Acupuncture has gotten quite popular around the world now due to the fact that it has proven to be safe. In my opinion it is the safest treatment because there is absolutely no side effects. The body uses its own healing abilities in resolving the problem. You may ask how long before I would see results? Well, that all depends on the individual. For example, a young person that has an acute problem may see results right away. For an elder person with a more chronic problem and those who have a low immunity take a little longer to see results.
There are fourteen meridians that go through the body. Each one is related to an organ. We insert a tiny sterilized needle into a certain point to balance Yin and Yang, to detoxify, to smooth Qi and circulating blood. Acupuncture is not only used to fix muscle, joint and nerve problems, it can also be used to help internal problems like allergies, asthma and so on.
The needles are very thin, thin like your hair. Because they are so thin they don’t cause pain, or just like a mosquito bite when it goes through the skin. Then when we twist the needle the different sensations that you might feel are: heaviness, soreness, tension, hot, cold, or electric which means that the Qi is moving inside. When you feel these sensations you will see results more quickly.
Some acupuncturist they don’t find that the needle sensation is important, sometimes they may leave the needle in for half and hour or just connect the needles to an electric machine. In my opinion I think that here in the western culture the people are less tolerant to the needle sensation and another would have to be time restriction. Sometimes to find the needle sensation does take some time. Needle sensation is very important. I have some clients that have tried acupuncture before and have complained that it doesn’t work. I tell them different doctor, different skill.
Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years, it must be because it works. One should not wait till the last minute to heal the body. Acupuncture and herbs are the best treatments to get you healthy at the early stage of an illness.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
External Pathology Factors
Wind, Cold, Heat, Dampness, Dryness and Fire are six pathologic factors from the outside. When these factors go inside the body they cause problems, each one has their own character.
Wind goes everywhere. Now is here, later on, moves to somewhere else. Like arthritis, today you may have shoulder pain, tomorrow maybe knee pain. It’s because wind goes inside the body to cause that moving pain.
Cold can easily damage the body yang. For example, if you enjoy eating cold food it will affect your spleen yang and making it deficient. Which would mean you would have a low appetite, easily feel full, stomachache, diarrhea and so on. The cold can also make you blood circulation slow. Another example is when you have cold in your muscles and joints you would feel stiffness especially in the morning. That’s why when there is movement the symptoms subside.
Heat; for example when one has a fever that definitely means that you have heat inside your body. Hot and spicy foods should entirely be avoided to not add any more heat in the body. And a lot of skin problems can be caused by heat.
Dampness is from humidity. In humid weather, these symptoms caused by dampness, which like feeling tired, sleepy and heavy can show up or get worse.
Dryness causes mouth, lips, hair, and skin to get dry. Dryness easily affects lung, which cause dry nose, dry cough, or with a little phlegm, or phlegm is very sticky and even with a little blood. We would use herbs to nourish the lung. If one suffers from chronic dry cough we would suggest eating pears, or pear, fritillary cooking with crystal sugar.
Fire is stronger than heat. Heart fire causes tongue ulcers, insomnia. Liver fire causes red eyes, emotion irritated, and migraines. Stomach fire causes teeth pain,swollen gums,easy to feel hungry.
When we have Qi sufficient, these external pathology factors won’t go inside body to cause problems. It’s like if a country is strong enough, there is no enemy can invade.
Wind goes everywhere. Now is here, later on, moves to somewhere else. Like arthritis, today you may have shoulder pain, tomorrow maybe knee pain. It’s because wind goes inside the body to cause that moving pain.
Cold can easily damage the body yang. For example, if you enjoy eating cold food it will affect your spleen yang and making it deficient. Which would mean you would have a low appetite, easily feel full, stomachache, diarrhea and so on. The cold can also make you blood circulation slow. Another example is when you have cold in your muscles and joints you would feel stiffness especially in the morning. That’s why when there is movement the symptoms subside.
Heat; for example when one has a fever that definitely means that you have heat inside your body. Hot and spicy foods should entirely be avoided to not add any more heat in the body. And a lot of skin problems can be caused by heat.
Dampness is from humidity. In humid weather, these symptoms caused by dampness, which like feeling tired, sleepy and heavy can show up or get worse.
Dryness causes mouth, lips, hair, and skin to get dry. Dryness easily affects lung, which cause dry nose, dry cough, or with a little phlegm, or phlegm is very sticky and even with a little blood. We would use herbs to nourish the lung. If one suffers from chronic dry cough we would suggest eating pears, or pear, fritillary cooking with crystal sugar.
Fire is stronger than heat. Heart fire causes tongue ulcers, insomnia. Liver fire causes red eyes, emotion irritated, and migraines. Stomach fire causes teeth pain,swollen gums,easy to feel hungry.
When we have Qi sufficient, these external pathology factors won’t go inside body to cause problems. It’s like if a country is strong enough, there is no enemy can invade.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Five Elements
The five elements consist of Wood, Fire, Earth, Mental and Water. Each of those elements corresponds to five different organs, which are Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung and Kidney.
In the order of Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung and Kidney is like the relationship between a mother and the child.
In the order of Liver, Spleen, Kidney, Heart and Lung is when they are against each other.
The Liver is called the emotional organ. It is like wood, which needs space to stretch. If your not happy your Liver Qi is stagnate and you get depressed. When your Liver blood is deficient, not enough water for the wood you also get depressed. For example, if one is irritated, hyper and so on,we see that as an emotional problem, and we treat the Liver. It also means that the Liver Yang is high. We then ask the question why is it high? It can be caused by a Liver Yin that is low, or can be caused by a
Kidney Yin that is low. The Kidney is a water organ; the two need to be balanced.
The Heart is fire, which is warm. When the Heart Qi or Yang is deficient, this means that it doesn’t have enough power to move the blood. For example, one will have pale lips, pale face, cold extremes, when they walk a little they may feel a palpitation and so on. When the Heart Yin is deficient, one easily feels restless and also has insomnia.
Spleen is earth. Without earth there isn’t nutrition. Nothing would grow. So as they always say, as long as you can eat, there is a chance for survival.
Lung is metal. Metal is heavy. Heavy stuff always goes down. Which means that if the Lung Qi were going up instead of going down, one would feel short of breathe and would have a cough.
Kidney is water. Kidney is related to the genitourinary system. Any urinary problem and sexual problem can be blamed on the Kidneys.
In Western Medicine the organs are just organs, but in Chinese Medicine they are more that just organs. For example, when we talk about the Liver it’s the Liver Qi, Liver Blood, Liver Yin, and Liver Yang.
Later on when we combine other cases you’ll have a better understanding of how Chinese Medicine treats the body in the healing process.
In the order of Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung and Kidney is like the relationship between a mother and the child.
In the order of Liver, Spleen, Kidney, Heart and Lung is when they are against each other.
The Liver is called the emotional organ. It is like wood, which needs space to stretch. If your not happy your Liver Qi is stagnate and you get depressed. When your Liver blood is deficient, not enough water for the wood you also get depressed. For example, if one is irritated, hyper and so on,we see that as an emotional problem, and we treat the Liver. It also means that the Liver Yang is high. We then ask the question why is it high? It can be caused by a Liver Yin that is low, or can be caused by a
Kidney Yin that is low. The Kidney is a water organ; the two need to be balanced.
The Heart is fire, which is warm. When the Heart Qi or Yang is deficient, this means that it doesn’t have enough power to move the blood. For example, one will have pale lips, pale face, cold extremes, when they walk a little they may feel a palpitation and so on. When the Heart Yin is deficient, one easily feels restless and also has insomnia.
Spleen is earth. Without earth there isn’t nutrition. Nothing would grow. So as they always say, as long as you can eat, there is a chance for survival.
Lung is metal. Metal is heavy. Heavy stuff always goes down. Which means that if the Lung Qi were going up instead of going down, one would feel short of breathe and would have a cough.
Kidney is water. Kidney is related to the genitourinary system. Any urinary problem and sexual problem can be blamed on the Kidneys.
In Western Medicine the organs are just organs, but in Chinese Medicine they are more that just organs. For example, when we talk about the Liver it’s the Liver Qi, Liver Blood, Liver Yin, and Liver Yang.
Later on when we combine other cases you’ll have a better understanding of how Chinese Medicine treats the body in the healing process.
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