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Sunday, November 15, 2009
Stressed?
It's not all in your head - stress also lowers your immunity, making you more susceptible to illness, hinders wound healing, causes muscular tension and pain in your neck/shoulders/back, digestive disorders, headaches... and the list goes on. Acupuncture, unlike many of the other ways we cope with stress (alcohol, cigarettes, food, drugs, etc), provides a safe and effective way to feel better without causing negative effects on your body.
Acupuncture restores balance to the body and protects health by:
Promoting endorphin release
Inducing a relaxation response
Decreasing heart rate
Decreasing blood pressure
Increasing energy
Regulating hormone levels
Together these effects result in a general sense of well-being and calmness which reduces both the mental and physical effects of stress. While acupuncture cannot change your life circumstances, it can provide much needed stress relief to allow you greater
Labels: acupuncture, stress, TCM, traditional chinese medicine
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
cold and flu prevention
There's a lot of controversy out there over the H1N1 vaccine, and while I'm not going to get into that right now there are lots of things you can do to keep yourself healthy during this cold/flu season with or without the vaccine. a few practical reminders and little bit of Chinese medicine for you today...
1. Wash your hands. Seriously. I'm not even kidding a little bit. Washing your hand with soap and warm water (frequently - after shaking hands, touching public surfaces such as doorknobs and counters...etc) is the best thing you can do. You don't have to believe me, but here's what the CDC says, "Handwashing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection." If you're not near a sink, some alcohol based hand sanitizer will do the trick.
2. Make sure to get adequate amounts of sleep. Lack of sleep is a huge factor in decreased immune function. Sleep is essential to normal biological function, and even more important if your body is under attack. Check this out: "Sleep researcher Eve van Cauter at the University of Chicago exposed sleep-deprived students (allowed only four hours per night for six nights) to flu vaccine; their immune systems produced only half the normal number of antibodies in response to the viral challenge." (link to article below).
3. Don't stress! Easier said than done, I know. But, excess stress increases cortisol (stress hormone) production which decreases your immune function. Not only does increased cortisol lower your immunity, but it slows wound healing - this makes you double susceptible to infection. So, make sure stress relief is on your schedule: exercising, meditating, yoga, acupuncture, massage... whatever your way to de-stress, keep it up!
So, you probably knew those things already, but they're important reminders; not just during cold/flu season but as a part of a healthy lifestyle.
Now, on to a little bit of Chinese medicine. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are extremely effective at treating seasonal illness like colds and flus. In Chinese medicine colds and flus belong to an etiology of disease called an external attack. What this means is that the illness is due to an external pathogen (in Western medicine we talk about bacteria and viruses, in Chinese medicine we talk about pathogens like Wind-Heat and Wind-Cold). While there can be complicating internal factors - I'm going to talk about the basics.
Wind-Cold Invasions: wind-cold pathogens typically enter through the skin (particularly the area at the back of the head and the neck). Some symptoms you might experience: simultaneous fever and chills (predominantly chills), no sweating, occipital headache, muscle aches and neck stiffness, coughing, sneezing, stuffy/running nose.
A couple of tips if you feel a wind-cold invasion coming on:
1) To prevent wind-cold invasions, be aware of the windy conditions outside, and make sure to keep the back of your head and nape of your neck protected from the wind! Scarves and hoods are great for this!
2) If you're just starting to feel an inkling of these symptoms coming on but they're not yet full blown, here's an easy recipe to help your body kick out these early stages of wind-cold:
- 6 scallion bulbs (the white bit)
- some fresh ginger
- 6 tablespoons of cooking wine
Take the above and boil them on the stove for 4-6 minutes, and drink it down! Scallion bulbs are used to relieve mild wind-cold invasions, and fresh ginger promotes mild sweating, warms the lung and warms the middle to treat cold related nausea.
Wind-Heat Invasion: wind-heat invasions typically enter through the nose and mouth. Some symptoms you might experience are fever and chills (fever predominant), cough, thirst, dry mouth, red eyes, and a sore throat.
If you think you're experiencing the beginnings of a wind-heat invasion a few helpful herbs that are easily accessible are: mint, chrysanthemum, mulberry leaf, and honeysuckle.
Taking these as a tea will help alleviate mild symptoms. Mint is helpful for symptoms of the eyes and throat. Chrysanthemum treats fever and headache. Mulberry leaves are useful for treating dryness (of the nose, throat and lungs and for cough). Honeysuckle helps to clear heat toxicity and relieves mild stages of febrile disease.
If you're experiencing any of the above symptoms, give your acupuncturist a call. There is SO much that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can do to make you feel better. From prevention (boosting immune function and strengthening the lungs) to decreasing the severity of your symptoms and the duration of illness acupuncture and Oriental medicine is will help! We can use various techniques including acupuncture, gua sha, cupping and herbal medicine to improve your health during this cold and flu season!
Clearly, none of the above substitutes for the advice of your health professional. If you are ill, PLEASE consult your healthcare provider.
A couple of resources for you:
Cold and Flu Prevention (a handout by my colleague Dr. Erica Peirson, ND with some great advice on supplements.)
Deep into Sleep (an in-depth article on the importance of sleep and what happens without it.)
Hand-washing (a bit of history on the practice and some stats on why you should do it.)
Questions? Comments? Leave one or email me at: alexis@anatomyacupuncture.com.
Labels: acupuncture, chinese medicine, cold, flu, prevention
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