Acupuncture Healthcare

Metal Tiger 2010

It’s the beginning of a New Year, a time in which we contemplate the old year and envision the new and yet to come.  It’s also a time when many people decide to begin again with dietary changes, exercise routines, and a commitment to changing habits that may have been waylaid or forgotten in the holiday season.  As an acupuncturist, I heartily endorse the gentle experiments and simple changes in a person’s health routine which promote a healthy and happy individual.

However, it is at this time of year I am asked about cleanses and detox programs.  Most of which I feel are inappropriate.  This is winter, the coldest and darkest part of the year.  It is a time of inner contemplation and hibernation and as such, requires the slower, gentler changes we can make for ourselves.  The castor oil pack compliments this season with simplicity and gentleness.

Castor oil packs are used to improve circulation of the lymphatic system which assists in the elimination of toxins and improves immunity.  Castor oil packs also decrease inflammation, improve the absorption and assimilation functions of abdominal organs, especially the liver and colon, and may be used over areas experiencing aches and pains to engender healing.  Women may use castor oil packs on the lower abdomen to increase circulation to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and urinary tract.

Word of caution:  Do not use on open wounds.  Do not use castor oil packs if pregnant or menstruating.

Supplies:  Cold-pressed castor oil, piece of flannel, plastic bag, three towels, and 1 gallon sized ziploc bag.

Pack Preparations:  Through trial and error, I have found this to be the easiest way for me to handle castor oil packs.  You may need to try your own experiments to see what works best for you.  Once you establish a rhythm, this will be quick and easy. The layer method—1. short hand towel folded 14″x 8″   2.  piece of plastic that covers the hand towel   3. cotton or wool flannel 11″x 15″ double thickness and folded in thirds.  Now you have a sandwich of sorts, bottom hand towel, middle piece of plastic, and top flannel.

Castor Oil Preparation:  You want to saturate the flannel with oil.  It will take time for the flannel to absorb the oil, so begin with a dizzle of oil over the flannel, wait a few minutes and drizzle some more, continue until flannel is sufficiently saturated.

Heat Preparation:  I prefer a water bottle, but you may use a heating pad if it’s easier for you.  I like to be able to fall asleep without worry about a heating pad being left on.  So the second towel is to lay over the water bottle to retain its heat.

Preparing Yourself and Bed:  The oil will absorb into clothing, so choose clothing you don’t mind staining.  I use an old t-shirt and sweat pants.  Lay the third towel over the sofa or bed where you will by lying down to protect against oil stains.  Now pick up your castor oil pack sandwich and place the saturated oil side over your liver, spleen, upper abdomen, lower abdomen, or lower back.  Place the water bottle on top, and place a towel over the water bottle to keep it warm.

Time:  Leave the pack in place for 45-90 minutes.  Cycle 3 days of packs over the same area, then rest three days.  Depending on the condition and goals of your castor oil packs, packs may be done for one to six months.

For a simple detox program and immunity enhancement I recommend 3 days over the liver, three days rest, 3 days over the spleen, three days off, 3 days over the upper colon, three days off, 3 days over the lower colon, three days off, repeat cycle if desired.

Storage and Reuse:  Fold castor oil sandwich (hand towel, plastic, and flannel) in half, place in gallon sized ziploc bag, and store in refrigerator.  The next time you use the castor oil pack, refresh the oil by drizzling more to the flannel.  The flannel may be reused for six months.  It is not necessary to wash the flannel between uses, but keep the used flannel in the refrigerator to prevent the oil from going rancid between uses.

Cleaning up:  The oil will stick to you, so a teaspoon or two of baking soda in a quart of warm water will clean you off with ease.

Final Note:  This is a detox protocol so it is important that you drink plenty of water to flush toxins out of your body.

Heritage castor oil products are usually easy to buy at healthfood stores or online.

Tags: Detox, experiments, health care, liver detox, pain relief

This is for all of you who frequently travel or those who find drinking water difficult. Traveling, whether it be by car, train, or plane (but most especially plane) can lead to dehydration and poor water retention. During these times you may choose not to drink water because you are like the dry, potted plant in your kitchen. When you add water to the pot it pours out the other end, which briefly wets the roots but does not absorb into the plant. Hardly something you want to deal with when traveling, especially if it means climbing over a stranger three or four times during a flight to get to the restroom. Poor water retention can be due to a number of things, but there are a couple of simple remedies you can try for yourself if you find absorbing water a problem.

1.  Add 1/4 part juice to 3/4 part water with a pinch of salt

2.  Do not drink icy, cold drinks to rehydrate (that includes asking the flight attendant to refrain from adding ice to your complementary drink).  The body has to warm the fluids first before absorption can occur, so the moistening drink your body desires may pass straight to the large intestine just like the dry, potted plant in the kitchen.

3.  ReHydration homeopathic formula from Energetix added to a liter of water

Happy Travels!!

Tags: dehydration, dietary advice, experiments, health care, Travel

There’s no polite way to discuss this next subject, so if you are squeamish about bodily functions, this is not the post for you—unless of course you suffer from this particular problem.

In my office experience thus far, the number one reason for diarrhea (and this excludes the stomach flues that are passed around in the summer and winter) is eating cold, damp foods. A fine example of this is a patient who came in complaining of cramping every evening before bed with a bout of diarrhea every morning. When I asked him what cold foods he eats, such as ice cream and icy cold drinks, he shook his head and said, “No, I don’t eat ice cream and I like my drinks room temperature.”  I asked him to give me a typical day’s food intake. When the patient came to evening dessert his eyes lit-up. In the evenings before bed, he liked to eat a bowl of frozen yogurt.  I asked him if he would do a little experiment—for one week he would not eat any frozen yogurt (and no ice cream for substitute). The next week, I ask the patient how the experiment went.  He confirmed there had been no diarrhea and no stomach cramps.

If I didn’t see this again and again, I wouldn’t bother writing about it.  Cold, damp foods aren’t for us.  Nowhere in our dietary evolution did we hunt and gather ice cream and frozen yogurt.  Our love affair with iced drinks–smoothies, iced coffee drinks, shakes, sodas and slurpees–wrecks havoc on our digestive tract.  It’s no wonder I see so many people with diarrhea.  Thankfully the solution is easy! Stop eating cold food and drinks.

There are other benefits to cutting out the cold and damp foods.  Cold and damp in Chinese medicine diminishes the digestive fire, which means that people can’t efficiently digest and absorb their food so they over-eat to compensate, weight gain happens more easily too as the metabolism slows down (cold slows things down, heat speeds them up–ice verses boiling water), and causes people to feel heavy and foggy in the head.

Try this experiment.  Write down how you feel after you eat and drink for the next two days.  Then for a week, cut out all cold-damp foods mentioned above.  Write about how you feel.  Compare and contrast with the first two days.

Tags: appetite, cold, dietary advice, experiments, health care

I’ve had a great summer—took a month off to backpack, meditate and spend time with family and friends. Just giving myself a bit of that downtime advice I give to patients on a daily basis.  Often I ask patients what do you do for downtime, and I get a chuckle as they say ‘oh, what’s that?’

Well, I’m here to say it again, finding ways to rejuvenate ourselves is key to healthy living.  Giving our bodies and minds the opportunity to let go, unwind, and break from our day-to-day busyness is preventative health-care at it’s best.  It leads to better sleep, reduced stress, and ease with our surroundings and loved ones.  In a sense we can say it leads to sanity or skillful means to dealing with the road-rage, check-out lines, and the million and one little things that add up in a day to overload and overwhelm us.

Meditation is just one simple, easy, cost-effective habit we can develop to bring stillness and peace to our ordinary, busy lives.  I recommend a simple shamatha (calm-abiding meditation) or Zen style practice to begin.  These techniques do not require religion or belief in order to practice.  They are techniques developed to calm the mind, relax the breath, soften the eyes, and rest the body.  It is about being here and now.

By stopping for ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour the constant chatter of our minds planning the future, remembering the past, playing out fantasies, and day-dreaming, by stopping all of that for a few minutes a day, we return to stillness.  We return to ourselves.

Look around in your communties, churches, poster boards for different meditation classes.  Oftentime beginning a meditation practice is easier with verbal and/or visual instructions, and many find practicing with a group beneficial.

Tags: experiments, health care, meditation

On a trip to Thailand I found the Pericardium 6 point useful.  There were six of us loaded-up in the back of a taxi-truck headed across Kho Phangan.  The roads were dirt-packed and bumpy, and the woman sitting next to me had turned green.  Selfishly I asked if I could help her (visions of vomit on my shoes were running through my head).  I held the point Pericardium 6, located on the midline of the inside of the wrist, three fingers breadth up from the wrist crease, and watched as she turned from green to pale to a normal color and continued to hold until the truck stopped.  She was grateful to be feeling better and I was happy we avoided a mess.

I recommend this when motion sickness or the stomach flu makes a visit.  By held, I don’t mean lightly.  The thing I like about needles is that I can put them in and not worry about pressure and my fingers getting tired.  Fortunately they sell wristbands now with a nob that pushes into PC 6, but remember it’s important to have firm pressure.

Tags: motion sickness, vomiting

One dark and stormy evening, my roommate and I decided we had had enough studying (Chinese Medicine) and so walked to the local video store for a movie.  Upon arrival we learned that free massages were available to customers.  I immediately plopped myself down in the massage chair while my roommate perused the videos.  At some point in my massage I was aware that my roommate was talking to a customer about his hiccups.

All too soon my ten minutes were up and my roommate was urging me off the massage chair while simultaneously explaining that I needed to help this man with his hiccups.  First glance confirmed he needed help.  His hiccups were constant, relentless, whole diaphragm spasms.  He was pale and sickly looking, and standing in his bathrobe and slippers.  Those hiccups had been hounding him for three solid days.  I did a quick scan of his tongue and pulses, and explained that because I didn’t have any needles on me, I was going to have to push his acupuncture points with my fingers.  And to do that, he was going to have to lay down.

Well, three days of hiccups and I imagine you’ve lost all dignity, you’ll do anything, even lay down in the middle of a video store and have some strange woman lift up your shirt and stick a finger in your belly while her other hand digs into your wrist.  Those two points, Ren 12 and Pericardium 6, are major Harmonize Qi points and regulate the Middle Jiao.  In translation that means they are good for hiccup, emotional upset, motion sickness, vomiting, chest pain, etc.  The man with the hiccups and I talked while I sat there pushing those points for fifteen minutes.  At some point the store told us it was time to close up.  The hiccups hadn’t stopped, but their intensity had lessened and the interval between hiccups had lengthened, so we said goodbye and wished him well.

Two days later I returned to the store and was told by the store owner that the man with the hiccups had come in the very next morning when the store opened and bought my roommate and I ten videos.  His hiccups had completely stopped by the time he arrived home. 

I want to share the location of these points with you today, in case you should ever need them.  Ren 12 is located on the upper abdomen.  It is on the midline of the body and the midpoint between the bottom of the sternum (feel around for the tip of the xyphoid process) and the navel.  The photo above shows how to locate it with two hands.  PC 6 is on the inside of the wrist, three fingers up from the base of the hand.  Simply put your first three fingers on the wrist crease to measure.  The point is located between the two tendons or on the midline of the wrist if you can’t feel the tendons.

One last note:  It’s always easier to have someone else hold these points for you.  The pressure should be firm.  In fact, I believe I used my elbow on Ren 12 when my fingers wore out.  Twenty minutes is standard treatment time for adults.  And I recommend pushing both points simultaneously.

Tags: hiccups, motion sickness, vomiting

In the first edition of Sinus Relief I talked about cleaning out the nasal passages with the neti pot.  The next step is to rinse the nasopharynx.  I’ve been doing it every day now for a week so no need to tell that this is the most disgusting thing you’ve ever done.  Just get in the shower the first few times until you get the hang of it.  The rewards are worth it!  Breath easier, clear the irritating allergens lining your nasal passage, and soothe those inflamed sinuses.

In a clean dropper bottle add 1/4 cup warm water to 1/8 tsp. sea salt (must use sea salt, table salt with further dry and irritate your sinuses).

The key here is the water must be salty to the taste, that is to say saltier than your nasal passages.  Why?  The power of osmosis–rather than absorb the saline solution into your sinuses, you want your sinus tissue to release their “gunk” into the saline solution and be carried away.

Tip head back and insert 1-2 dropper(s) of saline solution in each nostril.  Keep head tilted back until saline solution works it way through to the nasophrynx at that back of the throat.  The solution should run through the nasal cavity and out the mouth.

Optional:  add 10-15 drops of goldenseal or echinacea to the solution for added antimicrobial action.

Tags: colds and flus, experiments, health care, sinus

Recently my half-husband flaunted his new haramaki around the house.  A haramaki is a Japanese organ warmer.  A tube of material, often worn under the wearer’s clothing, that keeps the organs of the belly and the kidneys warm and free of drafts.  When I asked Scott if he’d be willing to share one of the three haramakis gifted by his father, the answer was without hesitation–no.  Obviously we both see the value in these simple articles of clothing and I wonder if the tables were turned would I be willing to give up one of my haramaki to him?

What our interaction represents is the two main schools of thought in China.  Scott is upholding the Kidney School, which made it big in Japan, by conservatively maintaining his acquired energy preservers, the haramaki.  I represent the Spleen-Stomach School, which won out in China, by displaying a clear and lustful appetite for the haramaki.

The benefits I can see without having tried a haramaki are multiple.  I could keep my kidneys and low back warm and free of drafts.  San Francisco is particularly prone to sea breezes and cold dampness.  The benefit of keeping my kidneys and low back warm is reduced lumbar pain and stiffness and increased blood flow to an area of my body that can get tight if I’m standing or sitting for too long.  Also, the haramaki can keep my low abdomen and female organs toatsty warm for better circulation and improved efficiency.  It would be ideal for people who have trouble digesting properly or suffer from chronic constipation, for those women who have difficulty getting pregnant due to cold in the lower abdomen, or for problems with urinary incontenence and menstrual cramping.

Learn more about haramaki here and here.  I just bought mine here:  haramakilove

Tags: Add new tag, experiments, female health, menstruation, pain relief, pregnancy

It seems a bit early in the season to be writing this blog, but San Francisco is experiencing a heat wave.  If you work in the heat or you are out enjoying the sunny weather, there are simple things you can do for yourself to keep from overheating and keep your system cool while you work or play.

Drinking peppermint tea is cooling and refreshing; it clears surface heat and moves the Liver.  Chrysanthemum tea is particularly helpful in the summer as it too clears Heat, calms the Liver, reduces summer fever, and relieves headache and dry-eyes due to Wind-Heat.  Or you can combine equal parts chrysanthemum flowers and peppermint leaves  with a quarter part of goji berries for a lovely summer drink.  Brew in hot water for 5 minutes, strain, and then drink hot or refrigerate for a cool drink.   Watermelon juice is also a tasty way to relieve summer-heat and it nourishes the yin fluids–this link on watermelon juice goes into greater detail.

Tags: headache, nourishing fluids, Recipes, summer heat