East West Medicine

 Acupuncture Orthopedics

T he American Journal of Epidemiology endorses acupuncture as a viable treatment option for patients who suffer with chronic low back pain. Acupuncture treatment was found to ease pain and improve back function in a cost effective manner. The journal referenced the largest study to date of acupuncture in the treatment of back pain. Research showed that patients experienced significantly better back function and a pronounced decrease in pain during treatment and for a period of three months after receiving treatment. Acupuncture is considered one of the most conservative treatment options for back pain. This is especially true when acupuncture is compared to the risks of surgery and the debilitating effects and short lived benefits of using anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers.

 

How about having your own traveling acupuncturist?  That’s the height of luxury for most of us but, for some, flying your acupuncturist to your location is a necessity. If you are a professional football player whose body is treated violently every week, you will do almost anything to reduce your pain and increase the length of your career.  I don’t think of football players as people who generally embrace alternative medical treatments but 40 of the top players in the NFL scheme to get onto the acupuncturist’s schedule as close to game time as possible.  The New York Times (11/30/10) profiled Lisa  Ripi , an acupuncturist who travels around the country to treat her football player patients and reduce their soreness, pain, and bruising. Ripi focuses on sore areas, using her needles to increase blood flow, thereby relaxing the player’s tight muscles. Acupuncture has long been known for its effectiveness in treating pain and, as an added benefit, these athletes don’t

I imagine that when you are an NBA star and have a contract worth millions, you take your injuries seriously and are willing to be open to new therapies. Certainly, that is the case with Mickael Pietrus, the famous NBA player for the Phoenix Suns who sought treatment at the Shaolin Temple in China. This Temple is well known for it's Eastern medicine approaches. While he was there he received acupuncture, massage and other traditional remedies performed by the Shaolin monks. Pietrus is not the first basketball star to receive treatment here, both Abbot Shi Yongxin and Shaquille O'Neal have also come to the Temple. Not to mention the many other NBA players who have tried acupuncture elsewhere. When Pietrus recently left the Shaolin Temple he said he felt better. That his knees no longer had pain and he would resume practice soon. Read more here

I know that many of you have questions about herbs - the content of tablets and the quality control of ingredients, in particular. Good. It is important to be particular. That is one reason why people need to work with a skilled practitioner. I've investigated many brands and varieties of herbal formulas and have found companies and people who I can depend on. Cathy Margolin, L.A.c., a practitioner who I met several years ago, has developed  formulas for specific ailments. her formulas for sleep and PMS  are very popular. Here is an excerpt from an article she wrote for the Huffington Post that explains how helpful Chinese herbs can be for relieving PMS, with research to back it up. "Herbs have been around longer than mankind. Through the ages every culture has discovered the healing properties nature provides; this has been a universal phenomenon. The Chinese began embracing natural botanicals and documenting their medicinal value circa 300 BC. The Yello

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory joint disease. It is classified as an autoimmune disorder, which is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. I find it fascinating that our immune system, which protects us from so many pathogens on a day to day basis, would attack itself. Essentially what happens is that our body designates one of its own cells as a foreign cell. How could this happen? Throughout our lifetime, and even before we are born, we accumulate environmental toxins, hormone disruptors, and other agents that have become part of what it means to live in a modern society. It is practically unavoidable. With all these components of non-self that are now integrated into our bodies, it is understandable why the body would be confused! These toxins don’t belong there but have become part of our inner landscape none the less. Thus, when managing cases of rh

The role of trigger points in muscle pain… Trigger points are felt as small, tender nodules and painful bands in skeletal muscles. These knots are hyperirritable spots. When muscles work in an eccentric fashion, that is a contraction occurs while the muscle lengthens, damage occurs within the muscle cells. The reason why these trigger points develop is because a neurotransmitter, Acetylcholine, is released in excess, which then causes a persistent, localized muscle contraction. This muscle contraction compresses blood capillaries which then reduces blood flow. Lower amounts of oxygen and glucose is then delivered to the muscle and an energy crisis is created. As a result, a number of pain sensitizing substances are released which activate nerve receptors that respond to pain. The muscle is unlikely to relax and thus, a vicious cycle is created. The presence of a local twitch response, referred pain or reproduction of symptomatic pain increases the certai

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), health is a state of balance in which food choice is key. As a longtime nutritionist I can report profound positive changes when people get their food selections right. Nutritional balance from a TCM perspective is far different from that of Western nutrition. Modern nutrition science is based on knowing the chemical composition of foods and the biochemical pathways of the body. Western nutritionists quantify nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, and fat, then group foods accordingly, with a one-size-fits-all serving recommendation. The Food Pyramid, for example, groups bread, pasta, grains, and potatoes together as “carbohydrates” and suggests 5 to 8 servings. According to TCM, however, bread and pasta are damp and cooling, and thus are not recommended for someone overweight, bloated, or suffering sinus congestion. Sprouted grains, rye, and wild rice, although also carbohydrates, do not contribute to dampness because

  Dr kurt is trained in various styles of acupuncture and uses an integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Japanese Meridian Therapy, Korean Acupuncture, Auricular Acupuncture, Dr. Tan’s Balance Method, and Classical Five-Element Acupuncture in order to achieve the best results for his patients. *Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM — One of the most widely practiced form of acupuncture, and in which the plurality of practitioners are trained. According to TCM the body is filled with channels or lines of energy that innervates all parts of the body. The channels foster points that allow access to the manipulation of this energy to remove blockages and imbalances to the body’s energetic flow, effecting the various parts and organs of the body. Removing these blockages and correcting imbalances allows the smooth flow of blood and energy, stimulating the body to heal itself. These acupuncture points are stimulated using fine sterilized stainless steel disposabl

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Acupuncture for Sleep Disorders

Akin, 29, of Hermitage, Tenn., says her doctor recommended that she undergo in vitro fertilization ( IVF ), which costs roughly $15,000. But after some initial skepticism, Akin decided to put modern medicine aside and try the ancient practice of acupuncture. "I was pregnant by the third month. It was awesome," says Akin, who gave birth to her son, Hudson, in October. "He's my little acupuncture baby." It's estimated that 10 percent of all women are unable to become pregnant after trying for a year. It's a problem of special interest to the growing number of women who have waited until their late 30s and early 40s to have children. Spurred, in part, by reports of celebrities such as Mariah Carey , Celine Dion and Khloe Kardashian trying it, more and more of these women are turning to acupuncture -- the practice of inserting thin needles into the skin to relieve pain or promote healing -- to address fertility issues. Some women turn to acupun

A study in Great Britain of nearly 6000 people concluded that psychological stress when in your 20s makes it more than twice as likely that one will suffer low back pain upon reaching the thirties. 368 US Army soldiers who came to a clinic complaining of low back pain were studied.  They completed a questionnaire about their work habits and their health.  Job stress was linked to emotional stress and this was directly related to their clinic visit complaining of back pain. The greater the emotional distress felt by the soldier, the more visits that were required to relieve his back pain.  The Army researchers conclude that job stress plays an important role in persistent low back pain and that reducing the stress can also reduce the pain. Recently, a study of more than 48,000 men in the Swedish Army showed the link between back problems and the ability to cope with stress.  The researchers performed medical examinations, intelligence tests, and assessment of ability to

•     Acne / Acne Rosacea •     Acute and Chronic Pain •     Allergies •     Anxiety •     Arthritis •     Asthma •     Auto Accident Recovery •     Back Pain •     Colds and Flus •     Digestive Pain •     Fatigue •     Fibromyalgia •     Food Sensitivities/Allergies •     Frozen Shoulder •     Headache •     Hip Pain •     Infertility •     Irritable Bowel Syndrome •     Joint Pain •     Knee Pain •     Low Immunity •     M

Acupuncture is an ancient Eastern traditional practice that has survived for thousands of years, and still offers a great deal of benefit today for those who suffer from a variety of conditions. While some of the conditions that acupuncture has been found to be the most beneficial include allergies, lung disorders such as asthma, migraines, back pain, and arthritis, acupuncture has helped a large number of people to eliminate pain, reduce symptoms, alleviate stress and anxiety, and lead healthier, more balanced lives. Even though acupuncture as an art and science was first introduced in Eastern civilizations, its modern day influence has spanned the globe, and is now a widely accepted from of medicine even in the Western world. Those who seek the help of a certified acupuncture provider and those who become certified in the field of acupuncture continue to rise in number annually in the US. While a lot of people may cringe at the very thought of it, acup

You have probably heard of fractals—geometric forms that defy our usual definition of shape and size—as a fractal shape possesses infinite detail which repeats itself at every size or scale of magnitude. The human body possesses "fractal-ness" in its physical structure, movement, stages of development, and in the system of points used in acupuncture. In mathematics and information science, the property of "fractal-ness" inherent in living forms is referred to as "self-similarity". Just as the twigs of a tree are similar to the tree's branches, "microsystems" of acupuncture points "mirror" the whole system of acupoints found in the body. In a "microsystem", the whole body is reflected in just one of its organs, such as the ear or the hand. Conditions of the body, wherever they might be, from head to toe, can be treated by using points in one microsystem. Nature likes to re-use its finest designs over and over,

Army on brink of new ways to fight pain - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

When there is the two-theorys, and both try to explain something, then the paradoxes arise, and is the light of the paradoxes that illuminates our minds to a new approach to a problem. But you only get a new approach if you are navigating through the various knowledge, for while beliefs are rooted in unique consiguirá you hardly see any light at the end of the tunnel. Before anything else is good to make clear that the scientific method we have today is still the best tool we have to study nature and its interaction with things. And it is the light that many researchers try to explain acupuncture. WHO recognizes scientific evidence in various pathologies that can be treated by acupuncture, but even so, there always appear more scientific studies trying to prove whether or not there is effective with the use of needles. Unfortunately these studies are full of bias, there are so many interests wanting to prove or disprove the use of needles, which is no longer possible to b