Traumatic brain injury and tuina

When you say "I provided daily Tuina" - what in very exact terms are you doing and for what reason in your own words (and/or tcm terms)? If you can describe this I may be able to offer some more suggestions.

Hi Chad, Thanks for your reply, sorry for the delay. I am a former shiatsu practitioner now working a desk job. I have continued to study TCM informally and for some years have received Tuina weekly so I am incorporating that knowledge into the session which I stress is volunteer, I am not presuming to be a professional, I am just using what I know and trying to be of some help to this person. So EXACTLY what am I doing? I do lots of "main" points that I do not remember the names or numbers of and work points on the head, neck, shoulders, back etc. The boy is lying in a bed, so my techniques are limited, i.e. I cannot use elbows and it&#39s difficult to leverage gravity. I have looked in the Journal of Tuina and Acupuncture Science. My biggest concern is addressing the contractures. It&#39s completely different working on a brain-injured person because they sometimes spasm as a response to deep pressure and the contractures are really challenging. So I am incorporating rocking and vibrating with some success.But essentially I just work along a lot of meridians, the heavy hitters, along the bladder and kidney in the leg and so forth. I am hoping to hear from someone who worked using their hands (not acupuncture) on a brain-injured person and especially, if they had some success preventing contractures. Very curious about critical head points--his injury was to the left part of the head. Btw since I posted this the mother of the boy agreed to bring in an acupuncturist 3X/wk but I have no idea what that person is doing. The boy is in a so-called vegetative state of coma, in an out of consciousness. The Western medical establishment seems to think leaving him in a bed without any attention until he "comes around" is a good idea. What I&#39m doing is perhaps not all that effective but it is better than nothing. (I am not working with the boy on the days the acupuncturist comes, by the way.) Thanks for any input.

I suggest some light touch away from the body resetting the nervous system, you can use powder to help keep a smooth connection.

I also suggest a lymphatic touch which is really light aswell and moves with the lymph lines towards the belly.

warm rice packs or covered water bottles along the back of the neck and base of the skull can help improve csf flow, and a rice pack down the spine can help as well.

I would work the fhands, feet and legs to reduce atrophy and also use your tui na there, rolling, rocking and vibration can be supportive and grounding. hands and feet have many start and ending points for meridian lines.

hope this is simple enough and still useful to you