How To Live in Harmony With Winter

Shaping your life in the middle of winter is different than the same task would be in summer. We have just entered the year of the Tiger, being a smart cat means knowing when to pounce and when to be still. Winter is a time to be still, so the new beginnings might not be as active or flashy as a Spring or Summer beginning. In winter, the days are shorter with less natural light, and certainly

Try an Acupuncture Facial

Movie star Lucy Liu confessed she avoids facials, peels, plastic surgery or anything with the word “abrasion” in it. Instead, she goes for acupuncture treatments once a month. "It has been a part of my culture and my life for a long time, and it really, really works.”
 

People pump their face with botulism and scour their skin with harsh abrasions to get a smooth glowing look, but acupuncture can provide similar results, with additional health benefits.
 

Acupuncture balances the body and cosmetic appearance is also improved due to an increase of qi and blood flow to the face and décolletage.

Small needles applied to specific points on the face improve fine lines and wrinkles, brightens the skin and increases skin elasticity. Acupuncture can also bring relief from acne, rosacea and puffy eyes. Acupuncture patients can expect visible improvement after the first visit, with ten treatments recommended for lasting results.

If you are interested, I offer reduced rates for programs involving multiple acupuncture sessions, including acupuncture facial treatments. Call (210) 204-2305 for a free consultation.

Acupuncture for Depression During Pregnancy

Reuters Health, The Wall Street Journal. and WebMD all reported that acupuncture can be an effective treatment for depression in pregnant women. As many as 14% of pregnant women are thought to develop a significant depression at some point during their pregnancy say the researchers at Stanford University Medical Center. I know from my own practice that many women are fearful of taking

Easy Suggestions To Improve Your Heart Health

February is the American Heart Association's Heart Health Awareness MonthBy the end of February, everybody has lapsed in all their New Year’s Resolutions, but it is still too early to feel the inspiration of Spring. So here are several easy suggestions that you can implement for heart health.*Drink green tea. It may reduce “bad” cholesterol and boosts “good” cholesterol.*Drink pomegranate juice

What causes your illnesses?

Most of my patients can tell me why they are sick. 

The most commonly stated reasons are ones you can probably guess: family history, lifestyle (diet, smoking, lack of exercise, overweight, alcohol, drugs). Some cite bad luck of the draw. And then there are those we hear about all the time in the media: stress, a fast paced life, sleep deprivation and toxins in the environment.

If all those reasons are valid, then it would be difficult to find a single healthy person. The answer has to be more complicated. 

Acupuncture is pretty clear and to the point: When there is balance, the body is healthy. Where there is imbalance, there is disease. 

Lets put all of it together.

Perhaps, instead of reasons for disease, my patients are actually stating the smoking gun that brought them down. They were in a state of imbalance, so one or more disease potentials were able to cause their illness. Had they been in a more balanced state, they may have remained healthy despite their exposure, or lifestyle or genetics. 

This meshes with the spiritually-minded belief that illness is something we create for ourselves.  We have a say in whether we are sick or healthy due to the mind, body, and spirit connection we possess. The goal then, is not simply to learn how to take care of ourselves physically, but to learn how to live well. 

Just food for thought for today.

Acupuncture for Rheumatoid Arthritis

I am currently treating several people suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis with a combination of electroacupuncture, herbs, and diet. Their pain and swelling have been reduced. Acupuncture releases tight, spasmed, shortened muscles to a more relaxed state. It stimulates the release of natural pain-fighting endorphins and prompts the body to heal. Brain magnetic resonance imaging shows that deep needling of acupuncture points deactivates the part of the brain that deals with our perception of pain.

A double-blind controlled pilot study by Lai-Shan Tam and a team of researchers tested the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (see Complementary Alternative Medicine 7: 35).
The study found that both electroacupuncture and traditional Chinese acupuncture may serve as a valuable adjunct to drug therapy by reducing the number of tender joints in patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis, as compare to sham acupuncture.

Acupuncture treatments, along with diet changes and herbs, can be beneficial for those suffering from this painful condition.

Endometriosis Treatment With Chinese Medicine

Endometriosis is a problem I treat frequently in my Chicago office. Some women are driven in because of the intense pain they experience every month. Others come in because endometriosis has effected their fertility. Happily, Chinese Medicine can be very helpful in treating both the pain and the fertility issues caused by this disorder. The following post from the Portland Acupuncture blog by