Vampire therapy, anyone?
Sim Bak Heng
SLIMY and eerie-looking, these creatures are not a feast for the eyes: a brief glance at them is enough to give a person goose pimples.
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| PUT TO WORK: A therapist placing a leech on the affected part of a patient’s body. The leech will seek out the problem spot. |
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| LIFE BEGINS HERE: Leeches are bred inside a container of filtered water. |
It is easy to understand why people try hard to avoid contact with them. They are silent movers. By the time their prey is aware of them, it is usually too late.
Where their teeth go, blood spills.
Not enough to kill, but plenty enough if a person panics and makes an incorrect move, like pulling them off roughly which may leave their teeth embedded in the body and irritate the wound, causing it to fester.
These are not vampire, dracula, toyol or alien-like creatures, so who are these blood suckers?
They are leeches, much abhored and maligned by campers, trekkers and even by those living in jungle areas.
Small, skinny and hungry, they latch onto a human body without disturbing their host.
They relish the taste of warm human blood so when they start to feed, they gorge. Then, they bloat.
It’s this weight that may eventually give their presence away and scare their hosts badly with their swollen appearance.
But, in most cases, their hosts would not even have known that they had had their blood drawn even after the leech drops off onto the jungle floor, sated.
Some say this is because the creature injects an anaesthetic into the skin to numb it before piercing through it.
Some also say leeches are the answer to many health problems.
Leech therapy is making stars out of these creatures because their patients have given them the thumbs-up.
Not surprisingly, others view leech breeding as a money spinner.
For instance, some villagers in Kota Tinggi have started to breed leeches to supplement their income.
They buy a leech for RM2.50. At six month, it matures.
A mature leech can produce about 200 leeches every three months. These 200 leeches collectively weigh about 1kg.
One kilogramme of leeches is sold at RM60.
For the past six months, Nona Maria Leech Therapy Centre has been offering both leech-breeding classes and leech therapy.
It has two outlets, one at Taman Bukit Tiram in Ulu Tiram and another at Jalan Kota Kecil 1 in Kota Tinggi. Each centre offers both programmes.
Kamariah Mustafa, who managers both outlets, says leech therapy is safe because it did not involve the use of drugs or surgery.
Generally, leech therapy is used for expelling “dirty blood” and leeches are placed on the affected parts of the body.
“The creature has the gifted ability to locate the problem spot. When it finds it, it punctures a hole in the skin and siphones out the dirty blood.
“The sucking process takes between 20 minutes and two hours, depending on the type of ailment. The leech will detach itself from the human body when it is full.
“All wounds are swabbed with alcohol and have anti-septic applied before it is plastered,” she said.
For the purposes of hygiene, all leeches used are discarded.
Leech therapy is recommended for those who have diabetes, migraines, headaches, sinusitis, high blood pressure, asthma, skin problems and feel fatigued in body.
Kamariah said the number of leeches to be used and the places to apply them would depend on the nature of the ailment.
For instance, for those with breast cancer, 12 leeches will be applied on each breast.
For those with sinusitis, three will be placed on each side of the face.
Two leeches will be placed just below the cervical spine for those with high blood pressure.
For diabetic patients, the leeches will be placed at the foot.
According to Kamariah, the bite by a leech may be likened to a bite by a red ant.
“There is no feeling at all during the blood-sucking process,” she said.
Once the leeches detach from the skin, they will spit out blood that is too dirty. Dirty blood is common among those with a high level of uric acid, have cancer cells or skin diseases.
All leeches Kamariah uses are imported from Indonesia.
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