Acupuncture used in Sports Medicine

More and more athletes are using acupuncture to recover from sports related injuries. Read on to find out more.

http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1211-acupuncture-helps-nba-star-chandler-parsons-to-victory

A is for Acupuncture

A lot has been written about what acupuncture is, why an acupuncturist puts needles where they do, and the conditions acupuncture can treat. But very little is written about the history of acupuncture and how it came to be the system of medicine that it is today.

It turns out that the earliest record of acupuncture may not be from China. In 1991 two hikers found a mummified body in the Otztal alps that’s thought to date back to 3300BC. The mummy, nicknamed Otzi, has tattoo marks on his body that many believe were used to mark acupuncture points. If that is the case, acupuncture dates back to the Copper Age of Europe.

However, the earliest agreed upon record of acupuncture does originate from China. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine is a famous text that’s presented as a question and answer session between the Yellow Emperor and his ministers. It’s generally agreed that the text dates back to the Warring States Period (475 BC -- 221 BC).

By the 17th century interest in acupuncture had declined in favor of herbal medicine. This culminated in 1929 when acupuncture was outlawed in China. This was partially in response to the pneumonic plague of 1910 which resulted in a desire to embrace western medicine. The ban was ultimately unsuccessful as acupuncture continued to be practiced among “barefoot doctors” in rural areas of China. By 1949 Chairman Mao reinstated traditional forms of medicine as a way of ensuring the massive population had access to general healthcare.

Acupuncture made its way to the US via immigrants trained in practicing acupuncture. The first time it reached mainstream media however was when James Reston, a New York Times reporter, traveled to China in 1971. During that trip he needed to have an emergency appendectomy. The post op pain was treated with acupuncture. His account caused an increased interest in acupuncture. By 1975 the New England School of Acupuncture opened in the Boston area.

ABC's of Chinese Medicine

Over the next few months I’ve decided to write a series of blogposts about the ABC’s of acupuncture. Hopefully this will serve to answer some of the questions people have about acupuncture. If you have anything you want to know more about, let me know as I’m bound to run out of ideas by the time I get to the letter H.

Allergy Relief with Acupuncture

As many of you know acupuncture is great for treating seasonal allergies/stuffy noses. It's one of my favorite things to treat because it works almost instantly and people leave the clinic feeling so much better than when they arrived.  

Given that many suffer from fall/winter allergies I found this DIY acupressure article. Ignore the part about it being for spring, these points are fantastic all year long.

http://acutakehealth.com/7-acupuncture-points-that-can-save-your-life-this-spring

Why are you doing that point? GB34

Here is a great article about why GB34 is one of my most commonly used, and loved, acupuncture points. Try doing some acupressure on it to relieve tight muscles.  If you have any questions about how to locate it, just ask me the next time you are here for a treatment.
http://acutakehealth.com/why-are-you-doing-that-point-gall-bladder-34

Albino Alligator Getting Acupuncture

After finding the video of the sea turtle getting acupuncture I decided to see what other non domesticated critters I could find doing the same. Who knew I'd find this video.

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/video-albino-alligator-in-brazil-receives-acupuncture-treatment-8764282.html

Many of you know that before I became an acupuncturist I worked as a marine biologist. What some of you aren't aware of is that I also volunteered many hours at the New England Aquarium's rescue and rehabilitation center. This clip of a sea turtle getting acupuncture is like watching both of my careers collide to make something beautiful happen.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/13/sea-turtles-get-acupuncture-treatment-in-quincy/

Coastal Acupuncture has a brand new design thanks to my fabulous assistant Annie Melden. This has been on my "to do" list for such a long time. There is no way I could have finished this without Annie's hard work and creative genius. The pictures of the clinic are her handiwork. You can check out more of her artistry at http://anniemelden.wix.com/annie_melden

Here is an interesting study showing the benefits of acupuncture in reducing pain, anxiety and depression in patients undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

http://www.healthcmi.com/acupuncturist-news-online/813-lungcancerli4lv3

September Back to School Special started this week. Unlimited $15 community acupuncture treatments for  teachers, school administrators and support staff.

New patients are welcome and as always there is no additional paperwork fee for initial visits.