Korean Medicine Treatment for Parkinson's Disease & Parkinsonism

Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonism share features such as slowed movement, body stiffness, shortened stride, and difficulty changing directions.

However, they are not the same condition.

Parkinson's disease is the most common degenerative disorder causing parkinsonian symptoms. Parkinsonism encompasses conditions with different causes and progression patterns, such as multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal syndrome. While Parkinson's disease often responds relatively well to levodopa, atypical parkinsonism may show poor medication response and earlier onset of balance impairment, falls, and autonomic dysfunction.

Therefore, having similar names does not mean the same treatment should be applied.

SOIAN Korean Medicine Clinic does not look solely at diagnostic labels. We first identify what interferes most with the patient's current movement.

• Difficulty taking the first step
• Body freezing when changing direction
• Trunk rotation restricted by stiffness starting from jaw and neck
• Which symptoms worsen during off periods as medication wears off
• Whether pain, sleep, digestion, constipation, and fatigue affect mobility

If symptoms are adequately controlled by medication and remain stable, additional treatments may not be necessary.

In reality, however, stiffness and pain often persist despite medication, the duration of medication effectiveness shortens, or gait and daily functioning fail to fully recover. While levodopa effectively relieves motor symptoms, it does not restore lost neurons or halt disease progression, and its duration of effect and responsiveness can become irregular over time.

SOIAN Korean Medicine Clinic differentiates and treats the areas addressed by medication versus those left unresolved by medication alone.

Rigidity in Parkinson's disease is not merely a matter of shortened muscles.

When the nervous system cannot smoothly regulate the initiation, cessation, magnitude, and sequence of movement, unnecessary tension spreads throughout the entire body. Weakness in the legs causes the lower back and neck to compensate, and bracing the trunk to prevent falling makes stride length and turning even more difficult.

Therefore, one must not aggressively release all stiff muscles indiscriminately.

We must distinguish rigidity that actually restricts movement from protective tension the body uses to support weak areas. Even if muscles feel softer immediately after treatment, it is not considered a proper response if standing and walking become more unstable.

SOIAN Korean Medicine Clinic directly compares first step, stride length, arm swing, trunk rotation, turning, and daily activities before and after treatment.

We determine our treatment direction by assessing whether bodily stiffness decreases, actual movement becomes smoother, and how long that improvement lasts.

Among patients with Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonism, some experience simultaneous stiffness in the jaw, neck, shoulders, and trunk.

When turning the head, if excessive force first engages in the jaw and neck, trunk rotation is blocked, and bracing in the upper body before taking a step makes changing direction even harder.

SOIAN Korean Medicine Clinic makes micro-adjustments to the bilateral contact, height, and anteroposterior position of the mandible to evaluate how neck and trunk tension, muscle strength, posture, balance, and target symptoms change.

When the TMJ is guided to a position comfortably received by the central nervous system, some patients experience reduced tension across the face, neck, and trunk simultaneously, resulting in smoother movement without having to treat each muscle individually.

We do not prescribe oral appliances based on a single adjustment alone. Only when consistent positive responses are repeatedly demonstrated across multiple tests and movements do we reflect them into a customized intraoral appliance.

TMJ Balance Therapy is not a treatment that permanently fixes the jaw in a single theoretical position.

We identify the TMJ position and vertical dimension at which the patient's nervous system responds most stably at the current point in treatment.

As treatment progresses and stiffness, pain, posture, and mobility improve, the state of the nervous system also evolves. An appliance position that was stable previously may no longer be optimal for the newly adapted body.

Therefore, we re-evaluate responses and recalibrate the appliance throughout the course of care.

Recalibration does not mean initial treatment was incorrect; it is the process of finding the newly established equilibrium for an evolving nervous system.

Through iterative adjustments, we track the stabilization of the nervous system as symptoms ease and periods of comfort lengthen.

Constitutional acupuncture employs combinations of meridians and acupoints tailored to restore balance according to individual constitution.

When the prescription aligns accurately, tight meridians and tissues relax, immediately improving tenderness, neck and trunk mobility, and gait after treatment. As tissues ease, favorable conditions are created for circulation and functional recovery.

Pharmacopuncture focuses on abdominal tension.

When the abdomen is tight, breathing becomes shallow, trunk movement freezes, and tension in the neck, back, and limbs cannot easily release. We select acupoints and herbal extracts based on the abdominal state, evaluating how breathing, trunk mobility, rigidity, and pain improve once the abdomen relaxes.

Constitution-based herbal medicine treats both neurological symptoms and systemic health.

After establishing a baseline formula suited to your constitution, we modify herbal ingredients according to rigidity, pain, sleep, digestion, constipation, and fatigue. Rather than prescribing a generic formula for a single diagnostic name, we tailor prescriptions addressing the constitutional whole and the patient's most troublesome complaints.

Chuna therapy restores mobility across the cervical spine, rib cage, spine, and pelvis, reducing the structural burden that forces the body into unnecessary tension.

SOIAN Korean Medicine Clinic comprehensively evaluates the following changes.

• Standing up from a chair and taking the first step
• Stride length and arm swing
• Turning in confined spaces
• Tension and rotation in the jaw, neck, and trunk
• Pain in the neck, back, and limbs
• Rolling over and getting out of bed
• Sleep, digestion, bowel movements, and daily fatigue
• Daily living activities such as eating, washing, and dressing

Never arbitrarily reduce or discontinue prescribed Parkinson's medications.

However, taking medication does not mean you must leave unresolved rigidity, pain, gait, balance, sleep, digestion, and bowel difficulties unaddressed.

SOIAN Korean Medicine Clinic helps patients utilize remaining mobility more comfortably, reduces overexertion in the nervous system, and preserves daily functioning as long as possible.