Wellness / Health
Digestion problems can range from minor annoyances such as gas and bloating, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), acid reflux, to life-threatening illnesses such as ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease and various cancers that target digestive organs. Whatever the case, it is always worth being proactive about our digestive health.
Most digestion problems respond very well to acupuncture and herbal treatment. Making dietary changes that restore and detoxify the gut also enhances treatment progress.
Digestion is one of the main reference points for gauging one’s overall health. If there are weaknesses or imbalances here, it is likely that one’s overall health is compromised.
Maintaining healthy digestion is an essential component in our quest for optimal health. If digestion is weak, it will lead to a myriad of unwanted symptoms that decrease one’s quality of life. We understand how frustrating and disruptive digestive problems can be.
The good news is that we have successfully treated, with acupuncture and herbs, many of our patients suffering from digestion problems.
Let’s take a look at a few common digestive disorders and how acupuncture can help…
Acupuncture and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
IBS is a very common problem that affects millions of Americans. Doctors will often diagnose IBS or irritable bowel syndrome when the patient’s symptoms don’t seem to match up with anything else, so they call it irritable bowel.
This disorder is characterized by bowels fluctuating from constipation to diarrhea with intermittent abdominal pain or distention.
People with IBS tend to be sensitive to a variety of foods including high fiber foods, refined sugar, wheat, and gluten products. Symptoms can continue indefinitely and can be resistant to conventional treatments.
We have treated several patients with IBS, usually with very positive results. Acupuncture theory asserts that IBS typically involves a disharmony between the energies of the liver and the spleen. The liver becomes hyperactive due to stress, anger, and frustration, which causes it to weaken the spleen, causing loose bowels and fatigue. Acupuncture treatment involves relaxing the liver and strengthening the spleen.
Acupuncture and Constipation
The standard American diet can easily lead to chronic constipation. This diet is low in fiber and antioxidants and high in difficult to digest additives and refined ingredients.
Many, many people are constipated and they don’t even know it. They may have regular bowel movements, but they are still not flushing their systems thoroughly, which creates intestinal toxicity.
Intestinal cleansing is often a top priority in healing numerous chronic health problems. Acupuncture works very well for constipation, and in just a few treatments. There are also several natural herbal remedies and nutritional supplements that can relieve constipation and heal the underlying imbalances.
Acupuncture and Diarrhea
Chronic diarrhea can be dangerous for your health. It is still one of the leading causes of death in the world. Diarrhea is related to spleen weakness or intestinal inflammation.
It is always a top treatment priority to heal this condition. Stress and anxiety can trigger regular bouts of diarrhea, as can processed and refined foods. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs work very effectively to regulate bowel movements and eliminate diarrhea.
Acupuncture and Bloating / Gas
These symptoms tend to arise from eating too much or too fast, excessive stress, refined foods, coffee and alcohol, and sugar. Aside from slowing down and eating less of these foods, suggestions can be made in terms of supplementing with Chinese herbal formulas. Acupuncture treatment also strengthens the spleen and stomach, relieving the symptoms of bloating and gas.
Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a condition where a person feels the need to move their legs in order to get rid of an unpleasant sensation. They may need to get up and move around or walk to help alleviate the uncomfortable sensations. RLS is a condition that has no known cause or no known cure and usually affects middle aged and older adults. It can easily disrupt sleep patterns and cause you to feel drowsy and experience daytime sleepiness. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine may be able to offer you relief for the symptoms and help build your body up to avoid future occurrences.
4 Ways to use Acupuncture for Stress Management
1. Soothe the Savage Beast: the Liver
In Oriental medicine terms, stress always affects the liver by causing it become stuck, stagnant and eventually very hot and inflamed. Acupuncturists will often use points related to the liver and gallbladder to calm the liver while increasing its flow of energy. These points may be on the body near the actual liver and gall bladder or on the head or feet or anywhere in between, since both of these channels run the length of the body.
2. Get Your Ears Pierced
The French acupuncture tradition has left a rich legacy of using the ear to treat the entire body and have developed a map of the entire body on the ear itself. Their findings, like much of modern acupuncture, have been well-demonstrated scientifically, showing that when the ear point for a particular body part is stimulated, the part of the brain that deal with that body part is activated. For this reason, ear acupuncture, or auricular therapy, as it is sometimes known, treats emotional and stress disorders very effectively. It is so effective that auricular acupuncture is used quite successfully to treat addictions and cravings. You can ask for ear seeds, tiny hard plant seeds that are taped into position on your ear, allowing you to stimulate these powerful acupuncture points whenever you need a lift or help staving off cravings.
The ear seeds can be left in place for up to three days after your acupuncture visit.
3. Get Scalped
Another modern acupuncture system uses thin needles inserted perpendicularly, just under the scalp. The sensation can be quite strong, though not painful. The sensation, if any, may be like mild electricity running through the hair. Acupuncturists can stimulate specific parts of the brain by needling the corresponding area of the scalp. While more commonly used for stroke patients or others with neurological disorders, scalp acupuncture can provide deep relief from stress, especially when combined with more traditional acupuncture points on the body and limbs. Ask your acupuncturist to use scalp points to help with particularly strong episodes of stress.
4. Align Your Chakras
If you have ever taken a yoga class, you are probably familiar with the chakra system. Chakras are centers of energy within the body that do not necessarily correspond to a single organ, but describe the collective function of several organs, and are often closely tied to endocrine function. Esoteric acupuncture is a new system of acupuncture prescriptions that are designed to balance, align, and open the chakras. This system, as the name implies, is far from the mainstream, but can yield powerful results in areas of emotional distress. The aim of esoteric acupuncture is to help you grow personally and spiritually so that you can work with the causes of stress, rather than just ameliorating the symptoms. Ask around and chances are you will find an acupuncturist who practices this specialty
Chinese herbal medicine, commonly used in conjunction with acupuncture, is a natural, non-toxic method for treating illness and improving overall vitality.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine work together to accelerate the healing process, promote a strong, healthy body, and increase longevity..
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San Rafael, CA 94901
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