Migraines can be a debilitating condition that can affect you for hours and sometimes, up to days leaving you in excruciating pain. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Migraines can be relieved with several acupuncture points in the skull, ears and face.
Although nothing can really be done in the midst of a migraine, this type of treatment is excellent for preventing future episodes. Keep in mind that a mere single treatment won’t eliminate migraines – this is a type of treatment that needs to be repeated over a period of time at least once a week. It also depends on what has caused your migraine. Things like a sudden change in air pressure, changes in hormone levels, diet, dehydration and stress can effect when you get your migraine and how severe it is.
If you find yourself getting a migraine, here are some things that you can do to alleviate the pain:
1) Apply a cold compress to your neck and forehead, with the application of hot compresses to your hands and feet, keeping your head above your heart – this brings your blood flow away from your head and into your extremities;
2) Apply pressure with your fingertips to your temples, earlobes, eyebrows and the vortex (the very top) of your skull – these are key acupuncture points
3) Of course, rest in a dark room with absolutely no light and complete silence.
I realize that the thought of putting needles in your skull, face and ears sounds a little creepy, but there are evidence-based medical journals that have been published to prove that this treatment works, and is more effective than taking harsh medications. Remember…..taking ANY type of medication is a bandaide solution; it’s not the answer.
Check out this study that was done in May, 2008:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/572382
If you suffer from periodic migraines, or even chronic headaches the important thing is to find out why your migraines and headaches are occuring. Speaking with a healthcare professional like your Massage Therapist or Chiropractor will help us narrow down what the root of the problem is. From there we can devise a treatment plan that is right for you.
a couple years ago, at the recommendation of my sister, acupuncturist and moxibustion enthusiast, i got into burning moxa to help with pain. i use pre-packaged moxa; just stick and burn.
i usually use moxa on my arms:
trying a new insomnia therapy:
it’s a little tricky to pull off, and i think i need to give myself a strong pedicure before i’ll feel the full effect. but i do enjoy the effects of moxa, if not for the thrill of applying burning stickers to myself, then for the marijuana-esque aroma that has passersby wondering, “where’s the party?”
you can find moxa at alternative medicine and Asian markets. highly recommended!
The following was taken directly from www.rodale.com. Enjoy!
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—In all this talk about health-care reform, most of the conversation has focused on who’s paying and what myths are being spread about legislation that hasn’t been written yet. Unfortunately, people aren’t talking about measures that would vastly improve the population’s health, such as ending obesity, or about alternative therapies that could wean people off expensive medication. Part of the reason that alternative treatments get short shrift is that doctors are generally unaware of the science showing that they really are effective alternatives to drugs and medication.
Here are six scientifically studied ways that acupuncture therapy, one of the most popular forms of alternative medicine, can alleviate chronic health problems:
#1: Eases your aching back. Using acupuncture therapy to successfully relieve chronic back pain is well documented in scientific literature, and acupuncturists say that it’s the leading reason that people visit their clinics. A study published in May’s issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine even found that people who were given “simulated acupuncture,” where pressure was place on certain acupuncture points but no needles were actually used, saw as much as a 15 percent greater improvement in their symptoms (equal to the improvements seen in people who were receiving true acupuncture) than people who were taking medications and undergoing standard chiropractic care.
#2: Boosts the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals. A study from China, published in the August issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that a low-dose of fluoxetine (Prozac) combined with acupuncture therapy was just as effective at reducing anxiety in patients being treated for depression as full-dose medication. Cutting the dose and adding acupuncture also reduced the drug’s side effects, which can include nausea, weight gain, and a decreased sex drive.
#3: Soothes the burning in your stomach. This June, Brazilian researchers published research finding that acupuncture therapy alleviated heartburn and indigestion in pregnant women. One group of pregnant women was given a combination of acupuncture and medications, and another group was counseled on dietary changes and given medications if needed. Over the course of the study, 75 percent of the women in the acupuncture group saw heartburn intensity, and antacid use, decline, while only 44 percent of women in the standard-treatment group saw those same effects.
#4: Counteracts the effects of radiation. Cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment are likely to suffer a variety of side effects, depending on the part of the body being treated. However, acupuncture therapy has been found to have some effect on the perception of how bad those effects can be, particularly for nausea and dry mouth, common in patients receiving radiation to the head and neck. A review of studies published in CA, a journal of the American Cancer Society, found that people undergoing radiation treatment perceived fewer negative side effects of radiation even though the side effects may still be there. For instance, in one study, patients who wore acupressure bands during treatment said they felt less nausea, although they still had the same occurrence of vomiting as they did before wearing the band, and in another study, people said they had less of a problem with dry mouth, even though measures of their saliva showed that levels remained the same. The acupuncture didn’t actually alleviate the symptoms, but it did help improve patients’ quality of life after treatment.
#5: Dulls persistent headaches. A review of 22 studies involving acupuncture therapy, migraines, and tension headaches found that regular acupuncture therapy was effective at preventing tension headaches and migraines from becoming a problem, and that it was an effective treatment for existing headaches.
#6: Ends obesity? The influence of acupuncture therapy on obesity isn’t as well-documented as the other examples we’ve listed, but there’s enough evidence to suggest that it could be an effective weight-loss treatment. Researchers from Korea analyzed 31 studies on a total of 3,013 people, and found that acupuncture therapy led to greater decreases in body weight than lifestyle changes or medications. However, they note in their findings, published February in the journal Obesity, that flaws in many of the studies made it difficult to see how effective acupuncture therapy would be on obesity in the long run. But for people willing to try it, adding a weekly acupuncture session to daily exercise and a smart diet could lead to healthy gains.
Hey Everyone!
Fall is just around the corner (I know,I know that doesn’t mean we won’t be in the high 90’s this weekend!) and it made me want to review what the philosophy of the 5 elements observed about this time of year.
5 element acupuncture is a philosophy of understanding of the interconnected relationships of things in the world and their relation to humans based on hundreds of years of observation. It grew out of a time when more humans were more intimately connected to the natural world. In other words, someone sat around long enough to realize there are certain connections between certain things and people that create special relationships between these things and people. Acupuncturists use the knowledge of these relationships to help diagnose and treat their patients but the information can be used by everyone to better understand themselves and to also lead a more harmonious life.
For each of the five elements there is a long laundry list of these connections. The element of fall is metal. Metal represents functions in a declining state much like fall is the decline of the energy of the year’s growing season. Or, as we sometimes say as we get older, that we are in the autumn of our years. The ancient Chinese observed that the character of metal is to descend and be clear. Within the human body the metal element is concerned with the balance of the lungs and large intestine. Imbalance of respiratory health or large intestine health would be diagnosed as an imbalance of the metal element. The following is a fairly complete list of the other observed items of connection to this element taken from the Student Manual on the Differentiation and Treatment of the Zang Fu Syndromes by Tyme L.Ac. How best to use this information? Start with seeing if there are there any that stand out for you. Do any play significant roles in the story of you or you in connection to the world around you? Think about it!
Color-white
Flourishes-body hair
Tissue-skin and mucous membranes
Physiognomy-cheeks and nostrils
Eye- the sclera (the white part!)
Tongue-posterior of tip
Orifice-nose
Secretion-mucous
Pulse- floating
Emotion-sorrow, grief
Odor-rotten, as in fishy
Flavor-pungent and spicy
Metal is strained by- lying
Metal’s sound in relation to an emotion-weeping or wailing
Sound emitted in relation to an illness-coughing
Metal’s sense is smell
Instinct-health
Thought-energetic
Development-decline
Motion-cough
Heavens-zodiac
Direction-west
Climate-dryness and cold
Season-fall
Planet-Venus
Numbers- 9 and 4
Tendency- down
Ministries- justice
Classes- mammals
Instruments- t-square
Covering- hairy
Wild animal- bird
Grain- rice, oats
Veggie- tall green ones
Fruit- peach
Cooking- to bake
Wow! We haven’t even quite made it to Fall yet and already my little one has brought home a cold. And not only that, he gave it to Dad! Usually I wouldn’t catch a cold that easily, however, I had had little to no sleep for the past two nights trying to keep my poor little boy quiet so that his mommy could sleep.
Luckily for me, I know how to use Traditional Chinese Medicine to my advantage. For those of you who are interested, I’ve posted up an article about Treating the Common Common Cold through TCM. It will give you a little more detail about how TCM can help.
By the time I was actually able to get to my herbs, my cold had already progressed into a pretty strong Wind-Heat Invasion. Yin Qiao San was my first choice. I took it for a day. Unfortunately, this pathogenic Wind continued to progress and the Yin Qiao could not do the job. So I upped the ante and chose Pu Ji Xiao Du Yin. This formula is much stronger at clearing Wind Heat from the body but it can be hard on the digestion. After taking Pu Ji Xiao Du Yin throughout the next two days and receiving some some lovely Gua Sha along my back and shoulders, my cold was gone.
Before I had learned about TCM, a cold like that would have stayed in my system for weeks. And it generally would progress into a sinus infection. But instead, $15 worth of herbs and a $40 Gua Sha session saved me a couple of weeks of misery, a doctor’s bill, and the cost of antibiotics.
Acupuncture Today
September, 2009, Vol. 10, Issue 09
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By Ramon G. McLeod, Editor-in-Chief
According to a recently released federal report, there was a very substantial increase in visits to acupuncturist between 1997 and 2007.
The number of patient visits per 1,000 people jumped from 27.2 visits in 1997 to 79.2 visits per 1,000 in 2007. Furthermore, median out-of-pocket patient payments to acupuncturists and massage therapists were more than twice what is typically paid to chiropractors and osteopaths, who were are among the lowest paid to complementary and alternative health care providers.
The study also included data on the median number of visits to a practitioner in the last 12 months. For acupuncture, the number of visits per year was 2.42, while for massage it was 2.16 visits. Because the report merged chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation therapies, it wasn’t clear what was the true number of visits to chiropractors. However, based on the data, the median number of patient visits for chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation was 3.45 times per year.
In commentary accompanying the spending report, the government reported that more than $34 billion was spent on out of pocket costs for visits to practitioners ($12 billion) and on self-care purchases of CAM products, classes and materials ($22 billion).
A Drop In CAM Patient Visits, Spending?
The most controversial element of the report was a statement in the commentary section that compared CAM spending in 2007 and the spending reported in a 1997 study in JAMA by David M. Eisenberg, MD.1
The authors of the 2007 report said that overall spending on self-care products and services had increased since 1997, while payments to all CAM practitioners had decreased from $16 billion to $12 billion two years ago. Practitioners included in the report ranged from chiropractors, massage therapists and acupuncturists, to naturopaths, homeopaths, energy healers and others.
The commentary said visits to CAM therapists of all types had dropped 50 percent since 1997, a staggering decline. At least half of the overall decline was attributed to a decrease in visits to “practitioners of energy-healing therapies and various relaxation techniques.”
However, after including this dramatic material, the authors offered no data on the visit patterns for massage therapists and chiropractors. When pressed about this during presentation on the report, the authors said that direct comparisons on visits could not be made for those two professions due to the differing methods used by the 1997 and 2007 reports.
The full report can be downloaded at the NHIS Web site.
Reference
Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, et al. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997: results of a follow-up national survey. JAMA. 1998 Nov 11;280(18):1569-75.
Seven years after the beginning of my downward spiral, and numerous doctors and treatments and even exhausted hiatuses, I am trying acupuncture. I have been since maybe February.
When I first went in, I didn’t know if I would get any relief or benefit, but I didn’t expect any miraculous response either. It was just one more thing I was going to give a shot, and if it helped great, and if it didn’t then I could ignore the advice/wisdom that says acupuncture is good for my condition.
The dangerous ground is when you get a little bit of effect but it is not worth the effort or consequences. That could be the cost, or side-effects, or excessive effort to get the treatment that could be used more efficiently of other areas to improve, if not ones condition, ones quality of life.
Where am I taking this? My acupuncture. Its been babysteps and up til now fairly worth it. Let me note how.
In my acupuncture, I can’t affort more than one treatement a month. And thats with a 20 dollar discount. However, acupuncture is more than just the needles in the back. It is also chinese herbs. The improvements I see with the treatment are not tremendous or quick, but it is clear they all stem from the herbal treatment. I’m sure the needled stimulation helps, but the needle stimulation on its own isn’t doing much.
The sleeping herbs, before being supplanted with the LDN, were helping me get my sleep under some control. The herbal drink (kind of like a gritty coffee) was helping me regain my appetite and make my bowels more regular (both critical), far more effectively fight yeast than anything else, and after six months there was some light improvement of back pain that could have been attributed to my shiatsu massage therapy.
Before my latest treatment, I began to wonder if perhaps the greatest benefit I was getting of the actual needle treatment (not the herbs which clearly have an effect in their own right) was psychological. I don’t mean a psycological treatment of physical symptoms. I mean a treatment of the psyche, which we all can use to soothe the consequences of human experience, let alone if one is dealing with the myriad consequences of chronic illness. I’m isolated, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. I am limited to a very small circle of people around me, which means I can’t go out and seek people who understand my perspective or even my language. Even without being sick, frequently I find people’s eyes glaze over when I start to talk….when my brain cooperates and my cognitive degeneration isn’t flaring up. That can make it even worse.
So I get to go once a month and socialize with someone who clearly shares spiritual and health beliefs and stimulates me to think on certain things I have missed. In that way it is most certainly soothing to the psyche. But was it doing anything for my body?
Thats a good question…I do believe its affecting my body at least in minor ways, and each time this comes when she tries something different. But overall, since my illness is a progressive remitting one (meaning it goes up and down all the time, but the peak after each dip over all is never as high as a few before it) it can be hard to know whether its making an over all dent until those little improvements have clearly taken hold AND remained over time.
But this is long, so I think what I actually experience during acupuncture deserves its own blog. What prompted this back ground fest, is that this last treatment really did a doozy on me and is giving me a strength in my hope it can help me when my hope was beginning to fade a little.
Had another acupuncture appointment today. I quite enjoy them now. The acupuncturist is from Switzerland so I can speak German to her which, funny enough, is sometimes harder than speaking English! What’s the German word for uterus lining?
She places the needles in different spots every time depending on where in my cycle I am. I’d love to know more about why and how she chooses the spots but maybe a bit of mystery is good. I’ll see her again on d-day which likely is Monday.
I also started taking herbs to support my body sorting my hormones out. Agnus Castus, Black Cohosh and Siberian Ginseng. Agnus Castus is balancing hormones, helping with progesterone in the second half of the cycle. Black Cohosh – who knows, it all reads quite vague - the most consistent information is improved blood circulation in the pelvic region (where I want it!), and Siberian Ginseng is to energise the body and lift the spirit! What a combination. I got it from a herbal remedy sold in the US which is extraordinarily expensive. If you buy the herbs on their own (tinctures) they are quite cheap. I’ll post some links soon if anyone wants to read more about them.
