Are you one of those people who learn that you’ve overdone it by receiving a special delivery notice from your knees?  Have you ever had a knee just go out and fold up like a card table?  Maybe you’ve had a knee lock up, blow up, blow out, or just plain hurt.  For knee pain sufferers everywhere, this blog’s for you.

Knee pain and problems are probably only second to back pain in incidence.  If you have knee pain, you’re not alone; over 50 million Americans suffer from knee issues. The causes of knee pain are varied, and can stem from overuse, overweight, weak leg muscles, trauma, or deterioration from wear and tear.

Acupuncture can be an effective treatment for knee pain. In Chinese medicine, knee pain is a sign of stagnant energy.  The Chinese believe that our body’s energy moves in pathways, and when there is pain of any kind, it means that the flow of energy is impeded.  Knee pain or weakness can also be a sign that the Chinese Kidney system is weak.  When this is the case, the pain in your knees is frequently accompanied by dull achy pain in your lower back.  For a full explanation on the Kidney system and Chinese medicine, go here.

The good news with knee pain is that there are things that you can do to alleviate that pain and even prevent episodes in the future.  Among them:

-Strengthen your leg muscles.  The muscle groups that move your knees include your quadriceps on the front of your thigh, and your hamstrings on the back.  To strengthen your quadriceps, start with some simple leg lifts:  lie flat on the floor, keeping your legs straight, turn your right foot outward about 20 degrees.  Lift your right leg off the floor a few inches, hold for the count of three and bring it down.  Start with 20 repetitions and work up to 50.  Repeat with the left leg. For your hamstrings, you can do simple leg curls:  begin either lying face down on the floor or standing, attach an ankle weight (start with one pound and work up) to your right ankle.  Slowly bend your right leg at the knee 90 degrees hold for three seconds then slowly lower your leg back to your starting position.  Repeat the set with your left leg. Start with 20 repetitions and work up to 50.

-Go easy on the activities that are hard on your knees.  Activities such as running, hilly hiking, and stair climbing aggravate knee pain because the movements involved forcibly push your kneecap against your thigh bone.  Avoid any activities that aggravate your knee pain until you have strengthened your leg muscles and your pain has calmed down.

-Check out your shoes.  Make sure you’re wearing the right shoes for you and your sport.  In addition, look for signs of wear on the soles of your shoes and replace sports shoes frequently.  Sales people at a good athletic shoe store can look at your gait and help you choose the right shoe for you—it’s worth spending a little more to not have knee pain.

-Lose a little weight.  This is pretty self-explanatory – if you’re sporting some excess weight, it’s hard on your knees.

-Know when to brace and when not to brace.  Wearing a knee brace can help stabilize your knee early on in the injury cycle.  However, if you depend on a knee brace too long, you won’t build up the muscles that support your knee.  Once you’re on a healing track, give the knee brace a rest so you can build up knee strength.

-Know when to check with your doctor. If you have injured your knee, if you notice swelling, your knee locking, giving out, or pain that goes beyond mildly achy, it’s time to get your knee assessed by your doctor.  While these symptoms may be garden-variety knee pain, they can also be signs of serious internal damage to your knee.

I have seen people in my clinic before complaining of a lump in their throat, but Alan’s symptoms were the most severe I had every encountered.  Alan was a 42 year old realtor and father of three.  He came to me because he had the feeling of a lump in his throat, which was making it difficult for him to eat solid food.  Every time he tried to eat, he was unable to get the food down past the lump.  By the time he came to me, he was only able to drink liquids and was rapidly losing weight.

In my clinic, I see a number of people who are looking for relief from stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.  Many of my patients who are struggling with their emotional health also report feeling something like a lump caught in their throat.

These patients describe this lump as the feeling of something being caught at the bottom of their throat, and it won’t go away no matter what they do.  The lump can be mild, and mentioned only when I ask, or it can be so severe, like Alan’s, that it will limit a patient’s diet.  For some people, certain foods seem to aggravate the feeling, among them meat, onions, acidic foods, and alcohol.

So what is this lump and where does it come from?  In most cases, this lump sensation is a spasm of one of the muscles of the esophagus.  It can physically be caused by a throat infection such as strep, being overweight or esophageal reflux.   Difficulty swallowing can be the sign of more serious conditions, and should be checked out by your doctor if it lasts for more than a week or two.

In Chinese medicine, this lump is called Plum Pit Qi because it feels like a plum pit is caught in your throat.  The Chinese believe that Plum Pit Qi is the result of a situation that is figuratively too hard to swallow, so it gets caught in your throat.  That’s why all of the patients I have seen with this condition also are struggling with some kind of life stress or mental health issue.

Plum Pit Qi is a diagnosis that encompasses a Liver and Spleen disharmony combined with phlegm.  A disharmony between the Chinese Liver and Spleen, in general, means that your energy is stagnating (usually emotional energy) and beginning to mess up your digestion.  In Chinese medicine, phlegm can be both visible (what you see when you blow your nose or cough) and invisible.  Invisible phlegm can be the result of energy stagnating combined with poor fluid metabolism, and is the cause of many lumps and bumps in your body.  Things like goiters, tumors, and cysts can be considered invisible phlegm.

In the clinic, Plum Pit Qi can be successfully and naturally treated.  I like to combine acupuncture with Chinese herbs for this condition.  The formula Ban Xia Hou Po Tang is formulated specifically for Plum Pit Qi, is safe, and works incredibly well.  Self care for Plum Pit Qi includes tracking the foods that aggravate your symptoms, and working on resolving stress, anxiety, and the situations in your life that are too difficult to swallow.

For more information on Qi stagnation, specific action steps for a Liver and Spleen disharmony, resolving phlegm, and foods for your particular body constitution, check out  Simple Steps: The Chinese Way to Better Health.

We’ve all been there, hunkered down over the toilet with an upset stomach.  Whether from the stomach flu, something you ate, or a few too many cocktails, an upset stomach is no fun.  Most of us have almost funny stories of vomiting in inappropriate places or at the wrong time.  This includes my kid, who has never been able to make it to the toilet in time.  The one time he made it to the toilet; he failed to lift the lid, so it doesn’t count as a home run.

There is nothing funny, however, about chronic nausea, whether due to morning sickness or as the result of chemotherapy treatments.  It can result in dehydration, exhaustion, weight loss, and may aggravate already existing health conditions.

In Chinese medicine, nausea and vomiting are the result of something called counterflow Qi, or energy moving in the wrong direction.  Ideally, stomach energy moves downward, but under certain circumstances, it can move in the wrong direction.  Other examples of counterflow Qi include the hiccups, heartburn, coughing, and in some instances, diarrhea.  Nausea and vomiting can have a number of underlying causes in Chinese medicine, including a Liver/Stomach disharmony, food stagnation, an external pathogen (the flu), and even phlegm and dampness.

Chinese medicine has much to offer to relieve nausea and vomiting.  One of the best known remedies for nausea is ginger root.  Ginger was found to be effective in relieving chemotherapy related nausea in a recent study at the University of Rochester.  The results of the study indicated that ginger capsules taken prior to the administration of chemotherapy drugs were effective in decreasing nausea in cancer patients.  Ginger can also be taken in the form of tea, or can be grated into food or taken with hot water.  In addition to ginger, there are a number of Chinese herbal formulas that effectively calm an upset stomach. 

Acupuncture treatments can also successfully treat nausea and vomiting.  An acupuncturist would determine the underlying pattern causing your nausea, and develop a treatment to relieve the symptoms and deal with the cause.  One point that you can use at home with acupressure is called Pericardium 6.  It’s found on the palm side of your wrist about two inches from your wrist crease (in the direction of your elbow), right between the tendons.  Feel around in the area for a slightly tender spot, and stimulate that point by applying pressure for a few minutes with your finger or thumb.

We’ve all heard the figurative term that something is a pain in the neck, but the reality of neck pain can cause sleepless nights, limited range of motion, and make your life miserable in general. There are a number of causes of neck pain, including trauma, turning and reaching at the same time, drafts, and bad ergonomics.

The most common cause of neck pain, however, is stress. Most people who are overwhelmed and under a lot of stress will tell you that they physically carry that stress in their neck. This has been the case since caveman times, when our furry ancestors raised the hackles on their neck in threatening situations. While a cranky boss, looming deadline, or a failing relationship isn’t the same as the threat of being eaten, your body still reacts in the same way, resulting in a tight, stiff neck.

In Chinese medicine, your stiff neck is a classic case of stagnation. The tightness in your upper back and neck create a slowdown in the circulation (stagnation) of blood and energy in the area. In addition, as that area becomes tight, it can move upward causing headaches, tooth grinding, and jaw pain; or move downward and cause back pain and tightness.

The antidote to neck pain in Chinese medicine is acupuncture, which works on two levels. It can help relieve the pain and tightness in your neck, and it can also help relieve stress.

You should check with your Western doc if your neck pain is accompanied by confusion, fever, or drowsiness. Also, if your neck pain radiates into your arms or hands, or if you feel numbness or tingling, it may be the sign of disk involvement and should also be checked out.

Some things you can do on your own to relieve neck pain include:

-Get some heat on it. Take a warm shower, use a heating pad, warm rice bag, or a towel soaked in hot water. By putting heat on your neck, you are increasing the circulation, loosening tight muscles, and enhancing your range of motion.

-Increase your flexibility. After you have warmed up your stiff neck, move your head up and down as if you were nodding yes. Then slowly move your head from side to side as if you were saying no. Tilt your head, moving your ear toward your shoulder on each side. These stretches will help increase your range of motion, but remember, don’t do anything that is intensely painful.

-Sleep on it. Sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees. This helps you maintain the natural curvature of your spine, and will help you avoid sleeping on your side, which can aggravate a stiff neck.

-Hold the phone. Keep the phone off of your shoulder. If you’re on the phone a lot at work, get a headset or hold the phone with your hand.

-Take a break. If you’re on your computer all day, make sure you take regular breaks to get up, stretch, and walk around.

-Eyes forward. Make sure that your work station is ergonomically correct. This means that you shouldn’t have to look sideways to see your computer screen, look downward all day long, or be sitting in an uncomfortable position.

-Stay away from drafts. Cold air blowing on your neck can be an underlying cause of a stiff neck. Avoid sleeping in a draft, and be sure to wear a scarf on cool, cold and windy days.

-Get some acupuncture. In most cases, your stiff neck will be gone in a few days. However, acupuncture can be extremely helpful in speeding up the healing process.

Are you the kind of person who can bump a corner of the coffee table and know that you’ll have a whopper of a bruise tomorrow?  Are you afraid of your neighbor’s dog jumping on you because you’ll have to marks to show for it?  Do you frequently sport some big bruises and don’t know where they came from?  If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then you’re an easy bruiser.

Bruising at the drop of a hat is the result of fragile blood vessels, and can come from a number of underlying causes.  In Chinese medicine, easy bruising is a sign that your body’s holding function is weak. 

Your Chinese Spleen is responsible for digesting the food you eat and converting it into energy, blood, and nutrients.  A secondary function of your Spleen is to hold things in place, including holding blood in the vessels.  Other signs that your body isn’t holding things well are chronic diarrhea, frequent miscarriages, heavy menstrual periods and prolapsed (falling) organs, like your uterus or bladder.  From a Chinese perspective, strengthening your Spleen can be accomplished through acupuncture, herbal formulas, and dietary modifications.

From a more Western viewpoint, easy bruising may be due to a vitamin or mineral deficiency.  The most common deficiencies involved in weak or fragile blood vessels are Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and copper.

One of the functions of Vitamin C is to help build collagen, which is important in holding body structures together, including connective tissue, tendons, and ligaments.  If you are deficient in Vitamin C, the ability of collagen to hold the connective tissue around your blood vessels may be impaired, allowing them to rupture and bruise more easily.  Good food sources of Vitamin C include most dark vegetables such as broccoli, kale, collard or turnip greens, and red or green peppers.

Another nutrient that plays a role in the synthesis of collagen is the copper.  Copper is a trace mineral found in oysters, most nuts and legumes (peas and beans).  A deficiency in copper can also be an underlying cause of easy bruising.

Vitamin K can also be a player if you’re a bruiser, however it’s role is different than that of copper or Vitamin C.  Vitamin K is important in making clotting factors, which are components necessary to stop bleeding and facilitate clotting.  Like Vitamin C, Vitamin K is found abundantly in dark leafy vegetables.  One word of caution, however, Vitamin K can alter the affects of Coumadin or Warfarin, so if you’re taking either of those anti clotting medications, steer clear of supplementing Vitamin K or taking any herbal formulas.

Many over the counter pain relievers, such as Ibuprofen (Advil), Naproxen (Alleve), and aspirin (but not Tylenol), can also have an affect on bleeding. These medications make your platelets (necessary in clotting, too) less sticky and therefore less prone to clotting.  This is a good thing if you are at risk for cardiovascular disease or stroke, but taking these pain relievers for a period of time can make you more likely to bruise.