What is hirudotherapy?
Hirudotherapy (“hirudo”- leech in Latin) — treatment with leeches. It has been used for thousands of years before Christ. Medical leeches were used by the Egyptian pharaohs; leeches are mentioned in the Bible and the Koran. Later, the great physicians Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna used to relieve the suffering of their patients with the help of leeches. In medieval Europe the leeches were considered a proven and officially recognized treatment for many diseases. In 1665 there was issued a treatise titled “On application of leeches in the interior of the uterus”. Apparently, since then leeches have been widely used in gynecology.
Hirudotherapy was widely applied by the end of XVIII century and the first half of the XIX century. However, the doctors were so fascinated with the healing properties of leeches that sometimes became overzealous appointing them against all diseases and applying 200 leeches per session. The uncontrolled use of leeches gradually discredited the very idea of hirudotherapy, and by the early XX century many doctors refused from this treatment. Today, the world is experiencing a new surge of interest in treatment with leeches. And it’s not a tribute to fashion, but a sign of a reasonable and careful attitude of people to their health.
What’s the reason of doing it?
The therapeutic effect of hirudotherapy combines several factors: the reflexive, mechanical and biological. Firstly, the leeches are usually applied so that they bite through the patient’s skin only in the reflexogenous points (acupuncture points). Secondly, leeches perform purely mechanical effect on blood flow. This means the sucking out of blood and its long discharge from the wound after the bite. And thirdly, saliva emitted by a leech into the blood stream contains over one hundred different biologically active substances (natural drugs), their mild effect leads to normalization of the human body activity. These substances include: hyaluronidase, hirudin, bdellina, eglina, natural liposome complex, etc. In addition, leeche’s saliva has also a moderate antibacterial effect.
Hyaluronidase – is an enzyme, which promotes cleaving of the main substance of connective tissue (hyaluronic acid) and penetration of other biologically active substances in the body of the patient during the process of blood suction by a leech. Absorbable effect of hyaluronidase is of particular importance in treatment of diseases associated with scarring and adhesive processes.
Destabilase cleaves E-lysine bonds in stabilized fibrin (which is important for thrombus resorption) and E-lysine bonds between different proteins (this bonding is observed in a number of pathological conditions, such as cataract of a lens). Hirudin – is a substance that slows down blood coagulation (preventing the formation of blood clots), has analgesic and anti-inflammatory action. Eglins (protease inhibitors) can reduce inflammation and tissue damage in such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, pulmonary emphysema, and others. Apart from curing a specific disease, a leech has a beneficial effect on the whole body (improves sleep, appetite, mood, normalizes metabolism and the immune system). To some extent, this is a consequence of the blood flow in the tissues normalization and increase in blood oxygen saturation.
Indications:
Hirudotherapy can be a very effective supplement in the treatment of a variety of diseases. It is used:
— For skin diseases (furunculosis, carbunculosis, sclerodermia, alopecia, eczema, psoriasis, pyodermia)
— In gynecology (menstrual irregularities, adhesive process in the pelvis, adenomyosis, cervical erosion, mastopathy, ovarian cysts, some sexual infections, infertility)
— In urology (kidney disease, chronic prostatitis, prostate adenoma, secondary infertility of men, etc.)
— In cardiology (coronary heart disease, hypertension, myocardial infarction, circulatory failure, myocarditis)
— In obliterating diseases of lower limb arteries, arterial and venous thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, trophic ulcers
— In proctology (hemorrhoids)
— In dentistry
— In cosmetology (cellulite, wrinkles, poor complexion)
— In ophthalmology (glaucoma, inflammation of the vascular tract in eyes, keratitis)
— ENT-diseases (otitis media, acute neuritis of the auditory nerves, sinus diseases, chronic sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus)
— In neurology (neuritis, paresis)
— In auto-grafting
— In rheumatology (rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, sclerodermia)
— In gastroenterology (constipation, cholecystitis, biliary dyskinesia, cholelithiasis, colitis, pancreatitis)
— At metabolic disorders (obesity, gout, diathesis)
Contraindications
Treatment with hirudotherapy method is undesirable at:
— Irregularities in blood coagulation system (hemophilia)
— Malignant tumors
— Pregnancy.
In our sanatorium “Nehama” you can take a course of hirudotherapy, which includes, as a rule, from 3 to 8 sessions. The number of leeches required for the treatment depends on the zone and varies from 3 to 7 pieces. One leech costs 210 rubles.
Contraindications: Oncology, Hemophilia.
Telephone for consultations: 8 (843) 223-06-39
