The following is an excerpt written by one of Dr. Zhu's patient's who suffered from a herniated disk. Below is a passage decribing her experience with Dr. Zhu:

"ACUPUNCTURE, PATIENCE & TRACTION"

"I credit my acupuncturist with my recovery. He is Dr. Bindi Zhu. He is an oriental medicine doctor. He has his masters in Internal Medicine and his Ph.D. in acupuncture. He has taught acupuncture at a Chinese University [sic] and teaches acupuncture in the U.S."

"He told me the best chance for recovery is to start acupuncture within 6 months of onset of the injury. He said if my condition was treated in China, treatment would be five times a week for several months. At first, I did two treatments a week. Then, I increased the treatments to three times a week, because I figured I wanted to have a better chance at recovery and some investment in time in the present could tremendously affect the quality of the remainder of my life."

"The treatments helped to decrease the pain and muscular contraction. They consisted of [the] insertion and manipulation of acupuncture needles, lying under a heat lamp while listening to relaxing music, oriental massage, and at times, cupping. The treatments were not painful and were pleasant. Dr. Zhu also strongly encouraged me to rest. He said if I stimulated the disc it would "grow, grow, grow," but if I rested the disc would "shrink, shrink, shrink."

"Resting meant no running, no weightlifting and no tennis. Walking was okay. It meant evaluating all of the things one does from day-to-day and avoid lifting. I had my husband do the lifting. Even carrying grocery bags is too much. Taking the garbage out can be too much. Gardening and yard work is out of the question. Patience is key and asking others to help is key. I used the handicap button to open heavy office doors. The hundreds of decisions that a person makes each day affect how the back heals.

"Dr. Zhu also kept encouraging me to do traction. I had an over-the-door traction kit that I bought from my chiropractor. The traction was quite helpful and helped create space between the vertebrae. My traction was for the cervical spine. Early on, I went for some physical therapy...and they had a traction machine that you would lie in and it seemed to be very effective for whole body traction...

"Dr. Zhu also told me that I was very lucky because the herniation was not impinging on my spinal cord. (At the time, I did not feel very lucky because I was in pain, but he was right.)

"Dr. Zhu has also helped my husband with a back injury from golfing. He also has given a friend great relief from depression. He has helped another friend with tennis elbow.

Acupuncture and Herb Health Center
1111 West 24th St. Suite C, Austin, TX 78705
(512)457-0886 http://drzhu.com