I am now an in-network provider for Blue Shield!
Spring Gleaning: Education Update
One of my favorite aspects of the acupuncture profession is its requirement that you be a lifelong student. And because I get excited when I start looking at potential classes, I've somehow found myself anticipating the remainder of my required classes (continuing education units) for the year all in the next month! Of course that doesn't mean I won't take more just for fun...
Last week I attended a lecture on Working With the Heavy Cannabis User with medical herbalist Paul Bergner as there is so much to learn about the effects and side effects of cannabis whether used for medical or recreational use. We set politics and legality aside and just dealt with the cases. I now have a much better understanding of the effects of cannabis on body systems, side effects to watch for and make patients aware of before they consider using it for a given condition, and how to approach weaning off of medical use if side effects become unmanageable. As an acupuncturist I can't prescribe cannabis, but I did feel it was essential that I expand my understanding of the way its use as a medication or recreational substance might affect my patients so we can do our best work together.
Stress Relief and the Pantone Color of the Year
The Pantone Color of 2017 is Greenery. Leaves. Fresh greens and dark, shadows and tendrils. The classics say green is the color of Spring and of its associated meridian, the Liver (not to be confused with your anatomical organ).
The Liver is easily injured by anger, whether felt rightfully when we are not respected or felt in excess when we seek more than we're due. A smooth Liver meridian allows for the free movement of energy (qi), properly nourishing other body processes and meridians and relieving pain, stress, and tension. Since the Liver governs the sinews and tendons, we can stretch and move freely in our physical body as well as in our emotional range when the channel is free of stagnant energy and substances.
Treating Jetlag: Modern Acupuncture
To understand acupuncture as a developing form of medicine, let's examine how we handle a fundamentally modern ailment: jetlag. There is no ancient equivalent for having traveled so far so fast as to feel out of time. Yet jetlag responds well to acupuncture treatment. How?
We find success in treatment when our understanding of theory and diagnosis is strong. Thus, a good practitioner does not rely on specific protocols, but on our grasp of medical theory and diagnostic principles to create the best treatment for an individual patient, no matter the ailment(s).
Common jetlag symptoms include insomnia, irritability, inability to focus, and disorientation. Therefore it makes the most sense to assess and balance the channels that pertain to the body's internal and external sense of itself (yin wei and yang wei) and bring the mind and body back to a grounded present by choosing a point along the center line (preferably one that calms shen, the concept of mind or spirit). Sometimes additional grounding by using the points of the yin qiao and yang qiao channels is also helpful. These channels control gait and balance for the inner and outer aspects of the legs (in addition to a myriad of other symptoms and functions).
Contact Needle Treatment for Cancer Pain
The week before Thanksgiving I attended a lecture and demonstration on using contact needles for cancer treatment related pain by Dr. Keiko Ogawa of Kanazawa, Japan. Dr. Ogawa published a study in 2013 on using contact needles to treat chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). I was excited to see research on contact needles available in English and to learn this was the first time she was teaching in the US. There is a wealth of research on contact needle therapy in Japanese, but most of it has not been translated for a Western audience.
I often use a specialized silver contact needle tool in my treatments. Dr. Ogawa performed her study using disposable silver needles more similar to the stainless steel needles we use for insertion needling. Regardless of the tool, the method is to settle the needle on the relevant acupuncture point rather than inserting the needle into the skin. This is a painless form of treatment that has the added benefit of reducing infection risk, a key feature in treating cancer patients who may have weakened immune systems due to their cancer and/or their Western treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, etc).
Acupuncturist's Oath
Someone asked me recently if acupuncturists take the Hippocratic Oath like Western Medical doctors do. Many things Hippocrates wrote show how much the roots of Western medicine resemble traditional medicine. For instance, "It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has."
But instead of taking the Hippocratic oath, at our graduation from the Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College with our Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM), we took Sun Si Miao's Oath of the Great Physician.
The Acupuncturists' Oath reads:
I promise to follow the way of the Great Physician, to live in harmony with nature, and to teach my patients to do the same.
I will strive to maintain a clear mind and hold myself to the highest standards.
I shall look upon those who are in grief as though I myself have been afflicted, and I will respond with empathy.
Why is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?
No matter what culture you hail from, you probably crave broth or chicken soup when you're sick. It's certainly comforting to reach for what we were given as children, but why is there merit to the reflex? What makes chicken soup the best cold remedy? Chinese Medicine explains the classic cold buster through this nutritional lens:
THE ONION AND GINGER
The ultimate basic immune support is hot water with green onion and ginger slices. Both spring onion (or scallions, cong bai in pinyin Chinese) and fresh ginger (sheng jiang) are in a category of herbs that release the exterior of the body, inducing a slight sweat and helping to expel pathogens (what we might understand as germs). From a pharmacological perspective, both ginger and spring onion have antibacterial properties and ginger is also anti-inflammatory, antipyretic (brings down fever), and analgesic (relieves pain) (source: Chen & Chen, Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology). This simple two herb pairing works best when you are in the very early stages of a cold as this is gentle medicine.
Changes in Health and Habits
Whether you are new to acupuncture or an experienced patient, make the most of your sessions by keeping track of changes in your health and habits.
1. Your acupuncturist isn't there with you outside your treatment session.
When you're having car trouble, you may take your car into the shop and find it refuses to make that irritating noise on request, even though it bothers you every time you leave home in the morning. The same often happens with symptoms. If you aren't feeling the symptom at the moment of discussion it can be hard to describe exactly where the pain is, whether it's sharp or dull, or whether you had a headache at the same time that you felt dizzy. Make it easier for yourself by jotting down your symptoms so you don't have to rely on experiencing them in the moment.
Inspiration from the Past
Over the past few months I've been taking time to read a brilliant little book called Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor. It's a new (published 2015) translation of a discovery from the rare book library of the Beijing Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an account of 31 cases by the Ming Dynasty practitioner Tán Yǔnxián. That's a female doctor from 1500s China! I heard about the book while listening to an episode of the Yin Yang podcast with guest Lorraine Wilcox, who was speaking about moxibustion (Episode #34 Why Moxa?). Moxibustion, also known as moxa, is a particular love of mine so I leapt to hear this topic as a treat. Turns out that in addition to her fascinating study of moxa, Wilcox translated this Ming Dynasty book. Who knows how many other female doctors there were at the time or how many wrote books, but I'm glad this one survived. It's exciting to read as I operate in the modern world of our profession.
“Cases during the Ming were not only filtered through the male doctor’s understanding, but the reported symptoms were filtered through the husband’s words.
Tán's patients were all female, ranging in age from six to sixty-nine. During the Ming Dynasty, women had to have a male relative present when seeing a male doctor so part of what set her apart was surely her ability to speak with a patient one on one and not to have the male explain her symptoms for her!
Acupuncture Better Than Morphine for Acute Pain in Recent ER Study
Originally posted as Acupuncture Beats Injected Morphine for Pain: Groundbreaking Study by Sayer Ji
An amazing new study has found that acupuncture, the ancient practice of using needles to stimulate bodily self healing, is more effective than intravenous morphine for pain.
A truly groundbreaking study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine titled, “Acupuncture vs intravenous morphine in the management of acute pain in the ED,” reveals that acupuncture -- one of the oldest techniques to treat pain -- is more effective, faster in relieving pain, and with less adverse effects, than intravenous morphine.