Acupuncture and Trauma: Yes, it can help!

It's been only a few short days since Colorado's 1000 year flood and yet many lives will be changed forever. 

Some might ask: I just lost my house, my business, my pets to the flood. How is acupuncture going to help me? My basement flooded. I’m worried about my friends up in the canyon. How is acupuncture going to help me? 

First, it calms the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system governs the fight or flight response. During stressful situations your blood pressure increases, your heart beats faster, adrenaline is released, and your digestion slows down. When we’re in a crisis situation, we need these things to happen so we can move fast and respond to threats. The problem comes in the aftermath. In situations like these it’s easy for us to get stuck in this hyperactive state. Even for those of us not directly affected by the floods it’s easy to slip into this state just by watching the news coverage. 

Acupuncture has been documented to sedate the sympathetic nervous system and activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest & digest). Acupuncture treatments calm anxiety and promote deeper and more restful sleep. Patients often tell me they feel ‘clearer’ and ‘more centered’ after an acupuncture treatment. Unfortunately, I don’t have needles and acupuncture points that make money troubles vanish or ex spouses to stop annoying you, but I can make your response to those things more balanced. I tell folks that “your life is still your life, but after acupuncture it just seems more manageable.”

The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association auricular (ear) acupuncture protocol is used to help people overcome addictions of all kinds. It also happens to be extremely helpful in mitigating all sorts of emotional and psychological stressors. We use the NADA protocol and other ear protocols like it to help folks deal with traumatic events of all kinds. 

Acupuncture also deals with specific emotions themselves. Those directly affected have no doubt experienced fear and panic as they were forced to deal with these extremely frightening circumstances. Fear depletes the adrenal glands and can lead to adrenal fatigue, so it’s important to use acupuncture to boost up the Kidneys and calm fear. 

Grief and sorrow follow after the loses of friends, loved ones, pets and cherished possessions. This is a completely normal emotion when we experience a traumatic event. The goal of the acupuncturist is not to dull the grief that you feel, but to help you experience it in an authentic way and then move on. When we hold onto grief, it impacts the lungs. I can’t tell you how many folks I’ve met who have lost a family member and then gotten chronic cases of pneumonia and bronchitis because of the impact on the lungs. We want to nourish the lungs to make sure they’re ready for the fall and winter months ahead.

Worry is another common emotion. A lot of us have been worried about others and stuck in the over-thinking mode (myself included!). On an organ level, worry prevents proper digestion of our food. On a psychological level, it keeps us up at night.

It’s not an emotion, per se, but having water invade your home, your community and some of our favorite places pushes our boundaries. Acupuncture can also be used to boost those up.

Anger often pops up after the initial feelings of shock and sadness. As bystanders we feel frustrated that we can’t help more. As survivors we feel angry that things we’ve worked very hard for have been destroyed by a random act of the weather. Acupuncture helps the Qi of the body and the emotions to flow more freely. 

Our minds and bodies are intertwined, therefore when our mind is tense, our body becomes tense. How many of us cope with stressful situations by raising our shoulders closer and closer to our ears? Most of us I would say! When our body is tense or in pain, our emotions tend to get stuck in anger or fear or worry. It’s the acupuncturist’s job to get things flowing again. Think of how quickly a toddler flows through emotions: delight at seeing a new toy, frustration when s/he is unable to make it work properly, sadness someone else takes it and starts playing with it. Then back to joy when they see a butterfly. This is the ideal, to fully experience our emotions in the moment and not to get stuck in any one emotion for too long. 

So whether it’s sore muscles from mucking out a neighbor’s basement or stress from dealing with a disaster, acupuncture can and will help!

More about NADA: http://www.acudetox.com

What's this 'Spleen' you keep talking about?

By Caroline Adams, L. Ac. 

Many of you have heard me talk a lot about your Spleen. When your MD starts talking about your Liver or Spleen, it’s usually a fairly serious conversation about a disease like hepatitis or Epstein-Barr. Acupuncturists, on the other hand talk about the functions of these organs regularly! There’s no reason to be alarmed, it’s all normal and good. Chinese medicine doesn’t look at these organs in the same way as Western medicine.

From the Western medical perspective, the Spleen filters and stores the blood. It contributes to the production of red and white blood cells and helps the body fight infection. In Chinese medicine, the organs of the body fulfill energetic roles. Each organ is assigned a number of interrelated processes. The Spleen is not just a fist-sized organ  tucked under the left side of your ribcage, it’s a conglomeration of specific activities needed to keep the body healthy and functional. 

The Spleen’s main job is taking the food that you eat and making it into Qi or vital energy for your body needs to run away from a tiger, solve an engineering problem or heal an injury. For Chinese medicine, the Spleen is the main organ of digestion in the body. This is usually where I explain that what your acupuncturist calls your Spleen really has very little to do with the physical organ “the spleen”. We’re not sure why the ancient Chinese understood it this way. One theory is that they understood the Spleen and Pancreas to be one organ. People sometimes have their Spleens removed and want to know if something horrible is going to happen from a Chinese medical perspective. I tell them the energy and processes of the Spleen are still there and functional even though the physical organ is missing. It may be weaker, but the “Qi” of the Spleen remains intact.  

When the Spleen is doing a good job you feel energized after you eat, you have no stomach or GI upset, and stools are formed. If you’re Spleen is underperforming, you may feel tired after eating, have gas and bloating, little appetite, and loose stools. Here’s an example: after I eat Thanksgiving dinner, I usually feel like curling up on the couch and taking a nap. My kids on the other hand, although grumpy and tired before a meal, become super-charged after eating! They are still young and their Spleens are in good shape; mine, not so much.

When the Spleen is underperforming it creates what we call “Dampness”. Dampness is what gives you “brain fog” after you eat lunch. You were planning on writing up that report right after lunch and now you can’t remember a thing you wanted to say. Sound familiar? If you’re prone to allergies and asthma, dampness can become mucus that ends up in your sinuses and bronchi. It can also make your muscles feel heavy as if it takes extra energy to lift them. In the GI tract, dampness causes gas, bloating, loose stools, and diarrhea. 

Over time, dampness congeals into “Phlegm”. Phlegm can manifest as adipose tissue (fat), persistent sticky nasal discharge, constant post-nasal drip, a feeling of “stuckness” in the throat, swellings in the skin and lumps.

As you can see, it's important to keep your Spleen in tip top shape to feel your best and have the energy you need for your day.

One of my main tasks as an acupuncturist is making sure your Spleen functions correctly. I use a variety of points on your lower legs to make sure that your food gets digested properly so it gets turned into energy that you can use to go to the gym, think big thoughts, and do what needs to be done. Almost everybody's Spleen is weak to one degree or another; it's a fact of life. Ways to support your Spleen are: 

1) Eating your biggest meal of the day in the morning and smallest in the evening.

3) Eating 3-5 meals throughout the day (ie not skipping meals)

4) Chew each bite thoroughly!
5) Stop eating before you're full
6) Avoid processed foods, sugar, wheat and dairy
7) Cook most or all of your food 
8) Do not eat and work at the same time
9) Have a nice leisurely walk after meals

Acupuncture & Daydreaming: Is There a Connection?

Dennis Weigel, L. Ac.

     The key concept in Chinese Medicine is balance and harmony between the Yang or active state, and Yin or passive state.  American culture values hard work, goal achievement, and doing tasks at home on the weekends, and not much emphasis is placed on leisure, time with friends and family, and rest.  With this mindset comes an increase in cases of stress related ailments such as insomnia, anxiety, and depression.  Many are encouraged to engage in meditation, exercise, and more downtime to help with their symptoms.  Acupuncture has always been used to treat stress related ailments, and now scientists are investigating how it may work.

      In recent years, a plethora of studies have been conducted in the field of neuroscience using frequency magnetic resonance imaging (fmri) to study the effects of acupuncture on the brain.  One area of focus is the Default Mode Network (DMN), which was first introduced to neuroscience in 2001 and identifies a network of brain regions involved in a resting state.  Characteristics of DMN activation include resting, daydreaming, allowing the mind to drift freely, and introspective awareness.  This is in contrast to the Task Positive Network (TPN) where the brain is actively involved in a task.  This includes working, problem solving, thinking of future events, and extrospective awareness.  In a healthy individual, these two networks can toggle freely as needed, and are anti-correlated, meaning when one is active the other is inhibited and vice versa.  Ample time spent in each mode is necessary for optimal brain functioning.  When enough time is spent in the DMN phase, the brain recharges itself resulting in better performance, decision making, and clear thinking while performing tasks.  Studies show that in various mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, there is a lack of cohesive communication within the DMN.

     As this topic is being studied scientifically, most mental disorders are being shown to involve a disruption in the DMN such as depression, ADHD, anxiety, schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer’s and many more.  Acupuncture is being shown to activate the DMN, restoring healthy communication among its involved brain regions, giving rise to improved mental states.  These results have positive implications on acupuncture’s ability to treat a variety of mental disorders.  As more studies are done, and eastern medicine and western medicine collaborate, perhaps a more holistic approach to treating illnesses will make its way into mainstream medicine, and the value of balancing work with rest will become a staple in maintaining good health.

References:

1.      http://resource.isvr.soton.ac.uk/staff/pubs/PubPDFs/Pub10650.pdf

2.      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3579200/

3.      http://www.noelravi.ee/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Acupuncture-mobilizes-the-brain%C2%B4s-default-mode.pdf

4.      http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcolumbiachronicle.com%2Fneuroscience-advances-highlight-emotional-network-in-brain%2F&h=uAQGNVOpj

Acupuncture? In the Ear?

By Dennis Weigel, L. Ac.

   The earliest known writings on auricular acupuncture come from China in the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine dating to around 500 B.C.   From 500B.C.to 100 A.D., clinical uses of earrings and ear stimulation for various ailments was mentioned in writings by Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen.  It has been said also, that pirates wore large gold earrings in the lobe of the ear not as a fashion statement, but because it corresponds to the eye area and would give them the ability to see further distances.  In Persia, there are medical records of a treatment for sciatica by cauterizing the ear in the sciatic nerve area.  In the middle ages from 1500 to 1700, there was a lot of trading among various cultures of Europe and Asia.  During this time, acupuncture methods were brought to Europe which included ear acupuncture.  Several clinical reports in Europe also mention the cauterization of the sciatic nerve area on the ear to treat sciatica.  The painting “Garden of Earthly Delights” dating to around 1500, shows a reference to the ear being needled at the libido point yielding obvious results: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hieronymus_Bosch_-_The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_-_Prado_in_Google_Earth-x4-y0.jpg

      In 1957, a neurologist named Dr. Paul Nogier observed a scar on the ears of several patients who claimed to have been cured of their sciatica by a French lay practitioner known as Mrs. Barren.  Nogier began experimenting with this technique himself and had success doing so.  He decided to try using less barbaric technique by needling the area instead which also led to success.  After experimenting with other ear points he discovered the “upsidedown fetus” map of the ear.  Nogier further developed this map with great accuracy and began to train other physicians and practitioners, and eventually spread auricular acupuncture to a global audience.  

     Auricular Acupuncture’s effectiveness has been validated by practitioners around the world and is now making its way into mainstream medicine.  One of it’s most well known uses is to help with addictions of all types.  The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) has established treatment protocols for a variety of addictions and is being used in recovery programs as well as prisons across the US.  In the military, “Battlefield Acupuncture” is being used to treat combat soldiers who have been wounded and are in transport to a hospital to relieve pain.  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28930238/ns/us_news-military/t/air-force-trains-combat-docs-acupuncture/#.UcsDuvmsiSo

    There are scientific studies conducted to investigate how auricular acupuncture works on a physiological level.  Many of the studies are being done in China and Korea where auricular acupuncture is well known.  One of the most interesting studies I’ve seen shows a direct correlation from the visceral organ points on the ear to the actual organs in the body via the vagus nerve.  In this study, stimulation of the organ points on the ear sends a signal through the vagus nerve to the body, and directly relaxing the chosen organ.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3523683/

    While auricular acupuncture has a rich history, there is still a seemingly infinite potential for discovering and understanding more deeply how this modality works.  The next time you are feeling a little off, try massaging your ears with a new understanding that the ear is more than an organ for hearing, it is indeed a map to your entire body.

Sources: 

1.    Auriculotherapy Manual: Chinese and Western Systems of Ear Acupuncture 2nd Edition by Terry Oleson Phd.

2.    Ear Acupuncture: A Precise Pocket Atlas Based onn the Works of Nogier and Bahr by Beate Strittmmatter, MD

3.    The Internet

By Dennis Weigel, L. Ac.