Acupuncture
These Longest Days of the Year
Welcome to the Tai Yang time of year. Say that three times fast, and maybe add “Thank You,” to complete the trifecta, TYTYTY! “Tai Yang” means the most yang, as we enter the longest days of the year, leading up to the summer solstice next week, at which time days will begin to very gradually, grow shorter.
Until that time we might be more vulnerable to “yang pathogens,” exemplified by inflammatory heat and/or “external invasions,” which is probably why we see a minor uptick in Covid cases around this time each year, despite the warm weather which should mitigate such spread. More common are the former, symptoms of “heat rising,” a la insomnia, anxiety, palpitations, acid reflux, constipation, headaches, and ANGER!!! If you’ve noticed an exacerbation in any such signs within yourself, rest assured, it is normal for the time of year and relatively wane after June 21st. If it doesn’t, see a doctor, and/or myself.
Some of the things we can do to cool excessive yang rising include green tea in the mornings (after breakfast), then peppermint or chrysanthemum teas at night, snacking on watermelon, cucumbers, and celery, and minimizing spicy foods and alcohol. Most importantly, sweat!
In Chinese medicine we treat most “Tai Yang disease,” or viral pathogens through moderate sweating—underscore moderate for you high intensity athletes—and as the weather now is increasingly humid to begin with, it is important to sweat, just a bit every day.
The Tai Yang time of day is mid-day, around noon, which makes that window optimum for exercise—although as I often advise my busy patients, the truly best time to exercise is whenever you have time. ‘Tis better to do imperfectly than not do at all.
Although I am admittedly a slave to air conditioning for sleep, it is obviously manmade, unnatural, and ultimately not physiologically (or environmentally) beneficial. In the humid climate of summer, the contrived cold air traps pathogenic fluids at the exterior, or “Tai Yang layer” of the body, thereby exacerbating local inflammation, often inducing skin/joint conditions, and compromising immune function. I recommend using it as minimally as possible and/or wearing a scarf or long-sleeves while in offices or public transportation that insist on killing us slowly. And spend as much time outdoors as possible. We are all too deprived of it these days.
Happy Father’s Day!
Benefits of Working with Allied Practitioners
How your acupuncturist can build bridges among your health care team.
Let’s see if we can set the scene of something remarkable, something that could become the future of healthcare. Picture yourself walking into a doctor’s office or health clinic looking for relief from your debilitating chronic pain. The nurse calls your name and leads you into a serene treatment room. As you settle onto the examination table, the door opens and you are greeted by not just the familiar face of your acupuncturist, but also by a team of allied practitioners working in harmony to address your health concerns. continue reading
Chinese Medicine on Fainting, Dizziness
A friend of mine recently expressed having experienced great bouts of dizziness and fainting during the third trimester of her last pregnancy, which was in the dead of summer and was thus not surprising. I felt bad to hear of her struggles, but grateful that it inspired an idea for a new entry, on how Chinese medicine views fainting and dizziness, whether in pregnancy or not, and how we can treat or prevent it.
As with any Chinese medical diagnosis, the specifics get complicated, but we can still relatively easy to simplify into a couple of broad strokes. With any manifestation of dizziness, whether orthostatic, vertigo, passing out, or anything else, we are considering patterns of either blood deficiency, dampness, or a combination of the two, the latter of which obviously being the most difficult to treat. The final one is where your toddler at home forces you to “dance” with her around the house by spinning endlessly, for which there is no cure.
Blood Deficiency: More common in vegans, vegetarians, and pescatarians (most likely descending order), more common in women (especially while pregnant), the elderly, or anyone on long-term medications, which compromise the body’s absorption and capacity to produce blood. There is either a lack of cerebrovascular fluid or its flow and the head becomes faint.
Recommended treatment is herbs and moxibustion (acupuncture not as effective here), red meat or eggs, and earlier bedtimes.
Dampness: More common with obesity, more common in men, and/or people who consume a lot of alcohol, sugar, dairy, or raw foods. The microbiome grows congested with fluid retention, so the pathway by which our cellular energy carries healthy fluids to the brain is obstructed. “The clear yang qi cannot rise,” as we say, and our clarity or stability suffer.
Recommended treatment is minimizing all of the aforementioned foods, herbal medicine for 1-3 weeks to purge fluid retention, and acupuncture, especially along the vertigo line along the scalp located directly above the top of the ears. Note, this point will not be as effective on blood deficiency patterns, who are suffering a pattern of “deficiency,” not “excessive damp,” which responds better to aggressive manual treatment. As for self-care, drink hot ginger tea and black teas until symptoms subside.
Combination Blood Deficiency/Dampness: This is most common in pregnant women and very difficult to treat, because to nourish blood we must generate fluids, but to resolve dampness we must purge it. Not to mention the fact that we must be careful with purging fluid retention in pregnant women, since the fetus is ultimately a form of fluid retention—albeit an adorably magical one.
Dizziness and vertigo are serious conditions, not generally life threatening, although potentially dangerous when leading to the physical risks that accompany fainting. As always, Chinese Medicine can have much to offer in the way of hands-on treatment, internal medicine, and recommended self-care.
When in doubt: red meat, eggs, ginger tea, good rest, and steamed vegetables for the dampness.
Using Acupuncture to Manage Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases can prove to be intricate and seemingly unsolvable puzzles for many people. And statistics prove this to be true as millions worldwide are impacted by autoimmune diseases ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to lupus, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel disease, and even Parkinson’s disease. Conventional medicine can diagnose 100 different autoimmune conditions, however the treatments offered don’t completely resolve the issues associated with the disease and in extreme cases, no treatment is available at all. And yet, in the midst of all these medical challenges that autoimmune diseases present, acupuncture emerges as a promising ally, offering relief to those grappling with these often-complex health conditions. continue reading
Acupuncture for Orthopedic Pain
Orthopedic pain is a big deal for many Americans, and it comes in many different forms including knee, hip, shoulder, and other joint pain. Acupuncture has been proven an effective tool to deal with orthopedic pain…even Harvard Medical School thinks so. continue reading
