Don Tow's Website

I had a minor stroke in September 2023, and I have been trying to recover from it in the last year and a half. I had gone through many rounds of physical therapy and accupuncture treatments. I just want to provide the latest update on the progress on my recovery.

During the last year and a half, I have made progress on my recovery, including going through many rounds of physical therapy (PT) and acupuncture treatments (AT) in the sense that I can walk without needing a cane, and basically I can manage my life, although needing to do things carefully and slowly.

Based on my understanding of acupuncture and recovering from strokes, there are two main components. One is that the nerves carrying the neural networks have to be open and those neural networks are able to transport the neural messages back and forth. For example, if we are talking about the lower part of my left legs, the neural networks for controlling that part of my lower left leg have to be open and the neural networks have to be able to transport the messages back and forth. Initially after my stroke, some of the neural networks for that part of my lower left leg might have been damaged and the neural signals might not have been transmitted back and forth. One of the things that my acupuncturist in San Francisco tried to do last December was trying to get those neural networks working again. He told me last December that he was successful in trying to get those neural networks working again. So that was successful.

However, there is also a second component. Besides getting the neural networks to communicate, the muscles controlling that part of my legs have to function properly. And this is more than a yes and no. That is, it takes time and numerous practices for those muscles to get back into shape and function properly. That was why even though my acupuncturist was able to reestablish those neural networks, I couldn’t walk consistently and properly right away, and for an extended period. It took me weeks of practice to build that back. I think I am making progress during the last month, and that progress is going to take more time. I hope that in the next few months, I can continue to make progress.

This is just my understanding of acupuncture and recovery from strokes, and I hope my acupuncture friends and experts can correct or elaborate on my understanding.