Peripheral neuropathy is described as damage that has been done to the peripheral nervous system.  It usually is caused by conditions such as diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, alcoholism, nutritional deficiencies, AIDS and various medications and drugs.

Other causes include direct physical injury to a nerve caused by fractures, dislocated bones, pressure from a prolonged use of crutches or prolonged position.  Tumors, hemorrhage, exposure to cold and compression (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) can also cause this.

Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may include:

• numbness or insensitivity to pain or temperature
• 
burning, tingling, or prickling sensation
• sharp or burning pain
• 
cramps
• 
extreme sensitivity to touch
• loss of balance and coordination
• muscle weakness
• muscle wasting
• paralysis

Oriental medicine teaches that peripheral neuropathy is due to dampness moving to the limbs, where it obstructs the flow of Qi (energy) and blood within them. The treatment is twofold, to treat the underlying factor that is causing this dampness to accumulate and to directly facilitate the circulation of Qi and blood in the affected area. By improving circulation, the nerve tissues of the affected area can be nourished to repair function and reduce pain.

Peripheral neuropathy is a symptom for many different patterns of disharmony within the body. Acupuncture and Oriental medicine aims to treat each individual uniquely depending on what caused the neuropathy and how it manifests.

I’m here to help, contact me today and we can discuss the treatment options that are open to you with acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.

-Qi Mail by Acufinder

Many folks who come into my office are surprised at the number of ailments that Acupuncture can treat.  At the top of the list that people don’t know about are neurological disorders.

A neurological disorder refers to a problem with the nervous system, which is a complex, sophisticated system that regulates and coordinates the body’s activities. Nerve pain can arise from trauma, inflammation, stroke, disease, infection, nerve degeneration, exposure to toxic chemicals, and nutrient deficiencies.

Nerve pain is usually a sharp shooting pain or a constant burning sensation. Typically occurring in the same location with each episode, it can often be traced along the nerve pathway. Sometimes weakness or impaired function in the affected area occurs and the skin may be either overly sensitive or numb.

Some common neurological disorders acupuncture treats include:

Peripheral Neuropathy – damage to the peripheral nervous system, which transmits information from the brain and spinal cord to every other part of the body. Neuropathy caused by diabetes often affects the feet.

Trigeminal Neuralgia – facial pain, sometimes called Tic Douloureux, affects the trigeminal nerve which is responsible for impulses of touch, pain, pressure and temperature sent to the brain from the face, jaw, and gums.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – also known as median nerve entrapment, it occurs when swelling or irritation of the nerve or tendons in the carpal tunnel results in pressure on the median nerve.

Headaches – Headaches that can be treated with acupuncture include migraines, tension headaches, headaches occurring around the menstrual cycle, sinus headaches and stress-related headaches.

Acupuncture and Oriental medicine have been found effective as a conjunctive therapy for several neurological disorders and in treating pain and inflammation.

Do you or someone you know have this type of pain?  Make an appointment today to talk about how I can help.

-Qi Mail by Acufinder

Irregular periods, menstrual cramps, abdominal pain, breast tenderness, anxiety and irritability are all problems associated with having your period.

Menstrual cramps can be quite painful and along with bloating can be very disruptive to daily life.  Many advocate slowing down, taking it easy, resting.  If you can grab a hot cup of rosehip tea, a great book and snuggle down with your favorite pet, that is an excellent remedy, but often times life interferes and occasionally the pain is stronger than just slowing down can help.  OTC medications are plentiful, they can ease the pain but don’t actually treat the problem.

Menstrual cramps can be relieved by acupuncture

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) looks at menstrual cramps as a result of Qi and Blood not able to flow freely.  This energy, or Qi stagnates and this can cause pain.  Promoting movement of this Qi and Blood, as well as regulating your body so that bloating, breast tenderness and irritability are also relived is the main goal of these treatments.

In addition to regular acupuncture treatments, the following can be used to promote movement and relieve painful periods.

Tea: Rosehips, cinnamon, chamomile and ginger teas can all assist the body during this time.  Mixing some of the raw herbs with boiling water, letting them steep for 20 minute or so before drinking.

Wine: Wine is one of the medicines in the pharmacopea of Chinese Medicine.  It can promote and stimulate the movement of Qi and Blood and taken in moderation, can be used for cramps.  Moderation prior to your cycle with wine and alcohol is important, as prior to beginning bleeding, wine can actually cause stagnation and problems.

Fish Oil Capsules: Fish oils are an amazing source of essential fatty acids, which are show to reduce overall inflammation in the body and will help to reduce the blood clotting and vasoconstriction that can cause cramping.  Take fish oils daily, from 1,200 to 4,000 mg per day.

Diet: Chinese Nutrition is an important factor in every treatment plan.  Avoid excessively cold foods and dairy products during your period.  Ice in your water at this time, icecream, and other cold foods will only serve to make the problem worse.  Drinking plenty of room temperature water, or warm tea, green leafy vegetables and regular meals will help.  Regular exercise is essential, but when you are bleeding, don’t push yourself too hard.  Gentle movements such as dancing and yoga, walking and light swimming are great.

Chinese Herbal Therapy: Chinese herbs are foremost, the best choice for helping to reduce cramping.  A Traditional Chinese Medical formula at our office is made up of granuals and is highly individualized according to the underlying problems with the health of the patient.  We can use this individual formula to address everything from cramping and bloating to irritability and irregular menstruation.

Whatever your imbalance is with your reproductive health, Traditional Chinese Medicine, with acupuncture and herbal therapy can be a great tool to help you feel better.  When you come in, we will write up a full treatment plan and help you to make the best decisions for your health.

A great video on the benefits of acupuncture for low back pain and sciatica.   After pain killers and physical therapy aren’t helpful, acupuncture helps!

Acupuncture resolves low back pain and sciatica

Common Causes of Back Pain Treated with Acupuncture

Back pain, whether it is acute pain caused by injury or a chronic state due to past trauma or surgery, can be completely debilitating.  Having your life affected by the necessary changes in lifestyle, movement and stature not only causes mental and spiritual unhappiness, but in the long term can also cause other structural problems within the body.

The main cause of acute back pain is the sprain.  During your day, workout, or play you may have overstretched one or more of the ligaments in the back and possibly caused a strain, which is tearing or damaging the muscles, generally caused by sudden movement and force.  Even seemingly innocent activities can cause these things, apparent mild injuries, poor posture and lifting over heavy items improperly.

Chronic pain comes from an early injury, and may be related to having a herniated or protruding disc bulging.  Another common form is sciatica.  Sciatica is pain that usually extends down from the buttocks into the legs.  This is generally caused by an irritation or inflammation of the sciatic nerve which extends out from the lumbar area of the back.

Although most episodes of low back pain last less than two weeks, research has shown that recurrence rates for low back pain can reach as high as 50% in the first few months following an initial episode.

推拿 - tuī ná

Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns of Back Pain

How can Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) help you? TCM has a different view of diagnosing back pain than Western Medicine.  We differentiate the pain into various patterns based on the type of pain and the over all constitution of the patient.

Common TCM Patterns for Back Pain include:

• Deficiency type pain
• Qi and Blood stagnation
• Pain due to Cold Damp Obstruction

When the pain is resulting from deficiency, it feels dull, is usually chronic and improves with rest.  We see this more common in office workers, middle aged people and the elderly.

Stagnation is pain that is more severe and may feel stabbing in nature, with sensations of stiffness, tightness and when resting, it gets worse.  Typically, getting up and lightly stretching the area can alleviate the pain and often times when this type reoccurs, it is indicative of an underlying deficiency as well.

Cold damp pain is usually always made worse with cold and damp weather and generally with pressure changes.  Heat is useful to relieve the pain and there may be a sensation of numbness either in the back where the pain is, or along the legs or feet.  Sensations of heaviness and swellings may also occur.

Traditional Chinese Medicine as Treatment for Back Pain

Acupuncture can help to relieve all of these types of pain by restoring harmony and bringing balance to the body and thereby helping to stimulate natural healthy patterns of healing.

Treatment usually consists mainly of acupuncture, but other methods may be applied, such as moxa, a heating therapy, cupping, Tuina and possibly the use of a personalized herbal formula.  When using acupuncture, points in the local area as well as in the arms and hands, legs and feet may be used.  Quick relief follows the insertion of the needles.

Cupping consists of using glass cups to create suction on the body relieving the area of stagnation, dampness and pain.  Using cups on the body, one can find great relief from long term chronic pain, especially if caused by trauma.

Treatment should happen frequently at the beginning and then as pain relief is sustained, can be tapered off.

As we can see, acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can greatly improve the quality of life for many who live with back pain.

Research and Sources:

• Acupuncture Eases Back Pain
• Acupuncture Effective for Treating Chronic Back Pain
• Acupuncture May Reduce Back Pain
• Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain
• Acufinder
• Acupuncture Today

[New to acupuncture?  Get to know its benefits by reading 10 Things about Acupuncture that work.]

To be, or not to be…. Well.

What are your days like this winter?  Do you get up each day, tired and wondering if today you are going to get the office plague, have you spent the entire (albeit beautiful) Portland rainy winter hoping you don’t get H1N1?  Do you spend a good portion of your time working out various ways to avoid being ill and tired, avoiding digestive problems and other maladies?  How many of these problems do you have on a regular basis?

Here’s the real question:

How many of these health problems give you that niggly, squicky feeling in your head that there’s really something more serious going on?

Do you move toward health or away from illness?

Avoiding sickness holds a certain mindset.  It means expecting the illness and seeking only to move away from the pain and suffering it causes you. We continually worry that we may become sick and this worry undermines our immune systems.  We have to take time off of work to make emergency trips to our physician so that they can provide us with medications to alleviate our pain and problems, which again, undermine our purposes and goals.  Lost time at work and not being at our best, not to mention over use of antibiotics can really keep us from fully succeeding and living our lives to the fullest!

Your ideal health

What would it be like to seek health?  To continually look to the future and obtain a healthy body? A body that, in its natural state seeks homeostasis and ease?  What if you could lose the swings of good/bad and simply be amazing? What if the glass wasn’t half full or empty, but filled from a constant source of renewed health?

How would you think differently?  How would you act differently?  How would your life’s plans and goals change?

A winter full of health with no colds.  A life without the seasonal blah-blahs, no missed work, missed deadlines or missed goals.  A life where you are out of pain and have time to achieve your goals and still have time  for intimacy in your relationships.  What would happen then?

Your plans will change, your relationships will change, your life will change.  You’ll do something new, you will move toward and engage in, health.

All alternative medicine is based on seeking health, rather than running way from illness.  There is no glass half full or half empty, it is always being filled by a renewable source of life force and energy.  Chinese Medicine embraces and treats the  the whole body.  It succeeds in motivating you toward a whole new state of health.

Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, Tuina, cupping and nutritional counseling can all help you to start to look for and move toward ways to make your life better.  Acupuncture has been shown to boost immunity, relieve depression, relieve chronic pain, help you lose weight and give you an over all sense of well being.

To seek or to avoid?  One is open, full of possibility and future, one is reactive, constricting and full of fear.  Which are you?  Which will you choose for yourself this year?

Not sure about acupuncture just yet?  Read 5 Myths about Acupuncture

Picture is Marc Forrest’s via flickr

Did you know that acupuncture is SO versatile that just ONE point can treat many problems?

Treating just one point on a meridian can treat various problems along that meridian.  By inserting just one point, we can affect different parts of the body.

Treating the roots can affect the branches!

Bladder 67 as an acupuncture point does just this.

It treats

• Stuffy nose
• Nosebleeds
• Eye Pain
• And headache that is at the top or back of the head.

Each point on the body can do this, by using them in combination, we can achieve an even greater effect!

Friday news!  I am off to the great city of Chicago this weekend for some formalized training to become a Clean Needle Technique Instructor to be available to teach the class at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine next year, but here’s some news to keep you busy while I am on the plane.

• Auricular Acupuncture helps with smoking cessetation.
• Acupuncture is a great alternative treatment for low back pain
• Acupuncture Treatment May Limit Dose of Anti-Depressant Needed

Have you used acupuncture to treat smoking addiction or for your low back pain?  Does acupuncture help you with seasonal affective disorder or depression?  Tell let us know in the comments!

Natural Relief for Migraines and Headaches

Migraines and headaches are debilitating to nearly 28 million people in the United States aged 12 and older - nearly 13 percent of the population.  (National Headache Foundation)  Those who suffer will generally try just about anything they can to relieve the pain. Very few of the Western methods work for any length of time and being a person who suffers from Headaches, it can be very frustrating.

Alternative treatment for Headaches Photo by Paul J Everett

Pain relief of headaches, using Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can come in many forms depending on the Chinese Medical diagnosis of the headaches.  Chinese Medicine diagnoses in a much different way than Western Medicine, and therefore is more equipped to find the root of the pain rather than simply attempt to alleviate the pain.  This is a more healthy way of addressing the problem because it gets patients off of drugs and pain relievers and able to live a healthy lifestyle without the added burden these drugs can put on the liver and kidneys which can lead to further health concerns.

Common Types of Headaches include:

• Migraines
• Cluster Headaches
• Tension Headaches
• Sinus Headaches

These various types of headaches can cause pain in the frontal sinues, top of the head and occiput area.  Pain can radiate down into the neck and shoulders, causing tension there.  Chronic tension and stress can cause migraines which in turn can cause visual disturbances, balance problems and nausea, just to name a few.

Common Medical Treatments for Headaches:

• Pain relievers
• Suggestion of stress reduction
• Occasionally doctors will suggest dietary changes
• Anti-Depressants for migraines
• Occipital Nerve Stimulation

Diagnosis and Treatment with Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture:

Traditional Chinese Medicine does not recognize migraines and recurring headaches as one particular syndrome.  Each individual is looked at in terms of their constitution, diet, exercise levels and other lifestyle choices.  TCM works to treat the specific symptoms that are unique to each individual using techniques determined to help that individual, such as acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, tui na massage and nutrition.  The way that you are diagnosed will depend on many variables and your acupuncturist will ask you questions such as: Is the headache behind your eyes and temples, or is it located more on the top of your head? When do your headaches occur (i.e. night, morning, after eating)? Do you find that a cold compress or a dark room can alleviate some of the pain? Do you describe the pain as dull and throbbing, or sharp and piercing?

The answer to these questions can help your acupuncturist to determine the best course of treatment for you. You will likely receive acupuncture treatment at various points in the body corresponding to the actions and locations of your headaches and many patients report having immediate relief of the pain!

Acupuncture is highly effective for migraine headaches, but also works to alleviate tension headaches, cluster headaches, headaches caused by trauma and headaches that are related to disease such as sinus problems, high blood pressure and sleeping disorders.

Traditional Chinese Medicine can bring relief without the side effects of other methods, is effective and without side effects.

Research and Articles:

• Acupuncture may help tension headaches
• Study: Acupuncture for tension type headache
• Study: Treatment of Migraine by Acupuncture
• Acupuncture for recurrent headaches: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
• Effect of acupuncture on Headache
• Acupuncture for Headaches and Head Pain
• Acupuncture treats Headaches and Migraines

Make an appointment today and get the relief you need.  Don’t suffer anymore.

In a recent study acupuncture was put to the test by watching brain waves and how they are affected during an acupuncture treatment.

“The study showed that acupuncture increases the binding availability of mu-opioid receptors in regions of the brain that process and weaken pain signals — specifically the cingulate, insula, caudate, thalamus and amygdala. By directly stimulating these chemicals, acupuncture can affect the brain’s long-term ability to regulate pain, the study found.” - US News and World Report