as a whole: sleep improves, appetite improves, mood improves, metabolism and immunity normalize. This is the result of normalization of blood flow in the tissues and increased blood oxygen saturation.
Indications:
Hirudotherapy can be an effective supplement in the treatment of many diseases. It applies to:
- For skin diseases (furunculosis, carbunculosis, scleroderma, baldness, eczema, psoriasis, pyoderma).
- In gynecology (menstrual disorders, pelvic adhesions, adenomyosis, cervical erosion, mastopathy, ovarian cysts, some sexual infections, infertility).
- In urology (kidney diseases, chronic prostatitis, prostate adenoma, secondary infertility in men).
- In cardiology (coronary heart disease, hypertension, myocardial infarction, circulatory insufficiency, myocarditis).
- With obliterating diseases of the arteries of the lower extremities, thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, trophic ulcers.
- In proctology (hemorrhoids).
- In dentistry.
- In cosmetology (cellulite, wrinkles, dull complexion).
- In ophthalmology (glaucoma, inflammatory processes of the vascular tract of the eye, keratitis).
- In ENT diseases (otitis media, acute neuritis of the auditory nerves, diseases of the paranasal sinuses, chronic sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus).
- In neurology (neuritis, paresis).
- During autotransplantation.
- In rheumatology (rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma).
- In gastroenterology (constipation, cholecystitis, biliary dyskinesia, cholelithiasis, colitis, pancreatitis).
- For metabolic disorders (obesity, gout, diathesis).
Contraindications:
Contraindi-cations:
- Blood clotting disorders (hemophilia).
- Malignant tumors.
- Pregnancy.
Where do they get leeches
Medicinal leeches are bred in specialized medical laboratories, and then sold through pharmacies.
During a hirudotherapy session, hungry leeches are placed on the area of the organ requiring treatment: the heart, liver, along the affected vessels and other areas.
Leeches should be placed under the supervision of a doctor, as only a specialist can determine the point of exposure and the number of leeches.
In Nehama Sanatorium you can take a course of hirudotherapy, which includes from 3 to 8 sessions. The number of leeches depends on the zone and varies from 3 to 7 pieces.
Sign up for a course of hirudotherapy in Nehama Sanatorium
Leave a request on the website and receive a personal treatment plan using medical leeches to improve your health and overall well-being
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The minimum booking period is from 5 days
Recommended duration of treatment: 10-14 days
- Accommodation in the selected room category
- Four Times a day nutrition
- Therapist’s appointment
- Physical therapy
- Mud applications
- Classic massage of the 1st zone
- Dry carbon dioxide bath
- Physical therapy (as prescribed by a doctor)
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