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.

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.

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 under a lot of stress will tell you that they 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.

by Shelley Conn, L. Ac.

It usually begins gradually—until you can no longer ignore the pain. You may feel a sharp jab when you’re shaking hands, playing golf, or on the tennis court. Tennis Elbow can plague all kinds of athletes, not just tennis players. The pain usually begins with a dull ache or tenderness on the outer part of the elbow. At first it may come and go, with the pain usually subsiding a day or so after the aggravating physical activity. After a while, you may notice that the nagging in your elbow is a constant and unwanted companion, achy all the time with intermittant jolts of pain if you use it in just the wrong way.

Tennis Elbow is also known as tendonitis, which means that the tendons in your elbow are inflamed. Tendons attach muscle to bone, and the muscles involved in Tennis Elbow are those on the top of your forearm. Tendonitis is usually the result of overuse or repetitive movements that put extra pressure on the tendon. This constant stress on the tendon causes small tears, which your body tries to repair, but the continual activity slows down the healing process, resulting in more tears and more pain.

Usually the pain you feel with Tennis Elbow is on the outside of the elbow, and it becomes worse when you’re grasping or twisting objects (Tennis racquet, hammer, opening jars, etc.). The pain may increase in the evening and can even make it difficult for you to sleep. Over time, the pain may radiate to other parts of your arm, especially as you try to compensate for the pain by using other parts of your body. Interestingly, there is rarely swelling associated with Tennis Elbow.

Golfers can also be affected with Tennis Elbow, but it presents in a slightly different way. Tendonitis associated with tennis tends to affect the outside of the elbow with the pain radiating down the outside of the forearm and into the wrist. Golfer’s Elbow usually affects the inside of the elbow (closer to your body) with pain radiating down the underside of the forearm and into the wrist.

Tendonitis, whether from tennis or golf is a fairly common condition. It’s prevalence increases with age as our tendons become less flexible. Incidence is higher in athletes for obvious reasons, with Golfer’s Elbow being more common in men.

Acupuncture can be a very effective treatment for tendonitis, either as an adjunct to standard Western treatments or on its own. According to Chinese medical theory, acupuncture works because we humans have a natural flow of energy throughout our body. Actually, we know that every cell in our body produces this energy, the Chinese simply believe that it flows through a series of pathways. When that energy becomes blocked in one or more of the pathways, the energy becomes like a dam in a river. There is too much pressure on one side of the dam, and a restriction of flow on the other. This “energy dam” in the body can produce a variety of symptoms; one of the most common being pain.

By inserting very fine, sterile acupuncture needles into specific points on your body, an acupuncturist can break up these blockages that restrict the flow of energy. By stimulating these points, the energy can move smoothly, enabling your body to heal itself.

Beyond acuupncture, a practitioner of Chinese medicine might also use heat, herbs or a kind of bodywork called Tui Na to treat Tennis Elbow. Standard treatments for Tennis and Golfer’s Elbow include over-the-counter NSAIDs like Ibuprofen and Naprosen (Advil and Alleve), physical therapy, stretching, and rest.

The best first line of treatment for tendonitis of the elbow would be rest. By restricting movement of that affected joint, you’re allowing it to heal. If you absolutely must play tennis or golf, be sure to warm up your elbow first. A regular heating pad or rice bag is fine. After you’ve played, be sure to ice the tender area to keep the inflammation to a minimum.

By combining acupuncture with common sense and a dose of rest, you should be out playing pain-free in no time!

by Lynn Jaffee and Shelley Conn

At one time or another 80 percent of Americans will experience some kind of back pain, and chances are that at one time or another, you will be among them.  Whether your pain is a nagging ache in your low back or stabbing pain and spasms that make even the slightest movement painful, there are some things that you can do to prevent the pain from occurring in the first place.  Among them:

-Lift correctly. Lift with your legs; keep your back straight and keep the object close to your body.  Don’t bend over what you are lifting and try not to twist or turn your body.  Always choose to push a heavy object rather than pulling.

-Get moving.  Regular exercise helps to strengthen your back and build flexibility.  Even regular walking is good for your back as it engages your core stabilizing (back and abdominal) muscles.

Stretch regularly. Before exercise or after a long day,  some simple back stretches can release tension and enhance your flexibility.

-Break it up. If you are driving long distances, stop regularly to stretch and give your back a rest.  If you’re a frequent flyer, get up and move around the plane to loosen up your back.

-How low can you go? Wear shoes with a heel that is one inch or lower.  High heels change the alignment of your back and contribute to back pain.

-Stand tall. If you stand a lot, rest one foot on a low stool, and alternate feet every 15 to 20 minutes.  This relieves pressure on your lower back.

-Check your posture.  Try to stand with your ears, shoulders and hips directly below one another.  Keep your head up (not pulled forward) and your stomach in

-Sleep well. The best sleeping position for your back is on your side with a small pillow between your knees.  If you’re a back sleeper, a pillow under you knees helps support the natural curvature of your back.

By: Shelley Conn

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) is a long, difficult name for simply one of the most painful conditions of the face. Also known as “tic douloureax”, Trigeminal Neuralgia is a condition that causes excruciating face pain that can be described as an electric shock or a bolt of lightening that can travel across the face. Sufferers also describe the pain as stabbing or burning nerve pain. The pain is usually intermittent, and can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Trigeminal Neuralgia can strike at any age, but onset seems to be more prevalent between the ages of 40 and 60. TN pain is confined to the upper jaw, lower jaw, cheeks, and the forehead and eye area. In most cases the pain is limited to one side of the face, and can be triggered by touching or moving the face, dental treatment, eating, tooth brushing, or even wind.

Common medical treatments for TN pain involve prescription drugs or surgery. The most commonly prescribed drug for this condition is Neurontin. Surgery for TN is a complicated procedure involving the brain, and is not always successful.

Other treatments for TN pain include massage, chiropractic and acupuncture. As an acupuncturist, I have treated TN in my clinic with some success. I have found that acupuncture will keep the pain under control, and in some instances alleviate the pain for months at a time.

Within the framework of Chinese medicine and acupuncture, pain of this type is caused by a stagnation of energy and blood that normally moves smoothly throughout the body. Treatment involves opening energy pathways and moving blood in the area of pain. To do this, I typically use one or more modality, including acupuncture, heat, massage and herbal therapy. Treatments usually involve weekly visits until the pain is under control.

If you are suffering from Trigeminal Neuralgia and have exhausted other options, I recommend that you give acupuncture and Chinese medicine a try. This ancient healing art has been around for thousands of years because it works!