Reduce Pain & Aid Athletic Performance

Have you ever been slowed down or sidelined from your favorite activities due to an injury?

Have you ever wondered if there was anything you could do to recover better or more quickly?

Are you looking for alternatives to pain medication?

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine may hold the answers to your questions.

Acupuncture continues to grow in use and acceptance in the world of professional sports.  In recent years, many more professional athletes have been using acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to enhance their athletic performance.  Perhaps you have heard accounts of the many football, basketball, hockey, soccer, skating or snowboarding professionals incorporating acupuncture to facilitate their healing.  Ankle, shoulder, knee, back and joint injuries are most common.  Acupuncture can decrease swelling, bruising, stiffness and spasms of the muscles.  Joint injuries are especially benefited by returning range of motion more quickly.

Athletes and exercise enthusiasts alike are consistently pushing their bodies – sometimes to extremes.  Muscle soreness, strain and fatigue can result as lactic acid builds.  These muscle strains and pains are often the result of repetitive motion or over-training.  In order to support the initial strain, other muscles are recruited to protect the weakened one.  Left unchecked, a chain reaction of muscles coming to each others aid ensues.

According the Traditional Chinese Medicine, constrained or swollen muscles create imbalances of Qi (vital energy) and/or blood.  Bones can actually be pulled out of place by tightened muscles, increasing possibility of further injury.  Therefore, pain should be seen as the body’s way of sounding an alarm.  Simply masking the pain with anti-inflammatory or narcotic drugs may contribute to further complications and injuries because the receptors in the brain responsible for sounding the alarm are blocked.

Acupuncture is quite effective in helping the body produce its own hormones that are anti-inflammatory and anti-stress.  The body’s own natural painkillers are also awakened by the proper use of acupuncture.

Many of us are familiar with the “R.I.C.E.” method – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation – for treating traumatic injuries.  Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, speeds this healing process by invigorating the flow of blood and Qi to the affected area.  When herbs are added to help invigorate blood and move Qi, healing occurs even more rapidly and completely.

The nature of the pain is a strong indication of the severity of the imbalance.  Dull, achy pain that may move from one location to another indicates Qi stagnation.  Sharp, fixed pain whose location is specific and may be intense is most often due to blood stagnation.  If Qi stagnation is not addressed, it will most likely result in stagnation of blood.

Here is the bonus.  Mental stress – a common side effect of physical pain – is also addressed and decreased.  Body pains may be the main complaint when seeking medical treatment, but the de-stressing effect of acupuncture can be even more pronounced.  This is due to the focus on total internal balance, as opposed to focusing on the injury as if it were removed from the rest of the body.  Acupuncture works to balance our system of internal meridians or pathways.  These meridians are the highways through which Qi flows.  Proper flow of Qi, in turn moves the blood through our meridians and tissues.  Our parasympathetic and sympathetic responses also return toward balance, calming the mind and brain.  If you have felt calmer and mentally relaxed after a massage treatment, you have experienced this connection.

Whether you are a professional athlete, a “weekend warrior”, or simply would like to enhance your exercise routine, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can be powerful additions to your program.  Improve circulation, reduce pain and speed recovery – all while helping improve your overall health.

Can Acupuncture help me?

Acupuncture is one of the oldest and most commonly used medical practices in the world. Its popularity and use has been growing exponentially in the United States ever since a reporter for the New York Times, traveling with President Nixon during his historic visit to China in 1971, had acupuncture anesthesia during emergency surgery.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine involve much more than the insertion of hair-thin needles into specific points of the body to bring about healing.  This medicine also includes diet & nutritional counseling, herbal prescriptions and exercise, when used properly. This is because acupuncture as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine is about living in harmony and balance.

Even if you have never been to an acupuncturist yourself, you probably know at least one person who has. While the majority of people in the U.S. go for the relief of some sort of pain, the conditions which can be treated are as vast as we are different.  This is because Traditional Chinese Medicine evaluates and differentiates disease on a very different, although complementary, system than Western medicine.

In 1979, the World Health Organization (WHO) - the health branch of the United Nations - found acupuncture to be effective in the treatment of over 40 common problems.  Some of the more common include:

Addictions

(Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco)

Anxiety

Arthritis

Asthma

Bronchitis

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue

Colitis

Common Cold

(Yes, a cure does exist!)

Constipation

Dental Pain

Depression, including SAD

(Seasonal Affective Disorder)

Diarrhea

Digestive Trouble

Dizziness

Dysentery

Emotional Problems

Eye Problems

Facial Palsy / Tics

Fatigue

Fertility

Fibromyalgia

Frozen Shoulder

Headache / Migraine

Hiccups

Incontinence

Indigestion

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Low Back Pain

Menopause

Menstrual Irregularities

Nausea

Numbness or Tingling

Osteoarthritis

Pain

Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS)

Pneumonia

Rhinitis

Sciatica

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Shoulder Pain

Sinusitis

Sleep Disturbances

Sore Throat

Stress

Tennis Elbow

Tonsillitis

Trigeminal Neuralgia

Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

Vomiting

The National Institute of Health (NIH) conducted its own extensive research in November, 1997, primarily focusing on the biological basis and efficacy of acupuncture.  While they concur with WHO on many conditions and additionally recommend acupuncture as an effective treatment for asthma, the 1997 NIH panel concluded:

“There is sufficient evidence of acupuncture’s value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value.”

NIH, 1997.

Please visit the NIH website @ http://nccam.nci.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/ for more information.

If you are interested in learning if this ancient and progressive medicine is able to help you, I welcome your call. I look forward to working with you to resolve those problems that you didn’t realize could be resolved.

Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture: Look Better and Feel Better

You may have seen or heard about Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture in the media recently. The New York Times (12/2007), The Today Show, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and the Denver Post are just a few of the more recent publications and shows to do stories about this natural, non-surgical treatment option available in our endless search for the fountain of youth. What with the FDA’s current safety review of Botox (http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/early_comm/botulinium_toxins.htm), due to reports of systemic adverse reactions, many are now turning to Cosmetic Acupuncture as a holistic alternative because it addresses the actual causes of skin aging & wrinkling versus simply masking the problem.

So what is Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture exactly?

Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture (aka Cosmetic Acupuncture) is technically the painless insertion of extremely fine needles (thickness of a few hairs) into specific points on the face and body and/or local areas of concern, tailored to each individual and their constitutional needs. The purpose is to clear blockages that may have left a map of fine lines or wrinkles, sagging jowls, age spots, dull skin, bags and circles under the eyes, or even small amounts of cellulite. Facial Acupuncture is able to address and treat the underlying imbalances that lead to the creation of these aging road maps on our face and body. At the end of the day, our face is a reflection of our internal and emotional wellbeing.

As a true branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and not simply an external procedure, Facial Rejuvenation involves not only acupuncture, but herbal medicine, dietary and lifestyle recommendations and topical treatments as well. High quality Pearl Cream, in particular, is fantastic for restoring natural moisture and radiance to tired skin. Once reserved for Empresses, Emperors and their concubines, this ancient practice satisfying the dual pursuit of longevity and beauty and is now available in the West by specifically trained acupuncturists and Chinese medicine practitioners.

Most observable benefits include:

  • Eliminates fine lines and diminishes deeper lines
  • Reduces, tightens, or eliminates double chins & “turkey necks”
  • Lifts drooping eyelids
  • Reduces/firms bags and dark circles under the eyes
  • Improves collagen production, muscle tone & facial color
  • Improves skin texture and moisture
  • Brightens eyes
  • Reduces edema and puffiness
  • Improves acne
  • Improves metabolism and most digestive issues

Often more significant are the improvements that happen almost as a side-effect, including:

  • Stress reduction
  • Better sleep
  • Weight loss
  • Lifting or lessening of depressions
  • Lessening of menopausal symptoms and PMS symptoms
  • Relief from headache and/or toothache
  • Increased energy and overall rejuvenation

Returning you to your best sense of balance will be apparent in both your outward appearance as well as your internal well-being. It really brings authenticity to the cliché that “When you look good, you feel good.”

Not comfortable with the idea of surgery or injecting foreign material into your skin? Why not give Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture a try? A standard course of treatment is 10-15 sessions, spaced at intervals of 1-2x/week for 2-4 months. Current or recent smokers should expect to double the number of sessions.

In my experience, many people do see noticeable results after their 3rd or 4th treatment. Most people, thought, should expect to have weekly treatments for about 3 months before seeing dramatic differences. One thing most everyone has in common is the experience of people telling them how great they look and wondering what it is they are doing different.

CAUTIONS: Facial Acupuncture should not be used by everyone. If you are pregnant or experiencing: acute allergic reactions, herpes outbreaks, or colds or flu, please wait until these conditions have passed… then facial treatments are fine. It is also contraindicated in cases of:

  • Severe migraines
  • Severe high blood pressure
  • Diabetes (some exceptions)
  • Use of anticoagulants, including Coumadin or daily aspirin
  • Recent laser resurfacing
    • Allow 3 months for face to heal before trying facial acupuncture
  • Microdermabrasion
    • Allow 1 month for face to heal before trying facial acupuncture

If you are looking to erase effects of days and years in the elements or simply interested in slowing the signs of aging, Cosmetic Acupuncture is your natural solution. This season of springtime - the time of renewal and rebirth - is the ideal time to get started. I look forward to helping you turn back the signs of stress and aging.