Newsletter

I received an interesting e-mail today from a place calling themselves "the International Institute of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture." The headlines were:
1 - Eliminate a headache in 15 seconds
2 - An alternative to the Acupuncture needles
3 - Special tuition offered by our International Institute
4 - General notes

I did a quick browse and skimed the headache article, read the theory that underwire bras are pressing on the YangMing merdian which "accumulates energy in the breast, and becomes, with time, a stagnation and accumulation of the energy CHI. This could very well be an important cause of Breast-Cancer." Then there were several "teasers" on subjects including obesity, infertility and a piece on magnetic, needle free acupuncture. Nothing much came up a Google search of the founder of these methods, Prof. Jin Ke Yu.

You have to become a member of their organization before you are allowed to sign up for their classes. Included in the membership is a newsletter and, well, a newsletter with all kinds of "exclusive" information. No indication on class delivery method, but the company is based in Beijing. See what you think.

http://www.magneticacupuncture.com/Newsletter.htm

Stand up Comedy Videos

While creating some comedy, I found some cool groups where people post comedy videos:

• Stand up comedy video group on youtube
• Funniest videos on youtube
• Carter comedy video page
• Carter comedy on myspace

Runner's World

While I do not identify myself as a runner, I have managed to put away a few small races and even a mini-marathon. Needless to say, I have had my share of knee pain and ankle twists. When I sprained my ankle several years ago in a canyon, I had it lanced and cupped and within two days it was like it never happened. I have also seen my share of plantar faciitis in practice and have to admit I always feel like a bully when I administer treatment - having needles placed in your heel no matter how thin they are is uncomfortable. While most of us see patients at the chronic stage of the disease, it is a joy to be able to treat at the onset of injury. For athletes, this is especially true as it gets them back in training all the faster.

Can Acupuncture Heel an Injury?

When one of our staff members developed plantar fasciitis (inflammation of the layer of tissue that supports the arch of the foot), she sought treatment from a podiatrist and physical therapist, and iced, rested, and stretched the area. Despite her efforts, the pain continued. So she decided it was time for an alternative therapy-acupuncture.

She went to four sessions with neurologist, certified acupuncturist, and runner Robert Roeshman, M.D., of Allentown, Pennsylvania. During each appointment, Dr. Roeshman inserted 15 to 30 thin, pliable needles into her calves and feet. She felt some initial discomfort, but as she grew more comfortable with the process, the pain subsided. He next attached an electrical-stimulation device to a few of the needles. After 30 minutes, he detached the machine, removed the needles, and voil?Our runner felt better-much better.

"After the second session, I went running, and there was absolutely no pain in my heel." There are constant electrical charges flowing through the body, says Dr. Roeshman. The needles are placed in acupuncture points where there is decreased electrical activity. By generating an electric flow between these points, the brain is stimulated to release endorphins and trigger the immune system to help injuries heal. If done when an injury is "fresh," acupuncture can significantly reduce recovery time, he says. "An ankle sprain that would normally take seven to 14 days to heal could be better in one to three days."

The Imploding Acupuncturist

First, thanks for the great responses to my previous post about the relaunch! It's nice to have a blog where you can get 10 comments on a post. That kind of interactivity confirms for me that I've made a connection with you guys in the past, that these topics are relevant for you, and that maybe I can help or give you some ideas in the future. Thanks! :-)

Please continue to go to the bottom of the latest blog post and post your comments. I'd love to see discussion amongst you guys too- I was thinking maybe I should put up a bulletin/discussion board for that. Let me know if you like that idea.

There were a lot of responses to what happened with me and my practice. I also got questions about my personal health plans, but I won't get into that this time- I want to keep my messages short!

Before I get into talking about the practice, I want to ask a favor- if you've read my book, Powerful Body Peaceful Mind, please write a quick review about it on Amazon.com. Someone who developed a resentment toward me wrote a really unfair, mean review there, and since there aren't many reviews, it gives new people the wrong idea. I don't know who wrote it- they never contacted me directly- but it's full of untrue accusations. Amazon won't respond to me about removing it. I'd appreciate your help in countering it with the truth- please write a quick review there so people who've never heard of me can get a more accurate picture. Thanks!

My thoughts about acupuncture practice:

1. Patients: the kind of people that are open to acupuncture and interested in it.

• Spirituality: Many of these people are into new age spirituality and relativism- I'm a Christian and so it's a bit difficult to talk about that honestly without a debate happening.


• Science: A bunch of them believe in all alternative medicine and don't like conventional western medicine and research- I started school that way but got heavily into biomedical mechanisms and research. I thought and talked about that probably more than some patients wanted.


• I hesitated to speak much about Chinese medicine theories of qi, yin and yang because I always felt I should qualify the theories with biomedical explanations and


• I also wondered whether patients were taking a spiritual or medical view of those theories.


• Yes, I think too much. For more about acupuncture, science, and spirituality, see my ChristianAcupuncture.com website.

2. Care: the type of acupuncturist that seems to satisfy patients most (this is less relevant in non-competitive cities) is the semi-codependent nurse-type. I don't mean codependent in a bad way, just as opposed to the narcissistic tendencies of the stereotyped doctor. I am admittedly more narcissistic and focused on results in a scientific way.

• Care vs. research: People want to feel better, and I wanted that but I also wanted to know which things I did helped them- if you really want someone to get a response in acupuncture, you can load them up with lots of needles, but you want clearly know what worked. In research, some people don't get better and it advances knowledge of what didn't work or where the diagnosis was wrong, but the individual patient wants to get better.


• Medicine vs. coaching: I wanted to fix people's medical issues, not guide them through a psychological or spiritual process. But I also wanted to avoid any of the transference that comes from patients thinking their acupuncturist is a spiritual guru.


• Repetitive talking: I wanted to be able to help more people without having to explain the same things over and over (one motive for writing my book).


• Cost vs care availability: I wanted to see more people so I could charge them less and help more than just the financially privileged patient. Most acupuncture schools teach you to spend a hour with a patient- that means you either can't make a living or you overwork... and you spend a lot of that time either doing an inefficient intake, or not following a treatment plan that doesn't require re-evaluation every visit, or doing psychospiritual counseling that you don't get paid for separate from the value of your diagnosis and acupuncture.

3. Business: I just wasn't ready to run an acupuncture practice.

• Systems: I didn't have systems in place (though I wouldn't have known what I wanted until I had done it in ways I didn't like),
• Assistance: I didn't have a receptionist (you really need someone competent to schedule new patients, deal with patient calls, keep you on schedule in the office, etc.), and
• Worries: I let all those worries in #1 and #2 above get in the way of my desire to help people and earn a living. I ended up not wanting to call new patients back and dreading going to see patients.
• Confidence: Most importantly, I wasn't confident enough. I felt like patients wanted answers and assurances I couldn't give them. But I think that's common even to MD's who have to give bad news and tell patients the limits of medicine and diagnostics. It's difficult to convey how little we know, and that we aren't always successful in healing and don't always know why some get better and some don't.
• Execution: Despite having been to my wife's practice management seminars multiple times for free, I didn't put what I knew about running the business into practice. In fact, I have found that it's much easier to learn what to do than to actually do it and do it consistently. I can't tell you how many how-to and self-help books that I didn't apply, and I know I'm not alone in that. That makes me think about my book, which I tried to make easy to apply, but I should probably create more audio help and a discussion forum for that too!

Clearly, if I did practice again in the future, I'd have to sort all that out and run the practice efficiently. Actually, just writing about it has helped some. And I think that's plenty about my practice for now!

Now, please let me know what you think about this post by going to the bottom of it and clicking on however many "comments" there are. Also, at the bottom of the blog post you'll see a number of little icon images: if you put your mouse on them, you see names like Digg and Del.icio.us. If you don't know what they are, this is a way to let people know that you like a blog post. The more people who do that, the more likely other people are to find it. I hope you take the time to click especially on digg and delicious, start an account with them, and "tag" my posts. It'll help a lot, thanks!

Also, if you haven't checked out the righthand column of this blog, there's the email signup, links to past blog writings, links to links to articles and research on other websites, and my recommended and personal website links. You'll notice I do a lot more than just Chinese medicine... music, outdoor stuff, and so on.

That's a wrap. All the best! Brian

P.S. Don't forget to write a quick review on Amazon.com and add your comment to the blog post. You can even email the post to someone by clicking on the envelope icon.

P.P.S. If you can't figure out all that blog commenting mumbo jumbo, just email me a hello or question if you want! :-) B

Pretty Inside, Pretty Outside

salesmanship has never been my strong point which is why facial acupuncture can be such a great marketing tool. People may shout "placebo" when a friend tells them their depression/pain/allergies are better with acupuncture, but they can't dismiss the effects when they see the results for themselves. Just one treatment can bring back a healthy, youthful glow, diminish a few of the deeper face lines, and provide a noticeable lift. Not only do you get a "qi lift," but you also get an acupuncture treatment that works on the constitutional level. Take that, spa facial!

Facial Acupuncture Said To Help Aging Process

Seema MathurReporting

(CBS 42) AUSTIN

Wrinkles and loose skin are a part of aging for most. But, can some well placed needles slow that aging process?

Experts say acupuncture has been around for about 5,000 years. While it's most known for promoting general health, practitioners will tell you its beauty secrets are an added benefit.

Christina Lacour, 38, began noticing signs of aging about two years ago.“I'm seeing lines around my forehead,” Lacour said. Lacour says plastic surgery or filler injections are not for her. So, instead she's going for a more natural approach--acupuncture.

First, needles are put in specific points in the feet called meridian points. These represent certain organs.“Sagging and droopy eyelids are often caused by weak digestive system,” acupuncturist Masako Wado said.

Once a good flow of energy or chi is circulating around the body, hair-thin needles are placed on the scalp and neck to lift the skin.Smaller needles are put in fine wrinkle lines. The trauma is suppose to cause collagen production and create a smoother appearance.“It gives the firm look and it brings more glow on the skin,” Wado said.

About an hour later, Lacour likes what she sees in the mirror.“The well being of that person will reflect on the skin,” Wado said.

Acupuncturists say it takes about 10 treatments for best results. But one treatment has made a believer out of Lacour.

Acupuncturists say, with booster treatments, results can last for a few years. There can be bruising and you want to make sure you are going to a licensed and experienced acupuncturist. The prices ranges from $150 to $200.

PulseMed Being Well Re-Launch

I think it's time to return to writing about alternative medicine. In retrospect, I helped a lot of people that way (we had millions of website visitors and an email list of more than 3,000), and evidently, I was good at it, so it may be a calling of mine. I've been away...

In 2005, I took a major break from alternative medicine. After creating the Pulse of Oriental Medicine website (PulseMed) in 1999, writing nearly 500 original articles over 3 years, and self-publishing my general audience book (Powerful Body Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs and Acupressure), I went into acupuncture private practice.

The acupuncture practice, though, by the end of 2004, was not what I expected, and I was somewhat baffled by that- and I started doing very well with ecommerce and the advertising income from PulseMed- so I stopped practicing acupuncture and went "e", as in electronic/internet.

I acted as the editor for a massive article writing project and did freelance internet marketing, email marketing, and so on. Then I got a job with Adventure 16, an outdoor/backpacking gear retailer, helping to launch their first business-class web store. I've been doing that for 6 months while internally processing what else to do in my spare time.

I've been away in other ways as well. I haven't practiced what I preached in my book. I never really expected to, even when I wrote it- I think I said somewhere in there that the alternative medicine guru's must be B.S.'ing because none of us are perfect. What I loved in the Chinese medicine I came to understand was that it helped imperfect people live better lives- even helped explain some of our urges for the things that are bad for us.

So I feel a need to return to using the medicine more, not just writing about it. I'm more of a regular joe now in terms of the working world- in that I have a 9 to 5 job, and maybe that will help me help regular people more.

I look forward to writing, to you reading and asking questions- please feel free to add comments here and ask questions- interaction is part of a good blog!

All the best,
Brian