Ever woken up with a stiff neck in summer?

A common problem seen around this time of the year is invasion of wind. Wind is considered an "External Pathogenic Factor" in Chinese medicine. Wind can be created by fans, air conditioners or just be a normal part of the environment. No matter it's source Wind can cause a number of problems when it invades the body.

Wind carries other pathogens into the body - heat, cold, dampness - these are common causes of joint pain, aches and arthritic conditions.

Wind causes things to contract and stiffen up...a common scenario in Perth at this time of year is the typical waking up with a stiff neck after a hot summers night...This happens because during the hot weather, it's common to be lying in bed under the fan or with the window open so the wind is directly blowing onto a persons uncovered skin. Of course it's hot so the person either lies in bed with little covering or because of the heat can be sweating. The pores are open and the wind can easily invade the body through the open pores.

When you wake up with a stiff neck, or a neck pain which is pulling your head to one side, in Chinese medicine the cause is Pathogenic wind invading the Bladder and/or Gall Bladder channels(these are the channels located on the neck).

The Solution?

The good news is that Chinese medicine is all about prevention...try to sleep with a thin sheet or t-shirt on so if the weather does cool down and wind starts to invade you have this level of protection. Try to face so it's not directly on your body and make sure air conditioning vents are not directly blowing onto you. If you do have stiffness, pain and particularity severe pain with restricted movement try to use a hot pack for about 10-20 mins and then try to free up the movement with slow normal movements.

A moxa stick applied to an acupuncture point

Chinese medicine practitioners can use acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion (or called Moxa) and herbs to expel wind from the channels and restore the normal function and stop pain.

Marie is available for treatments and can be contacted at the Metro Health clinic on 089371 8077 or email info@metrohealth.com.au.

Sitting Vs Standing...a TCM Perspective

The more patients I see with the TCM pattern of Qi Stagnation, the more I notice there is a link between sitting long term and symptoms of Liver Qi Stagnation. Sitting compresses the abdominal area, compared to a standing posture where blood flow can occur more freely, you will be getting a better blood supply (with that comes oxygen, nutrients etc) to your vital organs by standing.

Common symptoms of Liver Qi Stagnation are frequent sighing, feeling of a lump in the throat, pain around the ribs, feeling of heaviness in the chest, feeling much better energy from doing exercise although many people with this pattern leave it so long they no longer have the motivation to do the exercise. When the liver energy becomes stuck and not flowing smoothly, pain can more easily occur. Particularly in the upper part of the body - headaches, neck and shoulder pain or chest pain.

While not always, many jobs which require extended periods of sitting can be stressful. Many executives fall into this category. 

What makes the liver Qi become stuck? 
Simply, too much coming in and not enough going out...excessive stress, thinking, and/or food - combined with not enough exercise, no outlet for the stress or thinking to go (leading to internal worry) makes for ideal conditions of the Liver Qi Stagnation pattern. Jobs in which a person has a predominant sitting posture often go along with the above symptoms. Office jobs of executives, high pressure business owners, students who are writing alot, and many government /office jobs are of this nature.

If your in a predominantly sitting job how can you improve? I don't' think it's enough just to get up regularly or even frequently. I've seen plenty of patients who get up frequently, even using alarms to get up but this doesn't necessarily stop the qi stagnation which happens from the sitting posture. One solution can be to create a sit-stand workspace. While you can invest in an actual desk and chair which can raise up and down, there are other less expensive options you can do straight away. Ask yourself what tasks you can do standing that you currently do sitting with little effort to change? EG taking some phone calls while standing,  set up a standing bench in your office or multi use area. I got one from Ikea for one of our shops, whenever I go in our shop, I don't sit on the stool I just set up my ipad at the desk and stand there doing my work, checking emails etc.

I recently created a standing station in my office using two bookshelves. Doing your work at a bench rather than seated at a desk can give you a different perspective of things which can be another plus! You could try hold some of your  meetings at a standing bench rather than sitting at the desk. You can promote the benefits of standing in your workplace to encourage a culture of standing more and less sitting...you won't look so out of place if everyone is doing it!

The Point?
To create opportunity to stand in your job more. Whichever way you do it, standing is better than sitting. Simply standing you will burn more calories than sitting so you will be doing your body a favour too. There are many other treatments in Chinese medicine (acupuncture, herbs and diet advice) for Qi Stagnation - acupuncture is particularly effective, but long term lifestyle changes like the one shared today are necessary to ensure the root of the problem is treated. Episode 2 of Marie’s new podcast on YouTube is all about self help for Liver Energy Stagnation. 

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

NEW VIDEO BLOG via youtube. How Chinese Medicine sees a typical "healthy diet" - check it out and leave your comments welcome here!

NEW Vlog - The Chinese Medicine Podcast with Marie Hopkinson

Preventing Disease & Staying Healthy with Chinese Medicine

Prevention is one of the most important aspects of Chinese medicine. When practitioners assess their patient, they are looking for signs and symptoms of disease, and also signs that illness or health may be out of balance.

Key diagnostic areas to detect disease BEFORE it arises, are the tongue and pulse. In addition, by keeping a healthy diet and lifestyle, a greater state of health can be achieved. Chinese medicine takes into account seasonal factors, and diseases that can easily arise due to weather conditions.

A known flu-prevention treatment is Moxa on the acu-point St 36. It's name Zusanli, means “three leg mile”. This point was named when Chinese soldiers massaged the point, they found they could walk another 3 miles! In the weeks leading up to the change of season, this point can be acupunctured and warmed with Moxa (a herb which sits on the needle and warms the point). Although this is a different point, the photo opposite shows how such an acupuncture /moxibustion treatment might be done.

Chinese medicine theory observes two main causes of disease or poor-health in the body. Internal and External causes.

External Causes - known as the six pathogenic factors. Avoiding Wind, cold, damp and heat etc will help to avoid getting sick. How, you ask?

1) Wearing layers of clothing to ensure you are not too hot or cold especially when the weather changes.

2) Keep out of drafty areas/direct A/C or fans. ESPECIALLY at night! (Otherwise you may wake up with a stiff neck or sore lower back.

3) Protect the lower back/waist by making sure clothing fits around this area!

Internal causes of disease are considered by CM to be things such as emotions, inactivity, and poor lifestyle.

Emotions - over thinking (or worry) knots the spleens energy. The Spleen, in Chinese medicine, helps the Stomach to separate the pure and impure parts of food. The Spleen gets weakened by over-thinking, which can result in a low appetitte. The body can be further depleted because it can’t properly absorb nutrition from food.

Overeating is a common lifestyle factor in cause of diesaes. Not just leading to overweight or fat, but when we overeat we must exercise harder to burn the excess calories, thus making our bodies work unnecessarily harder. Two Chinese medicine quotes to consider are: "curing and nourishing come from the same source" and "when you eat, satisfy only seven-tenths of your hunger”.

Healing Heels

From acute injuries and sport or activity over strain, and chronic pain experienced on a daily basis, acupuncture is often sought for heel pain relief.

Heel pain can have many causes, one common one is known as Plantar Fascitis. It’s an inflammation of the band of tendon that runs from the ball to the heel of the foot (the Plantar Fascia). (see picture right)

Poor foot mechanics are often blamed for the cause of the problem. If the foot moves incorrectly, the plantar fascia is overstretched and can tear, becoming weak and inflamed. The pain is usually sharp, severe pain on the ball of the foot.

The good news is that acupuncturists treat this kind of pain all the time. We call it Qi (Chi) Stagnation or Blood Stagnation type pain. Stagnation pain is always more noticeable after lack of movement (i.e. Sleeping). Upon rising the pain is usually intense, then after walking around a little the pain gets less.

Once you get moving, the circulation increases and the pain eases. Acupuncture works to increase the circulation of blood and energy, activating your bodies own healing response to come to the local area. Pain can be eased by the release of your bodies natural pain-killers - endorphins which are often released by acupuncture.

What about the cause of the problem? Inflammation can be treated with acupuncture, simply by “speeding up” the bodies own healing response. By relaxing the local muscles, reliving swelling and getting more blood and energy flow to the injured site, acupuncture can reduce the inflammation and encourage the speedy repair of the plantar fascia.

Not all heel pain is due to Plantar Fascitis. Some heel pain can be from too many ankle injuries and poor local area circulation, or an "unknown" cause. However, Chinese medicine practitioners always make their own Chinese medicine Diagnosis. In treating foot pain, it’s not necessary to have the Western Medicine diagnosis to commence acupuncture treatment.

In my practice, I have found heel pain to be a bit more stubborn and slower to respond, however after 6-8 treatments most patients find a great relief of pain. I have found many heel pain patients experience little or no change in symptoms until the third or fourth treatment. This is not the case in treating pain in other areas where the pain relief is often instantaneous.

If you have heel pain, its worth approaching your acupuncturist with a 6-8 treatment plan in mind. Treatments can be done 2x or 1x a week. Don't leave it longer than one week in between treatments, or effectiveness is diminished. Secondly, points on the heel itself are sometimes used but they can be more sensitive than other points. The overall treatment is not meant to be painful, and you should experience a pleasantly relaxing effect.

New Year - New Habits

Perhaps one of the most popular treatments of Chinese medicine is for “Quit smoking”. This treatment uses a special branch of acupuncture: “ear acupuncture”.

In Ear Acupuncture, there are over 100 points on the ear. These are used to stimulate the functions of different organs and systems. Essentially, in Quit-smoking acupuncture, we stimulate the organs involved in smoking - Lungs, Mouth & Tongue to improve the energy function of those organs.

At Metro Health, we offer Acu-Quit™ which is a 10-treatment program specifically for quitting smoking. Part of the Acu-Quit™ protocol uses Ear points for relaxation/calming, stimulating the organs associated with smoking, and digestion. Why digestion? Because as you quit, your body has to “digest” toxins…that is, eliminate them from your system. Also, as your lungs start to repair, the tiny hairs (cilia) that line the lung tubes, begin their sweeping action again which causes many people to feel more sick or cough up phlegm which they did not do as a smoker. The ear points can help the body eliminate this phlegm and aid the lungs in their functions.

How does acupuncture work for Quit-smoking?

One theory is that by stimulating the energy of the organs associated with smoking, the body is more perceptible to “toxins” entering it. This theory explains why some people report less pleasure in smoking after acupuncture treatments.

Ear Acupuncture also helps with cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Common reactions to quitting are anxiety, depression, irritability, eating more, physical shaking, feeling shaky inside, and poor memory/concentration. One point used is related to the Heart & Emotions (shenmen). This point helps calm the Shen which is used to relieve these mental-emotional symptoms.

Another normal side effect of quitting is to cough up more phlegm. This is because the tiny hairs in the lungs (cilia) are repairing. Their normal job is to move debris out of the lungs, helping you to breathe properly. Toxins in cigarettes damage the cilia, but, as you stop inhaling cigarette toxins, the cilia start to repair, so it's actually a good sign when you start to cough up more phlegm during quitting. Acupuncture can be of assistance in reducing phlegm and promoting better breathing.

At Metro Health, we offer Acu-Quit™ which is a 10-treatment program specifically for quitting smoking. Part of the Acu-Quit™ protocol uses Ear points for relaxation/calming, stimulating the organs associated with smoking, and digestion. Why digestion? Because as you quit, your body has to “digest” toxins…that is, eliminate them from your system. Also assist the lungs in their functions, as they repair. The ear points can help the body eliminate phlegm and aid the lungs in their normal functions.

Acu-Quit™ is a special, unique quitting program we run at Metro Health and medicine, combining Ear Acupuncture, Cognitive therapy, Diet advice and body acupuncture. It's cheaper than our regular consultation fees. At your first consultation, together you and your practitioner will establish a plan to help you stay quit.

The Acu-Quit™ 10-treatment program, takes one hour initially, and about half an hour per session after that. The cost is probably less than your smoking habit - $480. We recommend this program be taken over a 1-month period, appointments can be done 2 or 3x a week as needed.

It's still a New Year - there's never been a better time to Quit!