The healing powers of a blood-sucking worm: South Florida medical practitioners are using leeches to treat patients suffering from a variety of medical conditions.
Hirudotherapy, commonly referred to as Leech Therapy, is a centuries-old practice used to treat a wide range of conditions.
Patricia Nardone has uterine fibroids and turned to this alternative therapy after undergoing an ineffective medical procedure.
"It affects my daily life because I get tired and I'm anemic," she said.
Through an online search and a couple of phone calls, she found Alicja Kolyszko, a naturopathic practitioner who travels around the United States working to heal her patients with medicinal leeches.
"They are safe, without any side effects and they are all natural," Kolyszko said.
Leeches are like cousins to earthworms. They have at least 270 microscopic teeth, and depending on what you're treating, they can be on your body from as short as three minutes to as long as 45 minutes.
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"It really wasn't painful. It was just a numbing feeling, it was a nice feeling," Nardone explained.
The leeches suck your blood, but before that, Kolyszko said they secrete a beneficial enzyme into the human body.
The most popular treatments include varicose veins, infertility and migraines. But over the last year, many have a growing interest in this type of therapy for cosmetic reasons.
"What the leeches input into a body, they affect your face and they affect the body and face from within," Kolyszko said.
After application, the leeches are discarded and cannot be reused.
The price of one session starts at about $250, but Kolyszko recommends you do your research before getting started. Learn about your practitioner and know where the leeches are coming from.
For more information on how Leech Therapy works, click here.
