Recently, there was a great article featured in the New York Times regarding the safety
of using acupuncture to treat children. The article discusses two of the latest studies, one in “The Journal of Pediatrics,” and the other conducted by the University of Alberta in Canada, both reporting minimal side effects and overall safety. Acupuncture is a widely accepted treatment alternative for adults and is growing in popularity amongst kids — in fact, as of 2007, a reported “150,000 children underwent acupuncture.” Is acupuncture right for your child? Read More here and decide!
On Valentine’s Day, 2/14/12, Fox News featured a segment on “Drug free pain relief for Osteoarthritis (OA,)” written by Dr. David Samadi. As you will see, the article describes OA as a Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) in which joint cartilage erodes by excess wear, tear and stressors. While there isn’t a clear-cut treatment option, quality of life changes such as weight loss and over-the-counter medications for pain relief are the mainstays of symptom relief. The American College of Rheumatology and Dr. Samadi both advocate acupuncture as an alternative to pain relief in the treatment of OA.
Click Here to Read the Article
I thought I’d pass along an interesting web page from Science Daily that featured an article last week entitled, “PCOS and the Benefits of Acupuncture and Exercise.” Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is caused by a hormonal imbalance of estrogen, progesterone and androgens in women of reproductive age. As a result of this imbalance, the menstrual cycle is often absent or irregular.
PCOS can lead to other uncomfortable symptoms as well, including the formation of ovarian cysts, acne, infertility and the occurrence of male sexual characteristics. Traditional treatment of the condition, from a Western Perspective, often utilizes medications such as the birth control pill, a Glucophage like Metformin, and androgen replacement therapy. As you will see from this article, acupuncture and exercise offer an alternative to medication.
Click Here to access article on Science Daily
As an acupuncturist, much of my life revolves around Qi. I spend my days moving it, boosting it, and sending it in the right direction to resolve a variety of issues that occur within the human body. But what is it?
Loosely translated, it’s the “life force” that exists within all of us. If we think of our bodies as a system of rivers and streams, it is the force that flows in and around our skin, muscles, and organs. It is the power behind our digestion, how we sleep, and even how we may interact with others. And in Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is the alpha and omega of all we do.
There are essentially two types of Qi in our bodies: the kind we inherit and are born with, and the kind that we can cultivate here on Earth. I’ll give you the bad news first: the “pre-natal” Qi that we are born with cannot be replenished and we are basically at the mercy of what we were given. The good news is that we can do all we can to conserve what we have and make the most of it. The moral of that story is this: You’ve already been dealt a hand. Play it wisely. And if you are looking for more inspiration, Kenny Rogers has some additional advice. As for the “post-natal” Qi, or the kind that we can cultivate leaves us with the most control. And that’s a good thing. If we choose to eat healthy, exercise, and manage our stress, we can make a huge difference in keeping that “life force” bountiful and flowing. I particularly like this quote, and I think it applies to just about everything, including our precious Qi.
During all of our lives, no matter how healthy we may be, there will be times where our Qi needs a little extra TLC. It can get depleted, it can get stuck, it can go up when we want it to go down. Luckily, with the help of acupuncture, Qi is easily coaxed back into behaving properly. That said, we still need to eat, sleep, and conduct ourselves as if our Qi depends on it. It pretty much does.
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is an exciting time, but for some of us, it’s the time of year when we roll out the welcome mat for our inner critic. “I hate my thighs…I need to lose 10 lbs…my hair is a mess…”. This is the mantra that plays in our heads for many of us. And who can blame us? Every commercial seems to be for a gym membership, diet plan, or energy drink. It may not be the intention, but the message many of us hear is this: “You don’t exercise enough. You are overweight. You don’t have enough energy and are lazy.” Put that way, it’s no wonder we are critiquing our every flaw and setting out to make massive changes every January.
Here’s the thing: it’s great to want to make positive changes in your life at any time of year. And by all means, if you are smoking you should make plans to quit. If you feel you are consuming too much alcohol on a regular basis, now is the time to get some help. But if you had one too many slices of fruit cake and a few extra helpings of egg nog, don’t rake yourself over the coals. If those jeans don’t fit as splendidly as they did last year, just know that our bodies change throughout our lifetime. OK, so you don’t have the body you did when you were 19. (And if you happen to be 19 and reading this, please shut off the computer, put on a bikini, and take lots of pictures. You look fabulous, and you probably don’t even know it). The point is this: be kind to yourself. Take inventory of what you might like to improve overall in your life and set reasonable goals. Incorporate more veggies and less cake (need some help? Here are some Veggie Tips. Take a dance class that focuses on embracing all body types (my girlfriend takes S Factor with women of all ages and sizes and raves about it). Take the stairs instead of the elevator. And when your inner critic starts taking out her clipboard, send her packing. ‘Cause you’re better than that, and she knows it.
Picture it: Your toddler is perched precariously on the edge of that high-backed chair in your in-law’s living room as she tries to figure out how to get herself back down. One false step could mean an afternoon in the E.R. You have a few choices here. One is to run over frantically, grab her in a wrestling hold, leave the house and never return. The other is to look the other way and hope for the best. Several other choices lie somewhere in between. The question is this: how much intervening on our part is helpful, and how much serves to stifle the independence of the very children we are charged with raising to be self-sufficient adults?
A recent article in Boston Magazine, Welcome to the Age of Overparenting, discusses how many of us are now part of The Age of Overparenting. In my own experience, my friends and I often recant stories of snowball fights at the bus-stop, sneaking by a secret crush’s house on the walk home from school, and knocking on a friend’s door to see if they could ride bikes without calling first. We marvel at the freedom we had, and may even secretly think our parents were crazy to afford us that alone time when any number of disasters may have struck. But they didn’t, and when we talk about these experiences, it is with a wistful gleam in our eyes. Today, snowball fights between our children only occur under the watchful eyes of a parent, trips to and from school are in the car, and play-dates are organized within the calendars of our Blackberry.
This thought-provoking article examines how many of us are trying to find that balance between smothering and neglect. As we all know, there are endless opinions offered from family and media on how we should raise our children: Everyone from great-aunts, to in-laws, to the childless neighbor-lady who will give a sideways glance if it is below 65 degrees and my child isn’t wearing a hat. In the end, it is important to find what we are comfortable with as individuals. And if she happens to fall from that high-backed chair? Well, we’ll just use the Emergency Room experience as a “learning opportunity” and call it a day.
