You’re ready to give acupuncture a try and want to find out a little more about what’s involved.  One of the most frequent questions first-timers ask is how many treatments it will  take to get better.

This is a good question.  It’s a fair question, and you deserve an answer.  Unfortunately any practitioner who gives you a definitive answer in terms of an actual number of treatments is not being entirely truthful; they’re guessing.  For the truth is that there is no correct answer—everyone heals at their own pace.

In addition, a good practitioner should never tell you on the phone how many treatments they even think it will take for you to feel better.  We don’t have a problem with an acupuncturist estimating, or even recommending a number of sessions as a course of treatment, but they have no business doing so until they’ve at least seen you in their office.

The issue here is that there are a number of variables in the healing equation, including the following:

-How long you’ve had the condition.  If your elbow has been bothering you for twenty years, you most likely will take longer than the person who tweaked their elbow last week.

-The nature of your complaint or illness.   Many conditions are quickly resolved with Chinese medicine, including stress, anxiety, digestive issues, PMS, and many types of pain.  On the other hand, deep-seated chronic illnesses, such as autoimmune conditions may take much longer.

-Your general health.  We have seen many young and healthy patients seemingly heal right before our eyes in a single treatment.  However, older patients, those in really poor health, and those on numerous medications tend to need more treatments.

-Your commitment to getting better.  What you do at home in between treatments can make a huge difference in how quickly you heal.  If you implement your practitioner’s suggestions regarding dietary therapy, heating/cooling an injury, herbal formulas, and lifestyle changes, you can speed up your recovery dramatically.

So what do we tell prospective patients when they ask how many treatments they will need?  Our best answer is that acupuncture is a therapy and while some people may heal very quickly—in a session or two, others will take longer.  We advise them to give acupuncture a fair try, say three or four treatments, to see how they’re improving.  At that point, we will have a better idea of how many treatments they will ultimately need to heal completely.

Last month I wrote about some of the common myths surrounding acupuncture and Chinese medicine.  In that article I threatened to take on more myths and misunderstandings about this medicine, so here goes:

Myth:  Acupuncture works only because of the placebo effect. Actually, there’s a lot more going on during acupuncture than just the placebo effect.  Scientific studies have documented the effects of acupuncture on brain chemistry.  When an acupuncture needle is inserted, it stimulates your peripheral nerves (those far from your brain), which sends impulses to your brain to release endorphins.  Endorphins are chemicals that act as your body’s natural pain relievers.  Those endorphins work much like the drugs morphine and codeine, but are completely natural and more effective in reducing pain.  Endorphins can also have the effect of producing euphoric feelings, modulating appetite, and releasing sex hormones.  In addition, at the site where the needle was inserted, researchers have found that white blood cell count increases up to 40%.

Many detractors of acupuncture say that the calm setting, empathetic practitioners, and relaxing nature of acupuncture cause patients to think they feel better after a treatment (like that’s a bad thing).  I would agree that these elements absolutely help someone who is sick, worried, and in pain, especially if you compare an acupuncture treatment to some of the painful, impersonal,  and invasive treatments associated with Western medicine.  However, the science is there as well – acupuncture works by causing physiologic changes in your body.

Myth:  Acupuncture is sketchy.  Isn’t it performed by aging hippies and tie dyed new agers?  Uh, you actually need to be licensed by your state’s Board of Medical Examiners to perform acupuncture.  Licensed acupuncturists complete a three year accredited master’s program, take a national exam, and are licensed by their state.  Chiropractors and physicians who perform acupuncture must also take some additional coursework in acupuncture in order to perform it on patients.  As for the aging hippie thing, if they’ve taken the coursework (which is grueling!), put in their time in the clinic, and passed the exams, you might find one or two practicing acupuncture.

Myth:  Poking needles in people is the only thing an acupuncturist does.  Actually, acupuncture is only one modality under the large umbrella of Chinese medicine.  Many acupuncturists are also nationally certified Chinese herbalists.  Beyond herbs and acupuncture, a practitioner may use food therapy, heat, cupping (a kind of suction), different kinds of bodywork, Qi Gong (like Tai Qi), and lifestyle changes to help the healing process.

Myth:  My doctor will think I’m crazy for trying acupuncture.  Currently, many large hospitals offer acupuncture to their patients.  Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have conducted research documenting the benefits of acupuncture for arthritis. Many doctors are strong supporters of using acupuncture as a complementary therapy for their patients. On a personal level, I have a number of doctors and other western health care providers who frequently refer patients to me.  I believe that many western doctors embrace acupuncture, especially when other treatments have failed.  Admittedly, there are certain medical conditions that should absolutely be treated through western medicine, but for many conditions, acupuncture is an appropriate treatment.  If your doctor gives you negative feedback about acupuncture, chances are that they’ve never even tried it.

There is nothing worse than a shower drain full of hair, especially if it’s yours and it’s falling out fast. Or perhaps you run your fingers through your hair and come up with a handful. Your hairbrush is full and you’re finding stray hairs – lots of them – on your pillowcase. What’s going on?

Your hair is constantly falling out and regrowing, and most people lose an average of 50 to 100 hairs a day. However, if you’re noticing an increase in shedding or if your hair is noticeably thinning, you’re probably losing more.

Your hair grows in cycles during which it actively grows for about two to three years and then rests for a couple of months. During the growth phase, a hair generally grows about 1/2 inch per month. At the end of the resting phase, the strand of hair falls out and a new strand begins to grow. Noticeable thinning of your hair is due to an above average number of hairs resting at the same time.

In Chinese medicine, the Kidney organ system governs the hair on your head. The Kidney system is also responsible for body functions related to growth, fertility, menopause, and aging. As we get older, your Kidneys become weaker, and one way that weakness is reflected is through the health of your hair. Hair loss, gray hair, and unhealthy hair are all signs that your Kidneys could be a little stronger.

In addition, your Kidney system is one of the Chinese organs most deeply damaged by stress. The adrenal glands sit right on top of your Kidneys, and in Western medicine, adrenal fatigue is the direct result of unrelenting stress. Extreme levels of stress can cause your hair to prematurely go into its resting phase, causing hair loss and thinning.

Beyond stress, there are other reasons that your hair may be falling out. Among them:

Poor diet. Remember the season of Survivor (Australia) when Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s hair fell out by the handful? The contestants didn’t have anything to eat, and Elizabeth’s hair began to fall out as a result of poor nutrition. Extremely low calorie diets or a diet low in protein can cause your hair to fall out.

Hormones. Many women complain that once they went through menopause their hair became much thinner. The decrease in estrogen after menopause can be another culprit in hair loss. In addition, an imbalance in your thyroid hormones can raise the levels of a chemical called DHT, which causes your hair to fall out faster than normal.

Low iron. Iron deficiency is a common cause of hair loss. Low levels of iron decreases the level of red blood cells necessary for healthy hair follicles. Also, it’s possible to have low iron stores (ferritin), but not be anemic.

Medications. Some antidepressants, diuretics, and certainly chemotherapy can cause hair loss.

Health conditions. Scalp infections, frequently fungal in nature, can cause your hair to drop. In addition, diseases such as diabetes and lupus can be associated with hair loss.

Hair treatments. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but how you treat your hair can have a direct impact on the health of your mane. Harsh chemicals, tight braids or pigtails, and brushing too vigorously can damage your hair and scalp and cause your hair to fall out.

So what can you do if your hair is falling out? Make sure your diet is sufficient in protein and iron, to nourish your body and hair. Don’t supplement with iron unless you’re sure your levels are low. Check with your doctor if you think low iron or hormone imbalances might be to blame. Also ask your doctor about adjusting the dosage or changing your prescription if hair loss is a side effect of any medication you’re taking. If stress is the problem, work on coping using Yoga, meditation, visualization, acupuncture, and any other relaxation techniques that work for you.

A practitioner of Chinese medicine would deal with your hair loss by strengthening your Kidney system through acupuncture and the use of herbs. A common herbal formula for hair loss and premature graying is called Seven Treasure Formula for Beautiful Whiskers, which nourishes the Kidney and benefits the hair.

Most people never think about being thirsty.  However, your level of thirst can offer up a lot of clues to your health if you know what to look for.

If you’ve ever been to an acupuncturist, you may be surprised to have them ask you whether or not you’re thirsty, and what you like to drink.  In fact, when asked, many people have to stop and think about how to answer.

I have found however, that those people who are really thirsty won’t need to think about it.  In fact, they look at me like I’m brilliant for knowing how thirsty they are.  I have had a few patients who are so parched that they constantly chew ice chips or eat unthawed frozen vegetables to try to quench their constant thirst.

In Chinese medicine, being thirsty all the time, especially for cold drinks, is an indication of internal heat.  That heat can come from inflammation, infection, fever, a blockage, or deficient Yin (the moistening, cooling aspect of your body).  Other signs that you have heat may include restlessness, irritability, constipation, insomnia, and a rapid pulse.

The temperature of what you choose to drink can also tell a little bit about your internal landscape.  While craving ice cold drinks is a sign of heat, wanting to drink hot tea or soup can be a sign that you are cold internally, and crave warm drinks as a way to warm up.  Someone suffering from hypothyroidism, a metabolic disorder, is an example of internal cold, in which sufferers constantly feel chilled and struggle to warm up.

People who drink coffee in the morning aren’t necessarily cold and needing to warm up.  They are, however, drinking coffee as a way to get their energy moving, which coffee does well. 

People who drink liquids that are room temperature tend to be a fairly even temperature.  If you think of your body as being pretty comfortable at room temperature, then drinking fluids that are a similar temperature means you’re not trying to warm up or cool off.

Occasionally, I will see a patient who is thirsty, but has no desire to drink.  What?  While this seems like a contradiction, it makes sense in Chinese medicine.  Those people have internal heat which makes them thirsty, but they also have something called dampness, which puts them off drinking.  Dampness is the result of poor water metabolism in your body in which fluids tend to pool.  Edema, loose stools, yeast infections, obesity and a heavy feeling are all signs of dampness.

It seems like there’s no escape.  Every time you pick up a newspaper or listen to the evening news, what you hear about is the dismal economy, jobs being lost, and trillion dollar deficits.  One of the most pressing problems for our nation as a whole is the high cost of medical care.  The skyrocketing price tag on everything from insurance coverage, deductibles, various treatments, and doctors’ visit is not lost on any of us.  More and more health consumers are looking for creative ways to be able to afford the health care they need.  They are shopping for high deductible health plans, setting up Health Savings Accounts and Flex Plans, and shopping for comparative prices on doctors’ visits and procedures.  Many people have found that they simply can’t afford health insurance, and as a health care provider, I pay into my state’s fund for those people who are unable to afford standard health insurance.

Many people don’t consider acupuncture part of their health care picture for a variety of reasons.  In most cases, however, acupuncture is a cost effective therapy for treating many acute and chronic health conditions.  For example, if you were to throw out your back tomorrow morning from shoveling snow, you might spend a few days on the couch taking over-the-counter pain relievers.  After a couple of days in acute pain, you may decide you’ve had enough, and call your doctor take a look. 

Assuming you didn’t have health insurance or maybe your insurance carried a high deductible, you might end up paying $150-200 for your initial doctor’s visit.  According to carol.com (a website that publishes prices of medical procedures in Minnesota), a full evaluation would cost you in the neighborhood of $500.  If your doctor wanted an X-ray of your back, you could tack on $75-100, but more likely, he or she would want you to have an MRI, which would run you another $1,000.  Your doctor would then likely prescribe a stronger pain killer or muscle relaxant, and send you home to let your back heal. (Even with a disk problem, you will usually need to wait it out until the inflammation in your back calms down.)

On the other hand, if you were to do nothing other than acupuncture for relief from the pain, your cost for six visits (usually enough to get your aching back to calm down) would be less than $450. Unfortunately, in many cases I don’t see people in our clinic when they first injure their back—they usually wait until they’ve tried everything else and their back is still killing them. It’s important to know, however, that the earlier we see someone in the pain/injury cycle, the faster they will respond to acupuncture.

We are all looking for ways to live more economically.  Acupuncture can be a cost effective way to treat a number of conditions from pain to hot flashes to anxiety and depression.  Acupuncture is reimbursable under Health Savings Plans, Flexible Savings Plans, and is tax deductible. Give it a try.

By Lynn Jaffee, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.

You may be surprised to find that during an acupuncture appointment, your practitioner will ask to look at your tongue.  This may seem like an odd request, and is probably the first time a health care provider has asked you to stick our your tongue.  However, in Chinese medicine, a practitioner can garner quite a bit of information about you and your condition, simply by taking a look at your tongue.

When your practitioner looks at your tongue, he or she is looking at the shape, color size, coating and positioning or movement of the tongue, each of which offers a piece to the diagnostic puzzle.

The shape and size of the tongue tends to address the status of fluids in the body.  For example, a very large, puffy, or scalloped tongue suggests that fluids are not being properly metabolized in the body. In contrast, a very small, short tongue may indicate dryness, a deficiency of fluids, or deficiency in general.  In addition to shape and size, any movement of the tongue can indicate a deficiency of energy or the presence of an internal wind pathogen.

Tongue color varies widely from person to person, but is a good indicator of the overall nature of what is going on in the body.  A red tongue indicates that there is heat present  in the body, and the redder the tongue, the greater amount of heat present.  A tongue that is pale indicates a deficiency of qi and blood or the presence of cold.  A purple tongue tells your practitioner that there is stagnation somewhere in the body.

Tongue color may also vary on different parts of the tongue.  For example, a tongue that is red at the very tip indicates heat in the Heart, as the tip of the tongue correlates with conditions of the Heart.  Just behind the tip corresponds to the Lungs; the sides of the tongue are associated with the Liver; the center of the tongue with the Spleen/Stomach or digestion; and the back of the tongue is associated with the condition of the Kidney.

A coating on the tongue can also give your practitioner information about your health.  The thickness of a coating is an indicator of the severity of the condition being treated.  A thin coating, one in which you can see the tongue through the coating, indicates that any pathogen present is mild or on the exterior.  A thick coating that obscures the tongue tells your practitioner that the condition is deeper and more serious.

The condition of the coating also speaks to the condition of fluids in the body.  A moist or wet coating indicates poor fluid metabolism, and a dry coating indicates depleted fluids.  A coating that is peeled off, either completely or partially, indicates some kind of heat or damage to the Stomach, possibly a depletion of Stomach Yin, or damage to Stomach Qi.

Tongue coatings also vary in color.  In general, a thin white coating is normal, but can also appear in diseases associated with cold conditions.  A yellow or brown coat indicates heat, and a gray or black coat indicates an extreme condition.  It’s also important to note that foods such as red wine, orange juice, and coffee can alter the appearance of the coating.  Needless to say, food dyes can dramatically alter the color of the tongue.  In more than one instance, I have had a young patient stick out their tongue, only to see a bright blue, green, or pink coating!

The condition of your tongue will change as your health changes, but in general those changes appear on the tongue slowly.  One exception is during a cold or flu when the patient has a high fever, a very red tongue will appear fairly quickly.

Tongue diagnosis can be a subtle art. To try it yourself, observe the variations of your tongue and compare it to that of friends or family members.  After you have looked at a few tongues, you will see that they differ widely, and with a little study can tell you a lot about the overall health of a person.

By: Lynn Jaffe

My first conscious brush with Stagnant Qi occurred during my first semester in school to study Acupuncture. I was returning back to school for a master’s in Oriental medicine after having been away from the academic world for years (okay, maybe decades). I can remember thinking at the time, “How hard could this be?” Much to my surprise, it was hard. I had classes during the day and studied every night and weekends. I was working part time and my husband traveled for his business. My kids were still in grade school and junior high, and they weren’t happy with my return to school.

About two months into the semester, I began to get this funny feeling in my throat. It felt like a lump stuck somewhere below my Adam’s apple and above my sternum that made it hard for me to swallow and very uncomfortable to eat. After lots of antacids and a trip to my doctor, I ended up in the Chinese medicine teaching clinic at my school. Within the framework of Chinese medicine, my symptoms were easily diagnosed. I had something called Plum Pit Qi, which sounded exactly like what I was feeling—a plum pit was caught I my throat. I learned that Plum Pit Qi is a kind of stagnation of Qi, or energy, and occurs as the result of a situation that is figuratively too difficult to swallow.

While the acupuncture and herbal treatments at the clinic were very effective, I also had to acknowledge that I had taken on too much. I had to either quit school or find a way to balance all the commitments I had taken on. After retooling my life somewhat, quitting my job, and studying when my kids were occupied or in bed, I managed to get through that first semester and ultimately, three years later, complete my master’s degree.

Perhaps what was most startling to me from this whole episode was how powerful the physical symptoms were from stress that was purely emotional. In Chinese medicine this phenomenon is related to the smooth flow of Qi throughout the body. Qi can be described as life energy or the energy necessary for transformation to occur. The smooth flow of Qi in the body is most closely related to the Liver, the organ system associated with the element of wood. This may mean the hard wood found in trees, but the color associated with the Liver is green or blue/green, suggesting younger plants and their slow, steady growth upward toward the sun. If some obstacle inhibits that growth, then the plant will grow crooked and become deformed.

While the Liver is responsible for the smooth flow of Qi, it also has a strong relationship to the smooth flow of emotions. When our emotional state is even, Qi will flow evenly throughout our body. However, during emotional upheaval or unrelenting stress, our Qi tends to stagnate. This stagnation is much like turning on the water to your garden hose and then being it until the flow is cut off. This blockage of Qi can cause numerous physical symptoms, from my Plum Pit Qi, to insomnia, headaches, gynecological problems, and pain.

Ultimately, even emotions equal smooth Qi. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. We have all, at one time or another, become caught up in the way we think things should be and have trouble accepting what really is. For many of us this feeling is constant, and when the feeling becomes overwhelming, our Qi becomes bound up and begins to stagnate. This feeling can take the form of too many things to do and not enough time, a job we don’t like, people who annoy us, or anything that makes us unhappy, uncomfortable, frustrated, or angry.

On a daily basis, we see people attempting to move Qi, some more successfully than others. On any given weekend morning during the summer, we see thousands of people outside running, biking, rollerblading, and walking. They usually feel better after having exercised, because physical activity moves Qi. However, practitioners of Chinese medicine would caution that excessive exercise can be depleting.

Drinking a cup of coffee speeds things us and also moves Qi, too. However, coffee is a diuretic, and excess can also be depleting. Like coffee, chemical use/abuse is an attempt to move stagnant Qi and feel better, but the depleting effects of such uses are obvious.

Perhaps the most successful ways of dealing with stagnant Qi, and ultimately the emotions, are some of the Eastern practices, such as taiqi, qigong, or yoga. These combine gentle exercise with breathing techniques that allow us to even out emotions, nourish our bodies, and smooth Qi. Through proper breathing and quieting the mind, meditation is also an excellent way to calm the emotions and allow the Qi to move freely.

When these practices aren’t enough, or when stagnant Qi begins to manifest as illness, acupuncture can help bring relief. Many people believe that acupuncture is best used for relieving pain. However, it’s also very effective in treating stress-related disorders such as irritable bowel, headaches, PMS, depression, and insomnia.

Like the “Plum Pit” caught in my throat, many physical symptoms that make us uncomfortable are actually a barometer to our emotional health. Often, when we have ignored the obvious signs that we are doing too much or need to make an emotional change, this discomfort finally gets us to stop and take our lifestyle into account.

This article appeared in Essential Wellness, January, 2005

By: Lynn Jaffe

I am a runner, and have been for over 25 years. Before I picked up the running habit, I was pretty sedentary, and while I wasn’t exactly a couch spud, regular exercise was not something I ever thought about. However, shortly after I began to run I noticed some changes in my health that were pretty dramatic. I started to crave healthier foods, and even dropped a few pounds. I felt better conditioned, had more energy and I even slept a little better. However, the most important change I noticed was not physical or even very describable. It was a change in the relationship between my mind and my body. I began to notice things. For example, I noticed how different foods impacted my energy, how my actions affected my health, and I became aware of the physical effects of stress.

I think this happened because when I began running it was extremely difficult. I was overweight and out of shape, so I gauged my runs based on how miserable I felt. I would monitor how difficult it was to breathe, whether my shins ached, or if my head was pounding from being overheated. Monitoring how I felt eventually became a habit on the road and off. As I continued to run, I noticed a lot of body signals even when I wasn’t running that I had never noticed before. Things like how awful I felt after a night with too little sleep, or how low my energy would become when I ate poorly started to appear on my radar. These may seem obvious to most people, but back then, I was out of touch and out of control. If I had a stomachache, I would never have made the connection between my discomfort and the fries and chili dog I had picked up at the mall.

I continued running and paying attention, and I became healthier. It took a while, but when I made the connection between how I felt and my diet, sleep, and exercise habits, I made some better choices.

I have seen this same transformation occur in some of my patients. However, it doesn’t happen because I make them start running; I don’t. I ask them questions about their health that they have never thought about before. More often than not, a patient will come back to me and say something like, “I have been thinking about what you asked at my last visit, and now I notice that…”, and I know that that patient has started to change how they view their body and their health.

This is a good thing, because it also signals a new level in taking responsibility for your health. It goes beyond eating well, exercising, and hoping for the best. It means that you now have the owner’s manual for your particular model, which is one of a kind. It also means that, for the most part, you no longer need to be bewildered as to why you feel poorly or why you feel really well. Your body will tell you, if you listen and make the connections.

For most of us, despite eating well, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly, we still get sick, or at the very least, don’t always feel our best. This is because, while we are taking really good care of ourselves, sometimes we lost touch.

We either foget to listen, or choose to disregard the messages we are receiving, even when our bodies are speaking to us very clearly. For example, how often have you been workingin the garden or around the house and suddenly get a pain in your back, neck, shoulder, or wherever? And how often do you ignore the pain until you get the job done? I’ve done it myself, where I’ve heard the pain message loud and clear, but ignored it until I’d finished the job. The end result is an injury that might have been avoided if I had stopped working at the first whisper of pain, instead of working until the pain itself made it impossible for me to continue.

A second example of how we often fail to listen to our bodies relates to stress. It’s unfortunate that most of us live fairly stressful lives, and have for many years. Starting in school, where we were pressured to achieve good grades,, and into our work and family lives with an infinite number of pressures and conflicts, many of us simply feel overwhelmed. And yet, because this stress had been going on for so long, we tend to ignore it because it is “white noise”; it’s always there. A second reason we tend to ignore stress, is that it’s stressful trying to figure out how to or find the time to deal with it. The end result, like the example above, is that our body breaks down in one way or another, until we are forced to take some time out and deal with our health.

So, do you need to start running to be able to better listen to your body? No, but physical activity of some sort can help. All you really need to do is take some time each day to run through a mental checklist of how you’re feeling. Are you getting sick frequently? Are you tired? Now sleeping well? Do you feel better than you ever have before? Try to relate these things to what you are doing and what’s happening in your life. Remember, if you listen, your body will tell you exactly what it needs.

From Essential Wellness, July 2005

By: Lynn Jaffe

In a previous career, I spent my time conducting research on the health of physically active women for the Melpomene Institute in St. Paul. As a runner of a certain age, one research project still sticks in my mind. It focused on the impact of running on women’s experience of menopause. Our theory was that if a woman were active, she might have fewer menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes. In fact, the study really became an examination of the impact of menopause on women’s running! The most startling change reported by the study participants was pervasive fatigue and a complete loss of energy.

Many years later, as a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, the results of that sudy make complete sense to me. According to Chinese Theory, menopause and agine are not considered diseases, but rather normal life transitions. How you age and live in your later years depends on your lifestyle in the preceding years. There are many factors, some you can control and some you can’t, that affect how you will feel as you age.

To understand aging from the traditional Chinese framework, an understanding of the Kidney organ system is necessary. It is important to note that from the Chinese standpoint, when talking about an organ system, one is not necessarily referring to the actual organ, but a system of functioning and body processes.

The primary functions of the Kidney are the formation of urine and the storage of Essence. Essence is one of the most important substances in the body, and is responsible for birth, growth, development, and maturation. It is also the foundation for all other substances in the body.

We inherit one kind of Essence at the moment of conception, called Congenital Essence. Congenital Essence is not only responsible for growth and maturation, but also genetic traits and constitution. As we age, Congenital Essence becomes depleted, and when this Essence is completely used up, according to Chinese theory, we die. While Congenital Essence cannot be replenished, it can be used judiciously through good lifestyle habits, and it can be augmented by another kind of essence, called Acquired Essence.

Acquired Essence is made up of nutrients from the food we eat, and can be built up by eating well. Good health, strength, and high levels of energy manifest an abundance of Acquired Essence. Any excess of Acquired Essence is also stored in the Kidney, along with Congenital Essence.

The Kidney is also related to the bones and by extension, the teeth. It also governs marrow, which relates to actual bone marrow, but also to the brain, which is considered the “sea of marrow”. In Chinese medicine, each organ nourishes one of the senses, and the sense associated with the Kidney is hearing.

The gradual depletion of Kidney Essence is the mechanism responsible for aging. It can be seen in weakening and brittle bones, loss of teeth, hearing loss, confusion, and memory problems—all manifestations associated with the Kidney. Weakness and lack of energy is also a common condition of depleted Kidney Essence, along with lumbar pain, as the Kidney is housed in the lower back.

Eat Well

So how, according to Chinese Medical theory, does one preserve Kidney Essence to age well? While there are many factors, good diet is the most obvious. Chinese dietary therapy is a whole discipline by itself, and many books have been written on the subject. One focus of Chinese dietary therapy is on eating and preparing foods in a way that they are easily digested. Foods that are difficult to digest use up energy, or Qi, and over a long period of time can deplete Essence. Some guidelines for eating well include:

-Avoid spicy or greasy foods.

-Avoid very cold foods, such as ice cream or iced drinks.

-Drink fluids that are room temperature or warmer.

-Lightly steam or stew vegetables and fruits, as raw foods can be difficult to digest.

-Avoid drinking too much alcohol.

-Talk to a practitioner of Chinese medicine about what foods are best suited to your specific condition or constitution.

Manage Your Stress; Be Moderate

Managing stress is another way to protect our health as we age. Unfortunately, many of us find stress an acceptable by-product of the busy, and often overwhelming lives we lead. Some of us don’t even realize that we are under incredible amounts of unrelenting stress because we are so busy trying to get everything done. In either case, stress exhausts us physically, disrupts relationships between organ systems, creating unhealthy imbalances, and depletes essence.

Equally exhausting to our internal organs, especially the Kidney and the Spleen, is overwork. This means long hours spent working or studying without adequate rest. Damage due to overwork can also be caused by excessive exercise. Therefore, working in moderation and getting adequate rest is essential to preserving Essence.

Moderation is also key with regard to your sex life. Because the Kidney is responsible for reproduction, according to Chinese medicine, sexual practices can also affect Kidney Essence. Having too many children too close together, or having sex too frequently can deplete the Essence and cause premature aging.

By adhering to the principles of Chinese medicine, I believe that the fatigue and loss of energy reported at midlife by the women runners in the Melpomene study could have been avoided. We can draw some parallels between the women in the study and most of us, in that we live busy, stressful lives, and tend not to take good care of ourselves. However, proper diet, adequate rest and moderation in all things can go a long way toward aging with energy, vitality and good health.

This article appeared in Essential Wellness, October, 2004.

By: Lynn Jaffee

Gastrointestinal Disorders

Ulcers, colitis, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome

Respiratory Disorders

Sinusitis, asthma, allergies, chronic bronchitis

Gynecological Problems

PMS, menstrual difficulties, infertility, morning sickness, fibrocystic disease

menopause problems

Muscle and Joint Pain

Arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, low back pain, neck and shoulder pain, whiplash

sciatica, TMJ, fibromyalgia

Genitourinary Disorders

Urinary tract infections, incontinence, prostate disorders, sexual dysfunction

Circulatory Disorders

High blood pressure, angina, anemia, heart palpitations

Neurological Disorders

Stroke, multiple sclerosis, trigeminal neuralgia, dizziness

Headache

Migraine, tension, sinus, cluster headaches

Emotional Problems

Stress, insomnia, depression, anxiety, irritability

Addictions

Alcohol, nicotine, sugar, medications, recreational drugs

Supportive Therapy

Dealing with chronic pain, coping with chronic fatigue, energy enhancement, increased immunity, improved well-being