This is definitely a problem for any sport that involves using the arms. In my clinic I’ve seen many early stage cases that involve only the warning symptoms of stiffness, some minor weakness, and an uncomfortable awareness of the elbow and forearm. In more severe cases, patients come in wearing braces and often have already had cortisone shots and spent time in physical therapy, but are still experiencing pain, especially after any exercise.

So, what can acupuncture do for this? Reduce pain, relieve inflammation, encourage blood circulation and speed healing. The results are particularly noticeable in a situation like this involving damaged tendons where there is limited blood circulation.

Dr. Peter Dorsher, an MD with acupuncture training, presented a great study on this at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2001. He treated 22 patients and found that the symptoms were relieved after 4 treatments. Eight and half months later, 77% still had no symptoms and had regained full use of their arms. He noted that some of these patients had had symptoms for months and tried many different therapies before acupuncture without success.

The techniques use for treatment include needles around the affected area, microcurrent electric stimulation, moxa (the application of heat), cupping (suction to bring stagnant blood out of the area), and therapeutic exercise.

Figuring out why the irritation occurred in the first place is also very important. Preventing injury and preventing RE-injury is better than treatment. I always ask patients WHY this is happening NOW. Have they changed their technique or experienced general changes in health? Higher stress in other areas of your life can lead to chronic muscle tension which makes the tendons more vulnerable to tearing. We also look at the condition of the Blood and Liver Qi. Blood (particularly Liver Blood) bathes and nourishes the muscles and tendons. If the Blood and Qi (energy) become blocked, you are more vulnerable to stress damage.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be used in combination with conventional reproductive medical care or as a primary treatment approach. Acupuncture can be effective for women taking fertility drugs or reproductive technology techniques (such as IVF or IUI). Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine can also be effective as a stand-alone approach to treat infertility for those not undergoing conventional medical treatment. Acupuncture helps to regulate hormonal activity, thus regulating menstruation, ovulation, and pregnancy. A recent study from the British Medical Journal found that among women who received acupuncture and IVF, the pregnancy rates were 65% higher and the rates of live births were nearly twice as high than among women who received IVF with sham acupuncture or no acupuncture.

Acupuncture helps to reduce stress and decrease the hypersympathetic nervous system response. Studies have shown that high stress levels decrease the likelihood of conceiving. Acupuncture has been shown to stimulate chemical changes within the uterine lining, thickening the endometrium, and preparing the uterus for implantation.

In men, acupuncture can improve sperm motility, volume and concentration as well as increase libido. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, optimum fertility enhancement would involve a course of treatments with the aim of nourishing the Kidney Essence and regulating the menstrual cycle as well as clearing any pathogens that may be interfering with the natural process of conception.

So what does the youthful new president of the United States of American think about complementary and alternative medicine? Despite very positive comments about the importance of prevention, we’ve seen nothing on this topic from Barack Obama other than a campaign-era letter of support for chiropractic. Thanks to a questioner in a public forum last month, we now have more of an answer. Here is the transcript of those comments, in full. The short answer: Obama wouldn’t mind a massage, thinks science has shown some value in acupuncture, and links this subject with his administration’s efforts to promote a prevention orientation via healthcare reform. Obama is articulate about the resistance to prevention orientation in both the political and healthcare arenas. It’s a rich exchange involving science, prevention and politics, mixed in with a little humor.

U.S. President Barack Obama

I first heard that President Barack Obama had made a favorable comment on acupuncture through the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM). Obama was at a Town Hall meeting in St. Louis. The AAAOM linked me to an audio site and I listened to the comments. I recently found a written transcript, thanks to an anti-complementary medicine blogger Steven Novella. It’s a rich exchange, involving science, prevention and politics, mixed in with a little humor.

Questioner: I’m a licensed acupuncturist and licensed massage therapist in Florissant.  And so –

Obama: I could use one right now.  (Laughter.)  My back is stiff.  I’ve been working hard.

I think one basic principle that we know is that the more we do on the prevention side, the more we can obtain serious savings down the road.

Questioner: I’ll be happy to help you.  (Laughter.)  And this kind of fits
into what you were just talking about as far as health care.  I’m
wondering, as a practitioner of Oriental medicine, knowing that the
National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization has
discovered through their studies that alternative medicine often is
more cost-effective and very effective, how will alternative medicine
fit in your new health care program?

Obama:  Well, look, my attitude is that we should — we
should do what works.  So I think it is pretty well documented through
scientific studies that acupuncture, for example, can be very helpful
in relieving certain things like migraines and other ailments — or at
least as effective as more intrusive interventions.

I will let the science guide me.  We just swore in an outstanding
new Secretary of Health and Human Service, Kathleen Sebelius, former
governor of Kansas.  (Applause.)  It’s good to see that a Jay Hawk got
applause on this side of the border here. (Laughter.)  But she’s going
to do an outstanding job.  And my charge to her is, as we’re going
through health care reform let’s find out what works.

I think one basic principle that we know is that the more we do on
the prevention side, the more we can obtain serious savings down the
road.  So giving children early checkups, making sure that they get
immunized, making sure that they are diagnosed if they’ve got eyesight
problems, making sure that they’re taught proper nutrition to avoid a
life of obesity — those are all issues that we have some control over. 
And if we’re making those investments, we will save huge amounts of
money in the long-term.

	Unfortunately, the hardest thing to do in politics — and certainly in health care reform — has been to get policymakers to make investments early that will have long-term payoffs.

Unfortunately, the hardest thing to do in politics — and certainly
in health care reform — has been to get policymakers to make
investments early that will have long-term payoffs.  Because people —
their attitude is, well, I’ll be out of office by the time that kid
grows up; and, the fact that they’re healthy, that doesn’t help me. 
And in the private sector insurance system, oftentimes insurers make
the same calculation. Their attitude is, well, people change jobs
enough for us to pay for the preventive medicine now when the problem
may not crop up for another 20 years and they’ll be long out of our
system, so we don’t want to reimburse it because it will make things
more costly.  That’s the logic of our health care system that we’re
going to have to change.

The recovery package put a huge amount in prevention.  We are, in
our budget, calling for significant increases in prevention.  And my
hope is, is that working in a bipartisan fashion we are going to be
able to get a health care reform bill on my desk before the end of the
year that will start seeing the kinds of investments that will make
everybody healthier.  All right?  (Applause.)

Comment:  I find Obama’s link of complementary and alternative medicine with “what we do on the prevention side” happily illuminating about his thinking. That he gets it becomes more obvious when he begins to describe how conventional politician and insurer habits of mind and practice get in the way of supporting any prevention-oriented approaches. The frustration is the lack of any clarity, to date, on how preventively-oriented, non-conventional practitioners fit into his administration’s prevention plans. Clarity on this would be useful. 

Anti-CAM blogger Novella, by the way, who provided this transcript, believes that Obama has made a “huge gaffe” with his apparent support of acupuncture, on the level of George W. Bush’s statement that the “jury is still out” on the question of evolution.

RLS is a sign of poor blood circulation in the legs, and a history of smoking, lack of exercise, or diabetes could be contributing factors. A lack of iron in one’s diet is thought to exaggerate symptoms of RLS. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the cause of Restless Leg Syndrome is heat in the Heart, which is thought to cause agitation in one’s spirit, and can lead to restlessness during sleep.

In TCM, the spirit is referred to as the Shen, and it is believed to be stored in the Heart. In traditional Chinese medicine, each organ is believed to be sensitive to one unique type of weather: while the Heart wants to feel warm, it should not feel hot. The theory of Zang-Fu (“internal organs”) holds that the Kidneys are the source of yin and yang in the body. When Kidney yin is low, it means that the body is susceptible to heat, contributing to the Heart’s discomfort (and therefore the Shen’s), and can lead to restless legs.

Herbal remedies can be recommended to help the Kidneys, Heart, and Shen, and this can in turn relieve the uncomfortable sensations of Restless Leg Syndrome. Two of the more common herb formulas that are recommended are RopinoHerb RLS and RopinoHerb PLMD. Nutritional supplements that include Vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, and folic acid have also been proven to improve symptoms of RLS.

Another TCM treatment for restless legs is acupuncture. Acupuncture treatments have proven effective in patients with arthritis, and are believed to also stimulate those parts of the brain that are involved in RLS. Moxibustion, an ancient TCM practice, can also help to control RLS symptoms. Moxibustion is the utilization of the mugwort herb, or “moxa,” to stimulate the points on the body used during acupuncture. Stimulating these points can help to energize or align one’s qi, and also can induce a smoother blood flow, which will reduce the urges of Restless Leg Syndrome.

For more information on how TCM can alleviate Restless Leg Syndrome, please visit Pacific College of Oriental Medicine at http://www.PacificCollege.edu.

In a 2004 study conducted by University Hospital in Sweden, 36 women were divided into four groups. The results revealed that 90% of the women involved in the acupuncture groups had a positive antiemetic (vomit prevention) outcome. The doctors concluded that both acupuncture and acupressure (the act of applying physical pressure to acupuncture points with hands, elbows, or other devices) were extremely effective in the relief of morning sickness and overall nausea.

Dr. Donnica Moore, a doctor and advice columnist of women’s health, also addressed the efficacy of acupuncture for morning sickness. She states “There is clear evidence that needle acupuncture is efficacious for adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting. Many practitioners use it for nausea of pregnancy as well.” She cites a recent study conducted by the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management in which the effects of active acupuncture could be seen ‘often within minutes of stimulation.’

is article, “Acupuncture During Pregnancy,” Jonathon Hardcastle takes acupuncture’s benefits a step further and discusses pregnancy in the later trimesters. Acupuncture can help women with more problems than just morning sickness. Hardcastle states “Acupuncture has been used to successfully treat heartburn and hemorrhoids in the second trimester…In the third, it can provide relief from sciatica (which is inflammation or pain in the sciatic nerve of the back – often the baby will be pressed against it), joint pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome, which many women develop later in pregnancy.” In fact, acupuncture has even been known to help turn a breech baby in the womb, and can also help to stimulate labor for an overdue baby. Many women find that acupuncture-induced labor is easier than labor induced by drugs such as Pitocin.

A primary concern of mothers and doctors alike is the vulnerability of a fetus to medication and its adverse effects. Acupuncture is a safe, healthy, and natural means of reducing pain and discomfort for a variety of afflictions during pregnancy. When performed in conjunction with a healthy diet and regular medical appointments, acupuncture can help women to reach their goals of a healthy baby and a smooth pregnancy.

For more information on how acupuncture can alleviate morning sickness and help other pregnancy discomforts, please contact Pacific College of Oriental Medicine at (800) 729-0941, or visit http://www.PacificCollege.edu

Acupuncture, a 5,000-year-old Chinese medical practice, is proving to be one way for some asthma patients to manage their symptoms without over-paying. In a study conducted by the University Hospital of Vienna, over 70 percent of patients with long-standing asthma reported a significant improvement in their symptoms after 10 weeks of acupuncture treatment.

Bronchospasms associated with asthma result from over-stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Stimulation of acupuncture points can relieve both physical and emotional stress because they trigger the release of endorphins in the brain. Asthma sufferers can therefore experience both a physical release from bronchial constriction, and also an emotional or psychological release from the fear of constriction and suffocation.

Acupuncture is also more cost-effective than many Western drug therapies. In 1990, costs related to asthma were estimated at $6.2 billion. According to the American Lung Association, the average cost for one hospital stay for a child with asthma is $4,000. Acupuncture, by contrast, costs an average of $85 per session and can eliminate the need for emergency hospital visits and Western drugs. An estimated 70 to 80 percent of the nation’s insurers covered acupuncture treatments in 1996, making it an even more viable option for those with asthma.

For more information on how acupuncture can help manage the symptoms of asthma, please call 800-729-0941.

The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approach to anxiety problems is to treat them as disorders of Shan You Si, which are believed to affect the Zang Organs. The Heart Zang stores the Shen or spirit and each Zang Organ is responsible for one’s emotions. The Liver Zang is tied to anger, the Spleen Zang to excessive worry, the Kidney to fear, and the Lung with grief and anxiety. A disturbance in one or more of these Zang Organs can cause an imbalanced emotional state.

TCM classifies the cause of a specific mental disorder according to how much each Zang Organ has been disturbed and how its Qi is affected. The flow of Qi or energy can be interrupted by several factors, including anxiety, stress, anger, fear or grief. Acupuncture seeks to restore any imbalance between Yin and Yang. By inserting needles into the fine points of energy, the body’s own healing process is stimulated to restore its natural balance. Treating depression and related conditions such as seasonal affective disorder or dysthymic disorder (chronic depression) with TCM requires the proper evaluation of the signs and symptoms of these conditions. Specific acupuncture techniques are advised to treat each condition. Changes in lifestyle and the adoption of self-help recommendations are also part of the healing process.

TCM methods to treat depression and anxiety also involve the use of Chinese herbal medicine. These have slowly been accepted in the West, primarily because of the non-toxic nature of the treatment. Chinese medicines have been used to treat stress and to reduce the effects of the body’s aging process. Herbal medicines are combined in creams, gels, ointments, serums, powders, and tonics.

For more information on Traditional Chinese Medicine and anxiety, please call 800-729-0941.

The use of acupuncture is proving so successful in the Air Force that a class about “battlefield acupuncture” is scheduled to commence in the New Year. Physicians deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan will soon be adding acupuncture to their list of medical remedies. Auricular acupuncture (acupuncture of the ear) is the primary technique that will be taught. This method can alleviate wide ranges of pain (even unbearable, sharp chronic pain) for days at a time. Patients who have been suffering in a daze of drug-induced sleep as their only means at pain reduction can begin to emerge from that state into fuller consciousness without pain.

Individuals treated with acupuncture report greater reductions in pain both immediately after the first and last treatments, and one week after the last treatment. It is important to have acupuncture treatments consistently for the treatment of chronic pain. Another reason acupuncture may work so well for wounded troops is because it is deemed especially effective in regard to pain caused by motion. Acupuncture is a safe form of treatment for people with chronic neck pain and offers clear clinical advantages over conventional massage or prescribed medication in the reduction of pain and improvement of mobility. It doesn’t just attack the symptom as drugs do but, rather, the cause of the pain, thus improving the patient’s range of motion and sense of well-being.

Acupuncture can also reduce anxiety, something many wounded troops deal with daily. Battlefield acupuncture has been effective among patients suffering from a combination of combat wounds and psychological injury. Auricular acupuncture, in particular, is known to help patients relax, de-stress, and can greatly improve a patient’s sleep pattern. Lastly, this practice is well suited to military bases and physicians on the go because it requires no bulky equipment, and can provide quick relief.

For more information on Battlefield Acupuncture please contact Pacific College of Oriental Medicine at (800) 729-0941.

Those wishing to improve their lung capacity and to generally improve their breathing abilities can draw on a reservoir of Chinese therapies. Among these is the application of acupressure for coughing spasms. Here, pressure is applied to a point between the shoulder blade and spine, at heart level, to provide some relief. Acupuncture therapy can also be effective. An imbalance in the flow of energy to the lungs can be treated by applying needles along the lung meridian on the arms, or along the meridian of another organ with a related rhythm.

Another common therapy for treating breathing problems involves the use of Qigong. This traditional breathing workout manages your breathing to improve your body’s health, mobilize its energy and stamina, and improve respiration. Basically, Qigong is the art of therapeutic breathing. That is, taking a full breath of air into the abdomen. Regrettably, most of us breathe on the shallow side. The key is to breathe deeper. Make it a point to inhale fresh air/qi in through your nostrils all the way down into the abdomen. And don’t forget to exhale through the mouth. The abdomen should visibly push outward as you inhale and contract back in when you exhale. There are also specific breathing exercises to open the spine, which in turn, support the flow of cerebral spinal fluid.

Deep breathing is very important in maintaining the body’s over all health. It not only serves to properly balance your nervous system, but also boosts oxygen delivery to vital organs and keeps your qi moving. The point is, you have to breathe anyway, so why not do it right.

For more information on how acupuncture can with breathing problems, please call Pacific College at 800-729-0941 or visit http://www.PacificCollege.edu

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, included 401 adults from 18-65 years old with chronic headaches (at least two headaches a month). Participants were divided into two groups: those who received up to 12 acupuncture sessions during a three-month period in addition to standard medical care, and those who received only standard care. One year later, researchers found those who received acupuncture experienced 22 fewer days with headaches, used 15% less medication, made 25% fewer visits to their doctor, and took15% fewer sick days off from work.

In a related study published in the same journal, British researchers found that acupuncture improved the quality of life for chronic headache sufferers. They concluded that acupuncture is a relatively cost-effective headache therapy compared with other treatments. These encouraging results have prompted some health insurance companies to cover acupuncture services rendered for the treatment of chronic headaches and migraines.

Generally, to be most effective, acupuncture treatments are used in combination with Chinese herbs, tui-na massage, and energetic exercises to restore imbalances found in the body. The specific treatment recommended to treat your headache or migraine may depend on a number of factors. For example, headache pain can be in several places. Whether the pain is behind the eyes or temples, or the time of day the pain appears make a difference in diagnosis. Other factors that can influence the type of treatment you’ll receive include the effect of light in your eyes, and whether your headache is a dull pain, if it throbs with each heartbeat, or if it’s sharp and piercing. The answer to these questions will help your acupuncturist select just the right combination to treatments for your pain.

For more information on acupuncture for migraines, please call (619) 574-6909, or visit http://www.PacificCollege.edu