Central Path Acupuncture and Wellness Blog

Various Differences Between Japanese and Chinese Acupuncture

One of the questions that people ask often – at least those that have had acupuncture before – is what type of acupuncture do you practice. This may seems like a strange question to some because isn’t acupuncture just well you know acupuncture? Well yes and no.

Acupuncture Needle Guide Tube

Recently I had a conversation with a 43-year veteran physician who is enrolled in the course I help teach at Harvard Medical School: Structural Acupuncture for Physicians. He was astounded to learn that UNLIKE western medicine there are great differences the way that acupuncturists approach problems.

One acupuncturist may decide to (in our language) tonify the qi of the kidneys while another may emphasize dispersing the stagnant liver blood. In reality acupuncture styles are as variant as types of cuisines! Many styles existed in ancient China and other East Asian countries and the predominant acupuncturists were often known for a specific specialty. Acupuncture was and is still a familial medicine with generations and generations passing secrets down inside the family. Other Chinese Medical practitioners might decide to apprentice with a known master for several years before branching out on their own. Therefore we are left with many different styles and many different treatments.

It’s often said that in acupuncture and Chinese Medicine the same disease can call for many different treatments and many different treatments can treat the same disease.

Chinese acupuncture that is taught in the west is principally what we call TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine. This form of medicine was synthesized by our beloved Chairman Mao in the 1950’s. He took a group of PHYSICIANS that also practiced acupuncture and threw them in a room for who knows how long and out came this standardized version of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. As a result the TCM acupuncture is very much an herbal version of acupuncture. Many of the family secrets and differences in style were thrown the to side in favor of a unified front that could be taught as the one acupuncture.

Acupuncture in Japan is a different story. For one classics from the Han Dynasty were often favored in Japan. Also even to this day acupuncture is a profession for the blind. As a result many styles of Japanese acupuncture are heavily reliant on palpation and do not emphasize tongue diagnosis. The insertion tube was invented in Japan to aide blind practitioners in painlessly placing needles in the body. Another difference that exists between Chinese and Japanese acupuncture is thinner needles that are generally inserted much more shallowly.

Whatever your case is I believe the most important aspect of acupuncture style is to find a system that resonates with you – for the practitioner and for the patient. Acupuncture is an energetic mechanism and there always exists a dynamic interplay between patient and practitioner. First and foremost this dynamic should be comfortable, safe, and an element of trust should exist. After that acupuncture styles can come into play in terms of helping you find the acupuncturist that will help you gain maximum results.

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Many people that come into my office complain that during the winter months their bodies shut down and go into hibernation. With today’s modern world many people struggle with this biological habit of our body, but don’t know what to do. Here is a brief explanation of how you can eat according to the season and specifically eat for winter.

It goes without saying that one of the conditions I see the most in my office is adrenal exhaustion, which in Chinese Medicine is intimately connected with the kidneys. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine do a GREAT job of strengthening the adrenals and the kidneys so if you are suffering from seasonal affect disorder or simply the winter blues try this diet and come in and get some treatments! You’re body will know the difference. I digress…

The tastes of the winter season are salty and bitter. In the 5-element theory the kidneys and the element of water rule winter. Salty and bitter foods promote sinking and centering – which bring nourishment to the lower abdomen the area we call the Dan Tien or Tan Tien. Caution though – excess of salt creates tightness and weakens the organs of the heart and kidneys.

Examples of bitter foods include lettuce, watercress, endive, escarole, turnip, celery, asparagus, alfalfa, carrot top, rye, oats, quinoa, and amaranth. Citrus peels are also bitter and are a commonly used Chinese Herb. They make a pleasant tea or flavored warm water in the winter.

Some salty foods include miso, soy sauce, seaweeds, salt, millet, barley, and any food made with the addition of a moderate amount of salt.

If you are the type of individual who always has cold extremities or is always cold in the winter it’s a good idea to add warming foods. You need to nourish your yang energy. Warming foods could include adding black pepper, hot peppers, chili powder or a nice curry. Other foods which you can try are garlic, onions, chives, scallions, leeks, chicken, lamb, trout, and salmon. Indian foods are great for nourish your yang during the winter months – try fenugreek seeds, fennel, anise, dried ginger, and cinnamon bark. Many of these ingredients can be found already pre-mixed into a nice gram masala. Making your own is easy and fun.

Try this out:

• 4 tbsps coriander seeds

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds

• 1 tbsp black peppercorns

• 1 ½ tsps black cumin seeds (shahjeera)

• ¾ tsp black cardamom (3-4 large pods approx)

• ¾ tsp cloves

• ¾ tsp cinnamon (2 X 1” pieces)

• ¾ tsp crushed bay leaves

All of these spices are considered warm and when you mix them together you can then lightly brown them using olive oil or a high heat high quality oil (safflower for example) and / or butter or gee (clarified butter). Then you can grind these herbs or add them to a soup, stir fry, or use a rub for a lamb or chicken (if you eat meat!).

Yum.

To actually achieve benefits from this diet you must follow it true to form during the winter months. You can’t just eat your normal salads after a week of yang tonifying and kidney nourishing. In general soups, cooked foods, roasted foods and baked foods are far better to eat than raw foods during the winter months.

Additionally you can try taking vitamin D, vitamin A and vitamin B12. These rich nutrients can aide against adrenal disorders, stave off seasonal affect syndrome, and some say promote jing – or the vital energy of the kidney.

Other vital foods include making your own almond milk (soak blanched almonds overnight and use a blender to create a delicious milk adding honey or agave as a sweetener) or even eating Royal Jelly and bee pollen. These honeybee products are incredibly concentrated in vital nutrients.

Finally sometimes we must just embrace the season. Too many times we feel the resistance of nature and it causes us internal strife. Realize that winter is a time for relaxation, enjoyable but not extended time outside, sleep, recuperation and enjoyment of the quiet months of yin before the crazy busy summer yang months are upon us.

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I recently came across a great new article in the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health concerning nausea and pregnancy (click here). It’s entitled Evidence-Based Approaches to Managing Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy : Conclusion and written by Tekoa L. King, CNM, MPH and Patricia Aikins Murphy.

I will summarize this article and add some relevant points concerning acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.

Nausea during pregnancy can range from being mild discomfort to significant on the floor I can’t do anything debilitating type of why did I get pregnant! If you didn’t know that you are pregnancy nausea and vomiting are among the early detecting signs of pregnancy. According to this article at least 50–80% of pregnancy women experience nausea or vomiting during their first trimester. This condition generally peaks at 8-12 weeks and resolves at or around 18 weeks for most women.

What’s the deal with morning sickness when I have this all the day anyways? Most women experience nausea and vomiting regardless of whether or not it’s in the morning. Bad name I guess. In fact in a study that required 160 women to keep daily journals (by Lacroix et al in 2000) concluded that 74% of women reported nausea and “morning sickness” occurred in only 1.8%; 80% reported nausea lasting all day. Nausea affects the ability of pregnant women to work and perform normal daily tasks! And what’s worse news – nausea and vomiting may actually be a sign of a healthy pregnancy. Studies also show that if nausea ain’t present is actually associated with spontaneous miscarriage. Yikes.

So what is all this nausea caused by anyways? Well according to an article published in the Journal of Gynecology (Goodwin, TW, 2002) endocrine, gastrointestinal, vestibular (hearing), and olfactory (smelling) factors; possible genetic predisposition; and responses that are modified by behavioral cues, support (or lack thereof), and psychology are all causes. Yikes again.

What’s more it seems that nausea probably also stems from your bodies changes in hormonal levels – specifically that beautiful hormone with all love – estrogen.

Kindly this article does also mention that alternative treatments include: herbs, dietary restriction, hydration, psychotherapy, psychotropic medication, and total parenteral nutrition. Historically, treatments have also included cervical dilation, leeches, sensory deprivation, and vocal exercises. Well thank you. However – on to more specifics.

Diet:

1. Eat a diet of many or several small meals and if there is a time of day that you tend to be more nauseous try keep a small amount of food in your belly!
2. Try and eat foods that have a lower glycemic index – meaning that your bodies digests them slowly
3. Try and see if your prenatal vitamin is causing some of the nausea. Although scary as it maybe go off your vitamins for a few days and see if your condition improves

Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture

1. Regular acupuncture treatments before pregnancy and during pregnancy can greatly reduce nausea and vomiting. Acupuncture is able to adjust hormone levels and produce harmony within the body. We call this balancing yin and yang.

From a Cochrane review published in 2003[4] one can conclude that compared to no treatment, acupuncture remedies significantly reduced nausea.

1. Use Chinese Herbs. Ginger, chamomile, peppermint are all traditional Chinese herbs that you can find as teas everywhere. Drink, drink, and drink these teas. You can add small amounts of honey or agave nectar if you deserve a little sweetness. Studies have compared the use of ginger with vitamin B6 and found that ginger is at least as effective. You can find ginger in capsule form at any Wholefoods or natural food stores.

Hypnosis, behavior modification (be the free and easy wanderer (okay that’s the name of Chinese Herbal Formula – but you get the point right?), and Psychotherapy are also options.

So to conclude there is no one therapy that is the best thing to do. As always you should stock your tool belt with a plethora of hammers, nails, and tape measures throw them all at the wall and see what sticks – i.e. See what works and use that combination.

Happy pregnancy!

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About Applying Acupressure:

Simply apply gentle constant stimulation to the acupressure point for :30 – :60 seconds more if symptoms are more severe.  Application a few times a day maybe necessary.  Dosage is a funny thing – sometimes less is more and sometimes constant application is king – play around and see what works.

Pericardium-6

• Chinese Name: Nei Guan (Inner Pass)
• Location: about an inch and half from the palmar side of the wrist inbetween the two tendons
• Function: a main point for nausea, upset stomach, anger, irritability, and anxiety

Large-Intestine 10-11 Area

• Chinese Name: Qu Chi or Pool at the Bend
• Location: when lying on his or her back with arms placed along body, face up find the end of the crease of the elbow (towards the outside of the body) and come down about a half inch – try to find little tiny gelosses or “gummies.” Often these points are tender
• Function: enhances immune system, improves lymphatic circulation, allows the body to release heat and / or aides with high fever

Spleen-6:

• Chinese Name: Sanyinjiao or 3 Yin Cross
• Location: about 3 fingers up from the middle ankle bone (3 of the patients fingers) between the calf muscle and the tibia bone
• Function: great when use with PC-6. Moves and circulates blood, soothes irritability, calming, helps fatigue or drowsy feeling especially after eating, reduces stomach aches

Yin Tang:

• Chinese Name: Greater Yin (the 3^rd Eye Point)
• Location: between the medial ends of the eyebrows
• Function: soothes and calms the spirit, helps insomnia, reduces stress, stops headaches, opens nasal passages

Governing Vessel 14

• Chinese Name: Da Zhui or Great Hammer
• Location: underneath the 7^th Cervical vertebrae, also when patient is sitting up where a necklace would naturally fall. Great Hammer is named because generally it’s the biggest of the upper neck vertebrae
• Function: very important point when used with L1-10-11 area to reduce heat, fever. It is the meeting point of ALL of the yang meridians and is very powerful. Main point for colds, spontaneous swests, upper back / neck stiffness,

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Lately I’ve been thinking about the differences between Tai Chi and Yoga and why yoga dominates Tai Chi in popularity even though they are both mind-body exercises. As a practitioner of yoga for almost ten years and a Tai Chi practitioner for over five years I’m often puzzled at this question myself. I for one am not able to stop either exercise as I love the benefits I get out of both. Here is a basic run down of some of the advantages that I have found by practicing Tai Chi and yoga.

Tai Chi

In the beginning I was drawn to Tai Chi because it was a martial art – or so I thought. I now believe that I was drawn to it because it teachers us to move differently. The first time I took a Tai Chi class I was amazed at the energy I felt moving through my palms and arms. Later I learned that the Tai Chi is not the “Qi” or energy that we think of most in Chinese Medicine rather it translates to Grand Ultimate Fist. However, after practicing Tai Chi and working as an acupuncturist and I do realized that it is a sort of martial Qi Gong (which literally means Qi Work).

After a few weeks of regular Tai Chi practice I began to realize that Tai Chi allowed some muscles to relax in my body while others began to strengthen. This is particularly true of some of the posture stabilization muscles like the paraspinals, multifidi, and rototores group. This muscles along with some of those in the pelvic bowl and the abdominal muscles allow us to stand straight as a flag poll.

The importance of this as follows: correct posture and alignment help move our bodies into what I call optimal functioning alignment. Did you know as little as a 3-5 mm shift in our occipital bone (back of the lower skull) can cause chronic headaches, and partial hearing loss. Imagine what happens when our hips shift forward and up. Imagine if you are standing with incorrect posture even three hours and day and once you fix that how much more energy you’ll have.

Now imagine that your body in optimal functioning alignment is a perfectly aligned machine. We don’t allow our cars to ride on the road with balancing them right? Well why do we go around with 1 shoulder higher than the other or one hip all jacked up? (Try it look in the mirror – or have your friend, wife, mother ect check your leg length by lying down and pulling your legs together and see if one is longer than the other).

Imagine your body’s alignment focusing so that both the pelvis and the sphenoid bone (an amazing facial bone) are balanced and then your breathing becomes open – not in just one nostril but both. We don’t breathe out of one lung do we? Imagine that with correct alignment we can start to move with purpose, strength, power, and more natural and fluid movements. Good God (said ala Will Farrell) we’re very awkward in some many movements.

Tai Chi teachers us to move naturally using positions that use share movements through our bones, our tendons, ligaments, and joints. It allows for proper circulation so our hands and feet and other extremities (do we have any others?) are actually warm and relaxed.

Tai Chi teachers us to move fluidly and allows our bodies begin to feel – not think relaxed, but feel relaxed. There’s a difference. You’d be surprised how many people think they are relaxed and during an acupuncture treatment they find out how tight they are!

When weight lifters get that “pump” from lifting around iron – yes think Arnold – what is happening is that more muscles fibers are activated then normally. Eventually as muscles become toned – more muscles fibers cycle through an excitory process than a relaxed process – creating that look and feel of a pumped up body all the time.

In Chinese Medicine and in sports for that matter – this is not where true power and strength come from. It comes from relaxed, loose muscles with proper alignment! Just look at sprinters and swimmers two of the biggest power sports out there – what are they doing before they get ready to compete – shake, shake, shaking that booty. Well maybe at least their arms, legs, neck ect.

Tai Chi is amazing. It’s taught me the value of natural strength, how to move like a tiger, fly like a crane and walk like a turtle. Okay well maybe not all of that, but the next time your out check out the natural movement of a squirrel as it looks down from above running on a telephone wire – perfect natural movement.

After about 50 years maybe I will begin to understand it more. This is typical of the Asian mentality towards true mastery. As a side note what other sport can you do for 70 years and be way better than you were at 20. Isn’t this something we should all invest in! I digress…

Yoga

My yoga education actually started when I was in 6^th grade with my gym teacher Jennifer Minter ran a 6-week session for us. I still remember trying my first arm balances and my head hurting after a :30 second headstand.

In my early late teens I attended a few more classes and I began for the first time to feel how my body could be more open and relaxed than it was. Especially living that college lifestyle eating pizza, drinking cheap beer, and pumping as much iron as I could – more is better right? Wrong.

After I graduated college my mother – a long timer practitioner of yoga – started teaching classes. I decided that it couldn’t hurt to try a class at my local gym and I feel in love with yoga. My muscles – once closed, taught, and wound began to unravel.

In my few decades of living on this Earth it was hard to believe how many memories, frustrations and stuck emotions were hiding in my hips, hamstrings and shoulders. I began to understand what it meant have alignment and my woeful posture slowly began to take proper shape.

Yoga opens, relaxes muscles, and teachers your body alignment in differing postures. Now you’re saying alignment and natural positioning – isn’t that like Tai Chi?

Bridging Both Practices

As I near my 10^th year and perhaps eight year of consistent at least once per week yoga practice it dawns on me that without the Tai Chi and yoga I would be missing something. While Tai Chi has taught me how to move naturally and in a fluid manner yoga has opened my body in a way that Tai Chi didn’t. Sometimes I think to myself how can I do both of these practices and truly achieve mastery in either one of them? Maybe I can’t, but I love them both so much I will continue on my path.

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Are you one of those people that are what I call coffin sleepers – do you wake up in the same position that you went to sleep in without even so much as a wrinkle in your comforter?  Or are you one of those people who sleep like you’re rolling down a hill as a little kid?  I’m the coffin type and I want to share these six tips can at least help you prepare your external environment so that your internal environment (your body and mind) can be quiet and sleep.

First of all (yes this is my plug) let me say that acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine can definitely help you get better sleep.  So many of my patients – especially first time clients report back that they slept amazingly for the first few days after sleep – in time this becomes their regular sleep pattern and often times they aren’t even aware that they aren’t sleeping that well.

However, acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine should always be secondary to creating the proper environment to sleep.  Preparation is key.  It’s just like you wouldn’t go to your wedding in some old jeans and a Midnight Oil t-shirt – or maybe you would.  Preparing your external environment will train your body, your mind, and your energy to rest.  When infants are born they must be trained to follow a proper sleep schedule.  Sometimes we as adults because of one reason or another fall into bad habits and therefore we need to remove all external distractions so we can retrain ourselves to sleep.  So….

1.    No TV, laptop, movies or anything else in the bedroom.  The bedroom is reserved for the act of sleeping and well (is this a G or an R-rated blog)

2.    Wash and change sheets, duvet cover, ect. once per week.  This will cleanse your room and allow you to get a fresh start weekly.  I find this is particularly nice to do on a Sunday night – fresh sheets to start the week – awwwwww yes!

3.    Make sure the room is as quiet as possible and if you live in a noisy place use white noise.  Sleeping with a fan or a white noise machine can greatly increase your ability to sleep.  Your body is trained like that of an animal.

I know that if the gate outside my house creeks my dog is alert and

ready to pounce on an intruder in a second.  However, it’s not necessary for our sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight part of the nervous system) to be so alert as in today’s modern world we are generally safe at night tucked in our 300-dollar Pier One 300 count Egyptian cotton sheets. Using a noise machine can help rest your ears and quiet your fears at night.

4.    Sleep with a room at a temperature below 70 degrees, but not with a window wide open.  In Chinese Medicine we have both yin and yang.  Yang is the energy of activity of sunlight and of day time.  Yin is the energy of night, cold, and rest.

During the night we have to nourish the yin without damaging the yang.  A cool room will help encourage the body to rest while a cold room or a cold body – including head, feet and hands creates constriction and tension.

5.    Position your bed correctly.  This means position it at the master position of the room.  Do not place the bed next to the door in the “shopkeepers” position – this is where the shopkeeper would sleep and if he had someone come in he would jump out of bed and be ready to serve them.

Do not place the head of the bed towards the door.  This is the “endangered” position.  It doesn’t allow for the sympathetic nervous system to fully relax because your subconscious mind cannot fully let go because it is more susceptible to someone ie. the local caveman bully attacking you.

6.    Clean your bedroom and organize everything THOROUGHLY.  This is my last requirement, but I am also emphasizing that this is the most important.  This means all closets, drawers, and bedside tables.  There should be no more than 3 items on any surface.

There should be absolutely nothing on window sills.  Nothing on the floor, and ESPECIALLY nothing under the bed.

7. Believe in yourself and it will happen

Your body will obey your external environment meaning that if there is external clutter there will be internal clutter.  You job is to make everything quiet, clean and relaxed.  

May you find your path towards a deep, full and relaxing sleep!

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Qi Gong to Fortify the Lungs and Kick a Bad Cold to the Curb

Qi Gong is an ancient form of exercise – perhaps the world’s first.  In this blog post you will learn some basic exercises that will help you boost your immune system, strengthen your lungs, gain more energy and kick that cold to the curb.  

What if at that very instant that you first thought to yourself (deep down in your conscious mind) – “oh I think I might be getting sick,” you had the tools necessary to rip that cold to shreds.  Well you do.

The character for Qi is made of up two radicals – one for rice and one for steam.  Qi is literally the energy and that causes the steam to rise off of the rice – in the simplest sense that is.  Gong means work.  Therefore – qi gong means qi work.

The lungs play a central role in Chinese Medicine.  If you are not breathing properly or if you’re breathing is labored or difficult it sets the entire qi mechanism, which you can think of as the basis for every bodily function, off.  Basically our body gets qi from two different places – food and breath and the lungs play a vital role in this process.

A little more about the lungs and their resonance:

· Color: white

· Element: metal

· Direction: western

· Season: autumn

· Opens to: the nose and is the first organ to be attacked by external pathogens

· Direction: the lungs diffuse and descend qi down

· Likes: the lungs like moistness and dislike dryness

If you have a cold or even a cough the lungs have been damaged in Chinese Medicine.  Your job is the help you body expel phlegm, and restore the natural descending nature of the lungs thereby allowing the lungs to take in clear and natural qi and expel turbid qi.

Muscles of Respiration:

The two main muscles of inspiration include the diaphragm and the external and internal intercostal muscles (these are the small muscles inbetween your ribs).  What many people don’t know is how many other muscles contribute to the breathing process. Here is a list of secondary muscles that contribute to breathing: Accessory Muscles include:

1) SCM – the large ropy muscle in the neck when you turn it to one side)

2)     Scalenes – smaller pen-size muscles located behind the SCM

3)     serratus anterior – the muscle on the front or ventral side of the scapula – also known as the punching muscle

4)     pectoralis major & minor – a pair of the major muscles in the chest

5)     upper trapezius – this muscle loves to be tight – it’s located on the back and is one of the largest shoulder / neck muscles

6)     latissimus dorsi – the famed muscles that made our famous Govenator, Arnold, look like he had wings

7)     erector group – muscles that run from the sacrum to spine – mostly help out above the thoracic or mid-back region

8)     quadratus lumborum – the muscle that allows us to do a side bend

Finally the Qi Gong Exercises!!!

1) General All Purpose warm-up: walking, jog, do a few jumping jacks ect – just start the blood and qi flow in the body

2) Tracing the Lung Meridian – trace the flow of the lung meridian on both sides starting in the chest and ending at the fingertips – thereby tonifying or strengthening the lungs. A picture of the lung meridian can be found here: (Lung Merdian). Then holding your right index finger and middle finger at the opening perform shoulder and elbow rows in as big as an arch as possible. This opens the chest, allows the scapula to become flexible and creates space for oxygen intake.

3) Neck exercises: turn the head at least 10 times to the right and left, then look up and down ten times, tilt the head to the side ten times, and finally rotate the head. Doing this exercise daily will significantly cut down the amount of tension in the neck simply by allowing our bodies to move. For thousands of years were have been programmed to move and now within the last century we’ve been smart enough to just sit a desk!

4) Cat and Camel breathing – this is commonly practiced in yoga classes. Arch and round your back – breathing in when arching and exhaling when rounding.

5) Arm swinging – turning the palms up breath in and turning the arms down allow them to swing down

6) Lung Expansion Breathing – place the hands on the lower abdomen or dan tian area. Take 5-10 deep breaths allowing the abdomen to expand and contract accordingly. Then place the hands on the side of the ribs and repeat feeling the breath move into the ribs. Next place the hands on the lower back and rear waistline and feel the ribs expand posteriorly. Finally rest the arms at the sides and breath in all four directions feeling the breath come back to the center each time. This is what we call the five directions of the breath.

7) Arm circles holding the Opening of the Lung Merdian: find the opening of the lung merdian: (Lung-1 – Opening of Lung Merdian). Then holding your right index finger and middle finger at the opening perform shoulder and elbow rows in as big as an arch as possible. This opens the chest, allows the scapula to become flexible and creates space for oxygen intake.

Here is a list of some basic Yoga Poses for the Immune System:

1) Mountain Pose

2)  Triangle pose – allow the body to

5) Spinal Twists

6) Forward bend

Other Yoga Techniques to Incorporate:

1) Consider a netti pot

2)  Practice some Kapalabhati breathing exercises

These yoga poses and yogic techniques all deep and open the breath and the lungs as well as relax the muscles of respiration. If you are interested in these techniques I’ll be blogging about them soon – or you can come to my Qi Gong class!

Nutrition for Colds:

1) Vitamin C – the obvious one!

2) If you’re feeling cold eat warm foods. Basic but smart. Remember the color white resonances with the lungs. Here are some examples:

a. White onions, garlic, hot peppers, horseradish, cabbage

3) If you have a fever eat more cooling foods

a. Radish, daikon radish, white peppercorn – all cooling foods for the lungs

4) Slightly cook these raw foods to make them more digestible – but for someone with strong qi and good digestion eating these foods raw will help the body and lungs most readily.

5) Beta-carotene protects the surfaces and muscous membranes of the body – for example carrots, winter squash, pumpkin, broccoli ect.

6) Emphasize lung and large intestine connection (these are yin / yang pairs in Chinese Medicine) by adding fiber foods. Fiber is the pulp of fruits, the bran of grains and the cell walls of vegetables. Two examples are apples and pears (both white) except for skin. Green apples are very cleansing due to the green color and connection to the liver while pears are very moistening which the lungs enjoy.

Here’s an idea for a Massive Lung Tonifying Soup:

Add Broccoli, carrot, daikon, and kelp together with a small amount of sea salt and voila – you’ll be healthy in no time.

Lastly encourage you to give my office a call and schedule an appointment – acupuncture and especially Chinese Herbal Medicine are VITAL parts to any healthy routine to help you stay healthy this cold season.

Through this H1N1 scare my office will also offering a package of Chinese herbal medicine including:

1) Basic every day Lung and immune boosting homemade Chinese tea (this one actually tastes good!)

2) Three Different patent medicines to help stave off colds if they’ve started – Gan Mao Ling, Yin Qiao Wan, and Yu Ping Feng San (Jade Windscreen)

3) A bottle of White Flower Lilly oil – a mixed concoction that the Chinese have used for centuries to help open the sinuses and relax the lungs

I hope you enjoyed this blog and that you have found the path back towards optimal health.

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Acupuncture and Outlook

As acupuncturists we constantly whittle our tool set making it sharper, more accurate, more precise.  I sometimes compare treatments to throwing a dart at a dartboard. Certainly if you’re a beginning acupuncturist you can still hold a dart and you can still hit a target, but the more precise the throw the more bull-eyes you will hit and the better results you will obtain in the shorter amount of time.  I would say this is the case MOST of the time.

One defining variable that I seek to develop in my patients is to develop their outlook or their specific intention.  A patient’s outlook can drastically change the scope of their response to treatment.

As I practice in Waltham, MA I have a few multi-lingual patients where English is their second language.  We can’t communicate as well as some of my graduate or post-doc English speaking lawyer types, but it always amazes me the ability this population has to have a wonderful outlook on the treatment. Their often thankful and and humble and amazed at the results of their quick recovery from treatment. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky to attract only the sweet, kind, optimistic types. But I’m beginning to think that it’s more than luck.

For instance I just finished a series of treatments with a patient suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Basically her doctors told her that the only option left was surgery. Amazingly after 3 treatments her pain is 90% reduced and she’s optimistic and feeling great. Another nice bonus of acupuncture is what I call the “by the way factor.” This often happens when patients say, “oh and by the way, my back pain is gone too. Where you treating me for that?” Actually yes I was!

Consider your outlook carefully when you get acupuncture and you’ll see much more dramatic results.

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This is another test of my BLOG, however it’s been interesting to notice the various ways people seem to have trouble with the spelling of acupuncture.  I myself am a terrible speller I must admit.  However after diving and swimming in this world for over four years now I find that the combination of words – acu and puncture are relatively easy to put together and equal acupuncture.  Not accupuncture or acupunccture or acuppuncture or any other variations!

Needless or needles to say I might add that acupuncture in Japan (according to a random Google search)  is called shinjutsu and acupuncture in China is called zhēn shù.  Both pinyin names sound nothing like acupuncture.  However, they are often translated as needle or pin and the second word as technique or method.  Unfortunately needle method seems much more friendly then the literal translation of acupuncture – acu meaning sharp and puncture meaning…well to puncture or pierce.  Sharp piercing!  That’s not relaxing.

But don’t worry acutally acupuncture is relaxing and has many benefits.  I’ve listed a bunch of them on my website under “Acupuncture” and “World Health Organization.”

Until next time – sharp piercing to be done.

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