22 years of Acupuncture in Dorset

It's twenty-two years since I saw my first acupuncture patient in Dorset, and twenty since I joined the Trinity Practice in Shaftesbury. At that time, acupuncture in the Blackmore Vale area was quite unusual. Now everyone has read about acupuncture or knows someone who has had treatment - often for conditions as different as a bad back, or turning a baby in a breech position.  When I first started practising, acupuncture was something people tried because of its long tradition of success in China. Now, so much research has been done worldwide, that acupuncture has been accepted by NICE as a valid treatment for lower back pain and migraine, and studies have shown acupuncture to be useful in helping with fertility issues, nausea, osteoarthritic knee pain, depression etc. I see people for all sorts of problems.

Acupuncture in the UK always used to be given as a one to one treatment. In China, it is a much more sociable affair! There I saw relatives accompanying patients for treatment, and several patients treated in one room. We have adopted this approach for our successful knee pain clinic, as it enables us to charge patients less. 

Next week is Acupuncture Awareness Week - why not give me a ring or look at our website to see what acupuncture could do for you? 01747 851726 or www.trinitypractice.co.uk/acupuncture.

Quinoa - a superfood that tastes delicious. Try this recipe!

Quinoa is a gluten free grain, native to South America. It has the benefit of being gluten free, and is rich in fibre and protein, plus being very easy to cook.  In Peru, it is often served instead of rice in a risotto, sometimes known now as quinotto! In Chinese medicine, we think of Quinoa as a warming food, so it's good to eat in winter, but tastes good all year round in my opinion.

You can read about its health benefits here.

or try this recipe for yourself:

Quinoa Risotto

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup quinoa, well rinsed

2 1/4 cups vegetable stock or broth

2 cups chopped rocket, or 1 courgette 

1 small carrot, peeled and finely shredded

1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt, or less if you are trying to reduce salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and quinoa and cook for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Don't let the garlic brown.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the quinoa is almost tender to the bite but slightly hard in the centre, about 12 minutes. The mixture will be brothy. Stir in the courgette or rocket, carrot and mushrooms and simmer until the quinoa grains have turned from white to translucent, about 2 minutes longer.

Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top or put a spoonful beside the risotto, and season with the salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

For more information about Chinese medicine and diet, look at my website.

Genuine acupuncture is better than sham acupuncture for treating pain

If you've ever felt confused by all the different articles and research that are published about the effectiveness of acupuncture, it is worth reading this BMJ article summarising recent research. It establishes that acupuncture is superior to "usual care" for painful conditions and, additionally, that genuine acupuncture is superior to "sham" acupuncture. 

Sham acupuncture is given by using a non-penetrating needle or using points that are not true acupuncture points, and is often superior in effect to usual care or no treatment, implying a big placebo effect.  This has led people in the past to assume that this means that all acupuncture is largely placebo.

Reassuringly, this BMJ article demonstrates that acupuncture is genuinely effective for painful conditions and not merely a placebo. 

Depression can result from too much ruminating

The new study showing that rumination tends to result in depression and anxiety brings to mind the Chinese medicine diagnosis of overthinking. This pattern is associated with poor digestion in Chinese medicine and is something I come across quite frequently in clinic - people constantly chew things over in their minds and they don't digest their food well, either. Interestingly, the article observes that rumination can also create eating disorders - a real vicious circle happening. Patients I see are often more concerned about other people than themselves and worry about everything. This process often interferes with their sleep pattern as well, making things worse.

When giving acupuncture to help break the cycle and relieve depression, I often give dietary suggestions alongside treatment, as eating nourishing foods complements treatment very well. As eating patterns improve, and acupuncture lifts energy and calms the mind, patients start to worry less, and their emotional outlook becomes brighter. Seeing patients like this begin to feel better is a very rewarding experience.

The BBC news story is on this link. 

More on my Website.

Premenstrual syndrome and acupuncture

Acupuncture has been demonstrated to be an effective measure to ameliorate premenstrual anxiety and depression (PMT) by new research in Brazil. Long considered by acupuncturists to be a useful intervention for women suffering from PMT symptoms, which can be unbelievably distressing and leave women feeling emotionally out of control, it is good to have another piece of definitive research, confirming our experience.

You can read the results of this randomised clinical trial, which were published in Acupuncture in Medicine, here.

For more information, link to my website.

Reflections on Mountains, Yin and Yang





Halfway up a mountain in North Wales, my companions asked me what mountains mean in Chinese medicine. These are the reflections which came to mind. First, a mountain is Yang whilst valleys are Yin, and climbing mountains is Yang, because it's activity and moving upwards, involves stretching and reaching and effort.

More practically, the movement and exercise and being outdoors 

(all Yang) move our Qi, and that in turn invigorates all the energy systems of the body and mind, hence we feel better in ourselves, even if, in our case, a bit stiff next day from the descent! (That stiffness was fairly quickly put right by the judicious application of a few acupuncture needles - I never go away without my "first aid kit".)

 And, of course, mountains seem to figure in all those wonderful Chinese paintings that the classical painters do: this one, which hangs in my Shaftesbury treatment room, illustrates, I was told, the calming (Yin) effect of being in beautiful places. And as we came down the mountain, we paused for a swim in a mountain lake - the cool, water-filled lake is an even stronger example of Yin to the mountain's Yang. 

Yin and Yang are always juxtaposed and always balance each other - cold to hot, low to high, valley to mountain, calm to busyness, rest to activity, slow to fast, water to air and so on. Both have to be in balance for good health and a happy life.






Acupuncture has an antioxidant effect when treating hypertension

On 9th March, I wrote a blog about three different research studies demonstrating the benefit of acupuncture in treating hypertension. I have just come across another article published last November about a collaboration between the University of South Florida College of pharmacy and Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.

Acupoint Liver 3

They compared two groups of rats with high blood pressure, one of which had an acupuncture needle inserted in a point on the foot (clearly Liver 3 in traditional acupuncture language), the other a needle in a non-acupuncture point.  Data revealed that the first group had significantly lower blood pressure after treatment but also noted that the part of the brain which regulates blood pressure contained higher levels of antioxidant enzymes, indicating the likely neural mechanism for acupuncture.

You can read the article here, and find out more about treating hypertension with acupuncture on my website.