I was reading an article in the Nov 1, 2010 issue of ESPN magazine written by Ric Bucher and others, about staph infections among athletes. Did you know that Athletes of all levels, High School to Professional, are plauged with staph infections on a regular basis? That MRSA, a resistant strain of staph, has ended careers and can even kill people? Me either. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a resistant form of staph, resistant to a synthetic penicillin, methicillin. It seems that I heard a few years ago, probably on the NPR, of a child contracting MRSA from scratching his leg while on a bike ride. I recall how this shook the medical community because up until this point the only known cases were in hospitals. Needless to say, this article really opened my eyes, reading that famous athletes like Sammy Sosa, Grant Hill, LeCharles Bentley, and Shaquille O’Neal had all at one time had staph infections. You will have to read the article yourself to really get a feel for how prevelent it is. This article was really great and I couldn’t get enough. I guess now is a good time admit my obsession with pathology and seeing something, that by the average person might be considered, gross. I would love to be a Pathologist, working in a coroners office. Piecing together the last moments of people’s lives…uh-what? Oh yea, this ESPN article had me totally engrossed and then it got better.
An insert into the article, What Lies Beneath, begins with the warning, ”If your skin starts to crunch like “rice krispies”, head straight to the emergency room.” Who can’t read on after that? A promising young athlete on Indiana University’s Championship Diving Team, develops a sudden onset of severe flu-like symptoms, rashes, soon there after unable to walk. Then the “rice krispie” feeling. The emergency room Doctors quickly diagnosed her with NF, necrotizing fasciitis, aka, flesh-eating bacteria. Later as the NF was spreading, Doctors found MRSA also present. (By the way, NF is actually caused by a certain Strep bacteria, also very dangerous like, MRSA) Her case was advanced and it was a long, grueling fight to return to diving. Now here’s the part that got me, and I quote, “How she contracted the superbugs remains a mystery, but her doctors speculated she picked them up from IU’s athletic facility, or the teams PT acupuncture needles.” Two things spark my attention here, PT and acupuncture needles. My opinions about dry needling and PT’s practicing any kind of acupuncture without thorough education is another blog post, but the acupuncture needles are all about this post.
My first question is, was the PT re-using needles? By that I mean, a patient comes in for a treatment, you use clean needles on them, seal them in a container and re-use them on their next visit, the next visit until who knows when. The reason I ask is, one of the first rules in Clean Needle Technique (CNT) and OSHA regulations for acupuncture, is that only one-time use, disposable needles are to be used. If you are practicing acupuncture legally, you have to answer to the AAC (liability insurance) by checking the box that you DO use one-time use needles. Now, if this PT was practicing CNT then I don’t see how the athlete could have contracted it from the needle itself. Could there have been the bacteria present on the leg, and a clean hand, alcohol swab, and a in a one-in-a-trillion (?) possibility, pushed the bacteria deeper? I do not know. The needles are so very tiny and the holes created are almost instantly closed, if you will. Is it possible? Yes. Likely? No.
In the Medical Acupuncture Journal, Vol 15, #3, under the Safety section, I found this, “One case of a possible wound infection to a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) following acupuncture was reported. However, a follow-up survey to medical acupuncturists in the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA) identified no other incidence of wound infection in total joint surgery following nearly 8,000 acupuncture treatments. Because the acupuncture infection rate was less than the expected TKA postsurgical infection rate, the authors concluded that the infection was most likely coincidental and not due to the acupuncture. Hepatitis B infection has not been reported with the use of sterile disposable acupuncture needles.”
I am suspecting the same is for IU’s Champion Diver, it was more likely to be coincidental than a product of her acupuncture treatments. If your Acupuncturist, PT, Chiropractor, or Doctor is re-using needles you need to DEMAND they use, clean, one-time use, disposable needles for each acupuncture treatment. This is for your health and safety and it is important that everyone understand the importance of finding a Licensed Acupuncturist. All Acupuncturists must go through OSHA and CNT training. Acupuncture is a lot more than just sticking people with needles, promise me you will not say you’ve had acupuncture if you didn’t receive it from an Acupuncturist. Even a medical doctor isn’t required to have more than 100 hours in acupuncture training. Maybe I will go draw some blood today and perform surgery. What’s that you say? Oh, but I have taken several classes in Human Anatomy and Physiology, that qualifies me, right?
Follow this link to Webmd‘s info about MRSA, keep yourself informed!
I have just enough paint left in my quart to finish “cutting in” this room, no ladder, no drop cloth, no roller, no pan, and most importantly, no more paint. ”I guess I’m re-painting the office.” I say to myself, and I spent the rest of my evening buying the paint and making arrangements to borrow a ladder.
