ABSTRACT
A comparative study on spa bathing alone and bathing in combination with herbar medicine was carried out on 21 patients with vibration syndrome of grades III and IV.<br>Eleven patients (group A) were treated with spa bathing alone; the other ten patients (group B) were treated with spa bathing in combination with herbar medicine (“Goshajin-kigan, ” “Bushi-powder” or “Touki shigyaku kago syuusyo syoukyoutou, ” “Bushi-powder”). All patients were male from 55 to 73 years old.<br>Subjective symptoms, capillary blood flow volume, skin temperature, and velocity of peripheral nerve conduction were examined before and after each treatment.<br>In subjective symptoms, the ratio of improvement in group B was significantly higher than that in group A, especially in “numbness, ” “coldness, ” and “discoloration.”<br>Volume of capillary blood flow in group B was significantly larger than that in group A. Skin temperature in group B was significantly higher than that in group A. However, no significant difference was found in the velocity of peripheral nerve conduction before and after treatment or between group A and group B.
ABSTRACT
More than 30 years have passed since the emergence of many patients with what is now called vibration syndrome.<br>We have been engaged in vibration syndrome therapy since 1973 using thermotherapy, therapeutic exercise, and herbal medicine. We have measured the skin temperature of both middle fingers of patients every year in spring and autumn. In 1985, 12 years after starting the treatment, we noted significant improvement in their skin temperatures.<br>This paper is a report on the changes in skin temperature as measured over 10 years (from 1980 to 1990) in ten patients with Raynaud's phenomenon.<br>From our study, we have concluded that a period of 10 years or more is required to treat patients with Vibration Syndrome.