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According to Workman's Compensation Law, an acupuncturist is a primary health care provider. This means that an acupuncturist can be your treating physician or that another treating physician, such as a medical doctor or chiropractor, can refer you to an acupuncturist for treatment. Work-related injuries respond well to acupuncture: low back pain, neck and shoulder, elbow, hand, knee, or foot injuries, repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis; Even chemical toxic poisoning and environmental illnesses respond well. Acupuncture also works well right along with drug therapy, physical therapy, or chiropractic. It can help the patient to avoid using drugs or to minimize their use or their side effects. Acupuncture often works when other types of health care fail. In many cases operations can be averted through acupuncture treatments. If you are dissatisfied with your progress, you have the right to choose an acupuncturist as your treating physician after 30 days from the day you reported your injury. Your present treating physician may not be familiar with acupuncture and not know that it may be able to help. Sometimes doctors who do not know what acupuncture can do will tell their patients that there is nothing that can be done to help them or that acupuncture will not work. Often acupuncture can help in these circumstances. One option is to see an acupuncturist on your own to see if you have a favorable response. If you respond well, your doctor will be likely to refer you to acupuncture. Of not, you have the option of choosing an acupuncturist as your treating physician. An allergy is an adverse immune system reaction to a substance most people find harmless. There are two types of allergies: those caused by environmental factors, such as dust, pollens, dust mites, chemicals, and perfumes, and those caused by foods, such as wheat, milk, shellfish, chocolate, food additives, coffee, and tomatoes. Allergies not only manifest as stuffy nose, watery eyes, and sneezing, but can cause or contribute to backaches, joint pain, headaches, fatigue, diabetes, edema, gastrointestinal disorders, glaucoma, kidney problems, weight gain, heart palpitations, depression, and learning disorders. We often crave the foods we are allergic to. Do you crave breads, sugary foods, milk, chocolate, tea, or coffee? If so, you may be allergic to them. One primary cause of allergies is an impaired immune system. The immune system is often impaired or over-burdened by stress, pollution, over-reliance on antibiotics, and the use of steroids - especially birth control pills. Other causes of food allergies are pesticides and preservatives in the food, repetitive diets, nutritional deficiencies, or an adrenal gland exhausted from stress. Acupuncture can help the body to detoxify the body, strengthen the immune system and the adrenal gland, so that the body no longer has an allergic response. Acupuncture responds very well to low back pain from many causes such as, a slipped disc, muscle spasms, disintegrating discs, herniated discs, arthritis, kidney disease, digestive problems, hormonal imbalances in women during their periods, stress-related or residual pain following an operation. Whatever the cause of the low back pain, it is likely that acupuncture will be able to help. Acupuncture often works when other methods fail. It is not uncommon for back surgery to be prevented. Acupuncture is a good supplement to other ongoing medical practices such as chiropractic, physical therapy, and drug therapy. So, the acupuncturist can work right along with your doctor. Most insurance companies pay for acupuncture, including companies for work-related injuries and auto accidents. Research is showing that stress is a major factor in most disease processes and chronic health conditions. If you have a lot of stress over a long period of time you are more likely to get cancer, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, allergies, digestive problems, reproductive problems, respiratory problems, sore muscles, headaches, and on and on. Some ways to minimize the effects of stress are: see them as challenges, maintain a positive attitude, regular, moderate exercise, relaxing activities such as yoga, Tai Chi, or meditation, cultivate a network of friends you are close to and can count on, eat fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains, minimizing meat - organically grown food preferably. From the acupuncture point of view, we have adverse reactions to stress because our energy system and organ functions are out of balance. For instance, according to Chinese Medicine, one of the functions of the liver is to handle stress. When the liver energy or meridian is out of balance, or blocked, it is more difficult to deal with stress. There is a tendency to be irritable, have headaches, have tight neck and shoulder muscles. When the liver energy is balanced, the feelings of irritability are replaced by a sense of confidence and peace of mind and the muscles are more relaxed. Interpersonal relations and unresolved feelings can be a source of stress. In Chinese acupuncture anger, resentment, frustration, are present when the liver is out of balance, worry is present when the spleen energy is out of balance, anxiety is present when the heart energy is out of balance, fear is present when the kidney is out of balance. Traumatic events can leave a person chronically stressed. In these cases, often the adrenal gland is exhausted. When the bodily energy is balanced with acupuncture, peace of mind is restored. Pain is a very common problem caused by a variety of reasons. In treating pain, it is broken down into two categories, acute and chronic. Acute pain is usually related to a recent accident or injury, while chronic pain involves long-term pain such as bad back, migraines, arthritis, and the like. Acupuncture treatment for pain is varied and based largely on what is causing their suffering. Available treatments include acupuncture along selected meridian points, which are energy pathways throughout the body, along with moxibustion, massage and Chinese herbs. Acupuncture is effective not only for pain control, but also for some internal medical problems. Those include asthma, bronchitis, ulcers, diarrhea, PMS, hypertension, sinus, and allergies. More than 50 different types of disease are effectively treated with acupuncture. Treatments vary depending on the medical condition. Based on the patient's symptoms and physical condition, herbs and other natural therapies such as acupressure and massage may be combined with acupuncture to achieve desired results. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a recently discovered and widely diagnosed problem often caused by stress, depression, or infection from bacteria or virus such as Epstein Barre Virus. Lesser known causes are cardia and Lyme Berylliosis. Patients suffering CFS often have deficiencies in their immune system. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes CFS to be caused by a "Chi" deficiency. Chi, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, is defined as vital energy. Those suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome often have a weakness in their internal organs which can be effectively treated by acupuncture and herbs. For those suffering from an immune deficiency, the use of acupuncture and herbs can enhance the body's immunity. Prevention of disease is as important as treatment. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes the human body must be kept in relative balance. When out of balance, our bodies become ill. So proper maintenance is crucial to good health. While exercise and proper diet can help keep the body in balance, acupuncture along with Chinese massage, Chinese herbs such as tamous and jingsen, along with breathing exercises such as Tai Chi are all excellent ways to maintain good health. Chinese Medicine Treatments for Women top Traditional Oriental Medicine (acupuncture, herbal medicine, and other therapies) is rapidly growing in acceptance in the West simply because it works. Its strongest feature is probably its ability to treat chronic conditions for which conventional medicine has no answers, no treatments, and no relief, other than harsh chemicals with potentially unpleasant side effects. Traditional Oriental Medicine treats women's health very differently from conventional Western medicine. This article describes some typical problems that women have treated with Oriental medicine. Traditional Oriental Medicine is based on the law of Yin and Yang. This law teaches that health only comes from a balance between these two fundamental principles. In the same way that American culture is struggling to find equality between the sexes, Chinese culture has, for thousands of years, understood that health only comes about after the masculine (Yang) and feminine (Yin) principles within ourselves are balanced and working in harmony. Applying the law of Yin and Yang socially is the basis for men's and women's groups in our culture. Oriental medicine seeks to insure health through this same concept as applied to one's bodily functions. Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches Menopause as a variety of syndromes. All of them have been successfully treated by acupuncture and herbal medicine. The most typical cause for the symptoms associated with menopause is the slowing of the flow of "Yin." When applied to the health of the physical body, this is the Chinese concept of the hydration or the cooling system within the body. Typical symptoms of this deficiency of Yin includes hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, insomnia, and heart palpitations. Sometimes, instead if the Yin level dropping down, it is the Yang that becomes deficient. The Yang in the body represents the warming function of the cells, their metabolism and other active processes. When the Yang is deficient, symptoms include: water retention, edema, weight gain, indigestion, hyper tension, and a raised cholesterol level. Left untreated, Yin or Yang deficiency can lead to Qi deficiency. Qi is pronounced "chee." It's the Chinese word for internal energy. Symptoms of a Qi deficiency can include: feeling "run-down," fatigue, decreased sex drive, dry vagina, cold extremities, lower back pain, weakened knees and incontinence. In China, maturity is highly revered, perhaps that is why they call the time after menopause to be a women's "second spring." It is this reverence for the elder years that Oriental herbal therapies have evolved to their current beneficial status. Menopause can be made much smoother through Chinese herbal therapy. Prognosis: Very good. Although the symptoms associated with "the change" are obviously transitory, Oriental medicine has helped women for thousands of years to enjoy their second spring without any growing pains of the first. It is interesting to note that many women, after menopause, because of the slowing of the flow of "Yin," discover their Yang principle and go on to achieve, for the first time in their lives, success in business and other areas which have been traditionally dominated by men and their prominent "Yang" principle. In the same way, men, after age fifty or so, often find time to discover their "Yin" or feminine principle and develop a more refined sense of compassion and nurturing in life. Emotional and/or physical discomfort occurring before or after the period. According to Oriental medical theory, there are mainly two organs that regulate menstruation. These are the liver and the spleen. The liver and spleen in Oriental medical theory are very different than the two organs described in Western medical science. The liver initiates the menstrual cycle and the spleen follows through. Where there is disharmony in the liver, symptoms include the emotional swings that we often associate with PMS such as: depression, sadness, irritability, crying, and propensity to outbursts of anger. When the problem comes from the spleen, a woman will likely experience clumsiness, distention of the abdomen and breasts, and insomnia. Doctors of Oriental medicine see emotional strain, overwork, too much sexual activity, and dietary problems to be the causes for PMS. Diet from the Chinese perspective doesn't talk about the lack of nutrients, but rather excessive amounts of food that aggravate the body's systems. Foods that are the most likely to lead to PMS include an excessive intake of dairy products and greasy or fried foods. Prognosis: Both acupuncture and herbs give excellent results for PMS. As with all menstrual problems. It will take a minimum of three menstrual periods to regulate the cycle completely, although some improvement can often be seen after the first month. Pain occurring before, during, or after menstruation. This pain often occurs in the lower abdomen or lower back. Associated Western conditions include; mittelschmerz, endometriosis, uterine fibroid and myoma from the Chinese point of view, this comes from either lack of "blood" in the body (this approximates anemia in Western terms, though it has other meanings as well), or stagnant Qi or blood. Stagnated Qi or blood can both effect and be effected by emotion. Stagnation makes you emotional, and emotions make you stagnant. Chinese Medicine seeks to free up the stagnant Qi and blood, nourish and increase the amount of blood in circulation blood, remove the pain and ease the emotions. Left untreated, stagnated Qi leads to stagnation of blood. This causes intermittent sharp pains in the abdomen, or what the West calls mittelschmerz. If the blood stagnation is allowed to slow the circulation of Qi or blood for a long time, a soft nodule can appear in the area. This is one way of describing endometriosis. Again, should the soft nodule go untreated and the stagnation in the body remain, in time it can become a harder nodule like a uterine fibroid. Should that nodule begin to grow more rapidly, it can become what the West calls myoma, or cancer. Pain tends to come from stagnated Qi or blood in Oriental medicine. At that stage it's a simple matter of getting that Qi or blood moving again to remove that monthly pain, however, left untreated, other complications can appear. It isn't the intent of this article to frighten anyone with the discomfort associated with menstruation, but it is a reminder that pain is nature's way of reminding us to be aware of our body's needs. Often times pain is simply a first alert to a problem that can be solved as by something as simple as expressing your emotions or feeling better understood. Menorrhagia or Metrorrhagia top Excessive menstrual flow or spotting. The reasons for these conditions according to Chinese medical theory are numerous. They include Qi Stagnation due to emotional strain, and Qi deficiency due to a variety of situations including overwork, too much sexual activity, chronic illness, or childbirth. Another cause could be "heat" in the blood which would likely be associated with feelings of restlessness, fever, and constipation. One could even spot after the period because of a weakness in the spleen. Symptoms associated with spleen deficiency might include an abnormally low appetite, shortness of breath, and a pale complexion. In the case of excessive flow or spotting after the period, the treatment principle could range from wearing "shields" in the case of spotting that falls within normal limits to an aggressive treatment plan to re-balance all of the various organ systems involved with this condition. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been treating women for thousands of years. If you've been suffering for years, you owe it to yourself to research your alternatives. You've got options. All I really want to do is remind you that suffering need not be one of them.
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