by Mahmoud Fouly
CAIRO, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- In a modest clinic inside a Cairo medical center, Egyptian physiotherapist and acupuncturist Abir El-Naggar methodically arranges her acupuncture needles and cupping tools.
With more than 20 years of experience, she is both a practitioner and a witness to the growing influence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Egypt.
"TCM sees the human as body, soul, and spirit together -- one complete unit," she said. "With the right points and properly placed needles, you help the body heal itself, without chemicals." It was this philosophy that initially attracted her to the field more than two decades ago.
People are drawn to TCM because it treats the underlying cause of illness rather than just the symptoms, she said. "Many patients tell me, 'I finally feel the energy flowing in my body.' That moment is priceless."
A physiotherapy graduate from Cairo University, El-Naggar's journey into TCM began in 2001 and ultimately took her to Denmark. There, she completed a three-year acupuncture program at a private college in Copenhagen, which included a month of study at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. She later earned her PhD from China's Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.
In her practice, she treats a wide range of conditions, including chronic back and neck pain, migraines, stress-related issues, and neurological disorders like spasticity in children, areas where, she says, acupuncture often yields significant improvements.
One of her patients, Sultan Mansour, a football coach, shared that acupuncture was the only treatment that alleviated his years of post-surgery meniscus pain, after physiotherapy provided only limited relief. He said his sessions with El-Naggar "made a real difference, and I experienced significant improvement."
After experiencing the effectiveness of Chinese medicine, he began recommending acupuncture to fellow coaches, players, neighbors, and friends dealing with sports injuries, chronic pain, and other ailments.
"Anyone who asks me, I tell them: try Chinese medicine, it can truly make a difference," he said.
Mansour added that he has seen significant improvement in more complex cases he referred to El-Naggar, such as partial paralysis and stroke patients. He believes acupuncture will become an increasingly vital therapeutic tool.
For Nemat Galal, a housewife, acupuncture proved its worth when it alleviated her severe heel pain. She later sought out El-Naggar for chronic neck and shoulder issues, and with each session, she felt progressively better.
Egypt's General Physical Therapy Syndicate (GPTS) is responsible for authorizing qualified physiotherapists to practice acupuncture and other TCM methods. The organization is seeking to strengthen its cooperation with Chinese partners.
Samy Saad, head of the GPTS, noted that in recent years, there has been a growing interest in Chinese therapeutic methods in Egypt. He highlighted that techniques such as acupuncture and cupping are now widely practiced in licensed physical therapy centers.
Only qualified physiotherapists are authorized to practice such methods in Egypt, Saad said, stressing that the GPTS regularly organizes workshops on acupuncture and cupping in accordance with standards approved in both China and Egypt.
"China is a great country and very advanced in medical sciences, and Egypt is keen on expanding cooperation with China in all areas, including the medical field," the syndicate chief said. ■
