In Chinese medicine, allergies (along with viruses and bacteria) are considered external pathogens, or invaders from the outside that can make you sick. You have a defense system against these invaders, called Wei Qi, which guards the exterior of your body like a protective bubble or shield.  When your Wei Qi is weak, all kinds of pathogens can get past your defenses and cause colds, flu, and allergies.

The solution to dealing with allergies is two-fold.  You need to strengthen your Wei Qi and deal with the pathogens (in this case, allergens) that are causing your symptoms.  Strengthening your Wei Qi, and your energy in general, is important in relieving your allergies in the long run.  This can be done by eating really well: whole foods in their original form, lots of vegetables and fruits, avoiding sugar and sweeteners, and staying clear of saturated fats.  In addition, you may need to avoid foods that are hard to digest, such as concentrated juices, rich foods, and in some cases dairy products.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be an effective way to deal with allergies on a fundamental level, too.  A good practitioner will combine acupuncture, Chinese herbs, food therapy, and some lifestyle tweaks to help boost Wei Qi and alleviate your current symptoms.  The best way to do this is to work with your acupuncturist before your allergies act up, if possible.  In doing so, you can face the assault of allergy season with a stronger defense system.

The second part of dealing with seasonal allergies is minimizing your symptoms by dealing with what’s causing them.  In this case, it’s pollen, which to susceptible people is like a toxic dust that settles on clothes, hair, carpet, and even pets.  A few simple tips for getting the p word out of your life include:

-Shower in the evening to get the day’s pollen off your skin and out of your hair.

-Realize that during allergy season, the wind is not your friend.  Close your windows when it’s blowing.

-Wash your hands after handling a pet that’s been outside.

-Change your clothes after you’ve been working or exercising outdoors.

-Get a Neti Pot and use it.  It’s a small pot to help you cleanse your nasal passages of all that pollen, and can be found at most drug stores.

-Think about buying a really good vacuum, as pollen is extremely fine and will settle on your floors.  Dusting is a good thing, too.

-Local or distant points. Generally, a mix of points is used, some near the area of pain or imbalance and some further away on your body.

-Pathways involved. If you’re being treated for pain, then the energetic pathways near that pain will likely be chosen. For conditions involving your organs, more than one pathway usually is used. That’s because an imbalance in one organ system often affects another. That also means it’s possible to heal an organ system by treating another.

-Function of each point. Each acupuncture point has specific indications or actions, such as clearing heat, moving energy, or nourishing. Points with a desired action will be chosen based on your particular pattern.

-Point combinations. Many acupuncture points work in combination with others. A pair or set of points might be used for their ability to enhance a treatment when used together.

-Practitioner preference. Each acupuncturist has points that they use regularly because they work best for him or her in the clinic. This relationship between the acupuncturist and the points they choose is an important aspect of each treatment.

-Style of acupuncture practiced. The style of acupuncture your practitioner uses will also determine which points they choose. For example, auricular acupuncture uses points located in your ear, Korean hand acupuncture is limited to your hand, and practitioners of five-phase acupuncture tend to use only points below your elbow and knees.

Acupuncture is the best-know healing practice in Chinese medicine.  Through acupuncture, disease and pain can be treated and prevented through the insertion of fine, sterile needles into various points on your body.  Acupuncture is based on the theory that energy circulates in numerous pathways, and pain and disease are the result of a blockage or imbalance of this energy.  Through acupuncture points, usually located in small depressions in the skin where your energetic pathways come closest to the surface, this energy can be accessed and balanced to return your body to its healthy state.

Acupuncture is very safe when performed by a licensed practitioner.  This is especially true when compared to Western medicine and the statistics on prescription drug side effects and complications from surgery. An acupncture treatment consists of a selection of points based on your specific diagnosis.  The needles, when inserted, produce some sensation, but generally not pain.  Most people find acupuncture to be very relaxing and revitalizing.

Auricular Acupuncture is the practice of preventing and treating disease and pain by stimulating certain points on your ear. When disease occurs in an internal organ or other parts of your body, reactions will also appear at corresponding points in your ear.  For example, someone who is struggling with pneumonia or bronchitis may also have tenderness, discoloration, or skin changes at the point in the ear that corresponds to the lungs.

The needles used for auricular acupuncture are generally smaller and finer than body acupuncture needles.  Auricular acupuncture may be performed in conjunction with body acupuncture or by itself.  Auricular acupuncture is commonly used in the treatment of addictions, such as smoking, chemical use, and weight loss.

Practitioners of Chinese Herbal Pharmacology rely on formulas or a combination of herbs to achieve the desired healing effects.  Herbs come in many forms, including pills and capsules, powdered or raw, which are cooked in hot water and taken like a tea.

Chinese Herbal Pharmacology is an important treatment modality for many practitioners. It began thousands of years ago in southern China, where the weather was warm and humid, producing a rich variety of plants from which to choose.  Herbalists today draw on formulas that have been in use for hundreds, and even thousands of years.

Chinese Herbal Pharmacology is effective for a number of reasons.  Practitioners are better able to fine-tune their treatments, and formulas can be custom tailored as an illness or condition changes.  In addition, people take herbal formulas to augment their acupuncture treatment and continue their care at home.

Oriental bodywork is the use of massage or Tui Na, which is a form of Chinese massage, to treat a variety of conditions.  Oriental bodywork usually incorporates the stimulation of acupuncture points and energy pathways into a massage format to achieve the best results.  Oriental bodywork may be used for any condition, but is especially effective for musculoskeletal injuries and pain.  A practitioner may work on the entire body or just the affected area.

Cupping is a method of treatment that uses suction to move energy and blood.  Glass cups are applied, usually after a lit alcohol swab inside the cup has created the vacuum necessary to create suction on your skin.  The cups may be left in one position on your body or slid across your skin to affect a larger area.  Cupping is especially effective for painful conditions.  Most frequently, your back or the larger muscles of your legs or arms are cupped.

Moxabustion is a method of warming that involves the use of the herb artemesia vulgarius.  The artemesia may be loosely rolled into cones or tightly rolled into a stick, and is lit and placed near your body, usually at acupuncture points.  The smoke produced is extremely warming and penetrating.

Moxabustion originated in the northern part of China, which has a cold and dry climate.  It is commonly used to treat cold conditions such as arthritis that is affected or becomes worse during cold weather.

Practitioners of Chinese medicine believe that lifestyle and diet play a large role in health and illness.  As a result, most offer lifestyle guidelines on topics such as stress reduction, exercise, and sleep.  These practitioners believe that food is the same as medicine. Therefore, most will offer advice and guidelines about dietary choices.  Dietary therapy may consist of ways to improve digestion and choosing easily digestible and nourishing foods, or they may prescribe foods that warm, cool, or nourish a particular organ or system in the body.

For your acupuncturist to arrive at an accurate diagnosis, he or she must have a complete picture of your internal makeup.  Your symptom is simply a manifestation of an imbalance, and to treat it correctly, your practitioner will put that symptom into the context of a pattern in order to treat the source of your problem. 

It is interesting that a single symptom can be a manifestation of very different patterns in different people.  For example, three people may come to Acupuncture in the Park wanting to be treated for insomnia.  The first, a busy executive, explains that he has difficulty falling asleep because his mind is racing when he goes to bed.  He shares that he frequently feels stressed by his job, and when he gets home, he’s irritable with his family.  He says he feels thirsty, and his face appears red.  This man would be diagnosed with a pattern called a stagnation of Liver energy, which is causing heat and restlessness and making it hard for him to fall asleep.

The second person to be treated for insomnia is a smallish woman who is about fifty years old.  She reports that while she can fall asleep at night, she wakes about 3:00 a.m. with night sweats and has difficulty getting back to sleep.  She also complains that she has a chronic dull ache in her lower back and that her knees feel weak.  Her face is pale, but her cheeks are red.  This woman’s insomnia is due to a pattern of depleted Kidney Yin.

The third person with insomnia is a woman in her thirties who had surgery about six months ago for appendicitis.  She complains that her sleep is restless all night long, and she wakes frequently.  She also has heart palpitations, occasional dizziness, dry skin and brittle nails.  Her face looks pale and drawn.  This woman’s sleep problem is caused by a depletion of blood.

All three of these people would be diagnosed with insomnia in Western biomedicine, and would most likely be prescribed a sleep aid.  However, in the Chinese medical model, the only thing these three people have in common is that their imbalance is manifesting as insomnia.  For each, the underlying cause of their insomnia is different from the others, and each would be treated with acupuncture and herbal prescriptions unique to their particular imbalance.

Acupuncture is not the only healing tool that is used in Chinese medicine. In adition to acupuncture, practitioners use a variety of methods to help their patients heal. One of the most interesting modalities is the practice of cupping, which involves placing glass or plastic cups on the body in which a vacuum has been created. The vacuum acts to pull the skin, increasing the flow of blood and energy. For practical reasons, cupping is usually done on the larger areas of the body, such as the back or legs; but it can be done almost anywhere if necessary.

I have found that once I have cupped a patient for the first time, one of two things happens; either they always want to be cupped at every appointment, or they never want to be cupped again. The effects of cupping can be subtle, and those people who choose not to be cupped do so not because the cupping was painful–it’s not–they just don’t see the point.

Those people who want to be cupped at every appointment, however, understand the benefits of cupping. The purpose is to move stagnant energy, facilitate healing, and relieve pain. In addition, many patients want their back cupped because it loosens up tight muscles and it’s incredibly relaxing. Essentially, after being cupped a patient feels energized and loose.

There are a couple of ways to create a vacuum in the cups. One is by using cups with small gaskets through which air can be pulled out with a pump. The other method is called fire cupping. A cotton ball is soaked in alcohol and lit, then held in the cup for a few seconds until the flame has used up all the air. The cup is then quickly placed on the skin. It all sounds very dramatic and dangerous, but it is actually quite safe and works very well. The cups may then be left on the skin for five to ten minutes or they can be moved across the skin (while retaining the vacuum) to treat a larger area.

The downside of cupping is that while it ‘s painless, it can leave a mark on your skin that looks like a perfectly round bruise (think very large hickey). If you’re planning to go to the beach or wear strapless evening wear, you may want to postpone being cupped until your next visit. Or not. Apparently Gwenneth Paltrow believed the benefits of cupping outweighed the possibility of being photographed with marks on her back.

In Chinese medicine, good health is associated with flow, and when that flow is obstructed in some way, it causes illness and pain. The color purple is frequently seen in cases where there is lack of movement or flow; something we acupuncturists call stagnation. In many cases, purple indicates a stagnation of blood.

A few weeks ago, one of my regular patients came to me because her back was really acting up. In her early seventies, I had treated this woman for a number of aches and pains, but had not spent much time treating her lower back. This particular patient is one of strong opinions, and on this particular day she was clear; her back needed attention.

 When I got her onto my treatment table, I took a look at her lower back and saw that there were quite a few purple spots near the surface of the skin. They weren’t bruises, but it looked like varicose veins in the area of her low back and sacrum. The spots were a little bit unusual, but the purple color told me what I needed to know; blood stagnation was causing her discomfort.

You know that your blood moves; it’s pumped by your heart and travels throughout your body in your veins and arteries. So how can it not move?  Actually, there are a number of conditions that are directly associated with stagnant blood, including bruises, varicose veins, menstrual cramps, blood clots, and coronary artery disease (blocked arteries). In addition, masses, lumps, abscesses and ulcers are also considered to be caused by blood stagnation in Chinese medicine.

There are a couple of hallmark signs of stagnant blood. First, it’s usually painful. The pain tends to be fixed in one place and feel deep, sharp, or colicky. Secondly, in many cases, there is some presentation of the color purple. For example, varicose veins are visibly purple. More subtly, someone who is suffering from blood clots or coronary artery disease will usually have a purple looking tongue or a purple hue to their fingernails.

In Western medicine, blood stagnation is usually associated with hematology, such as clotting issues, strokes, and heart disease. As you get older, your doctor may advise you to take an aspirin a day, which helps your blood move by making your platelets (which help clotting) a little less sticky. If you’ve had a history of blood clots, you may be prescribed a stronger blood thinner, such as Coumadin.

In Chinese medicine, there are a number of herbs that are used to move blood. Frequently, they are site specific. For example, Szechuanlovage root (chuan xiong) is used for gynecological problems like menstrual cramps or amenorrhea (no periods). Salvia root, (dan shen) is used for blood stagnation in the lower abdomen or the chest. A more familiar herb, Turmeric (yu jin) is used for a variety of conditions associated with stagnant blood, and is gaining attention as a supplement in treating inflammation and in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and certain kinds of cancers.

My patient with low back pain was taking a number of prescription medications, and was not interested in an herbal formula. However, knowing that her condition was related to stagnant blood, I included a couple of acupuncture points in my treatment known to help move blood and relieve pain. I also did a little Chinese bodywork, called Tui Na to get the blood moving in her lower back. While she wasn’t ready to go out dancing, she was definitely feeling better when she left my office.

Not long ago, this letter to the editor about teen mental health appeared in our local newspaper:

Many parents may relate to the July 5 article “Worried about a moody teen?”  An acquaintance told me recently that the severe anger of her middle son had caused problems in the family.  She decided to try alternative medicine and took him to an acupuncturist.  After one visit, the change in the 11-year-old was amazing.  A local acupuncturist told me that acupuncture in pre-adolescents and adolescents can be extremely effective.  It could be worth a try.  (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Monday, July 12, 2010)

As the letter states, acupuncture can be incredibly effective for adolescents. This is true for a number of reasons.  First, for the most part, they are young and healthy.  Acupuncture tends to be far more effective for someone who is healthy and able to heal quickly, as opposed to someone in their seventies or eighties who has been ill for a long time. 

The second reason that acupuncture works so well for adolescents goes back to Chinese medical theory.  The Chinese say that children are considered to be pure Yang.  Compared to the nourishing, cooling, substance of Yin, Yang is warm, active, and transformative.  And that’s what kids do—they transform.  They are growing and changing almost daily, and it seems that as soon as you have one stage figured out, they have moved onto the next.  This is a good thing on the healing front.  Because kids are growing so quickly, they also heal quickly.  This is both good news and bad news, especially when we’re talking about adolescents.  

The pure Yang thing can also work against kids, especially during the pre-teen and teen years. Good health, or balance, in Chinese medicine is all about smooth flow, and for the most part, our kids grow and flow smoothly.  Unfortunately, as kids go through adolescence, they begin changing even more quickly. On top of the physical growth, kids are faced with increasing stress of school and peer relationships. Then Mother Nature throws in a dark cocktail of hormones to make that transformation even more…uh, interesting.  For some kids, this sudden growth, plus hormones, plus stress creates a perfect storm that can block the smooth flow of energy and emotions, causing a wide variety of mental health symptoms.

Finally, acupuncture works for emotional health issues because it affects brain chemistry.  Researchers studying the effects of acupuncture have determined that acupuncture causes an increase in production of endorphins and other feel-good chemicals in the brain, causing a calming effect.  For this reason, acupuncture can effectively treat emotional conditions including stress, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.

Many parents don’t know where to turn when their adolescent is struggling with anger or depression.  Understandably, they’re hesitant to medicate their teen, but they also know that their child needs help.

The good news is that in these healthy, ever changing adolescents, acupuncture can be a life saver, which is so aptly expressed in the letter above.  If your teen is struggling, consider giving acupuncture a try.

It’s hard to understand how a weather condition could be causing such misery. But it’s true, in Chinese medicine wind can be the evil force behind tremors, dizziness, numbness, and twitches.  It can also cause seasonal allergies,  colds or even the current flu that’s going around.

Let me explain.

First of all, wind is considered a pathogen, or something that makes you sick.  Many of the concepts of Chinese medicine are based on the natural world, and what makes you sick is no exception.  Pathogens are a little bit like bad weather in your body.  When you have a fever or inflammation, you have heat; when your arthritis flares up during the cold weather, you have a cold pathogen; and when you retain lots of water, you have dampness. (This is a very simplified explanation.)

Wind is considered movement where there should be stillness.  As a pathogen, wind is dry, light and active.  It tends to be Yang in nature—like the sunny side of the hill—it’s slightly warm, and it generally moves upward and outward. 

There are actually two kinds of wind—internal and external.  Internal wind tends to affect your body on a deeper level.  It’s frequently associated with a malfunction of the Liver system to control the smooth flow of energy in your body, and can cause symptoms associated with movement—vertigo, tremors, twitches, and seizures.  Wind is usually the dark cocktail behind illnesses such as Meniere’s and Parkinson’s.

While frequently related to a Liver system malfunction, internal wind can also be caused by systemic dryness or malnourishment.  Much like a dry tree, the brittle leaves at the top rattle in the wind.

Wind can also be external, affecting the outer layers of your body, which is the pathogen behind everyday colds, flu, allergies, and viral infections.  In addition, the cause comes from your inability to fight off outside “influences”, such as viruses, bacteria, and pollen. True to its nature, the wind associated with a cold tends to affect the upper part of your body and move around—first you have a sore throat, then your nose is stuffed up, and then your cold sinks into your chest.  External wind can also cause itching, hives, and rashes.

External wind tends to be associated with your Lungs, which encompasses your respiratory system and skin.  In Chinese medicine, your Lungs are considered the most external of your organs, because with every breath, you come into contact with the outside world.  So, external wind tends to affect the outermost part of your body—your Lungs and skin.

External wind usually teams up with other pathogens, such as heat, cold, or dampness.  For example, if you have the flu with an extremely sore throat and a high temperature, you have external wind plus heat.  If you get a cold that makes you feel achy and chilled, you likely have external wind plus cold.

Treatment for wind conditions depends entirely on the circumstances.  Is it internal or external wind?  Has it paired with other pathogens?  What’s causing the wind in the first place?  Your acupuncturist needs to take all of these factors into consideration before developing a treatment.

Because internal wind conditions tend to be caused by depletion, a treatment plan would entail building up the depleted substance(s), such as Yin, Blood, or Qi (energy), which would ideally relieve the symptoms of wind.  This would likely be done using acupuncture, Chinese herbs, choosing the right foods, and getting adequate rest.

If you’re suffering from external wind, acupuncture combined with herbs would be a likely treatment protocol.  For early stage external wind, when you feel like you’re coming down with something, you can sometimes head it off with herbs you have at home.  Boil grated ginger and chopped scallions in a cup of water.  You can add a little broth or flavoring if you like.  Drink it down, wrap yourself up, and go to bed.  The idea is that these warm herbs open your pores, causing you to sweat, which expels external wind.