Hello and welcome to my blog. As a practicing acupuncturist, I am naturally interested in natural ways to heal and keep a healthy body. I have a healthy respect for Western Medicine and I remind my patients to check with their doctor regarding their medical issues; in fact each new patient signs a form that reminds them to see/consult their physician for the same issue for which they are seeking acupuncture.

BUT it seems to me that more and more people are relying totally on their doctor or health practitioner to fix all and any ailments.  Many of us are relying completely on the medical and scientific community to solve all of our health problems.  There are times that I cringe when patients tell me that they have a certain diagnosis by their physician with almost a proud ring to their statement.  Many diagnosis are required by Insurance Companies in order to get claims paid, and a particular disease like IBS or Crohns disease, arthritis for instance are listed as diseases for insurance purposes, but they are NOT a bug or virus that one contracted.  Many of these ‘diseases’ are due to foods/drinks that irritate the digestive system causing the named ‘disease’.  Our medical professionals treat the symptoms and in many cases not the cause.  –Before anyone starts throwing things at me– I agree that once the ‘disease’ has taken hold, one needs intervention and relief from the pain.  What I am suggesting is DON’T stop there.  There are many resources out there to help us with the recovery and assist us in finding the root cause.  Remember the old joke about the guy with the sore arm? Patient says, “Doctor, my arm hurts when I do this” Doc says, “Well, don’t do that”   It’s not quite that simple, but there are  things you can and cannot do that will keep your arm or whatever from hurting without taking drastic means that may harm healthy parts of your body.  Let’s take responsibility for our health and begin to prevent ill health wherever possible and begin to heal wherever possible. I don’t have all the answers but have some suggestions on where to start on the path to a healthier body with a healthier lifestyle.

Over the years of practicing acupuncture, fifteen at last count, I have and am constantly researching ways to keep you, me and anyone who is interested, healthy.  I offer the results of my research to my patients, friends, relatives and anyone who will listen.  I highly recommend the research that promotes prevention as a Big Deal and something that should be addressed especially as we age.   One only has to look at their aging parents or grandparents to see where they most likely are heading in the years ahead.   When people find out about my extensive research for healthy living, I get many calls and emails about their certain ailments and conditions asking what they can do naturally to assist in their healing.  I am not an expert on any disease and do not always have the research results on hand, but I am pretty good at finding what research universities have posted or information from one of my ‘rogue docs’. (MDs who also use and recommend natural methods of healing) And I always remind anyone asking for my help on finding new research:  After reviewing the research and before making any changes or taking any new supplements to:  “Consult with your doctor or pharmacist to rule out any interactions with medications you are taking or any conditions that may be effected. Do not cease taking medication without consulting with your doctor.”

So this Blog will be an outlet for all the research I have done and will continue to do and hopefully offer you the reader some interesting and helpful ways to heal and keep healthy.  So again thanks for tuning in, I hope you will find some interesting and helpful information along the way.

Note: I do not intend to ignore the obvious, Acupuncture, in this Blog.  First, there is a lot of information about Acupuncture on this site, please check out all the acupuncture sections and then feel free to email or call me with any questions.  Second, I will also be addressing the use of Acupuncture for healing along the way in this blog.

People who are not familiar with acupuncture always ask if it can treat a certain syndrome, disease or malady.  The thing about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that it is viewed from a completely different angle than Western Medicine.  There are ‘Patterns of Disease’ in TCM and every known or unknown disease or syndrome will fall into one of the ‘Patterns.’  This then determines the treatment. In order to diagnose or find the ‘Pattern of Disease’, the Acupuncturist takes a complete physical history, notes the symptoms, checks for physical signs, asks about lifestyle and diet,  checks the pulses (yes pulses, there are six different ones in TCM) and then finally checks the tongue.  Then the diagnoses according to TCM is made and the acupuncture points chosen and applied.

So the answer to the question at the beginning of the first paragraph is a definite Yes. But we treat it according to TCM as a ‘Pattern.’  Most treatments for those first-timers is usually for pain.  This could be from neck to knee pain, but pain.  TCM considers and treats this as local stagnation.  The school that I trained in, a traditional school of Chinese Medicine, addresses pain as number one when a patient presents as such.  Some cases present with pain due to an accident which definitely calls for local treatment along with some additional points for immune or systemic support.  Other pain presents from repetitive motion, wear and tear to inflammatory pain such as arthritis.  Here again we are trained to treat the pain first and foremost and adding additional points to support the body in self-healing and strengthening.  For these type cases, I may offer/suggest herbals and/or supplements for supporting healing and possibly prevention of further damage as in arthritis or strained or pulled muscles.  If one is on medication for their pain, I usually do not suggest any additional herbals or supplements unless they ask and then I advise them to talk with their doctor before going off the medication or adding anything new.

Note:  All offerings/suggestions of herbals and/or supplements are a result of my research in this field.  I usually offer along with the suggestion of supplement, the research or a website on the particular suggestion.

Many people also ask how Acupuncture works and are really asking how it compares to the Western Medicine that they understand.  There is no real comparison of TCM to Western Medicine; the best explanation I can give in most cases is that acupuncture increases blood circulation to the pain area bringing nourishment to the damaged tissues and carrying away waste as in lactic acid to over-used muscles. (See the form Acupuncture Research under Acupuncture in my Blog for some scientific theories of how/why it works)

Acupuncture training is usually a three year program, all of which is learning the ins and outs of Traditional Chinese Medicine, learning where the fourteen (14) main meridians course throughout the body, learning where all 400+ points are and what each one does, learning the Patterns of Disease and how to diagnose them and then what the best course of treatment is. (not to mention the practice and practice of needle placement)  It is very intense and complicated, but the most interesting part of my life was learning TCM.  The reason I mention the complications of TCM is just that, it is complicated and one does not need to know how it works to take advantage of it and of the fact that it does work for many people for many different issues.

One aspect of acupuncture I think is very interesting and  one I like to tell my new  patients who are  looking for some understanding of acupuncture is this:

There are 14 main meridians (energy passageways) running throughout the body.  They come in pairs; seven are Yin and seven are Yang.  Yin is passive, quiet, cool, night-time, female. Yang is aggressive, loud, hot, daytime, and male.  When the pairs come together and are balanced they complement each other.  Each of the pairs has a Yin and Yang aspect. Each of the pairs has three things/duties in common.  Each pair is responsible for a body tissue, a sensory organ and an emotion.

For example the Liver (Yin) and the Gallbladder (Yang) are the pair responsible for all the tendons in the body, they service and nourish them. They ‘open to the eyes’  (sight) which means they are responsible and service this sensory organ and the emotion connected to the Liver/Gall Bladder pair is Anger.

Another example is the pair Kidney (Yin) and Urinary Bladder (Yang). They service all the bones in the body, ‘open to the ear’ (hearing) and the emotion connected to these two is Fear.

These examples are some of the criteria considered when diagnosing in TCM and finding the ‘Pattern of Disease.” For instance if a  patient presents with painful, stiff joints, eyes may be red or dry/itchy and emotionally on the angry side, the acupuncturist knows we are likely dealing with one of the ‘Patterns’ dealing with Liver/Gall Bladder.

I am sure it all sounds like a foreign language to you, and it did to me when I started my training.  I was very fortunate as the school I attended was staffed with Chinese doctors mostly from Shanghai University who were excellent teachers and very authentic.  I will never forget the first thing we all learned was how to pronounce Ying and Yang.  One could always tell the freshmen in the school as they still spoke of Ying and Yang and after only a few days with one of the Chinese doctors or professors Ying quickly became Yin (with an almost silent Y) and Yang became a quick and shortened Young.

This narrative is meant to give you a feeling of acupuncture and not meant to confuse you.  Sometimes when someone asks me ‘How does it work?” and depending on my mood, I may answer with “Do you have three years to listen?  Hope you enjoyed the quick review, but my main hope is that you get a feel of acupuncture and the real message that you do not have to understand it to embrace it.

Thanks for listening.
There is a lot of information out there on how it works if one really wants more information, I suggest www.acupuncture.com to start.