Chinese man with 'chest pains' finds he's had acupuncture needle in stomach for 40 YEARS
Xu Long, from the city of Jiujiang in south-eastern China's Jiangxi Province, had been treated as a 20-year-old with acupuncture while serving in the military in 1974 to cure stomach ache
A Chinese man who complained of chest and back pains stunned doctors when they found an acupuncture needle which had been lodged in his stomach for 40 years.
Xu Long, from the city of Jiujiang in south-eastern China's Jiangxi Province, had been treated as a 20-year-old with acupuncture while serving in the military in 1974 to cure stomach ache.
He went to his army doctor who told him to try the alternative therapy, in which specific acupuncture points along the skin of the body are penetrated by thin needles.
Now aged 60, he was x-rayed by medics when he felt severe chest pain, only for doctors to make the remarkable discovery.
Mr Long said: 'The only time I ever had acupuncture was while in the army. I recall I had an on-going stomach ache at the time which hurt for two days and two nights.
‘The army doctor offered to perform acupuncture on me and it worked. The pain stopped immediately.'
Xu Long now believes that one of the needles had actually broken in half.
He added: 'At first, I didn’t feel anything, my stomach pain had gone and all was good.
'But over the years I began to feel increasing discomfort in my back and in my chest.
'Every time I went to a doctor they said it was just old age.'
An astounded Xu said: 'They told me there was a foreign body in my stomach and I just panicked thinking it was cancer.
'You can imagine my shock and relief when they told me it was the acupuncture needle.'
Doctor Ye Lin who carried out the surgery to remove the 3cm-long needle said: 'It was really quite a surprise for all of us.
'The needle which was stuck in his intestines had turned black and was very thick because of decades of oxidation.'
The doctors added that the needle had probably been working its way through the man's body as he moved, pushing it slowly to different positions before finally being identified 40 years later.
Happy Xu said: 'Luckily, it’s now out and my pains have completely gone. And I don’t have cancer so I’m a winner all round.'
