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Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC) has decided to harness the wisdom of ancient China in the war against pain. For the first time in Israel, chronic pain is being treated with a unique, individualized therapy: Tai Chi.
The Chinese philosopher Confucius said, “Good people strengthen themselves relentlessly.” Through the ages, Chinese culture has continued to nurture that view through the martial arts, which start from the soul and work outward to the body, strengthening it. Tai Chi, which began as a fighting technique to preserve warriors’ powers, has become, with time, a type of meditation in movement. At Rambam, it is also a pain-killer.
Rambam has been employing Tai Chi in the battle against pain for several months. Today, the hospital’s Pain Clinic offers special treatments developed by Master Yossi Fisher, one of Israel’s leading Tai Chi experts.
Master Fisher (38) a resident of Carmiel and father of two, has been involved in martial arts for 20 years. In Tai Chi he holds a black belt at the level of Dan 5, and has studied in both Israel and China. Some fifteen years ago, he noticed that Tai Chi was a useful weapon against different medical problems, and began implementing it in his work with children suffering from Cerebral Palsy (CP) and autism.
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From Right to Left -Master Yossi Fisher, his Chinese teacher and Dr. Simon Wolfson, Master Fisher's student. Pioter Fliter.© |
“With CP patients I focus on stability and simple actions,” says Fisher. “In the case of autism, I concentrate on communication.” From these patients, I learned how movement is created, and which treatment will help with specific problems.”
Fisher also works with stroke victims who must re-learn actions their brains have forgotten. One of these patients had been confined to a wheelchair for 13 years. Within two years of starting Tai Chi therapy, he was walking. Diabetics and those with chronic pain are also among Fisher’s patients.
Dr Simon Wolfson, assistant director of the Rambam Pain Clinic, first introduced Fisher and his special treatment to the hospital. According to Dr Wolfson, Tai Chi is particularly suited to alleviating skeletal pain. Based on slow, continuous motion, Tai Chi helps eliminate neck and joint aches and chronic back pain. As a bonus, it also develops balance, coordination and motor skills.
“Unhurried, precise movement preserves our muscles and joints, and is suited to every age,” says Fisher, whose patients include the very old. “One of my groups is composed of elderly people, many who are Holocaust survivors,” he says. “There is nothing that equals the sight of them practicing Tai Chi.”
Tai Chi treatment also differs from other treatments in that Fisher tells patients to take responsibility. “This is not at all like the ‘lie-down-and-we’ll-take-care-of-you’ approach,” he says.
“We also must remember that there is a great mental element to pain,” concludes Fisher. “Working on the soul releases pain, as does working on the body.”
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