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!

Did You Know the Five Surprising Benefits of Massage?

To the people who know about massage and what it can do, this will be preaching to the choir. But to those who do not you will find an article published in Newsweek on September 4^th quite surprising to quote the article.

I recommend this article as a very good read about the benefits of massage.  Move your mouse over the title and click on it to link to the article.

Five Surprising Benefits of Massage

By Temma Ehrenfeld

Massage is available at my office located in Downtown Silver Spring, MD, close to Washington DC and just blocks from the Red Line’s Silver Spring Station.

Gua Sha

Two more mysterious words I have not heard of. However Gua Sha is a very good Chinese medical modality. It is simple to and straight forward to see if it is warranted and usually gets fast results. I use it often in my practice when I come up against a stubborn problem or a bad cough. I wrote about gua sha somewhat more extensively back in February of 2007. Here is a shorter version.

What is Gua Sha? Well it is defined by Arya Nielsen the doyenne of Gua Sha in the United States as Gua meaning to rub or friction and Sha meaning the congestion of blood at the surface of the body. When the gua is applied to the sha it allows the sha to surface and be released from the body.

OK so you are now more confused than ever. Sounds like mumbo jumbo to you doesn’t it? So here it is in plain English. Gua Sha like other Chinese medical modalities seeks to balance the qi (energy) by moving qi that is stuck. Any time qi does not move the body is opened up for problems.

What kind of problems can Gua Sha work on? Well, I like to use it for bad coughs that just won’t go away. I also like to use it for tight muscles that are resistant to other techniques.
Gua Sha can be safely and effectively done on children and adults of all ages. Be warned though the immediate surface skin reaction can be quite alarming to view. I can assure you that although it does not look attractive it does not hurt or impinge on any movement.

Inside China, Gua Sha is widely practiced and if not in the cities then in the outlying provinces. Here in the United States it much less known, but a gem of a tool for any acupuncturist to have in his/her “toolbox”. One of my massage teachers once told me, “You will learn about and acquire many techniques which can’t all possibly be used on every patient. You can’t use a hammer for every job, nor a screw driver, nor a saw. You must choose the appropriate tool for the job. When the situation presents itself pick up and use the correct tool for the patient before you.” In my practice, Wholistic Family Healthcare that tool may be acupuncture or massage therapy, or gua sha, or Chinese herbs or cupping or electro-acupuncture.

At Wholistic Family Healthcare, located in Silver Spring, MD nearby to Washington, DC we view each patient as a Whole person and treat the patient with this holistic approach. It is the reason behind our success.

Top Ten List to Avoid Low Back Injury While Shoveling!

Every Winter the snow falls and most people don’t think twice about grabbing that shovel and heading out the door to shovel the walk, driveway or dig the car(s) out. Every winter I get people coming in to see me for relief from their aching back. Most of the time it is their lower back that has seized up, or as I like to say - went into spasm.

These injuries are preventable for the most part. [Read more]

Acupuncture during Surgery

The Chicago Tribune in an article written by Jean P. Fisher, reported on Monday November 19, 2007 that acupuncture was used during surgery to control possible nausea and pain following gall bladder surgery.

Patient Allen Baum had gall baldder surgery at Duke University Hospital on Nov. 2.  According to the article his anesthesiologist Dr. Tong Joo Gan who did acupuncture on Allen, had sifted through dozens of acupuncture studies to find those that meet western standards for  clinical research.  He found 15 that fit the criteria, and presented his findings recently to a national meeting of anesthesiologists.

Baum had never before had surgery and had a flawless recovery and had zero nausea and his pain was minimal.  Less that two days after surgery he was only taking Advil.  He also took some anti-nausea medication so he is not sure whether acupuncture gets all the credit.

The article goes on to cite an acupuncturist, Lori Fendel, who has gone into the operating room with patients at University of North Carolina Hospitals, to perform acupuncture both before and after surgery to ease pain and minimize nausea.

Wouldn’t be great if everyone had this option?

Low Back Pain Study Proves Acupuncture Helps!

Yesterday in the Archives of Internal Medicine a study was published that was conducted in Germany. This study studied the efficacy of acupuncture’s ability to reduce low back pain.

The study showed that with 6 months of twice weekly treatments, participants low back pain improved 47.6% in those receiving acupuncture for the pain. Interestingly enough the pain in the sham acupuncture group also improved. 44.2% of people in that group had their pain improve. These two numbers are in contrast to 27.4% improvement in the group of people who received conventional treatments.

To read an abstract of the study go to:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/17/1892

If you are reading this please hear some of the patient testimonials that can be found on the testimonial pages.

Hip Hurt? Trouble Crossing Your Leg?

Lately I have seen a spate of hip injuries. The patient usually comes in complaining of pain the starts on the upper part of the leg but on the side. The pain is usually moderate to severe and the patient can’t sit cross-legged. The pain usually extends from this point down the side of the leg, almost to the knee.
This pain usually does not inhibit the climbing of stairs or getting out of a chair.

In the cases I have seen the patients have been to other healthcare providers and have found no relief. They have taken pain medication and have found no relief.

So what causes this pain and how can I as an acupuncturist and massage therapist help?
[Read more]

A Highway Cop and His Headache

Recently an article appeared in the Middletown Journal – a newspaper in Ohio.
The story was written about a 47-year old Ohio Highway Patrol sergeant, who is also a husband and a father of three. The article states that he was on medical leave and about to go into early retirement because of headaches.
[Read more]

What Happened? My back hurts.

A lot of people who come in to see me come for muscular tightness in their lower or upper back. Many have pain; loss of mobility and all have a sense of frustration at their plight. Would you believe that many of these patients are young people?

So many young people injure themselves by being active in sports, don’t get me wrong being active in sports is great, and I will talk about it in a future post, accidents or just by misusing their backs. Backs can’t do it all and certainly can’t take the abuse we subject them to nowadays.

The problem starts for many in school. How so? - you ask, well think about it for a minute. What do most of us do most of the day while we are getting through 12 or more years of school? Answer - we are sitting. Not only are we sitting but we are sitting in uncomfortable chairs and desks or tables in classrooms. We then go out for recess or extra-curricular activities such as sports or crafts or music. If you go for sports, you are getting some exercise but you were probably not trained by your coach to take care of yourself. How many coaches take you past rudimentary stretching, if that? How many teach you how to prevent injuries or what to do in case you are injured? Have they taken their young charges and taught the warming-up and cooling down techniques? From what I see it is doubtful.

What continues the problem is that your working now and your job has you sitting at your desk, in your car, or wherever and you just bent over to do something or you did some yard work, snow shoveling and now you are in pain. What are you to do now? Another important question is what can you do to prevent this from reoccurring in the future?

Well I can help answer those questions. After doing a thorough intake and exam I will devise a treatment strategy just for you. I will use my knowledge and experience and ability to combine acupuncture and massage therapy to get you out of pain and moving again. I will then devise a course of care so that you maintain your pain-free status. Of course as with any treatment a lot of the prevention of future problems will depend on you! You will be the one who will have to follow through on my recommendations and you will have to be the one responsible for taking care of yourself.

So if you are tired of being in pain, check out the video testimonials by people just like you, Elliot, Emily and Sara and then call my office to schedule your appointment. Let’s get you better.

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