Leech Therapy —Sounds scary, but there’s proof it could help — a lot

Hirudotherapy (from the Latin for leech therapy) is an ancient method of treatment that was widely used in the ancient world, including by pharaohs and kings. Before modern medicine came to rely so heavily on antibiotics and hormones, hirudotherapy held a firm and very important place in medicine. It is a truly natural treatment that cures any pathology and, at the same time, rejuvenates and revitalizes the whole body. It is well known that ladies in Europe applied leeches the day before a ball to rejuvenate their skin and refresh their complexion.

After graduating from medical school, I worked as a neurologist and applied traditional medicine in my practice, in particular acupuncture and moxibustion. One day I found that placing leeches on the points where I would usually insert a needle or apply moxa (heated herbs) gave much stronger results. After completing a specialized course in 1997, I began using medicinal leeches together with acupuncture to treat my patients. I then began to practice so-called "hirudopuncture": placing leeches on the body's active points known from Asian medicine, rather than simply over the liver and painful areas, as was done in most cases. Hirudopuncture is still the foundation of my practice.

First of all, don't be afraid of the leech bite. At the moment of the bite it feels like a mosquito bite, and after that you feel nothing at all, because the leech releases a natural anesthetic into the area. Leeches are also very sensitive to smells, so on the day before the procedure avoid anything scented on your body, including scented soap and cosmetics. A session lasts from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the effect we want to achieve, and a course is 7–9 sessions, once or twice a week.

The effect of treatment most often lasts from six months to a year, so it is best to have leech therapy at least once or twice a year. Leech therapy is often used for patients with long-standing illnesses. Typically, they have been treated in the hospital many times and take large doses of medication. In this case, of course, the medication is not stopped.

But after 3–5 leech therapy sessions, in many cases the doses of medication are significantly reduced, and by the end of the hirudotherapy course the patient remains on minimal maintenance doses.

In general terms, I would outline the range of conditions where hirudotherapy is used and where it has almost no alternative among other treatments. First, diseases associated with stagnation of lymph and blood, which of course come with swelling (edema). The second wide group is conditions accompanied by degeneration and even atrophy of tissue. In the first case, the leech increases the outflow of interstitial fluid through the lymph vessels and veins, after which normal tissue balance (homeostasis) is restored. In the second case, it works through a significant increase in local and overall microcirculation (blood flow to the tissues) and, as a result, better tissue nutrition and detoxification. That is why the leech is practically indispensable when you need to quickly and permanently eliminate swelling, get a draining effect, restore blood microcirculation and stimulate the immune system.

The main ones are:

• Cardiovascular diseases (coronary heart disease, hypertension, prevention of heart attack (myocardial infarction), trophic ulcers, thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, hemorrhoids)
• Urological diseases (chronic pyelonephritis, prostatitis, priapism, benign prostatic hyperplasia, chronic cystitis)
• Gynecological diseases (acute and chronic pelvic inflammation, uterine fibroids, infertility, menopause complications)
• Digestive diseases (hepatitis, early-stage cirrhosis, gastroesophageal reflux)
• Ear, nose and throat (ENT) diseases (chronic otitis media of various locations, chronic tonsillitis, sinusitis, Ménière's disease and vertigo)
• Neurological diseases (encephalopathy, back pain, neuralgia, neuropathy, carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Eye diseases (various types of glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy)

Yes, as with any method, although there are few: blood disorders, low blood pressure, pregnancy, bleeding, and certain types of cancer.