Seasonal Allergies: Why we feel the way we do

If you're like me (Caroline) this is the time of year when your nose starts running and itching. Why is this so? There are several players in the drama. Let me introduce them to you:

The Spleen For Chinese medicine, the Spleen is the main organ of digestion in the body. It takes the food that you eat and makes it into Qi or vital energy for your body needs to run away from a tiger, solve an engineering problem, or heal an injury. If your Spleen is underperforming, you may feel tired after eating, have gas and bloating, little appetite, and loose stools. When the Spleen is underperforming it creates what we call “Dampness”. In the case of allergies this dampness manifests as constant post-nasal drip, congested sinuses, and a feeling of “stuckness” in the throat. 

The Lung is responsible for taking the air that you breathe and making it into clear Qi to be used by the body. Before Qi is ready to be used in the body, the Qi processed by the Lungs and the Qi made by the Spleen must come together. The Spleen sends it’s Qi up to the Lungs where they combine and are distributed throughout the body. The Spleen sends up whatever it has, including dampness and phlegm. There’s an old saying in Chinese Medicine: “The Spleen makes phlegm and the Lung stores it”. This is where all the congestion in the sinuses and bronchi come from whether it be a cold, allergies or asthma. 

Wind According to Western Medicine, the culprit for seasonal allergies is pollen. According to Chinese Medicine, the culprit for allergies is Wind. This medicine was created thousands of years ago and as such, the ancient Chinese looked to their natural environment for clues how the outer order of things could reflect the inner order of the human body. Using this paradigm, Wind in the body is anything that mimics wind in the outside world, moving erratically or suddenly. When you think about it, Wind does stir up the pollen quite a bit. When the Lung Qi is weak, the Wind enters and you get the sniffles and sneezes.

The Liver Speaking of sneezing and itching, this brings up the next player in our Perfect Storm: the Liver. Spring is the “season” for the Liver. Positive Liver energy moves our Qi around smoothly, provides creativity and productivity. When the Liver Qi is stagnated it can no longer move smoothly. When the Liver Qi moves erratically, we get symptoms of itching and sneezing. 

So to wrap up, poor quality foods (especially raw food, sugar, wheat and dairy) and Spleen hypofunction lead to poor quality Qi and dampness. The Spleen sends Qi and dampness upward to the Lung to distribute throughout the body (snot). Poor quality Lung Qi, open pores, and Lung hypofunction lead to EPIs and wind invading. The erratic movement of Liver Qi causes itching, sneezing and watery eyes. 

How to stay healthy during Allergy Season:

1. Get regular acupuncture! Especially before allergy season begins. Acupuncture helps to balance the body’s systems functioning at top capacity. Acupuncture helps to reduce stress, improve digestion, aid sleep and boost the Lung Qi. By staying in balance, you are less likely to get out of balance and suffer from allergies. 
2. Start a constitutional Chinese herbal formula. If you’re prone to seasonal allergies, you should probably be on a constitutional formula of Chinese herbs that fits your individual pattern. 
3. Avoid the Wind Stay out of the wind if you can. If you can’t stay out of the wind wear a hat or scarf to avoid having Wind enter. 
4. Adopt a positive mental attitude. I believe you create your own reality to some extent. If you believe that every time May comes around, you will be miserable, you most likely will. If you believe you’re going to stay healthy, you stand a better chance of doing so. 
5. Limit Stress. Stress and negative emotions have a stagnating effect on the flow of Qi in the body. Anger causes the Qi to move erratically. A great way to both reduce stress, calm anger and move Qi is to engage in regular exercise! ______________________________________________________________

Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette 
at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding 
scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is 
fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes 
an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed 
Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of 
health issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches, 
fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, pain, and many other health concerns.

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626

What's Blood got to do with it?

Ouch! Traumatic Injury
Blood stasis is what Chinese Medicine labels a "secondary cause of disease". Something else must happen before it occurs. The easiest example: you drop the fry pan on your foot, it causes a bruise. Literally a bruise is blood stasis: a bunch of capillaries are broken by the injury, the blood leaks out. Your body uses inflammation to shut down any additional blood loss. Inflammation causing swelling and limits the oxygen to the area. The lack of O2 is what causes the distinct black and blue color of a bruise.

You trip while training for the Bolder Boulder and sprain your ankle. What happens? The area turns black and blue, it swells: blood stasis. Do a good job of staying off your ankle, getting acupuncture, letting it heal, and doing gentle PT, you'll clear out the blood stasis. If, for whatever reason, the ankle isn't able to heal like it should, you'll end up with one of those chronic injuries that becomes painful when it's overused or when a weather front comes in.

The Stream Analogy
I was talking to one of my patients about blood stasis. She asked me: "How can blood ever be stagnant? It's pumping all the time." It's a good point, but think about a creek: the same amount of water flows through it all the time, but there are some places where the water rushes quickly. There are many places that the water slows and pools deeper. In these places, you might smell the musty smell of algae growing. It's harder for water to flow as smoothly through these areas. The more the water slows down, the harder it is to clean out the gunk, so this is where the dried leaves, muck and garbage collect. It works the same way in your body. Where qi and blood aren't moving smoothly, pain results.

The Low Down on the Slow Down
It's a maxim of Chinese Medicine that "The Qi leads the Blood".  When the qi slows down, we get qi stagnation.  When the qi stagnates long enough, eventually the blood slows down, too. My first  example is of my dear beloved aunt. We'll call her Auntie Katherine. Auntie Katherine has 'cankles', those kind of calf/ankles that flow over the tops of her shoes. She was never a very active sort and spends most of her time in a chair watching game shows. She rarely gets her heart rate up, so her Qi doesn't get moving much. Over time, the blood slowed down, too.  Her lower legs became swollen and covered in a spidery network of painful-looking veins. Sure, her blood is still flowing, but not flowing very efficiently, hence the fat ankles and painful legs.

In a Mess with Stress
Another example: Joe, a businessman is 45. He works at the Acme widget factory as an executive. His work is very stressful; he spends a lot of his days shouting into his speakerphone at the incompetant nincompoops he's forced to work with. Let's look at his signs and symptoms: headaches, high blood pressure, red face, and he's angry most of the time. Any of us can easily diagnose him with "stress". What do we know about stress? It stagnates the qi, slows it down, makes it flow erratically. Stagnate the qi long enough, you end up with blood stasis. Blood stasis in Joe's case might very well end up manifesting as a blood clot that causes a stroke or a heart attack.

Brrr!!!
Stagnant qi is not the only reason for blood stasis. Cold can play a part, too. Marcy, 25, is a competitive runner.  She has very painful menses, so painful in fact that she has to take a day off work to lay on the couch with a hot water bottle. When I asked her about her training regimen, she admitted that she ran outside winter and summer in shorts and a t-shirt. I asked her to either train inside when it was cold or to wear leg warmers to keep the acupuncture channels of the lower legs warm.  I told her if she wanted things to change, she needed to stop wearing flip flops, crop tops and capri pants in the winter months. She followed my recommendations, and along with Chinese herbs to warm the uterus, her pain ceased.

Wait? Aren't you supposed to put ice on traumatic injuries? Well, there's been a lot of discussion about that recently in the news. Some MDs and PTs feel that limiting the amount of inflammation in the area, by using ice, will speed healing. Others counter that it's actually slowing the healing process and there's no benefit to it. I'm of the opinion that you should only ice an injury *if* it brings relief and only for the first 24 hours. Then, switch to warm compresses.

I'm Lookin' at You Jackie Chan
Martial artists are at a great risk for hidden blood stasis. They are active enough that their Qi flows nicely. However, they spend a lot of time falling and getting hit. Their pulse is likely to cover the telltale "choppy" pulse of someone with blood stasis. Looking at the underside of your tongue is a good indicator for blood stasis. Does it have bulging purple or blue veins? That's a good sign you have some blood stasis going on in your body. If you see them, don't panic. Come in for an assessment and we'll determine the right course of action for you.

In Conclusion
The good news about blood stasis: it's reversible. There are lots of different ways to treat it including lifestyle, acupuncture and Chinese herbs.  The bad news about blood stasis, it's not as easy to clear out as Qi stasis and leads to significant issues over time. As usual, approaching problems early leads to easier and more effective treatment in the long run.

**Note: these case histories, although based on real people, are completely fictional.**

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Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette 
at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding 
scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is 
fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes 
an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed 
Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health 
issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches, 
fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, infertility and many other health concerns.

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626

Daith piercings for migraines?

Lately there's been a lot of buzz on the internet regarding Daith piercings as a cure for migraines.1 A "Daith" piercing bores a hole through the ear's innermost cartilage fold.2

Why would a piercing in the ear affect migraines? The man who pioneered auricular (ear) acupuncture, Paul Nogier, was a French neurologist. A lot of his patients were coming to him with a scar on their ears in a particular place. When asked they told him they had visited a lay healer who burned that point on their ears to cure them of sciatica. In an "ah ha" moment, he realized the entire body was connected to the ear.

Anyone who's had acupuncture at our clinic knows we use acupuncture points in the ears a lot. I call the ears the "keyboard to the brain". Using them, I can affect hormones, the nervous system, and the way the body processes pain. Ear acupuncture is one way among many that I, as an acupuncturist, have of encouraging your body to use its resources differently.

There are no recognized acupuncture points at the exit and entry points of the Daith piercing. It's actually closest to the "External Genitals" point. (Yes, I know, "eek!") My only theory for why this affects pain in the head is that a piercing here would redirect excess Qi from the top of the head to the root of the pelvis. Contrary to what you might have read on the internet, it's at least 1 cm away from "Point Zero" that regulates homeostasis in the body.

My opinion on the Daith piercing is that it might very well help some people. I'm willing to bet, however, that it doesn't help everyone. It's likely not a permanent solution and comes with some significant risks.

This piercing is very painful and takes between 3-6 months to heal. Extra care must be taken to avoid infection in the cartilage. If nickel allergies or sensitivities are an issue for you, a Daith piercing may cause more problems than it solves. A proper Daith piercing requires knowledge of advanced techniques by the practitioner. I would insist upon implant grade material for any piercing of this type.

A Daith piercing could theoretically stimulate the points so strongly and actively, the nervous system would be re-trained to accept a new pattern. For some people this new pattern might stick and they'll be "cured". For some folks, I suspect as soon as the piercing heals, their migraines will return. I'm sure there are migraine sufferers who have noticed no improvement or just feel it's so uncomfortable it keeps them from focusing on their other pains.

My concern with using piercings for relief is that they probably become "background noise". Just like repeatedly telling my kids to "pick up your socks!", the body eventually tunes this stimulus out. Any point that's overused will lose its effect. I have a piercing at the "eye" point in my ears, but I don't notice that I have any greater visual acuity because of it. An additional concern is that a piercing of this magnitude could well destroy the acupuncture points that we're trying to effect.

When I treat you with acupuncture, I start out with a hypothesis of what's causing your problem. Migraines have a number of different causes from a Chinese Medical perspective. You might have Liver Yang Rising, Yin Deficiency, Qi and Blood Deficiency, Phlegm Turbidity, or Fire rising in the Gallbladder Channel to name a few. I usually select points on the ears and the body to set a new pattern for your body to follow. I use points in the ears to calm down the parts of the brain that process pain. I use body points to set a strategy for reversing the negative pattern.

Sometimes I can't find any reactive points in the ears, so I have to rethink my strategy. For whatever reason, some folks are just not good candidates for ear acupuncture. There's no harm in putting needles there, but we're not going to have a powerful effect. Other patients have fantastic results with ear acupuncture. For these folks, I send them home with retention needles that are very much like a mini-piercing.

So, in short: do your research and try acupuncture first!

1 -Could a daith piercing solve your migraine problem ...
   -Daith Piercing: Migraine Cure?

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daith_piercing

Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette 
at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding 
scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is 
fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes 
an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed 
Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health 
issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches, 
fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, infertility and many other health concerns.

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626

Insomnia tips

1. Wear your socks! According to Chinese medicine, any types of insomnia are the result of heat in the Heart. Allopathic medicine has determined that wearing warm socks to bed can help some people sleep better. Why? Because the body is able to reach a sleep state faster when the body’s core is cooled off. Dilating the blood vessels in the feet helps it do this. I was interested to hear that Western science is backing up my medical tradition! When the Heart is hot, it’s hard for the Shen or “spirit” to rest easy. According to Chinese medical theory, the Heart, not the brain, processes all the thoughts. If you’re particularly worried about something, by running thoughts over and over in your brain you are heating up the heart, making it impossible to sleep.

2. Stressful lives: most of us have. When you are in fight or flight mode so much during your day, it’s hard to switch from fight or flight (the domain of the parasympathetic nervous system) to rest and digest (the sympathetic nervous system). Regular meditation practice and acupuncture have both proven extremely effective at calming the parasympathetic nervous system.   

3. Comfort is important. If your mattress is dipping in the middle or too hard, you won’t be able to sleep comfortably. In addition, if you have allergies to dust and pet dander your mattress can become a storage depot for these allergens. Consider replacing your mattress if either of these conditions apply to you.  

4. Limit electronics in the bedroom. There are two basic types of Qi in the body one is Yang, everything that is warm, active, growing and consuming. The other is Yin, everything that is restful, nourishing, cooling and still. Televisions, computers, smart phones, anything with an LED light or anything that makes a buzzing or humming sound is a Yang device and consumes the Yin around it. Studies have shown the more time you spend in front of a backlit screen, the harder it is for your body to reach deep sleep. Your bedroom is your sanctuary for rest and relaxation. Do not use electronic devices within an hour of bedtime, they will only amp you up and make it harder to sleep. End the smart phone addiction: leave it in another part of the house. You do not need to be on Twitter and Facebook at 11 pm!  

5. Clutter: While you’re cleaning out your bedroom and creating your Zen space, find another place to keep all that clutter. You know what I’m talking about: laundry baskets, piles of paperwork, kids toys, etc.. If you can’t find another place to put it, at least hide it in some attractive containers or a nice armoire. Nothing makes me feel less calm than a bunch of clutter greeting me at the end of a long day. 

6. What is it with 2-3 AM? Are you the person who wakes up at 2-3 AM without fail? The cause may be that your blood sugar drops at this time. When your blood sugar drops the liver is engaged to break up glycogen and make glucose for the body’s use. The Liver in Chinese medicine is responsible for coursing the Qi freely throughout the body. Having this organ activated in the middle of the night goes counter to healthy sleep. Try eating a small high protien, low sugar snack like almonds or sunflower seeds at 9:00 pm or so. If blood sugar is your issue, this should give your body the fuel it needs to rest easy all night long. 

7. Regular acupuncture. Acupuncture not only reduces stress and promotes proper hormone balance, it also adjusts the Ying and the Wei Qi. What are Ying and Wei? King is the nutritive Qi that circulates in the body during the night, nourishing all the organs and tissues. It is a Yin substance. Wei is the defensive Qi that circulates on the surface of the body during the day to fight against pathogens (colds and flus). Wei is a Yang substance. Many individuals end up with an imbalance of Ying and Wei in which the Wei circulates all the time, preventing deep and restful sleep. 

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Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette 
at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding 
scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is 
fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes 
an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed 
Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health 
issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches, 
fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, infertility and many other health concerns.

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626

Commit to Quit: 14 Tips to Stop Smoking

Quitting cigarettes is hard. We've all heard that it's harder to quit cigarettes than heroine. Don't let that discourage you. Plenty of Left Hand patients have quit the habit. Here's my best advice:

1. Choose the right time. Trying to quit before your daughter's wedding or before the big report at work is due is almost certainly doomed to failure. Of course, we never know when life will throw us a curve ball, but try to pick a low stress time.

2. Have a plan. When you get a craving, what are you going to do? Munch a celery stick and go for a walk? Call a friend and chew some gum?

3. Call your acupuncturist and schedule yourself for daily treatments for two weeks. You'll need at least five treatments each week. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? This gives us the best chance to ensure your success. Left Hand Community Acupuncture offers a smoking cessation program $150 for ten treatments. You can add on as many treatments as you need so long as they're on consecutive weeks.

Why Acupuncture works

• Acupuncture works by soothing the sympathetic nervous system and promoting relaxation.
• The acupuncture points in the ears are helpful in suppressing addiction. The 
• Acupuncture boosts endorphins which will help you with withdrawal symptoms, like irritability and mild depression. 
• Treatments can also help with the side effects of quitting smoking like insomnia, constipation, sore throat, coughing, increased mucus, intestinal cramping, increased sweating. Remember that not everyone experiences all these symptoms and some folks experience none at all. 

4. Throw them out! It's my experience that the folks who throw them out seem to do better than the folks who try to taper down their usage. Personally, I'm a cookie addict. If they're in the house, I'm eating them and I'm not just talking about one or two! I've had to break my addiction to several brands and keeping them out of the house is the only way I can do it.

5. Figure out your triggers: do you smoke when you get anxious? Do you smoke after meals? Identifying why you reach for nicotine will help you navigate the process.

6. Change your habits. If you keep your cigarettes on your bedside table and reach for one every morning upon waking, move the table. If you tend to light up with your morning coffee, switch to tea for a while. If you hang around the smoker's station on your break at work, go for a walk instead.

7. Wait it out. Remember that cravings typically only last 5-10 minutes. Find something else to take your mind off the craving until it passes.

8. Find an oral substitute.  To break the oral fixation, try a substitute such as one of the following:

• sunflower seeds in the shell
• brushing your teeth
• chewing sugar free gum. The mintier the better.  (this is one of the only times I'll endorse artificial sweeteners by the way!)
• crunch on carrot sticks or celery sticks
• chew on mint or cinnamon toothpicks
• Don't substitute calorie-laden food for cigarettes, it's way to easy to quit smoking and end up 20 lb overweight!

9. Change your hangouts, at least temporarily. Being around people who smoke is hard when you're trying to quit. Many of our patients have had success by avoiding concerts, parties and the smokers lounge for a month or so until their cravings have passed.

10. Phone a friend. If you can find a buddy who has committed to quitting at the same time, that's even better. 

11. Exercise helps. Nicotine makes the Qi flow more easily in your body, that's part of what makes smoking so pleasurable. Guess what? Exercise does, too!

12. Remind yourself of the upside. The benefits of quitting smoking are nearly immediate. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $5.65 in Colorado. If you're a pack-a-day smoker, you'll have an extra $2062.25 in your pocket at the end of the year. That's a down payment on pretty sweet vacation or a car!

13. Set rewards. Seven days smoke free? Go to a nice restaurant. Fourteen days? Splurge at the bookstore. Twenty one days? Treat yourself to a spa day!

14. Go easy on yourself! Statistics are that it usually takes folks about four attempts before they can quit for good. If this wasn't a successful attempt, no need to be ashamed, just try, try again.

______________________________________________________________

Looking to quit smoking? We can help!

Ask us about our smoking cessation program $150 for ten treatments to be used in a 2-3 week period. 

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626

Some other great resources:

http://smokefree.gov/

Smokefree.gov gives a lot of great advice about how to quit, they also have a text messaging service that encourages you to stay the course. You can call 1-877-44U-QUIT for free to talk to an expert.

https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/QuitSmoking/Quit-Smoking_UCM_001085_SubHomePage.jsp

Information about the health benefits of quitting, tips for you, your family and friends to help support you, and information to help you avoid weight gain.

http://www.becomeanex.org/

A free program that sets you up with a personalized plan, resources and community support. Requires registration. 

______________________________________________________________

Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette 

at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding 

scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is 

fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes 

an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed 

Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health 

issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches, 

fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, infertility and many other health concerns.

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626

Making a Promotional Video: 10 Helpful Tips

About a month ago Rebecca Abraxas of Video Juice Media approached me about producing a video for Left Hand Community Acupuncture. I was excited because I've always wanted a promotional video for my business! Experts say that more video is streamed over the internet than any other kind of data. It makes sense that people would rather spend a minute or two watching a video than reading actual text. After all, seeing is believing! Human brains are wired to engage for faces, movement and sound, this makes video a winning combination.

However, I was petrified when I realized I would have to appear on camera. Again. Let me explain. When I first started my business in 2010, I emailed Suzanne McCaroll at CBS Denver for her weekly Money Saver spot. I told her I thought that community acupuncture clinics were a great way for folks in the metro area to save money. I never expected to hear from her at all, let alone to get a call from her within five minutes! She was excited to get an interview with me and film in our clinic the very next day. The only problem was, at that time we weren't open on Wednesdays. It also became apparent that it would be difficult time-wise for her crew to get up to Lafayette and back.

We ended up shooting at Denver Community Acupuncture, the clinic of my friends Jessica and Nicole. The cameraman shot footage of treatments in the community room, and interviewed patients. When it came my turn, the cameraman put a giant camera and mike in my face. I completely forgot what I wanted to say. Ms. McCaroll asked me what I enjoyed about community acupuncture. I wasn't sure if I should be looking at her or staring into the camera, so my eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. I blurted out the first thing I could think of, which was that I enjoyed feeling of communal Qi that happens when you get several people in the room together. She shot me a frustrated look and started peppering me with more questions. She had to drag it out of me that getting treated together at a low price benefited everyone. (Duh!) My shirt became soaked with sweat. It seemed like I was in front of the camera for a long time.

Despite my nerves, I was ecstatic that we had gotten mainstream media attention for Left Hand Community Acupuncture and Denver Community Acupuncture. We emailed everyone we could think of to alert them that we were going to be on the news that night. When the segment aired, I was so disappointed! I think I was on camera for all of three seconds. My teeth looked so crooked and my eyes darted like a criminal's. In the interests of creating a short, filler piece, Suzanne's team edited out a lot of what we wanted to convey. Jessica was disappointed that she was only featured putting in one needle. My kids turned to me and asked "Was that it?!" Looking back on it all, I felt embarrassed.

Fast forward to the present day. Rebecca asked me to come up with a one minute script for my video. She also asked me to think of who my target audience was and to have a call to action. No problem, I thought. I recycled "the blurb" I've been using in print for years. I decided my target audience was folks who were ready to make a change for the better. My call to action was "Life is too short not to be living it fully. So make a commitment to your health and call us today." That's about the only thing we kept!

Tip #1 Choose a Strong Call to Action. Getting a professional video made doesn't have as much impact if you don't tell the viewer what to do next. Adding a sense of urgency helps, too. "Buy one today!" "Click on our website now!" "Don't wait! Call to find out how we can help!"

Rebecca sent some edits back to me, which made me realize that what is well-suited to print advertising is not necessarily what you want to use for a video. Reciting all the reasons a person might want visit your business ends up sounding like a grocery list of random facts when read aloud. Sure you're convenient and affordable and cozy and professional and helpful.... but for your video, you need to pick one.

Her questions made me realize 'why you should choose a licensed acupuncturist' is its own topic. 'How acupuncture works' is its own topic. These could be great topics for a "vlog" someday, but didn't belong in my video. Finally we whittled it down to 1) Left Hand Community Acupuncture is affordable 2) Acupuncture can help with the problems we all face everyday 3) Make an appointment today!

Tip #2 Cut it down. Unless you're going to teach people how to fold origami, cut it down. Making a promotional video is like backpacking: pack everything you think you can't live without, cut that in half and then cut that in half again. You have one main message, and a couple of supporting messages. That's it.

Rebecca and I met for a coaching session and we went over the script. She noticed that I got a lot more animated by telling the story of me never having enough money for acupuncture than what I had written down. The right story is a lot more compelling than a bunch of facts.

Tip #3 Find your flavor. Why you? Why your business? What makes you special? Do you have a story to hook people in? This is your time to shine!

Finally it was time to read through it as though we were shooting a video. Rebecca got out her phone. All my insecurities came roaring back. I froze again. We talked about my inability to stare into the camera, the darting eyes, my fear that I would forget the important things I wanted to say. We practiced Rebecca filming me with her phone and used a light fixture with a lot of can lights to mimic how bright it would be on "the set".  We used a big round piece of paper on the wall to act as the camera.

Tip #4 Be playful. Rebecca encouraged me to be playful with the camera. How would you talk to the camera if it were your friend? Pretend inside the camera lens there were the faces of all the customers who really value you. They're all nodding and smiling at you. Try saying your piece goofy for one practice round, then give it your best shot in the next. "What would you do if you weren't afraid to fail?"

Now came the time to do my homework. I needed to memorize my one-minute monologue and have it come out just the way I wanted it to sound.

Tip #5 Memorize your script. Tell it to your family, tell it to your friends, tell it to your bathroom mirror and the gearshift in your car. Use a funny accent, say it slowly, then say it fast. If something feels awkward either practice it slow until it flows off your tongue easily or reword it. I went over and over the parts of the script that flowed well, then I linked it to the bits of the script that seemed difficult.

So the big day had arrived. If you know me at all, you know that I NEVER wear make up unless it's Halloween. With the help of a couple 14 year old Youtubers, I managed to learn how to pick the correct color of foundation for my skin and how to apply it without making myself look like a zombie. Big win there.

Tip #6 Wear Makeup, even if you're a dude. All those super bright lights will wash you out if you don't. Get help from your videographer or a friend if you need it.

Matt put me right at ease with his friendly demeanor and easy manner. We started off with shots of the community room, patients, me talking to patients, and inserting needles.

Tip #7 Make sure you're on the same page When choosing a video production company, make sure the two of you have the same vision for your spot.  Matt, Rebecca and I talked about the things I absolutely wanted to include and also what I did not want to convey. I wanted to make sure we got footage of patients relaxing together. I did not want Chinese music twanging in the background. Don't assume that your videographer will know what you want.

Finally came the hard part: me speaking to the camera. Matt set up his tripod and big banks of lights. There was a "X" for me to be on my mark and get this: a clapper board! I tried to remember everything I had been working on for the past few weeks. It was kinda fun actually. These are my final few tips.

Tip #8 BREATHE It's not a race. Take your time between sentences. Breathing keeps you calm and makes your delivery clearer.

Tip #9 Keep rolling. I'm a sucker for all the "extras" that they include at the end of movies, so I'm accustomed to seeing actors flub a line, but repeat it as if nothing had happened or to go "blah-blah-blah" and shake their arms and head and start over. You know what? It's ok for you to do that, too! It's the key to getting over the brain freeze. The fewer times you have to do a total stop and restart, the easier it will be for your videographers.

Tip #10 You don't have to be perfect. Your video is going to have lots of footage of you doing what you do, your products, your space. If you rub your nose, or forget to look at the camera for a moment, it can be edited out. If Robert De Niro gets additional takes to get it right, so do you.

Take a look at the final product. It turned out finer than I could have imagined!

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Learn more about Video Juice Media, Matt and Rebecca Abraxas here: videojuicemedia.com/ Video Juice Media blends Video Production and Marketing Savvy with Creativity and Skill. We create video content that entertains and shares your story. (844) 584-2348 Find more tips about how to make your video a success at: https://www.youtube.com/user/VideoJuiceMedia ______________________________________________________________ Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette  at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding  scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is  fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes  an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed  Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health  issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches,  fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, infertility and many other health concerns. http://lefthandacu.com  720-248-8626

~=[,,_,,]:3  <----- A Nyan Cat for my daughter

Caroline’s top 10 Reasons Why Acupuncture is not Voodo

1. Acupuncture is recognized by the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization as an effective treatment for over 40 different conditions.¹
2. Dating back 2000 years, it's one of the oldest codified forms of medicine in existence. 
3. Although there are many different types of acupuncture and every acupuncturist uses a slightly different style, each patient is treated according to a treatment principle.
4. Acupuncturists are licensed by the state of Colorado. Licensed acupuncturists in the state of Colorado have completed over 1800 hours of training. They are also nationally board certified by the National Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
5. As of 2009, the U.S. Military has adopted acupuncture to provide soldiers relief from pain due to battlefield injuries.²
6. Longmont United and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette are among the local area hospitals that encourage their patients to take advantage of acupuncture through their integrative healthcare programs. 
7. According to a 1998 survey of the literature published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Western medical doctors are most likely to refer patients for acupuncture (43%) than for chiropractic (40%) or massage (21%)
8. The NIH states that "One of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted medical procedures used for the same.” ³
9. 99.8% of acupuncture is performed with no significant adverse events.⁴
10. The Clinical Journal of Pain notes that acupuncture “accelerates the normal physiological processes of recovery in soft tissues...rapidly heals trauma, thereby reducing pain.” ⁵

1 http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives2004/oct/10amaro.html 

2 http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/05/05/acupuncture-helping-reduce-use-of-pain-killers-in-army.html

3 http://www.pulsemed.org/acupuncture-statistics.htm

4 http://www.pulsemed.org/Acupuncturesafety.htm

5 http://journals.lww.com/clinicalpain/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=1988&issue=12000&article=00008&type=abstract

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Left Hand Community Acupuncture is located in the heart of Old Town Lafayette 

at the corner of Simpson St. and Michigan Ave. LHCA offers an affordable sliding 

scale of $25-$55. We do not ask for proof of income. You decide what you feel is 

fair to you and fair to us. We treat patients in a relaxed, group setting that promotes 

an atmosphere of healing. Caroline Adams is a Licensed 

Acupuncturist and nationally board certified. Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health 

issues including pain, stress, insomnia, arthritis, allergies, depression, headaches, 

fatigue, cold and flu, digestive issues, PMS, infertility and many other health concerns.

http://lefthandacu.com 

720-248-8626