acupuncture treatment

Dec

2016

Handmade Moxa

A colleague in my office recently gave me some pure, aged, Japanese moxa from MoonGate Moxa Source.

I immediately used the Homare on two cases of arthritic pain and am happy to recommend it.

The incense is lovely, also!

Please share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

Please only share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

thread moxa, direct moxa, moxibustion,

okyu, japan, incense, chinese medicine, moxa floss,

tcm, acupuncture, japanese incense, mugwort,

acupuncture treatment, moxa, artemisia vulgaris,

miyabi, homare, matsu

Jun

2015

It’s important to commit to healing and get the most out of your treatments. Here are some tips to prepare yourself for acupuncture and ensure that you receive the maximum benefit from your sessions with a licensed acupuncturist. Only visit a licensed acupuncturist.

1-2 Hours prior to your acupuncture appointment eat a snack or light meal. You do not want to be starving but you also do not want to be overly full. Avoid greasy, heavy foods, and caffeine that could upset your stomach or make your nervous system more active.

If you are asked to fill out forms, fill them out honestly and thoroughly. Do not shortchange yourself by responding as you think your acupuncturist might want or by omitting bad habits. Some questions may seem unrelated to your current condition but keep in mind that acupuncture is a holistic practice and deals with the interrelationship of all aspects of your body, mind, and spirit. The most effective personalized treatment plan will come from honest answers and a comprehensive health history. Be sure to inform your acupuncturist of other treatment you are currently receiving as well as any medications you are taking.

Refrain from alcohol and drugs for a minimum of 12 hours before your session. Avoid caffeine within a few hours of your treatment or avoid it all together on that day. Do not brush your tongue before your treatment. This allows your acupuncturist to accurately detect the color, texture, and coating on your tongue, useful as a diagnostic tool.

Wear underwear to your session, as you will be asked to lie in your under clothes. This allows for ease in accessing the acupuncture points and viewing the structures of the body, as well as for your comfort. Towels and blankets will be supplied should you like to use them.

Share your pertinent questions with your acupuncturist so that you feel well-informed, but also realize that Chinese medicine is a process that you will want to allow to unfold under the care of your qualified licensed acupuncture practitioner.

Once the needles have been inserted and your acupuncturist leaves the room, experience the treatment. It is quite relaxing.

For the rest of the day after an acupuncture treatment avoid alcohol, stressful situations, caffeine, sex, strenuous exercise, food or beverages that are heavy, rich, greasy, or spicy, and avoid being exposed to the elements or going swimming.

You may feel tired after a session so take it easy, drink some herbal tea and be in a comfortable balanced temperature and atmosphere. If you are drowsy or spacey you should rest. If not, it is fine to go to work, go to school, or other normal activities following treatment, but avoid over-exerting yourself.

Be realistic. There is no such thing as an instant cure. It may take several sessions before you feel relief.

After your acupuncture treatments, note how you felt during and after sessions. Share these observations with your practitioner so any necessary adjustments can be made.

Once you have undergone your first acupuncture treatment you will have a clearer sense of the process. Taking care of yourself before and after an appointment will assist your body’s healing capabilities. Keep an open mind. Positive energy always speeds healing.

Feb

2014

Researching Two Forms of Moxibustion: Punk and Smokeless

灸

Moxa ‘punk’ is loose herb form of mugwort for direct and indirect moxibustion treatment. Applying the method of smokeless moxa, densely-packed moxa made by a charcoal process which results in little or no smoke, was compared in its effect to that of moxa punk. Heat by each form of moxa was transferred to the end of an acupuncture needle during warming needling moxibustion.

• Moxa was lighted on the handle of filiform needles [40mm x 0.3mm -as well as- 40mm x 0.25mm] and subsequent temperature was measured at the needle tip.

• The significant findings were that moxa punk produced a 41% greater and more rapid temperature increase than the smokeless moxa cones. Conversely, smokeless moxa cones maintained maximum temperature four times longer than moxa punk did.

• Findings suggested that the temperature characteristics of moxa punk during warming needle correlate with a capacity as a dispersing treatment method, while smokeless moxa correlates to a method more of tonification in Chinese medicine.

Smokeless Moxa

Moxa Punk

Research Dissertation by Steve McCulloch

http://www.focusacupuncture.co.uk/uploads/1/6/7/1/16711880/___warm_needle_experiment_dissertation_final.pdf

Oct

2013

Prompting Healing with Acupuncture

By receiving the necessary course of needling, taking herbal formulas regularly and adopting key lifestyle modifications, we integrate, change and feel better deeply. Acupuncture treatment stimulates our physical body and roots the essence of our spirit, dissolving obstruction and eliciting regeneration. Clarity, strength and homeostasis are basic, cumulative effects of acupuncture that set a course for true healing. Lasting changes and safe, holistic medicine are prime reasons for seeking acupuncture treatment. As with any modality, one must commit to the process of healing, and with acupuncture treatment, though gradual, it is potent and effective medicine that integrates body-mind-heart and spirit.

Apr

2013

Acupuncture and Endorphins

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

Oriental medicine does not reduce patients to separate compartments of illness or function but rather sees an integrated, whole being that is a synthesis of mind, body, and spirit inseparably. Patients having acupuncture routinely sense, to varying degrees, a soothed yet elated experience even once the needles have been removed. We feel good, meanwhile, acupuncture as effective medicine integrates and strengthens our organs and their functions, nerves, hormones, structures, and fields of energy in a self-correcting mode of homeostasis.

The needling of acupuncture points along channels and trajectories has been shown to elicit the release of endorphins and enkephalins, among other health-engendering effects. Neurotransmitters dull pain, relax musculature, and induce a state of calm. From convincing evidence particularly in fields of medicine concerned with acupuncture for chemical detox and for pain management, acupuncture can, in these circles, be valued predominantly for its enhancement of natural opioids Synthetic opiate derivatives such as opium, morphine, and heroin have side-effects from the ability of those substances to bind to neuro-hormone receptors. Acupuncture is free from side-effects.

Endorphins and enkephalins are produced in the pituitary and hypothalamus. Acupuncture is a safe, chemical-free approach to providing an alternative to synthetic opioids. Electro-acupuncture modifies nerve cell response which further enhances endorphin activation and is especially fitting in treatment of inflammation and pain. Endorphin response is an inherent byproduct in the treatment by acupuncture for any condition.

Further Reading on the 5 Point Acupuncture Treatment that Forms the Basis of Acu-Detox Efficacy: https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/acupuncture-detoxification-treatment/

Acupuncture Works!

Wellness Best Wishes to All.

Oct

2012

Diabetes in Traditional Chinese Medical Treatment

Diabetes Mellitus originates from deficiency of Yin and manifests externally as a syndrome of excessive heat. As the disease progresses, deficiency of Yin produces dry-heat which in turn damages QI and Yin, exhausting both Yin and Yang in time. The incidence of diabetes is projected to double in the next 10 years worldwide; yet, in 752 A.D., the distinguished physician Wang Tao published the famous book Wai Tai Mi Yao, a comprehensive medical guide which implicated the pancreas as the organ involved in this pattern of disease. Herbal treatment in the initial stage countered with herbs that had a cold nature and that nourished Yin – the same diagnosis & treatment today. In China, diabetes is not as prevalent as elsewhere. The incidence rate of diabetes in China is reported to be 0.67%, compared with about 2.2% in the U.S. 90% of the U.S. cases are insulin-independent, due to genetic factors, diet and obesity.

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

• Diabetes develops initially over a period of about 3 years.

• Intermediate stage (with deficiency of QI and Yin) over a period of about 5 years.

• Late stage (with deficiency of QI, Yin and Yang) develops over a period of about 8 years, with blood circulatory disorders that progress throughout.

OUTCOMES

Along with Chinese herb therapy, Acupuncture can be used to treat such risk factors as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, etc., the diabetic syndrome itself, and the secondary effects of diabetes. About 70-80% of those using acupuncture and appropriate formulations of Chinese herbs at the high Chinese-style dosages, achieve improvement, often better than the many western drugs; while 20-30% show only a marginal response. Blood sugar levels may not reach norms but can be reduced enough to ameliorate symptoms and decrease the secondary risks of long-term elevation of blood sugar.

Wellness Best Wishes to All

May

2012

Acupuncture And Fertility

In a clinical study of 5,807 women, it was demonstrated that acupuncture improves pregnancy rates and live birth rates. Higher ovulation and pregnancy rates occur for women receiving acupuncture, and further, stimulating the production of gonadotropins, hormones that affect fertility including FSH [follicle stimulating hormone] and LH [luteinizing hormone]. The application of acupuncture points ST36 and SP6 were shown to prevent egg implantation failure, promoting successful conception. In a German study, of 80 women who underwent in-vitro fertilization [IVF] while receiving acupuncture treatment, 34 women became pregnant. Of another 80 women who only received IVF without acupuncture, only 21 women became pregnant. A similar and subsequent American study maintained that 51% of women who had both acupuncture treatments and IVF became pregnant, while only 36%, receiving only IVF without acupuncture became pregnant. Acupuncture also helps with men’s sperm quality and count says a 2005 study in the publication “Fertility and Sterility.” Men who receive acupuncture have fewer structural defects in sperm and increases in normal sperm than men who receive no acupuncture treatment.

Natural Medicine is Best!