Posts Tagged ‘acupuncture clinic’
Practical Acupuncture
May 10, 2013
Acupuncture is mysterious, acupuncture is unique, but above all acupuncture is practical.
Often patients come in my New York acupuncture clinic and they are surprised how practical it is. And the main reason that acupuncture is practical is that it works. It’s not about the body’s energy or imbalances that are the root of your problem. It’s about feeling better and staying healthy.
Feel Better, Get Acupuncture
Acupuncture is about staying healthy, but the way it works is by correcting imbalances in the body. When the imbalance is removed you feel better. The acupuncture is just reminding the body how to be healthy.
When a patient comes into the our acupuncture office, we assess what the problems is, where and what imbalance is impending your health. The acupuncture treatment works to correct the imbalance. There are many imbalances that cause diseases. The key is to address the correct one with the correct approach. For example, if there is not enough Qi, the body’s energy, the acupuncture helps to boost the body’s qi.
Acupuncture is a simple idea but complicated in practice
Creating an effective therapy is where it gets more complicated, because addressing the underlying imbalance effectively depends upon the acupuncturist’s technique. This includes choosing the right acupuncture points, the most powerful combination of acupuncture points, and also how your acupuncturist stimulates the acupuncture points.
The correct acupuncture points must be chosen. Take the example I already used, if there is not enough Qi in the body, then we should use acupuncture points that stimulate production of Qi like St 36 or Kid 3.
Location of the acupuncture point is important as well. For example, when treating migraine headaches, I prefer to use acupuncture points that are not on the head, but rather on the shoulders, arms, and legs. This helps to reduce the imbalanced energy in the head causing the migraine. But for a back spasm in the lower back, I would use more acupuncture points close to the issue.
Acupuncture Technique is in the Hands
Another aspect is how acupuncture points are combined together. Sometimes it is important to put a few points close together to stimulate healing in a specific area. For example, with a muscles spasm in the lower back I may use a technique called surround the dragon. The surround the dragon technique uses four or five needles in the circle around the muscle in spasm. This communicates with the muscles to relax and return to a healthy states.
Part of the acupuncture technique is manual. How do we use the needles to stimulate the acupuncture points, nervous system, muscles, and fascia.
One technique to get a trigger point to release is twirling. The needles are twirled slightly to create a twitch in the muscle. The twitch is a signal that the body is acupuncture point is activated and it is initialing the healing process.
New Research on Acupuncture for Pain
Sep 12, 2012
Acupuncture is famous for the treatment of chronic pain. Chronic pain is one of the most common health concerns I see in my NYC acupuncture clinic. Back pain, headaches, migraines, shoulder pain, knee pain, neuropathy, arthritis, and other chronic pain conditions. Patients can have profound results.
In the clinic we know acupuncture is effective for pain, but often skeptics are vocal opponents because they believe that there is not enough research.
Recently, a very large analysis of research trials, called a meta-analysis, was published focusing on acupuncture for pain. The meta-analysis shows that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of pain. This was across many pain conditions including back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headaches, and shoulder pain.
Andrew Vickers PhD, the head author, and his team painstakingly reviewed virtually all of the acupuncture research trials which have focused on pain. They had strict criteria for the quality of the studies to be included in their analysis. In the end, the group used 29 acupuncture studies which included 17922 total patients.
The results of the study showed that acupuncture was much better than no-acupuncture control groups across the studies. The acupuncture was also better than placebo acupuncture across the groups. The difference between real and placebo acupuncture was not as large as the difference between acupuncture and no acupuncture. However, the numbers are large enough to show a real difference between placebo and real acupuncture for pain reduction.
What to do about Organic Food?
Jul 9, 2012
Yesterday in the Times there was an informative article about the corruption issues with organic food production.
Big companies have been getting into the organic market for years because it makes big profits. The author highlights how many corporations don’t care much about organic standards and healthy food. They care more about their profits.
For example many organic companies would be happy to have additives and herbicides, not caring about pollution or quality of the produce. As long as it increases profits.
There are exceptions. Eden organic (I love their beans) maintains pride in their product and organic food.
As a consumer it is hard to know what to purchase. My recommendation is to skip organic and go directly to the farmer. Your food travels less far, is less handled, fresher, healthier, and above all tastes better.
Here in NYC we’re lucky because we have a great network of farmer’s markets and CSA. There’s even one close to my NYC Acupuncture clinic on 57th street.
See you at the markets.
images: Ed Yourdon
Acupuncture for muscle rehabilitation
May 8, 2012
Acupuncture has a unique effect to help individuals who have stubborn injuries and chronic pain which have not improved despite treatment.
A recent report at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting suggests that acupuncture helps to stimulate muscle tissue regrowth. The research group showed that acupuncture reversed the decrease in muscle mass in mice and in the mRNA expression level of the E3 ubiquitin ligase atrogin-1.
A story from the acupuncture clinic
This report is very important because it helps to explain why acupuncture can help patients can regain strength after an injury.
It is quite common for patients to come to the acupuncture clinic with chronic injuries and pain that are not improving. These patients are very diligent in seeking help yet their muscle weakness and pain are stubborn.
I have a patient who is in her 60’s who had an injury from falling. After her injury it was very difficult to regain muscle strength and decrease her pain despite physical therapy. She had weakness in her arm and shoulder.
I recommended that in addition to the acupuncture she continue with physical therapy. Within two weeks her muscle strength improved almost 50%. After two months of treatment she had very little pain and her muscle strength almost completely returned.
This is an exciting theory to explore new ways acupuncture helps to reduce pain and improve health.
photo: Journal of Cell Biology
How to Choose Acupuncture Points?
Feb 29, 2012
Patients in my New York Acupuncture clinic are always curious how acupuncturists choose the correct acupuncture points. There are a number of ways to choose the acupuncture points.
The basic idea with acupuncture is to correct the underlying imbalance in the body. This can help to stimulate the body to heal itself. We acupuncturists will determine the imbalance by our examination. For example, if there is lack of circulation of the energy, what we call qi stagnation, we’ll choose points to move the qi. A common combination for moving the qi is Liv 3 and LI 4.
I find that acupuncture is most effective by changing the focus of the treatment overtime. At first, we may focus on releasing tension in the muscles, this is called moving qi and blood stagnation. But over time it may become more important to focus on boosting up the qi to support the overall health. This is often true in the acupuncture treatment of chronic prostatitis.
There are also points which are chosen based on the location of the illness. Pain on the urinary bladder channel ,which travels up the back, can be treated with acupuncture points on the urinary bladder channel located on the legs such as UB 40 or UB 60. These points can help with the treatment of chronic pelvic pain syndrome, chronic low back pain, and sciatica.
Acupuncturists will also search out for specifically painful areas at the location of the pain. In Chinese these are called ashi points. In English this means “ouch points.” Often, they may be referred to as trigger points in the West. Acupuncture will help to release these areas of pain to relax the muscle, increase circulation, and reduce pain. Trigger points are very important in the acupuncture treatment of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
Acupuncturists also may use a specific point because we know that it is clinically effective. For example, using PC 6 acupuncture point for nausea has been shown time and time again to reduce many types of nausea. Because we know this works through clinical experience, we call this an empirical point.
Every acupuncturist has their own style. We develop these through training, our personal interests, and clinical experience.
Acupuncture for Adult Acne Treatment
Apr 21, 2011
Some think that only teenagers get acne. But many adults, mostly women, develop acne in their 20’s and remain with it well into their 40’s. Adult acne is a very common issue I treat in my acupuncture clinic. The combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs are very effective for adult acne treatment.
One theory is that stress causes hormone imbalances which effect the development of acne. Also, as many people know, the menstrual cycle can influence acne.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Acne Treatment
Acupuncture helps the body to manage stress and encourages the body to relax. Chinese herbs work to regulate hormone imbalances, especially if there are irregular menstrual cycles. Herbs can help to control bacteria levels and decrease inflammation.
The key to successfully adult acne treatment is interrupting the cycle that causes acne. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs work to correct imbalances in the body. By removing the imbalances causing the acne, it disrupts acne cycle and allows the body to heal itself. Physiologically, this happens through regulating hormonal imbalances and removing the opportunity for bacteria and skin inflammation to develop.
Integrative Urology
Jan 21, 2011
Integrative urology is essential. The field of integrative medicine is about how to best combine mainstream medicine and alternative medicine. It is essential because many people live with urologic conditions, such as chronic pelvic pain syndrome, chronic prostatitis, interstitial cystitis, and overactive bladder, without help. This impacts their work, education, social life, and overall wellbeing.
I have helped many people with these conditions in my New York acupuncture clinic. The acupuncture and Chinese medicine approach works to correct imbalances that are causing the condition. Mostly, urologic conditions are caused from inhibition of circulation and weakness of energy.
Here are the best posts about how acupuncture can help interstitial cystitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, chronic prostatitis, overactive bladder, and recovery from prostate cancer surgery.
Interstitial Cystitis
- What is Interstitial Cystitis?
- Acupuncture’s Approach for Interstital Cystitis
- Acupuncture for Interstital Cystitis
Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
- More Research on Acupuncture for Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
- Electroacupuncture works for Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
- Chronic Prostatitis Without and Infection
- Acupuncture for Chronic Prostatitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
Overactive Bladder
Incontinence following Prostate Cancer Surgery
Acupuncture for N.F.L. Players
Dec 6, 2010
Everyone in my New York Acupuncture clinic is talking about the article in last week’s New York Times.
This article tells how NFL players are now regularly using acupuncture to help heal from injuries and recover from their grueling schedule.
Many pro athletes are now using acupuncture as part of their health maintenance program. Acupuncture can help serious athletes by keeping muscles loose, decreasing inflammation, and increasing circulation. Of course, it also can treat specific ailments as well, like rotator cuff injuries, neck and shoulder pain, sciatica, and elbow pain.
photo: Willie Parker
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