Welcome to the Jing practice blog! Providing self-care tips, news, information, and commentary about the acupuncture profession and integrative health.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Cupping Massage
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
H1N1 Updates
I found this snippet about Chinese Medicine and H1N1 prevention/treatment, but the article also has some good stuff about other CAM therapies. I have been doing monthly acupuncture "flu shot" treatments on a lot of my patients using a blend of acupuncture and herbal therapies and so far, no flu!
Holistic treatments boost defense against H1N1
By Laura LaDue, LAc
from WillametteLive, Section Wellness
Posted on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 10:17:14 PM PDT
This flu season, H1N1 is particularly prevalent. In addition to being a nasty virus, it carries with it a lot of cultural baggage in the form of fears and misconceptions.
Like seasonal flu, H1N1 is spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. It is possible to be infected and have respiratory symptoms without a fever.
Most people who have been sick with 2009 H1N1 virus have recovered without needing medical treatment. However, hospitalizations and deaths from infection with this virus have occurred. You should seek urgent medical care if you experience severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, or persistent vomiting.
How does Chinese medicine prevent and treat the H1N1 virus?
From the perspective of Chinese medicine, swine flu is not so different from other types of flu and can most certainly be prevented and treated by means of Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicines for H1N1 do not attack the virus. Rather, they try to remove those internal conditions in the body that enable the virus to take hold and multiply. "There is no medicine to directly kill the virus. A virus is like a seed: it needs things like temperature and water to grow," Dr. Xu Wenbing, Chairman of the Hope Institute of Chinese Medicine in Beijing, said. "When you take away these conditions, the body will cure itself."
Acupuncture helps by bringing the body back into balance, making it more resistant to potential invading viruses. There are specific acupuncture points for boosting the immune system, including points for increasing your white blood cell count. If one is already ill, acupuncture can speed recovery and lessen the symptoms of illness.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Comprehensive Military PTSD Treatment Programs
Acupuncture Today November, 2009, Vol. 10, Issue 11 |
Comprehensive Military PTSD Treatment Programs
By Joe C. Chang, MAOM, Dipl. OM, LAc
So far, there are four comprehensive posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and combat stress treatment programs in the U.S. Army that have incorporated different CAM approaches in their treatment programs.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hallelujah, Proof Is Here!
New scientific breakthrough proves why acupuncture works
Russian researchers in 1991 at The Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Novosibirsk, USSR, in a research project lasting several years, discovered how the human body conducts light. They found that the light conducting ability of the human body exists only along the meridians, and can enter and exit only along the acupuncture points. Dr. Kaznachejew, a professor of physics said:
“This seems to prove that we have a light transferal system in our body somewhat likeoptical fiber. It appears that the light can even travel when the light canal is bent, or totally twisted. The light appears to be reflected from the inner surface, appearing to go in some sort of zigzag track. You can explain this through traditional electromagnetic light theory as it is used in optical fiber communications.”
This finding has been confirmed by a 1992 study in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a 2005 study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine where moxibustion and infrared thermography were used to trace meridian pathways.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Acupuncture for Caesarean Prevention and Healthy Delivery
Studies Show That Acupuncture Decreases Caesarean Rates
Acubalance Wellness Centre of Vancouver presents Debra Betts, an international expert, educator and author of the Essential Acupuncture for Pregnancy and Childbirth.
The SOGC claims 20% fewer caesarean sections could be performed if doctors and hospitals followed guidelines aimed at lowering unnecessary surgeries and if women had support during labour.
Studies have shown that women receiving prebirth acupuncture compared to a control group had:
- An overall 35% reduction in the number of inductions (for women having their first baby this was a 43% reduction)
- A 31% reduction in the epidural rate
- A 32% reduction in emergency caesarean delivery
Breech birth, where the baby is delivering bottom-first rather than head first, is one area under scrutiny by the SOGC. They say that women should have an option to deliver vaginally with a breech presentation rather than have an automatic caesarean delivery. Moxibustion, an ancient Chinese treatment that involves heating acupuncture points with the Chinese herb called mugwort, has been used to turn breech babies for centuries. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that, at 35 weeks gestation, 75.4% of the babies in the intervention group (whose mothers had received moxibustion) had changed to a head-down position versus 47.7% in the control group.
According to Betts, acupuncture during pregnancy helps numerous conditions, including: nausea, high blood pressure, back pain and cervical ripening (which helps shorten labour), and can naturally induce labour.
One thing that Betts is particularly excited about teaching is acupressure for pain management during labour. "We know that if women can manage their pain there is less drugs, less intervention and far fewer C sections." says Betts. "What's important is that these acupressure points are easy to use, can be used at the beginning of labour by the support people, and that there are consistent effects. From my own clinical followup, 86% used it successfully in labour to significantly reduce their pain."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Acupuncture Use in the United States
Acupuncture use in the United States: findings from the National Health Interview Survey.
Institute for Holistic Healing Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA. aburke@sfsu.edu
OBJECTIVE: Acupuncture has become an important provider-based complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment. To improve understanding of its role in personal health care, an analysis of national data was conducted to examine user sociodemographics, conditions treated, and the relationship of use with conventional Western medical care.
DESIGN: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey.
SETTING: The 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-one-thousand and forty-four (31,044) adults who completed the NHIS Sample Adult Core.
OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was recent use of acupuncture, defined as use within the previous 12 months.
RESULTS: In the 2002 NHIS sample, 4.1% of the respondents reported lifetime use, and 1.1% (representing 2.13 million Americans) reported recent use of acupuncture. Recent use (n = 327) was positively associated with being an Asian female, living in the West or Northeast, having poorer self-reported health status, a higher level of education, and being an ex-smoker. Among recent users, the most typical treatment regimen was two to four treatments (34.5%), with musculoskeletal complaints being the most frequently reported conditions, led by back pain (34.0%). Reports of perceived benefit were generally high. Respondents indicated that acupuncture was used both as an alternative and as a complementary therapy. A reasonable number also reported being referred to acupuncture by a conventional medical professional (25.3%). The cross-sectional nature of the data precluded analysis of transitions in health care use (between conventional and CAM treatments) over time.
CONCLUSIONS: Utilization of acupuncture was somewhat lower than expected given its significant national and international recognition and its visibility in the media. This may in part be a function of provider availability and cultural factors.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Fibromyalgia: Traditional vs Sham Acupuncture Success
In the past year there have been several studies that confirm acupuncture is more effective for back pain than the typical lortab, physical therapy, epidural, and surgery regimen touted by western pain management specialists. The studies included a fake or "sham" acupuncture treatment group along with a real or "traditional" acupuncture treatment group. The problem with these designs was the lack of studies comparing traditional and sham acupuncture. When the results of the studies showed statistically insignificant difference in effectiveness, the conclusions make the reader think all you have to do is stick some needles randomly in your back, not necessarily by a qualified acupuncturist, and the placebo effect will take over from there. The following abstract was pulled from Pub Med and discusses the short and long term effects of traditional acupuncture on pain receptors in the brain for fibromyalgia.
Traditional Chinese acupuncture and placebo (sham) acupuncture are differentiated by their effects on mu-opioid receptors (MORs).
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. reharris@med.umich.edu
Controversy remains regarding the mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia. A prevailing theory, largely unproven in humans, is that it involves the activation of endogenous opioid antinociceptive systems and mu-opioid receptors (MORs). This is also a neurotransmitter system that mediates the effects of placebo-induced analgesia. This overlap in potential mechanisms may explain the lack of differentiation between traditional acupuncture and either non-traditional or sham acupuncture in multiple controlled clinical trials. We compared both short- and long-term effects of traditional Chinese acupuncture (TA) versus sham acupuncture (SA) treatment on in vivo MOR binding availability in chronic pain patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM). Patients were randomized to receive either TA or SA treatment over the course of 4 weeks. Positron emission tomography (PET) with (11)C-carfentanil was performed once during the first treatment session and then repeated a month later following the eighth treatment. Acupuncture therapy evoked short-term increases in MOR binding potential, in multiple pain and sensory processing regions including the cingulate (dorsal and subgenual), insula, caudate, thalamus, and amygdala. Acupuncture therapy also evoked long-term increases in MOR binding potential in some of the same structures including the cingulate (dorsal and perigenual), caudate, and amygdala. These short- and long-term effects were absent in the sham group where small reductions were observed, an effect more consistent with previous placebo PET studies. Long-term increases in MOR BP following TA were also associated with greater reductions in clinical pain. These findings suggest that divergent MOR processes may mediate clinically relevant analgesic effects for acupuncture and sham acupuncture.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Boost your immunity and fight off the flu before it fights you!
With concern over the effectiveness and availability of the H1N1 and influenza immunizations, the best treatment to combat these viruses is prevention. Throughout the flu season, September-March, Jing Acupuncture is offering $25 acupuncture sessions designed to help keep you healthy through the fall and winter. It is the perfect introduction for those curious to learn about the benefits of acupuncture and for acupuncture veterans to have a mini-treatment added on to a regular session.
Don't forget to follow these tips:
Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands with soap and water, especially after coughing and sneezing. Alcohol based hand cleaners are also effective but can be a bit harsh to the skin. Bath and Body Works has an excellent alcohol-free spray hand sanitizer that I love.
Practice respiratory etiquette by covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth; germs are spread this way.
Know the signs and symptoms of the flu. A fever is a temperature that is equal to or greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Look for signs of a fever if the person feels very warm, has a flushed appearance, or is sweating or shivering. Remember, if there is no fever, there is no flu!
Stay home if you have flu or flu like symptoms for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever; this should be determined without the use of fever reducing medications (medications that contain acetaminophen or ibuprofen). This is hard for a lot of people who feel they need to "fight through it," but taking the day off and getting good rest, hydration, and nourishment will not only speed your recovery, but will keep you from spreading your illness to friends, family, and colleges.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Acupuncture and Cancer
Saturday, August 15, 2009
OT: Husband's Book is Available for Pre-Order!!!
One of his therapies on the road to recovery was to put the experience in writing. After a few years of trying to find a publisher and hearing "the Iraq market is saturated" or "it isn't political, you have to make it more anti-war/Bush" or "not enough combat and pro-military content," the book is finally going to come out this year in November. I am so proud of this story and his coming out about his experiences with PTSD which will hopefully show that average guys in stressful situations are allowed to ask for help when things fall apart.
Here is some more about the book and the publisher:
hellgatepress.com/display_book.php?id=84
It is defiantly a feel good memoir that provides insight into a soldier's experience sans political ramblings one way or another. So for readers on your Christmas list . . . .
Friday, July 24, 2009
Acupuncture and PCOS
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Jing is On Twitter!
Monday, July 06, 2009
Honor Flight Network
Honor Flight is an organization dedicated to helping every single veteran in America, willing and able to get on a plane or a bus, visit THEIR memorial. Since America felt it was important to build a memorial to the service and the ultimate sacrifice of her veterans, the Honor Flight Network believes it's equally important that they actually get to visit and experience their memorial.
Honor Flight will continue do whatever it takes to fulfill the dreams of our veterans and, very importantly, our senior heroes travel absolutely free. With the continued support of grateful Americans, by the end of the 2009 flying season in November, HFN will have transported more than 42,165 veterans of World War II, Korea and Viet Nam to see the memorials built to honor their suffering and sacrifice to keep this great nation free. Check out their website at http://honorflight.org and the Bluegrass chapter at http://honorflightbluegrass.org
In celebration of Independence Day, Jing Acupuncture will donate 10% of all July sales to the Honor Flight Network. We are generally open by appointment only, but you can visit anytime during the day on Mondays and Thurdays. Whether you are interested in acupuncture, herbal therapy, or health gifts including herbal teas, books, or pain relieving liniments, stop in and get healthy while giving back!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Acupuncture for Marriage
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Career day demonstrator sticks students without school, parent permission
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Pediatrics; Alternative Therapies Can Be Safe, Effective for Children
Ahh, there is nothing like having access to research before it is published. Or in this case, lets call it a position statement. I have been working with more children and adolescents lately, especially with pain and ADHD, so it is refreshing to have a bigwig support acupuncture as a safe and viable therapy.
2009 APR 24 - (
"There is a huge place for complementary and alternative medicine in pediatrics," says Dolores Mendelow, M.D., clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Complementary and alternative therapies are becoming a more prevalent treatment for children. If individuals follow the directions of their physicians, these treatments are a safe and effective way to get and stay healthy, Mendelow says.
While certain types of complementary and alternative therapies are safe for children, there are many therapies that could potentially be dangerous. Mendelow notes that parents should always consult their children's pediatrician before beginning any new treatment.
Alternative therapies can be successful against many illnesses - including the common cold or skin rashes - when over-the-counter medications do not have immediate success. For instance, honey can be used for coughs related to the common cold - just not for children less than one year of age.
"In terms of complementary medicine, we're using acupuncture, dietary supplementation and herbal or botanical therapies," Mendelow says
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Doctoral Degree
Sunday Jan 11th, 2009 8:16 AM