Case Report: Acupuncture Treatment for Hypothyroidism

Abstract

Background - Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the body lacks sufficient thyroid hormone. People with this condition have symptoms associated with a slow metabolism, tiredness, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, feeling cold and etc . [12] Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) regards hyperthyroidism and as Yin/Yang imbalances and often uses acupuncture, herbal medicine and dietary therapy to rebalance Yin and Yang . [8] Aim - The main purpose of doing this work is to show the most effective acupoints used in the acupuncture treatment of hypothyroidism in our practice and the results after the treatment. Methods - The patient is a 24 year old female diagnosed with Hashimoto hypothyroidism, an autoimmune thyroiditis. The treatments were done in the clinic for TCM and acupuncture in Skopje by a doctor specialist in acupuncture. The treatments were done every week for 3 years, when the TSH and T4 levels normalized. During the treatments she has done 7 analysis for thyroid. Results - From the first treatment made the levels of TSH. T4 and TPO hormones were gradually normalizing. The last results are from the analysis when she also made her last treatment - TSH=13.8 T4=2.8 TPO=<60. Conclusions - For condition such as hypothyroidism, acupuncture gives satisfying results and improves the condition significantly. Key words: hypothyroidism, hashimoto, acupuncture, treatment, acupoints