In one of the first uses of traditional acupuncture during a bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction surgical procedure, doctors at Jupiter Medical Center used the technique along with traditional anesthesia to help the patient cope with the anxiety and post-surgical pain associated with the procedure.

Dr. Ken Grey

Jupiter Medical Center acupuncture physician Dr. Ken Grey, A.P., D.O.M. performed acupuncture on the patient who sought out the alternative treatment due to her allergies to most conventional pain medications.
Dr. Grey performed acupuncture immediately prior to surgery, at the beginning of the procedure, and post-operatively while the patient was recovering, both immediately following surgery and throughout her hospitalization.
The surgical procedure was performed by Dr. John A.P. Rimmer, M.D., Board Certified, General Surgeon and Breast Specialist, along with David Lickstein, M.D., Board Certified, Plastic Surgeon. The procedure is an emerging technique that takes the place of traditional mastectomy where reconstruction takes place at a later date.
Developed thousands of years ago in China, acupuncture is the therapeutic practice of inserting fine needles into the skin to stimulate anatomic points in the body. The patient’s response to the treatment prior to surgery was an immediate sense of relaxation and well being that relieved her anxiety. Post-operatively, she was able to recover quickly with her post-surgical pain under control, walking the same day as her procedure. She was home after a two-day hospital stay.
While Dr. Grey said the procedure was one of Florida’s first uses of acupuncture on a double mastectomy patient, he has used acupuncture in the operating room on several occasions at Jupiter Medical Center, including on a recent colorectal surgery patient. He also teamed with Jupiter Medical Center physicians to help patients in the hospital’s intensive care unit and post acute care unit (recovery room) lower blood pressure, improve breathing and circulation, reduce anxiety and edema (swelling) and treat post-stroke semi-paralysis. He has also used acupuncture to treat pain, nausea and the side effects of chemotherapy for cancer patients.
“By integrating the best, proven western and eastern approaches, we can help improve the healing and disease prevention capabilities of physicians who collaborate to wholly treat our patients, not just their disease,” said Dr. Grey. “By working together, we have the ability as physicians to give our patients the best possible care from a conventional and holistic medicine standpoint.”
Other areas where Jupiter Medical Center is integrating complementary medicine with traditional medicine include the facility’s three healing gardens. These gardens, located on the main hospital campus and the cancer center, offer patients, visitors, physicians and team members a quiet, peaceful respite from an often hectic and stressful medical setting.