Feel The Qi: Laser Acupuncture Great For Children and Others

In the ancient Chinese texts that both the Chinese and Japanese use as the basis for acupuncture, there is the directive to needle until qi is felt. Interestingly, there is no pronoun as to who is to feel the qi: the practitioner or the patient.

The Chinese have interpreted this text to have the patient feel the qi, and is why the practitioner may manipulate the needle asking the patient to let her or him know when a sensation is felt: a pulling, heaviness, tingling, ache, whatever the sensation may be (qi is felt differently at different points, and differently by different people.) The Japanese have interpreted so that the practitioner feels the qi, which has led to different styles of technique.

In general, Japanese needles tend to be inserted much more shallowly and the patient may not feel them at all. The practitioners develop strong sensitivities in their fingertips, feeling for subtle energy. In fact, a tradition of blind acupuncturists has grown in Japan, where their fingers are so sensitive they often don't even insert the needles into the skin to feel the qi, and changes in the body's energy. An entire style of Japanese acupuncture, Toyahari, has grown from this style.

We are able to see is that as long as the acupuncture point is stimulated with intention, change can be affected in the body. Inserting needles may not be necessary to affect this change. In fact, moxibustion, or burning an herb over specific points, is also enough to cause desired effects in the body.

Laser acupuncture, or stimulating points with lasers, has also proven to be a successful way to affect change and treat disease and conditions. In Germany, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial showed that laser acupuncture was extremely effective in treating children with headaches and migraines. There have been many other studies, too, exploring the use of laser acupuncture on children and adults with all sorts of conditions, including carpal tunnel disease, paralysis after stroke, pain relief and headaches. Laser acupuncture is also useful and effective for treating pets, especially animals like birds and cats, who will not stay still for needles (dogs usually love the needles, and relax right away.)

After taking a pet acupuncture class,  we bought a laser used for these acupuncture treatments, and we use it at the Birch Center today. We use it mostly for young children who are afraid to have needles. Severe fear of needles can be counter-productive to treatments, if fear is strong enough it can cause qi to become scattered. We have also used it on adult clients who are afraid of needles (though every single one of those people have gotten over their needle-phobia once they saw the needles and have gone on to needle treatments), people with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia where needles seemed too fatiguing.

Laser treatments take less time than regular acupuncture treatments., The points are stimulated but obviously no needles are left in while the client relaxes on the table, which is common for regular treatments. After the intake, pulse and tongue examination, the acupuncture points are stimulated with the laser (which the patient does not feel at all), Depending on the reason for the treatment and client, adjunct treatments such as moxa or cupping may be employed just as in a regular acupuncture treatment.

Stay healthy,
~ Melissa and Dave


Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Traditional Chinese Medicine Eases People Into Spring Without Allergies
  

• Sinus Issues Respond Powerfully to Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions 

• Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Effectively Treat Insomnia

Foraging Friday: Super Greens!

Here is a mix of greens, weeds, and edible flowers that I have been making green smoothies with every morning and evening! For people who read both my journals, I won't repeat myself here, but if you want to know more about what is in the mix of greens and wild edibles, or know more about the green smoothie challenge, please visit Melissa's Raw Food and Juice Journal.

At the moment, I am eating lots of wild greens: lamb's quarters, shepard's purse, red clover (greens and blossoms), and lady's thumb...which has sparked a bit of interest around here when I noticed it is the same genus as He Shou Wu (or Fo Ti), which I am also taking as a Chinese Herb. Hmmmm, and here it is growing wild all over my garden (not he shou wu, but it's relative, lady's thumb.) So I am looking more into that and how it is and isn't similar. From the picture in my Chinese Herb book, he shou wu looks more similar to another relative that grows like a weed (it is a weed!) around Pittsburgh: Japanese Knotweed. So I will study further and report back. I'll also take pictures.

He Shou Wu (Fo Ti) is Polygonum multiflori, and has lots of those anti-aging properties I talked about in an earlier blog post, and I am taking it specifically for those properties of helping kidney energy: reproductive system, teeth, and early graying of the hair. (The name translates as "Mr. Wu's black hair".)

Lady's thumb is Polygonum persicaria and that has been going into my smoothie.

Japanese Knotweed is Polygonum cuspidatum, I have not eaten this yet, but we see it all along the roadside and riverside around here.

Have a great weekend!

Treatment Tuesday: Acupuncture and Headaches

Headache is a very common symptom we see at The Birch Center. Sometimes people come in with headaches as a main symptom, and other times it comes up during the intake that they suffer from headaches to varying degrees.

In Chinese medicine, we look at headaches from a different angle that Western view. Instead of taking medicine for a generic headache, we look at the source of the headache, and treat the source. For example, we often think in terms of "Eight Principles." We ask: is the headache caused by external or internal sources? (External referring to something like a cold, flu, or infection...something is seen as "invading" the body, and internal stems from weakness or stagnation of an organ system.) We also ask if the symptom is one of deficiency or excess? This greatly effects how we treat both with needles and herbal medicine. An external invasion often causes "excess", as does internal stagnant energy. We ask "hot or cold?" and "yin or yang" as the final eight principles.

At The Birch Center, we offer acupuncture and herbal medicine (both Chinese and Western herbs), as well as moxibustion and massage techniques when appropriate to the condition. We also can look at your diet in terms of an energetic point of view, to see if the foods you are eating could be contributing to the imbalance of energy you are experiencing. Finally, we can offer meditation, breathing and other techniques to help reduce stress.

Acupuncture and TCM provide an effective, natural treatment for many different types of pain, including headache pain. Hopefully we can help get your body's balance restored, and specifically recommend some simple changes which will keep you healthy, in balance, and pain-free.