About Acupuncture Archives - Page 2 of 4

My Friend Tried Acupuncture Once

Every once in a while, I’ll come across someone who, in talking about acupuncture, will tell me that they had a friend or a family member who tried acupuncture once—as in one time—and it didn’t work. I’m always amazed and curious as to what that one-timer was thinking. Did they think acupuncture was a magic cure that after only one session years of pain, stress, poor eating habits, and lack of exercise would be erased? Really?

Let me set the record straight. It usually takes more than one session of acupuncture to feel better. Acupuncture is like any other therapy or health habit—it takes a little time. When you decide you’re sick of being a couch spud and begin to exercise, you don’t expect to be in shape after one session at the gym. When you get tired of having bad dental check-ups, you don’t floss one time and expect you mouth to be pristine. And when you go to physical therapy for your knee pain, you rarely expect it to be for just one visit.

Similarly, it takes more than one acupuncture treatment to alleviate your symptoms. How many more? It depends on a number of factors. Acupuncture stimulates your body’s natural tendency to heal and its effects are cumulative. If you’ve had your symptoms for a long time, it can take a series of treatments to feel better. Furthermore, if you are in poor health, frail, or your immune system is weakened, your ability to heal may be affected and it may take you longer to respond. The severity of your symptoms, whether your symptoms come and go, and your emotions also play a role in how quickly you will feel better.

Your commitment to getting better is also a factor in your healing time. What you do at home and in between treatments can dramatically speed your recovery. Home care in the form of food therapy, rest, stretching, heat therapy, and herbal medicine are all ways that you can partner with your acupuncturist and continue the healing process at home.

A good rule of thumb is to plan on four or five treatments. In that space of time, both you and your acupuncturist will know how well you are healing and how to proceed. In many cases, your symptoms are gone, and you’re done with treatment. In some instances, you may be feeling lots better, but there is still healing to be done, and we will talk through how many more sessions you should plan on.

Our job as practitioners is to help you feel better as soon as possible and send you on your way. And while acupuncture is an effective, safe, and drug-free way to heal, it will take more than one visit.

More Than One Acupuncture Treatment

My goal for my acupuncture patients is the same as theirs–to help them feel better as quickly as possible. However, from time to time, I will see a patient who comes in for a first acupuncture treatment expecting that all of their health issues will be resolved after that one session on the table. I do everything I can to explain that acupuncture stimulates the healing process of your body–which takes time, but still, some people are disappointed that they’re not all better after one visit.

I mean really, if you’ve had migraines for 30 years, do you expect to be completely cured after taking one pill? If your back has been hurting you for decades, do you expect complete relief after one physical therapy session? Why should acupuncture be any different? After all, it’s a therapy, and most therapies take some time.

That said, you should be feeling some results after a couple of treatments. Frequently what I see is that after a treatment or two, patients are sleeping better or feeling more relaxed, which is the beginning of the healing process. Your symptoms are worse and it’s hard to heal when you’re stressed out or tired.

Sometimes the pain or problem isn’t better after a treatment, but it’s different, and I consider that a good thing, too. When you have a long-standing pain or symptom, your body becomes used to it. That pain becomes your “new normal”, and it becomes a physiological habit. If, after an acupuncture treatment, that symptom has changed, it tells me that we’re beginning to alter that habit and the healing process is under way.

When a patient wants to know how long it will take for something to heal, there are a couple of factors I take into account. Among them:

-How long you’ve had the condition. If you’ve had irritable bowel symptoms for twenty years, it will most likely take longer than the person who began having similar symptoms last month.

-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 tend to take longer.

-Your general health. I have seen many young and healthy patients surprise me with how quickly they heal. However, older patients, those in really poor health, and those on numerous medications tend to need more time and 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 or cooling an injury, herbal formulas, and lifestyle changes, you can speed up your recovery.

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

Does Acupuncture Work?

Score one for acupuncture! In a newly published review of over two dozen studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture, researchers concluded that acupuncture worked better than usual pain treatments for chronic headaches, back pain, and arthritis.

This analysis of previous research involved almost 18,000 people who rated their pain on a scale of 1 to 100. Patients’ average pain value prior to treatment was 60. The average score after treatment for patients receiving acupuncture was 30, compared to 35 after fake acupuncture, and 43 after usual treatments which include medication and physical therapy.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine is being incorporated into a variety of traditional settings. The military is currently using acupuncture to treat patients’ pain conditions as well as post traumatic stress, and more and more hospitals across the country are offering acupuncture as a treatment option to their patients. While Western medical doctors are unsure as to exactly why acupuncture works, this study suggests that acupuncture can be an effective treatment for a variety of pain conditions.

Find the abstract here and an article about this study in the Minneapolis Star Tribune here.

Community Clinics Versus Private Style Acupuncture

I spent yesterday morning performing acupuncture at the Minnesota Stand Down event for homeless veterans. Some local acupuncturists pulled together and set up a community style clinic to offer acupuncture to any veterans who wanted a treatment. We treated dozens of men and women during the time I was there, and volunteers continued to do so over the course of two days.

During my time at the Stand Down event, I was struck by two things. First, I was and continue to be in awe of the veterans themselves; their spirit, kindness, and sense of duty was inspiring. Second, I was impressed by the workings of a community style acupuncture clinic, which brings me to the subject of this post.

Acupuncture can be delivered in a variety of settings, from hospitals to private clinics. The most common style in the United States is a private clinic where patients receive acupuncture in a treatment room. The clinic may have several rooms available for treatment, but only one patient at a time is in each room. A newer model, called community acupuncture, involves many patients receiving acupuncture at once in the same space. Typically the patients are treated while sitting in recliners in a large room.

More and more community acupuncture clinics have been cropping up across the country, creating both fans and critics of the model. Certainly there are some clear benefits to being treated in a community style clinic, but there are pluses to receiving acupuncture in a private style clinic, too.

One of the greatest benefits of visiting a community acupuncture clinic is the cost. The idea behind the community clinic movement is that acupuncture should be accessible to as many people as possible, so community clinics treat more people at once and charge fees on a sliding scale. With cost being less of a factor, patients are able to get treatments more frequently, which is often required to achieve good results.

The group atmosphere is also cited as a benefit. Friends and family members can be treated at the same time in the same room. In addition, community style acupuncture clinics are easily set up in crisis situations. Acupuncturists were on hand to treat rescue workers after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquake in Haiti. This is only possible in a community style set-up.

Private style acupuncture has its benefits, too. The range of acupuncture points that can be used during a treatment is greater (including those on the back, upper legs, and abdomen) when a patient is in a private room. In fact, many patients prefer being treated on a table that can support both face up and face down sessions. In addition, accessory treatments, such as cupping, body work, and Gua Sha can be used to augment a private treatment. Private style acupuncture is often better suited to patients with emotional conditions, as the setting allows them to disclose personal information more freely.

Acupuncture in the Park is a private style acupuncture clinic, and our patients appreciate the time we take with them at each treatment. They like the privacy and attention. That said, I have to admit that I left the Stand Down event completely uplifted from having treated so many people in one room at one time. Which is better? Both, or maybe neither. Like Chinese medicine, each person is unique and should choose their clinic based on their circumstances and preferences; both provide healing benefits.

Six Reasons You Need Acupuncture Maintenance

You do it with your dentist, car mechanic, and doctor. Pet owners do it for their animal companions. And around the house, many people do it for their furnace, roof, and even their pool. You should be doing it with your acupuncturist, too. What is it? Regular maintenance visits.

Why should you be having regular health maintenance visits for acupuncture? Once your symptoms are gone, aren’t you good to go? Well, yes and no. Yes, once your symptoms have gotten better, you’re in good shape for now, but there are a number of benefits to having a couple of acupuncture maintenance sessions each year.

1) Prevention. Your acupuncturist can see any problems you may be having before they become serious and cause you symptoms. Maybe you’re not sleeping very well lately, seem to have a little less energy, or feel like you’re running hot. While this may not seem like much to you, in Chinese medicine, these are signs that your body is beginning to get out of balance. The solution: a session or two of acupuncture as a preventative tune-up, which should head off any major problems that might have otherwise been brewing.

2) Maintenance treatments are a way to be proactive. This is a little different than prevention, in that you’re trying to head off a known health problem. For example, if you know that you suffer from spring allergies, a couple of sessions in February or March can help you get through allergy season symptom-free or with greatly reduced symptoms.

3) Improved energy. At Acupuncture in the Park, we have found that after a few maintenance sessions, many of our patients report having improved energy and the ability to do the things they have been putting off lately due to fatigue.

4) Strengthened immunity. If you seem to be catching every cold, flu, or stomach virus going around, it’s time for an acupuncture boost. A few acupuncture treatments can be aimed at beefing up your protective energy to stay healthier, especially during the winter months.

5) Keep your body systems moving. Acupuncture is all about movement and smooth flow. Whether it’s your digestive system, menstrual cycle, emotions, or achy muscles and joints, a couple of sessions can keep things moving nicely.

6) Stress relief. I’ve been saving the best for last. Many people are surprised at how relaxing acupuncture is, and the relaxing effects can last days and even weeks after a treatment. If your loved ones are beginning to describe you as irritable or overwhelmed, …um, it’s time for some acupuncture.

How many sessions do you need and how often? Generally, booking a couple of sessions every six months is recommended. However, everyone is different in their needs. Some patients come in for one treatment every six months, and they’re good to go. Other patients wait longer, but come in for a series of two or three health maintenance treatments. If you wait until symptoms become unmanageable, it usually will take a few more sessions to get things under control.

Chinese Medicine and Self Care for Seasonal Allergies

During certain times of the year, I see an increase in patients who are suffering from similar conditions. In the late fall, I tend to see more patients who are struggling with seasonal depression, and around the holidays I see an increase of patients coming to acupuncture to be treated for stress. I also see a bump in patients with seasonal allergies in May and again in late August/early September. However, this year spring has sprung early, and throughout April, I have seen a spike in people suffering from seasonal allergies—a month early!

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.

How Your Acupuncturist Chooses Points

I am frequently asked by my patients how I decide which acupuncture points to use during their treatment. It’s a complicated process, but the first thing to know is that all acupuncture points work like “on and off ramps” to your body’s energetic pathways. By needling into various points, your practitioner can access both your pathways and your deeper organs. Which points to needle are determined by a number of variables and the style of acupuncture used by your practitioner. Here are some of the things your acupuncturist is thinking about when they choose points for your particular treatment:

-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.

The Healing Modalities of Chinese Medicine

Whenever someone asks me what I do for a living, I tell them that I’m an acupuncturist. This is a half-truth, as I am really a practitioner of Chinese medicine. To most people, this may feel like nit picking, but in reality there is a big difference. That’s because acupuncture is only one method of treatment under the wide umbrella that is Chinese medicine. As a practitioner of Chinese medicine, I have a number of healing tools that I can use to help my patients get better. Among them:

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.

What Your Symptoms Mean to an Acupuncturist

If you visit an acupuncturist for a specific symptom, you might be surprised to be asked all kinds of questions that seem to have absolutely nothing to do with what brought you in. In fact, you may become impatient as your practitioner asks you about your digestion when you’re there to be treated for acne. What’s going on?

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.

Why Your Acupuncturist Feels Your Pulse

If you’ve ever been to an acupuncture clinic, chances are your acupuncturist felt the pulse on your wrist as part of their exam. In Western medicine, your doctor or nurse feels your pulse to determine it’s rate. However, in Chinese medicine, pulse diagnosis is far more complicated.

In Chinese medicine, the quality of your pulse can offer your acupuncturist a great deal of information about the strength of your energy. Taking your pulse is complicated because there are almost thirty different kinds of pulses–many of which are really hard to distinguish from one another. In addition, different positions on your wrist, and the difference between left and right indicate the status of specific organs in Chinese medicine.

Despite being really, really complicated, here are a few simple guidelines that can offer some insight as to what your practitioner is looking for when taking your pulse. Among them:

Rate. As mentioned above, when you go to your doctor’s office, they take your pulse to measure the beats per minute, or pulse rate. This is also the case in Chinese medicine, but your pulse rate is usually measured in relation to your rate of breathing. In general, a normal pulse rate is four to five beats per breath (inhalation and exhalation). A pulse that’s markedly faster usually indicates some kind of heat in your body. A pulse that’s slower indicates a cold condition, or an abundance of a cold pathogen, like dampness or phlegm.

Depth. Have you ever tried to feel someone’s pulse and had a hard time finding it? Chances are you were struggling because that person had a deep pulse. The level at which your pulse is felt offers some important clues as to the location and nature of your imbalance and symptoms. A pulse that is felt deeply–meaning that you have to apply pressure to feel it–indicates that the cause of your symptoms are deep in your body, and your organs are probably affected.

When your pulse is easily felt without using much pressure, and it disappears when more pressure is applied, then your pulse is considered to be floating, or right on the surface. This means that any pattern affecting you is very exterior in nature–such as a cold or the flu. The next time someone you know gets the flu, ask to feel his or her pulse; it will likely be floating.

Force. The nature of your energy, or Qi, can be determined by the force of your pulse. A pulse that feels weak or forceless is a common indicator of a Qi or Blood depletion. A soggy pulse is one which is felt easily but feels spread out and soft. It may also indicate a Qi or Blood depletion, or, in many cases, dampness (poor water metabolism). An extremely thin or fine pulse also points to a depletion.

In contrast, a full, lively pulse that’s felt easily indicates a healthy abundance of energy. It’s possible, however, to have too much of a good thing. A pulse that feels wiry or extremely tight, like a guitar string, is common in someone who’s experiencing severe pain or someone who is under a lot of stress or has had an emotional upset.

Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts. With a pulse diagnosis, it’s the combination of factors that reveals the most information. An acupuncturist will take into account the rate, depth, quality, and differences among the various positions in reaching any conclusions from your pulse. Chinese pulse diagnosis is a subtle art; it takes years of experience for a practitioner to become proficient. While there are infinite pulse variations, which can make interpreting the nuances of your pulse very difficult, pulse diagnosis is an important component of an accurate diagnosis.

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