Improving Your Golf Game with Acupuncture

You may be saying, "Really? Acupuncture can improve my golf game?" While acupuncture won't improve your skill level, per se, you can see positive changes to your game by:

• Increasing your range of motion
• Assisting your body's ability to heal from injury
• Improving your energy and sleep quality
• Improving your mental focus

Acupuncture affects the musculo-skeletal system by releasing muscle tension and improving blood flow to the muscles so they function more efficiently. Many golfers suffer from lower back, hip, shoulder and/or elbow tightness, pain or strain. Acupuncture can address these issues so that you can have a more fluid swing, one with less the restriction. If you are injured or have chronic pain (in these or other areas of your body), acupuncture can help the body heal itself, reduce pain and inflammation and get you back into your game feeling more physically comfortable.


Many studies that show that the worse you sleep, the worse your physical and mental performance. Since golf is both a physical and mental game, getting proper sleep is crucial for you to play at your best. There are many causes of poor sleep, including (but not limited to) stress, diet, caffeine and hormone imbalances. While it is up to you to eat properly, limit sugar and curb your caffeine intake (especially in the afternoon), acupuncture can help you manage your stress levels and balance your hormones. While acupuncture can't make stressful situations won't go away, it can improve your ability to cope with stress so that it doesn't interfere with your sleep; it is much easier to fall asleep and stay asleep when your mind stops racing.


Stress, ADD/ADHD and brain fog can interfere with your mental focus.  In addition to eating foods containing omega 3 fatty acids and avoiding processed foods and chemicals in your diet, acupuncture can help clear the fog and settle the hyperactivity making it easier to focus on your game. I once had a teenage male patient diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder who said that after the acupuncture treatments his handwriting improved because he was able to focus more clearly on the task at hand, rather than feeling distracted by the other 50 or so thoughts running through his mind. In terms of brain fog, many patients feel clearer after acupuncture treatments, feeling like the fog has lifted and they can think more clearly.


While acupuncture won't make you the next Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, it can help you feel better on the golf course, giving you the ideal opportunity to play at your best.


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Non-"puncture" Acupuncture for Children: Treating Kids with Magnets

Kids respond really well to acupuncture, but don't always like the idea of being stuck with needles (many adults feel this way too!). Plus kids are not known for their ability to lie still for long periods of time, while awake. There are a number of non-insertive techniques for children, but I have had great success with improving children's health using magnets.


During the mid-20th century, a Japanese acupuncturist, named Yoshio Manaka, began experimenting with magnets. The idea was to affect the ions, or charged particles, in the body's electrical system to affect a change in someone's health or pain level. He found that areas of higher pain had a higher concentration of negative ions and that by dispersing the ions, the pain level dropped. This idea expanded to weaker areas, points on the body with less Qi, had a lower concentration of negative ions, so by attracting the ions to the weak area, it got stronger.


Chinese medicine is about balancing the amount of energy in the body, bringing more energy/Qi to weaker areas, dispersing energy/Qi from areas of excess and moving energy/Qi in areas where it is stuck. Acupuncture uses needles to create this effect, but magnets can also do the job nicely, especially in children.


If you think back to high school physics, each magnet has a North pole and a South pole. When used with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the North pole is used to Disperse and the South pole is used to Supplement. By placing a magnet with the North pole facing the skin at an acupoint, you will Disperse any accumulation found at that point. By placing the South pole facing the skin at an acupoint, you will Supplement, or build the Qi in that area.


Children tend to be more Yang by nature, which means they tend to run warmer, move faster and have energy that is moving outward. If you've ever observed a 4 year old playing, you know what I mean. Because their nature is more Yang, it tends to be easier to access, and easier to adjust their Qi with less intervention. They have also had less time on the planet to accumulate imbalances so their treatment is usually more straight forward and shorter in duration. Magnets are powerful but gentle and don't pierce the skin. They are taped to acupuncture points so that during the treatment children are free to sit up and color, do puzzles or read a book. I try to dissuade the use of "screens" during the treatment, but that is also a possibility. Because the magnets are taped on, there is less of a possibility that they will get knocked off when the child moves around.


I've used magnets with children as young as 3, up through teens who are sometimes a bit squeamish about the needles. With many pre-teens and teenagers I'll use a combination of needles in the less sensitive points (like the abdomen, back and legs) and magnets on the more sensitive points (like the face, wrists and ankles) which works very well. That being said, I've treated 7 year olds with all needles and I've treated 18 year olds with all magnets; it is really up to the child and what he or she feels comfortable with. In the end the treatment will be more effective if the child can feel calm and relaxed.


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4 Ways that Acupuncture can Improve Productivity

Spring is here and with Spring typically comes an energetic surge of movement. After going inside and "hibernating" during Winter, Spring is all about moving outward, back into the world. That being said, we are not always tuned into the season; our schedules don't really change when the season changes, the change just happens around us. When you move against the natural flow of the season, you get Qi Stagnation, with an increase of symptoms like: PMS, migraines/headaches, depression, irritability, short-temper, muscle tightness, and higher feelings of stress. When it comes to being productive at work and in general, these types of symptoms can often get in the way. Other symptoms that can impede productivity are fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep and anxiety. Here's how acupuncture can remedy how you feel.


Acupuncture can improve productivity by:


1. Reducing stress and anxiety. While acupuncture can't control how many deadlines you have, it can help you respond better to those deadlines. When you feel stressed, it is often difficult to concentrate on your assignment. When feeling anxious and overwhelmed, many people procrastinate, which only increases the feelings of stress exponentially. Acupuncture calms the nervous system, getting us away from stress and overwhelm and back to feeling more centered, grounded and in control. Calming the body's experience of stress allows you to better see the task at hand and handle it more effectively.


2. Sharpening focus. Reducing stress will allow you to think more clearly, but there are also many acupuncture points that directly affect the brain and allow it to function more efficiently. Will acupuncture make you smarter? Probably not, but it can clear away the fog that is getting in the way of lucid, focused thinking.


3. Improving immunity. One powerful negative result of acute or chronic stress is the suppression of the immune system. Immunity, like fertility and digestion, is a "non-essential" function when it comes to survival; your body is not worrying about germs when you are in a life or death situation, like trying to avoid being trampled by a woolly mammoth (from an evolutionary perspective). When it is a matter of immediate survival, the body's resources get channeled away from non-essential functions and toward processes that will encourage survival, like muscle strength and blood pressure/heart rate. When stress is chronic instead of acute those non-essential functions are chronically suppressed. This is why it is so common to get sick after long periods of stress, and why it is so hard to recover. A simple cold may last weeks with a suppressed immune system. This is not good for productivity at work. In addition to reducing stress, acupuncture can help strengthen the immune system; it can help you get over any illness you are currently trying to fight off as well as help you to avoid getting sick in the future.


4. Enhancing sleep quality and quantity, while increasing energy. For many people, getting a good night's sleep is as common as a $2 bill; it's out there, but you don't see it very often. Nothing improves productivity more than sleep: you can think more clearly, respond more quickly, be more creative, plus being in a better mood can do wonders for your interpersonal skills. Acupuncture can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep and keep you from tossing and turning all night. With more good quality sleep your energy increases as well.


Proper sleep, stress management, good diet and exercise all play a part in ensuring that you are the healthiest you can be, so that you can feel good about the work you do. Productivity at work and in life is highest when you are functioning at your best. Acupuncture can help.


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Drug-free help for Shoveling Injuries and other Repetitive Strain Conditions

The Northeast United States has seen record amounts of snowfall this year in a relatively short period of time. With snow fall, comes snow removal, usually in the form of shoveling, snow blowing and roof raking. With so much snow falling so quickly, I'm seeing a lot of shoveling related injuries walking through my doors. The repetitive movements combined with very little rest between storms is the perfect way for Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) to set in. Shoulder and neck pain from roof raking, as well as elbow and lower back pain from shoveling have been the most common. Here comes acupuncture to the rescue!


RSI usually occurs from doing inefficient movements over and over with poor or imbalanced alignment--overworking some muscles while under utilizing others. Movements like shoveling, using a computer mouse, the twisting movements that a mechanic uses would be fine in small doses, but when you are shoveling 3 feet of snow or fixing cars for a living, the repetitive movements can add up to significant irritation in the tendons and joints. There might also be contributing dietary factors, like eating a lot of sugar, artificial sweeteners, wheat/gluten or unknown food allergens that are contributing to inflammation in the body, leaving you susceptible to repetitive strain injuries.


In Chinese medicine, pain is seen as stagnation, where the energy (Qi) stops flowing the way that it should. Imagine a clog in a drain: when the water tries to push through the clog and it can't, pressure builds up (pain). Acupuncture essentially removes the clog (stagnation) and allows the water (Qi) to flow freely once again. When the pressure is released and free flow is once again restored, the pain goes away. Often times with RSI there is the added element of heat, where the joint or muscles feel hot and irritated, almost "angry." That is akin to heat building up from friction. If you press the gas pedal in a car while the emergency brake is on, it creates friction (heat). When you release the brake and the car can move forward, the heat dissipates. In the body, when the free flow is restored, the heat dissipates. Even though common sense would say to treat heat with cold, I advise against using ice with these injuries as there are many studies and articles recently that show how ice slows the healing process by impeding blood flow (which will cause more stagnation and pain), and preventing the healing nutrients from the blood to get to the injured area. Chinese medicine always avoids ice (even in food and drink) since cold contracts and causes stagnation.


Another related concept in Chinese medicine is that of the Root and Branch: the Branch is the symptom(s) you are feeling (in this case the localized pain) and the Root is the actual source of the pain. While the repetitive movement brought on the pain in the location that you feel it, the Root of the pain might actually be found in a different part of the body. The pain is usually located in the "weak link" or the joint that is least stable, whereas the problem might be coming from a lack of movement higher up in the chain, typically closer to the torso. Meridians, or channels through which the Qi flows, can have blockages anywhere, so elbow pain might be coming from stagnation that starts in the shoulder or neck along the Large Intestine meridian (for example). Treating the source of the pain rather than just the "branch" can make a huge difference in pain resolution. This is the beauty of holistic medicine.


Through stimulation from acupuncture needles and/or moxa, blood and Qi flow is restored, tight muscles loosen and pain and inflammation resolve. Acute pain heals much faster than chronic pain, so the sooner you get in for treatment, the more quickly your condition will heal.


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Chinese Medicine in Your Kitchen!

When many people think about Chinese herbal medicine, they may think about odd looking roots, barks, seeds and plants, or jars full of odd embalmed animals and animal parts. Maybe you envision a scene from the movie Gremlins or an old martial arts film. In reality, many Chinese medicinals in the Pharmacopeia come right from your kitchen!


As I stated in last month's post, Food as Medicine, what you eat can either improve your health or increase and exacerbate various imbalances in your body. Different foods will affect the body in different ways, with each food having its own energetics. Some foods are more warming, like ginger and cinnamon, while others are more cooling, like mint and cucumbers. Some build Blood, like beef and beets, some help get rid of Phlegm, like radish and mustard leaf. Some are more moistening, like figs and barley, while others are more drying (water removing), like artichoke and alfalfa.


Here is a short list of Chinese medicinals that you can find in your own kitchen and what effect they have:


Ginger: Raw ginger (Sheng Jiang) is warming, especially for the Stomach and Spleen, and helps with nausea and vomiting. Raw ginger is often used when treating colds as it encourages sweating. Dried ginger (Gan Jiang) is hot and is a better option if you are cold all of the time. It also helps nausea and vomiting but if you tend to run warm, stick to the raw variety.


Mint: Mint (Bo He) is cooling, even when consumed as warm tea. It helps with red eyes, headache and sore throat due to illness. It can also help move your Liver Qi, so if you are feeling emotionally stuck, mint may help.


Turmeric: Turmeric (Yu Jin) has been touted in recent years for its anti-inflammatory properties, but has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years to invigorate the blood and break up blood stasis, as well as move Liver Qi. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) "when there is pain there is no free flow and when there is free flow there is no pain." Using Turmeric for pain makes sense, no matter who you ask.


Watermelon: Watermelon (Xi Gua) is cooling and great for generating fluids for rehydration due to over heating in the summer. It also promotes urination (which will help get rid of heat).


Goji Berries: Goji Berries (Gou Qi Zi) are a superfood that is high in anti-oxidants. In Chinese medicine, they are used to supplement Liver Blood to benefit the eyes and vision, as well as support Kidney Yin, for symptoms such as sore lower back and legs or low-grade abdominal pain.


Asparagus: Asparagus (Tian Men Dong) is another Yin supplement that benefits the Kidneys, but is also targeted to upper body Yin, for dry mouth, since it helps generate fluids.


This is just a small sample of the many different types of foods and spices that can benefit your health. To truly make a significant difference and to target your particular health challenges it is best to see a licensed practitioner who can prescribe the best diet and herbal formula for you. Not all symptoms are caused by the same imbalance, so it is important to get the proper diagnosis before proceeding with using food as medicine. Food is powerful!


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Food As Medicine

One of my favorite topics is food as medicine. The idea is simple and powerful and unfortunately very underutilized, especially in the United States. This time of year, many of us have indulged over the holidays and are looking to "be better" about the food that we're eating now that life is getting back to normal. You might have set some New Year's Resolutions, and are looking to alter your eating habits on a more global level.


I'd like to start by saying this is the worst time of year to do a "detox," for many reasons, the biggest of which is that "cleanses" don't actually exist.  Your body is detoxing you every day no matter what you eat. That being said, the worse you eat, the more work there is to be done, and the more time and effort is spent getting rid of the bad stuff. Rather than having energy available to use in your daily life, your energy will be spent healing and repairing yourself from the damage caused by consuming chemicals and "food-like" substances. That is why eating processed, high sugar or high chemical "foods"  leaves you feeling tired, sluggish and bloated. Eating well will inevitably make you feel better in the long run because it gives you usable energy for living your life. The food that you eat can either move you toward health or away from it. Choose wisely!


Animals use food for nourishment and fuel. As humans, we often look to food for other reasons as well: comfort, replacement for something else we're seeking, pacification, satisfaction for an addiction, and others. Ideally food should be used only as fuel for your body. If food is only something to stop your hunger, you will make different choices than if you see food as nourishment. If you are hungry, you'll grab anything to stop the discomfort, but if you are looking for sustenance, you'll be more choosy.


When you are sick or symptomatic, you should always start by looking at what you are eating and notice whether it is right for your body. No food that is found, grown or caught in nature is inherently good or bad, but it may be good or bad for you, depending on your particular health challenges, the climate in which you live, food allergies and the season. The only exception to this is Genetically Modified foods (GMOs) since they are created first in a laboratory and then grown--these are always harmful and should be avoided.


Start by seeing if you can recognize the food that you are eating as food; when you read the label, is it full of chemicals or items that you can't picture in your mind? If so, chances are you are eating food-like substances made in a laboratory and your body is going to spend a lot of energy working to filter that out. If your body can't remove the chemicals, they get stored in your body and can  eventually become inflammation and/or cancer. "Diet" foods are usually laden with chemicals and actually contribute more to weight gain than weight loss. You are also typically left feeling tired, sluggish, bloated, phlegmy and craving more. The cravings come from failing to supply your body with the nutrients that it is actually looking for. For example, when you have chocolate cravings, you are actually craving magnesium, so you should eat more nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables instead of the chocolate chip cookies (although a little dark chocolate is okay). When you supply your body with actual food, you don't typically have cravings since you are supplying your body with the nourishment it requires. If your food doesn't have labels (because it is produce, lean meat or fish) then you are probably headed in the right direction.


First food, then medicine.


If after adjusting your eating habits toward a more whole food diet you are still feeling sick or symptomatic, then that is when you seek out medical intervention. Even then, the medical professional should begin by looking at your diet and seeing if there is anything else that seems out of balance for you. An acupuncturist will look at your diet in relation to the seasons and what your particular symptoms are in order to tailor your diet to what will make you feel better. You might need to eat more meat, you might need to eat less. You might need more root vegetables, you might need less. You might need to eat more grains, no grains, more dairy, no dairy. There is no one-size-fits-all way to eat. Each person has their own requirements based on their internal body chemistry and set of symptoms. Food can be really good medicine when you understand its purpose and use it accordingly.


A great, easy to read book on whole food eating is called Food Rules by Michael Pollan. It is one of my favorites and very helpful for learning the benefits of eating real food.  If you are interested in looking at food from a Chinese Medicine perspective to help understand and balance your symptoms, Paul Pitchford's book Healing with Whole Foods is a must.


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Can Acupuncture Help Me Sleep? 7 Tips for Better Sleep

Sleep. It is one of the most important things you can do for your health (in addition to eating well, exercising and controlling stress). Sleep can affect mood, weight, immunity, stress levels (see sleep-stress cycle), how quickly we heal from illness or injury as well as our memory and mental clarity. Unfortunately for many, a good night's sleep can be elusive. Sometimes no matter how tired we are we just can't fall asleep. Or if we fall asleep, we wake up and spend hours trying to get back to sleep. Sometimes we are up all night with hot flashes and night sweats. There are many things keeping us awake at night. How often do you get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night?


Here are some Chinese medicine reasons why insomina happens and what can be done about it.


Nighttime is the time of Yin where darkness and cooler temperatures take over. This is the ideal time to sleep. According to Chinese Medicine, during the day, the Spirit resides in our Heart/Brain and animates us through our day. At night the Spirit leaves the Heart and goes into the Liver to rest for the night. If the Liver cannot contain the Spirit (due to any of a variety of Liver imbalances), the Spirit gets up and walks around at night; this leaves us with insomnia, either with trouble falling asleep (onset insomnia) or with staying asleep (matitudinal insomnia). This is also why alcohol can cause sleep problems for some people, especially between 1-3am. This is the peak time for Liver energy (all internal organs have a 2 hour window of peak energy and nadir of energy 12 hours later). If the Liver is trying to process the alcohol, rather than trying to contain the Spirit, the Spirit becomes disturbed and cannot rest, so it is common to have insomnia symptoms occur during this time.


If the Liver (Blood) is weak (symptoms of dizziness, blurred vision, floaters, dry skin/hair, trouble falling asleep, light menstrual flow), the Liver isn't strong enough to contain the Spirit. If you notice your mind racing, keeping you from falling asleep or staying asleep, you may also have a Kidney weakness which is failing to support and ground the Liver. You may have some form of heat rising (Yang or Fire) which is agitating the spirit, preventing sleep from happening; this is often the case where hormonal changes are interfering with sleep (symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, irritability or anxiety).


In order to get good sleep, you must prepare your body for it. Creating a bedtime routine or a good sleep environment in your home, or at least your bedroom, can help your body know that sleep is coming soon. Here are 7 ways to help prepare your body for sleep:


1. Turn off all electronics at least 30-60 minutes before you intend to fall asleep. Electronics are not only stimulating mentally, but by shining light directly into your eyes, it prevents your brain from manufacturing melatonin, the sleep hormone, which your brain only makes when you are in darkness. A great way to prepare for bed is to dim the lights a bit in your house, easing yourself into thinking about sleep.


2. Make sure you don't have "light pollution" in your bedroom. The bedroom should be for 2 things: sex and sleep. Having a television, digital alarm clock or light coming in from the street can all disrupt the darkness that your brain needs. Plus certain electronics create a low level "hum" that some people are sensitive to that can agitate the nervous system on an unconscious level interfering with the quality of sleep you get.


3. Avoid caffeine after noon. Caffeine can stay in your system for 8-12 hours so even if you have some in the afternoon it can affect your sleep. Watch out for hidden caffeine in chocolate and decaf teas and coffee. Only herbal tea is truly caffeine free. Decaf coffee and tea have a significant reduction in caffeine, but can still contain up to 3% of the original amount. If you are sensitive, even this amount can keep you awake.


4. Take a warm shower or bath before bed. Heating the body up creates a cool down period that is sleep inducing. You can also add lavender essential oils to the bath which will increase the relaxation factor.


5. Drinking a warm beverage, like chamomile or valerian tea or even warm milk before bed can help you feel more relaxed. This is good especially if you have trouble falling asleep due to an anxious or racing mind. If liquid before bed causes you to wake up in the night to urinate, you can use Rescue Remedy or Rescue Sleep, made by Bach Flower Essences. They have the same type of calming effect, but you only need 4 drops. You can also eat more melatonin producing foods, such as cherries and kiwis. Any of these remedies should be used about 30-60 minutes before bed, or if you wake during the night.


6. Deep breathing and sequential relaxation are techniques that you can use in bed, either to help you fall asleep or return to sleep.

• For deep breathing, lie down in bed on your back, close your eyes and place your hands on your lower abdomen. First just observe yourself breathing, noticing if your chest or your belly is rising and falling. If your chest is moving, actively try to breathe into your belly, feeling your hands rise with your inhale and fall with the exhale. Imagine that your belly is a balloon and that as you inhale you are filling the balloon causing it to expand, and as you exhale the balloon deflates. Performing deep breathing for 3-5 minutes can help you let go of the day, let go of the anxiety over falling asleep and help you drop into your body so that sleep can overtake you.
• Sequential relaxation is another useful technique. Lie on your back, close your eyes and breathe naturally. Bring your attention to the top of your head and try to relax the muscles there. Focus on your eyebrows and relax them apart. Let your eyes fall back into their sockets.  Continue like this, relaxing one body part at a time, moving your attention from your head down to your feet. By the end you have either already fallen asleep or you are so relaxed that it is easier to drift off.

7. If heat is the culprit, there is a yogic breathing technique called Sitali (pronounced shee-TAH-lee) that can help cool you down. Open your mouth and roll your tongue into a tube (if you can't roll your tongue, just stick it out). Inhale slowly through the "tongue tube." You'll notice the air is very cool on your tongue. Exhale through your nose with your mouth closed. Try to make the exhale at least as long or longer than your inhale. This type of pranayama, or breath work, is cooling and calming to the mind, and can be very helpful if hot flashes or night sweats are keeping you awake at night.


If, after you've tried all of these techniques, sleep still eludes you, you might want to  call your local acupuncturist and get in for some treatment. Your acupuncturist can tailor your treatment to the specific imbalances that are preventing your sleep. He or she may also prescribe Chinese herbs or dietary changes if you've been suffering for a long time and need more intensive treatment.


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