Hey It Is Getting Worse not Better. But You Said….

Don’t you just hate it when things don’t go the way you planned?  I know I do, however I also know that that the best laid plans…
A while back I had a patient who came to me for help in resolving a rash that seemed to get worse with each passing day.  This is a rash that she had had before and was thought to have been a reaction to taking antibiotics.  She was given acupuncture and herbs as well as a strict diet, from which she did not veer.  With some time and patience she got better and the rash completely cleared up.
Recently she is back with the same rash.  She had not been on any antibiotics and was puzzled as to why this rash was reappearing.  We went over her diet and lifestyle and I made recommendations as to what she should and could be eating and what she should not.  Well when she ate the new foods she had more outbreaks and became very upset.  She thought that the foods she was eating that were new to her were making matters worse and how could that be.  Hadn’t I told her that they were OK?
Allow to digress here for a minute or so.  In addition to speaking with her about her diet, I spoke with her about her lifestyle and pointed out to her that she has a lot of stress and no outlet.  She is also very busy, what with her family and running her household, helping with homework and you can imagine the rest.  She ignored this and tried to look past it, blaming everything on her diet.  It took a few tries but I finally made some headway and she began to understand (not totally though) that her main issue was stress and not her diet (although that needed help as well).
I patiently explained that her rash was due to the built up stress creating heat inside and looking for a way out.  The fact that it was getting worse before getting better was the acupuncture and herbs pushing out all the heat that she has inside.  She is still in denial that stress and pent up emotions could be causing all this and until the heat is fully vented and she stops making more she would continue having the rash.
I recommended that she dedicate time for herself everyday where she could relax and unwind. I told her “make it apart of her day just like sleeping, eating and breathing.”  This is something she must do.  Her initial reaction was to laugh.  “How could I do that?” she asked me.  I told her she had to find a way.
Time alone will tell what she will do and how she will incorporate this new diet and behavior into her life.  But to prevent future outbreaks and to regain balance in her life it is something she must do.
Simeon Pollock, Licensed Acupuncturist has his office in downtown Silver Spring, MD, nearby to Washington, DC.  The office is conveniently located a few blocks from the Metro’s Red Line Silver Spring Station and has ample parking in lots nearby.  Call 301-495-0303 for an appointment today.

New E-Book Available For FREE!

I recently put out an E-Book together with another acupuncturist named Kevin Doherty.  We wrote this book to explain acupuncture and Chinese medicine in terms everyone can understand.

Acupuncture can seem so foreign and strange, so mysterious.  Well in our E-Book “How To Thrive in The Modern World: A Layman’s Guide to Chinese Medicine” we break down all those barriers.

I invite you to visit my website www.wholisticfamily.com and download your FREE copy TODAY!

Enjoy!

Acupuncture and Fatigue

“I thought acupuncture was only good for pain, that’s what I’ve been told.”Well I am here to tell you that acupuncture can also help a person beat fatigue and the devastating effects that fatigue can have on a person.

As with anything, when working with any issue we at Wholistic Family Healthcare, in Silver Spring, MD look at the whole person. This is why we spell wholistic with a “W”. That said when you come in for treatment of fatigue you will be asked a lot of questions about you and your lifestyle. From a Chinese medicine point of view there are many reasons for fatigue and the answer is not always – sleep more. Sleeping more can surely help – sometimes - and may even be a component of the treatment plan but it won’t be the only thing you can do.

Once your Chinese medical diagnosis is made a treatment plan will be created expressly for you. A typical plan will include acupuncture, Chinese herbs and perhaps dietary and lifestyle changes. This plan will be jointly executed by you and us. Your active participation and compliance is a vital component to insuring your success.

Some examples of what, we like to call pathogens in Chinese medical parlance can be damp, qi deficiency, blood deficiency, qi and blood deficiency, Spleen qi deficiency, or a combination of any and all of the above. If these terms sound weird or strange to you, rest assured that is fine. They were strange and weird to me too when I first heard of them. Today they make so much sense to me as they truly help explain why one feels the way one does. They also give us a plan on how to resolve the issues at the core of your problem – fatigue.

Here is the catch, it takes time to resolve these issues and hard work on both our parts. If you are willing to put in the effort (come in for treatments take the herbs, make changes in diet and or lifestyle) and be patient, allowing your body to heal and change (how long exactly is a little like trying to predict the weather) you should see results.

I would encourage you to watch Amy’s testimonial, below and you will get a sense of what can be accomplished if you stick to the program.

Fatigue? Don’t Allow It To Get You Down!

Recently I have been seeing patients complaining of feeling tired all the time, not being able to focus on tasks and having a hard time getting up in the morning.

Perhaps something is in the air lately; I don’t know the reason for this spate.
I do know that they don’t all suffer from fatigue for the same reasons. [Read more]

Stress in Your Workplace?

In an article published in the Business section of the Washington Post on February 19, 2008, author Vickie Elmer discussed the effects of stress in the workplace.

In her article, Ms. Elmer that if you are “angry and overloaded because your hours keep growing as the staff gradually shrinks, don’t expect much help from management.” [Read more]

In Vetro Fertilization Aided by Acupuncture

In the February 8, 2008 issue of the British Medical Journal a meta-analysis (a study that combines and analyzes data from many studies) of seven studies that involved 1,366 women who were undergoing in vitro fertilization, showed that acupuncture improved the chances of becoming pregnant by 65% when compared to women who underwent sham acupuncture.

The authors of the study do say that “It is important to note, however, that the odds ratio significantly overestimates the rate ratio in this context, in which the event (pregnancy) is relatively frequent. In absolute terms, the number needed to treat was 10, suggesting that 10 patients would need to be treated with acupuncture to bring about one additional clinical pregnancy.”

They addressed safety issues as well saying : “Safety and costs are other considerations. Two large prospective surveys of practitioners show that serious adverse events after acupuncture are rare. Among women in labour and women at various stages of pregnancy, systematic reviews and randomised trials have shown acupuncture to be safe, although limited sample sizes preclude definitive conclusions. The effects of acupuncture in early pregnancy on complications later in pregnancy and on perinatal and infant outcomes have also been investigated in one trial, and no safety concerns were detected.

You can read the complete study by clicking here.

Chinese Nutrition vs. Western Nutrition

Just last night I was discussing the topic of nutrition with a patient. This is a subject that comes up repeatedly during treatment sessions. It comes up because I ask about it at the first appointment and then again at subsequent appointments. Why, you may be thinking, does he ask about a person’s diet? The answer is because Chinese medicine demands that a practitioner evaluate all aspects of a person and one of the main influencing factors in a person’s life is the food that they eat. Chinese nutrition is vastly different from Western nutrition in many ways. In Western nutrition one size fits all (see the food pyramid below) - if your “healthy.” Try and define that! You will need to drop your pre-conceptions and open your mind in order to read further. [Read more]

Who Does Not Want to Have A Period?

Ugh! The Mess, the pain before, the pain during, the emotional roller coaster, being so tired, the bloating, the breast tenderness. Wouldn’t be great if you could just take a pill and be done with all of that? Wouldn’t be great not to have your period for a few months or only three times a year or not at all?

For a lot of women the answer would be a resounding Yea! This is what the pharmaceutical industry is banking on as the next generation of “The Pill” is being marketed.

[Read more]

Cancer Care II

Previously I wrote about two patients of mine whom I have treated. I would like to write an update on one of them today. I pick one not because the other is not doing well, she is, but because one patient is now undergoing radiation.

The patient undergoing radiation is a patient who suffered breast cancer. She had surgery followed by chemotherapy. The chemotherapy lasted for seven treatments. She suffered with side effects such as hair loss, nausea, mouth sores, sore throat, mouth dryness and fatigue.

Now as I mentioned in my previous post, Chinese Medicine offers no cure for cancer and so one needs to consult with a qualified physician for cancer care. What I can offer is adjunct or ancillary care for the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

I was able to successfully help my patient with eliminating her nausea, sore throat, mouth sores, mouth dryness and fatigue. The fatigue was a constant battle as was the nausea, although the nausea got worse with each chemotherapy treatment the acupuncture helped alleviate it. The acupuncture worked relatively quickly in eliminating the mouth sores and sore throats. These symptoms also did not require multiple treatments.

Now that she is on to radiation, she has commented that she is now more fatigued than she was during the chemotherapy process. She actually felt better before the radiation began.

So now we are working together to help relieve her fatigue and to care for her skin in the area where the radiation is being concentrated.

Because of her doctor and her doctor’s own personal fear she won’t take any supplements. Chinese medicine has many formulae that can help a person deal with the side effects of chemo. I also suggest that patient either eat or take mushroom supplements as the beta-glucans found in mushrooms are being proven as cancer fighters. In fact I recently saw an article with mushrooms have more anti-oxidants that chicken liver (the previous top biller). But fear of the unknown, usually on the doctor’s part, stops patients from getting the benefits of these supplements.

I wish everyone only the best of health!

Sinus Headache & Infection

As of late people have been coming in with sinus congestion and infections. Often the primary complaints are of a sinus headache and pressure. Some people are on antibiotics and some are not. Some people have taken multiple types of antibiotics and some just one. In all cases however the overriding theme is that they are not getting rid of the sinus congestion and headaches.

By this point you are probably asking yourself, as do these people who come to me is: Can acupuncture help a sinus headache? My succinct answer is yes!

Sinus problems are viewed in Chinese medicine and being related to the spleen & lung channels. Plainly there are issues with both, and the qi is not flowing as it should. A more detailed explanation can be had at your appointment, if you wish.

What can you do about it, you are surely asking. Well, I always like to take a history first to establish that what I wrote above is true in the case of every patient who has this complaint. Should that be so, the treatment would consist of acupuncture, essential oils, massage and herbs (the herbs you would have to take at home) and diet modification (also done at home). This course of treatment usually is very effective at getting rid of the sinus congestion, infection & post-nasal drip. In addition a neti pot can prove to be very helpful for cleansing the sinus cavities and nostrils. A net pot can be purchased at many health food stores.

So if you are sinus sufferer and don’t want to suffer any longer come on in and try my treatment methods. It won’t cure you in the first session, but then treatment consistency and patient compliance often brings results.

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