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Imagine lying on a bed and losing 1,500 calories without moving a muscle or getting abs of steel without doing the countless excruciating sit ups.
Well all of this and more is now possible with just a couple of acupuncture needles.
Acupuncture for weight loss is the latest rage that has taken Bahrain by storm and good news is that while it is a safe and effective way to lose weight and inches, you can also lose weight from the stubborn areas in your body and keep it off.
Dr Mohammad Jahromi, Acupuncture and Pain Management Specialist at Ibn Al-Nafees Clinic explains how the process works.
“When a patient comes in for a consultation at the clinic the first thing we have to do is to take into account his/her lifestyle, eating habits and the fat in excess of his ideal body weight.
For that we calculate the BMI (body mass index) of the patient taking into account the height, weight and the size of the bones in order to get an accurate picture.
Then we decide on the size of the needles (there are two, the four inch needles and the half inch needles, the bigger one are used for areas with more fat) and the amount of sessions needed to bring about a desired result in the patient.”
Each session normally lasts 30 minutes of acupuncture therapy where Dr Jahromi places around 8-12 needles in the fatty area. The needles in turn are attached to wires leading to a small machine called the DD (direct drilling) Pulse machine which transmits low energy electrical current to burn the fat cells in the body.
The DD Pulse machine originated in China but was fine tuned in America. The intensity of the electrical current varies between 10-100 watts depending on how much a patient can tolerate and the amount of fat that needs to get rid of.
The current causes sweating in the area under treatment which is a result of fat burn and loss of calories.
According to Dr Jahromi a 30-minute session with moderate wattage on the machine can help the patient lose up to 1,200 calories. Although Dr Jahromi is a trained physician in Alopathy, he also graduated as an Oriental Medical Doctor (OMD) with specialisation in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine from the US. “In order to run a weight loss clinic that involves acupuncture, a doctor must have the specific training in weight loss management and technique because being an acupuncturist alone does not serve the purpose,” he stresses.
Dr Jahromi uses the traditional acupuncture method for appetite control in his patients by placing three fine needles in both ears for the first three or four sessions. “All three needles have specific target areas. One needle is placed on the sympatic nerve of the brain centre which controls the appetite, the other on the nerve to reduce the acidity levels in the stomach and the last one is for the hunger point which controls the appetite and the swallowing power of the body,” he explains.
Although acupuncture for weight loss yields noticeable result but coupled with exercise and diet control the treatment is 50 per cent more beneficial. Since obesity and overweight problems are widely prevalent in Bahrain, Dr Jahromi has a constant influx of patients lined up at his clinic. Although he specialises in pain management therapy also, 60 per cent of his patients come for weight loss alone.
“The female to male patient ratio for weight loss therapy is 60:40 and my female patients fall in the age bracket of 25-45 years. Some are obese and some just want to lose weight from stubborn fatty areas in the body. They all come highly motivated and remain so throughout the sessions especially when they start seeing the positive result,” he says.
Dr Jahromi talks about a 24-year-old Bahraini girl who weighed 255kg when she came to his clinic on February 18, 2007. After the first week she lost five kilograms. On March 25, 2007 she weighed 224.5kg and is continuing her treatment at the clinic. A severely obese (with a BMI between 35 and 40) patient lost 50kg after nine months of acupuncture treatment.
“Another patient who was very happy with the result was 24-year-old Salman Toorani who came to me in July 2006 to get a six pack. After 10 sessions he was proudly showing off his muscled stomach to all and sundry,” he comments, but stresses that acupuncture should be used in conjunction with exercise and diet control to gain the maximum benefit.
Dr Jahromi claims that once the fat cells are burnt by the acupuncture treatment the weight remains off but then a lot of it is also dependant on the eating habits and exercise levels of the patient.
Obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century.
According to a recent World Health Organisation’s (WHO) estimates, there are more than one billion overweight adults worldwide, a huge number given that the human population is now six billion. Weight loss is a multi billion dollar industry in America and a session with an acupuncturist specialising in weight loss costs approximately $150 (approx BD50) in the US; Dr Jahromi charges BD20 for the first session and between BD10-12 for successive sessions. Taking into account the attention and importance individuals place on their appearance, Dr Jahromi has tapped into a fledging and lucrative market.
WHEN my colleague Asma said she was writing an article on acupuncture and that a friend of hers knew a doctor that could acupuncture you to a flat tummy I thought all my dreams had come true. When she then said she needed a volunteer to try it out and see if it worked, or not, I practically jumped across our desks in my enthusiasm… Well it would have been rude not to, wouldn’t it?
I have to admit I had my doubts as to whether it would work and everyone I talked to about it just looked at me as if I’d just fallen for a ‘Candid Camera’ TV joke, but being allergic to even the mention of the word exercise I was willing to give it a go – at the end of the day, what did I have to lose apart from inches?
So off I toddled to the Ibn Al-Nafees Clinic 2 where I met Dr Mohamed A. Jahromi (or as I like to call him “the miracle man”). One of the first things I noticed about him is his gentle and professional manner that filled me with a sense of calm and confidence in his ability – we were off to good start.
Now, I have to admit I’m a little nervous of needles but as far as I was concerned this was too good an opportunity to pass up and I was prepared to suck up any small discomfort that was coming my way. But before I even got close to the needles a far more frightening chore awaited me; it was measuring time and this was something I was REALLY dreading – especially as our dashing photographer T Andrew Morton was there to take a pictorial record of the size of my waist.
I held my breath and sucked in as much as possible and the Dr measured my lower hip/waist area at a cringe worthy 38 inches… Oh the shame of it!
I had to draw the line at being weighed though as there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to put my weight down on paper for all to see!
Next I went into a little cubicle, took off my trousers and lay down underneath a thoughtfully provided sheet and a couple of minutes later the Dr came in to do his work. I held my breath again, squeezed my eyes shut tight and stole myself for the pain of the needles going in. I waited a minute and then opened my eyes to see what the delay was only to discover the needles were already in place and I hadn’t felt a thing – no pain, nothing, not even a single twinge.
After turning me into a human pin cushion, I was hooked up to a little machine – the scarily named ‘Direct Drilling Pulse Machine’ that sends out little electric shocks into the needles.
I felt a little like a lab experiment but a minute later a piece of plastic was covering the needles and wires. This was topped off with a couple of heat pads and then the sheet came up to cover it all up and I just looked as if I was tucked up comfortably in bed.
I also had three little needles in my ears whose jobs it was apparently to cut down my appetite and help shrink my stomach.
I nearly jumped out of my skin a minute later when the machine was switched on. It’s hard to explain how it felt. It didn’t hurt but I definitely felt something was going on.
It was a little how I would imagine it would feel if someone put a hook into you (without the pain of the hook going in) and then twisted it a little. Without wanting to sound masochistic or anything, after the initial shock (no pun intended) it was almost quite pleasurable.
Anyone out there that’s had a tattoo will understand exactly what I mean; it hurts a little to start with but then you quickly get used to it and it becomes quite a pleasant sensation.
After half an hour the machine switched itself off with a jolly little tune and Dr. Jahromi’s assistant came in and unplugged me, so to speak. And that was pretty much it.
I was keen to come back the next day for another session but had to be patient as for best affect you need to give yourself a day in between sessions for the fat cells to breakdown and leave your body (no prizes for guessing how).
No matter though, my patience paid off and by the end of my second session I was back into a pair of jeans I hadn’t been able to wear for months and by time the third session was over it was time for me to get measured again.
Photographer T Andrew Morton came along to take another picture and I was gratified to see and hear his surprise as I hitched up my top slightly, ready for the tape measure and to be told he could see the difference immediately.
It was time to see what the tape measure had to say for itself: 36 inches ... Yipee! Two inches in one week and I didn’t have to break a sweat or go under the knife and if that’s not enough, it has the added bonus of costing less than a gym membership or liposuction.
Without a doubt I’m a convert and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be going back as a real patient before my sister’s wedding in June!
— Marie-Claire
