Hirudotherapist

A hirudotherapist is a certified physician with a higher medical education. In addition, hirudologist therapists undergo mandatory additional professional training in reflexology and have confirmation of their qualifications.

Everyone knows that leeches are used in medicine. Remember, the leech seller Duremar in the fairy tale "The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino" said: "If you have a stomach ache... if you have a severe headache or a pounding in your ears, I can put half a dozen excellent leeches behind your ears."

Nowadays, no one catches leeches living in natural reservoirs: they are grown in almost sterile conditions - in biofactories. Despite the fact that leech "bleeding" was used by healers in ancient times, the effectiveness of treating various diseases with medicinal leeches (hirudo medicinalis) - hirudotherapy - has not diminished at all today.

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Who is a hirudotherapist?

This is a separate medical specialization: it is hirudotherapists (or hirudologists) who practice treatment with medicinal leeches.

By the way, the hirudotherapist's "wards" - leeches - are annelids from the class of girdle worms and are parasitic hematophages (that is, they feed on blood). More than four hundred species of leeches live in the lakes, rivers and swamps of our planet, but only two of them are used to treat humans. But they, like other representatives of this blood-sucking tribe, have a mouth equipped with three jaws with almost a hundred tiny chitinous teeth.

With these teeth, a hungry leech bites a person's skin shallowly (literally a millimeter) and sucks out blood (no more than 15 ml at a time). During its "meal," the leech secretes saliva with a special anticoagulant substance - the polypeptide hirudin, so the blood does not clot, but continues to ooze from the bite site for some time after the procedure is completed.

If a leech heals, then what does a hirudotherapist do?

It is not difficult to guess what a hirudotherapist does: he uses the appetite of a starving medicinal leech to rid patients of illnesses. After all, about a hundred enzymes secreted by the salivary glands of the leech have truly unique properties: they increase the speed of blood flow through the blood vessels, activate metabolic processes, disperse all kinds of congestion in the body's tissues, and relieve inflammation.

What diagnostic methods does a hirudotherapist use? Before prescribing a course of treatment and its duration, the doctor determines the patient's condition based on the anamnesis and laboratory test results.

What tests should be taken when visiting a hirudotherapist? First of all, this is a general blood test. Also needed is a venous blood test for fibrinogen (a protein that is the basis of a clot and characterizes the blood's ability to clot). You will need to take a test for the hematocrit number (hematocrit), which will give an idea of the deficiency or excess of red blood cells in the blood. With a low hematocrit, hirudotherapy is contraindicated.

Finally, a prothrombin index test is necessary, by which the hirudotherapist will know whether the patient has any blood clotting disorders. Agree that when dealing with a blood-sucking living creature, accurate information on all these parameters is very important.

Moreover, the hirudotherapist will certainly inquire about all your illnesses, as they may be incompatible with hirudotherapy. Thus, in case of oncological diseases, as well as in such diseases as hemophilia (impaired blood clotting), severe anemia, hemorrhagic diathesis and persistent hypotension, leech treatment is contraindicated. Women should not resort to the services of a hirudotherapist during pregnancy or during critical days.

The place where the doctor places the leeches depends on the disease and its stage and is selected in accordance with the scheme of reflex points (acupuncture points) on the human body. One hirudotherapy procedure requires five to seven leeches. The intensity of the treatment course and its duration are determined by the hirudotherapist individually for each patient, evaluating all the data. As experts note, the average number of sessions is from seven to ten, and their frequency is from one to three times a week.

By the way, leeches are used only once: each procedure is carried out with new "live instruments", and used leeches are destroyed (like disposable syringes). Therefore, there can be no talk of any risk of infection transmission from one patient to another.

What diseases does a hirudotherapist treat?

During the "work" of a leech that has bitten into the right place, biologically active substances (enzymes) get to the organ that requires treatment through the skin blood vessels. These enzymes (destabilase, hyaluronidase, collagenase, kininase, cholesterol esterase, etc.) contribute to the fact that blood circulation in the area of the diseased organ is significantly improved. At the same time, these substances dissolve blood clots (thrombolytic effect), relieve inflammation, stimulate immunity, and also enhance cellular nutrition (trophism) of tissues and activate their protective functions (phagocytosis).

The use of leeches has a positive therapeutic effect on a wide range of pathologies of many human systems and organs. Here are the diseases treated by a hirudotherapist:

• diseases of the heart and blood vessels: cardiovascular insufficiency, atherosclerosis, angina pectoris, ischemic heart disease, cardiosclerosis, hypertension, hypotension, varicose veins, thrombosis, thrombophlebitis;
• diseases of the abdominal organs: cholecystitis, pancreatitis, colitis, gastritis, duodenitis, biliary dyskinesia, liver cirrhosis, pyelonephritis, urolithiasis;
• urological diseases: prostatitis, cystitis, urethritis;
• skin diseases: eczema, furunculosis, acne, psoriasis, trophic ulcers;
• diseases of the respiratory system: bronchitis, pneumonia;
• ENT diseases: sinusitis, acute sinusitis, otitis, neuritis of the auditory nerves;
• diseases of the musculoskeletal system, including neurological diseases: osteochondrosis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, sciatica, myositis, radiculitis, vertebral hernia;
• ophthalmological diseases: glaucoma, keratitis, iridocyclitis;
• gynecological diseases: uterine fibroids, inflammation and ovarian cysts, adhesions, myomas, endometriosis, inflammation of the appendages, cervical erosion, mastitis;
• endocrine diseases: thyrotoxicosis, diabetes mellitus;
• allergic diseases: neurodermatitis, urticaria, bronchial asthma, vasomotor rhinitis.

Now you know when to see a hirudotherapist? In addition, hirudotherapy helps to cure headaches of any etiology, stabilize the course of cerebral arteriosclerosis, get out of depression, recover faster from injuries, get rid of cellulite and even lose some extra pounds. What about cellulite, with the help of hirudotherapy you can reduce spasticity in children with cerebral palsy.

Advice from a hirudotherapist

Since time immemorial, the leech has been the most effective and safe method of treating humans. And today, doctors around the world recognize that hirudotherapy can not only cure a huge number of diseases, but also has a beneficial effect on the entire human body, normalizing metabolism, improving sleep and even raising mood...

Do you know how leeches are used in modern microsurgery? In order to connect all blood vessels (damaged due to illness or accident) in a timely manner during an operation, several leeches are placed in the area of the surgical field, which quickly “pump out” excess blood like pumps.

Special advice from a hirudotherapist to women of all ages. If a girl or young woman has a menstrual cycle disorder, consult a hirudotherapist: leeches (the enzymes they secrete) will regulate hormone production and restore a normal cycle.

If a woman decides to become a mother, consult a hirudotherapist: a course of hirudotherapy before conception will cleanse the body of toxins. In addition, treatment with leeches can help with infertility.

If a woman is entering the stage of age-related hormonal changes (menopause), consult a hirudotherapist: periodic hirudotherapy sessions will slow down the loss of estrogens. As a result, women tolerate hot flashes better, feel more energetic, and look younger.

Advice from a hirudotherapist to everyone: when you are overcome by a feeling of helplessness in the face of illness, do not neglect the enormous benefit that a leech can bring to the most precious thing you have - your health.

By the way, the World Society of Hirudologists recognized the medicinal and pharmaceutical leech as a full-fledged therapeutic agent more than 20 years ago. In June 2013, the International Society of Hirudotherapeutists and Hirudologists (ISHH) was created. And in September 2013, the first World Congress of Hirudotherapy was held in Moscow, where hirudotherapists from 19 countries discussed the problems of using leeches in modern clinical practice.