Helping patient escape from the sound of Silence

By Chen Chunnel

"I hear it! Dad .I hear it !"the boy oxclaieied with a joy when the doctor tested him with a ticking lock .
  Twelve-year -old Zhou Bo had lived in a silent world for six years since he was left almost totally deaf following an allergic reaction to the antibiotic streptothricin.
  Coming from a rural town in Shandong province ,he once went to school but was forced to quit Because he could hardly catch the lectures even if he sat in the front now of the classroom.
  His father took him too many big hospitals, all in vain.
  But then he became one of nearly 700 patients with severe hearings difficulties treated by Gao Liuhua,a 34-year -old doctor of traditional Chinese medicine at the Beijing General   Hospital the center for the deaf treatment .
  More than 90 percent of hid patients have restored or improved their hearing after a period of comprehensive treatment combining acupuncture ,herbal medicine massage and language training.
Known as Gao Therapy in medical circles ,his unique treatment is especially effective for those patients whose deafness results from the use of such medicines as streptomycin and gentamicin .
  In recognition of his outstanding service ,the army has awarded him a third -class merit on two occasions .And in 1987, he won a prize from the China Welfare Fund for the Handicapped .
Born in a rural county in Jiangsu Province ,Gao had only a junior middle school education .He studied ,medicine after joining the army and became an army medic .
 "I was then just fresh from high school and knew nothing about medicine .But I was curious to learn new things ,"he said . "The first time I saw a doctor treating a patient with acupuncture ,I wad entranced with its small ,miraculous needles ."He soon found himself engrossed in the study of acupuncture .He was diligent and improved very quickly .
In 1978,a country girl named Bi Zou came ,his medical unit for help .She had become deaf and mute 12years before in her infancy through using streptothricin .
Medicine -related deafness was at the time regarded as incurable .But the army doctors did not have the heart to tell the girl the truth .While they were hesitating over what to say to her ,Gao stepped forward and said ,"Let me have a try "."I was then just a paramedic ,not a formal doctor ,but I persuaded the leaders to give me a chance ,"he said "I felt a strong sense of responsibility when I saw the sad ,hopeless look on the girl's face ."
To work out an acupuncture treatment plan for the girl ,Gao had to experiment on his own head in front of a mirror to find effective points .Sometimes the reaction was so strong that his head swam and his ears rang .
But his experiment succeeded -the girl could hear and speak after two months under his care.
Success with his first patient made him determined to continue his research on deafness.
To better his knowledge of traditional Chinese acupuncture, he studied therapeutics for five years at evening school in the Qingdao Medical College , and then had a two- year internship at Qingdao Municipal Hospital and finally a two-year training course in traditional Chinese medicine at the Shandong Provincial Hospital .
After years of research, he concluded that deafness caused by streptomycin was the result of obstruction of circulation in the cochlea in Western medical terms.
 On the basic of his conclusions ,he invented an acupuncture method in which the needles are punctuated into the body at 15 acupoint .The three essential points ,located above the ear ,were discovered by Gao .When using this new acupuncture therapy ,the needles should be applied so quickly that it causes little pain .
 But stimulating the auditory nerve system witan acupuncture is only part of Gao comprehensive method of treating deafness.
 To complement acupuncture ,he developed a traditional medicinal compound with pangolin scales as its main ingredient to further promote circulation in the inner ear .
 Gao also invented a set of massage exercises and language training lessons to help enhance the treatment .
 In recent years ,as the story of his success in treating deafness has become known to more people ,he has been unable to handle all the patient on his on own .So his work unit -Beijing military Hospital the center of the deaf Treatment has helped him open a special clinic with a number of assistants .
 " China now has more than 17 million people suffering from deafness and 80percent of them are the victims of misuse of medicines ."he said "I will do my bit to cure these patients ."