My Blog

I continue to be amazed how even after 25 years of acupuncture’s introduction into our culture; so many people remain uninformed as to the wonderful possibilities of this ancient medical art. However, the good news is that its popularity and general acceptance into the medical mainstream continues to grow.

No, it doesn’t hurt. The American concept of ‘needle’ conjures up fears of that hypodermic injection we all have come to know and avoid. Medical hypodermic needles are stiff, hollow and thick for forcing liquid into a person’s flesh. This is painful! Acupuncture needles are fine and flexible — no bigger that the thickness of a cat’s whisker.

Tis the season to be sick. Here it is, the dreaded cold and flu season. Aches, sniffles, fatigue, fever, chills etc. According to ancient Chinese Medicine, in addition to viruses and bacteria (which love to live on our bodies), the ‘pathogens’ responsible for the cold and flu’s we get are due to, quite literally, cold and wind entering our bodies through the skin.

I was excited to see Oprah endorse acupuncture since she reflects the pulse of our American culture in so many ways. I’d like to see her revisit Acupuncture and take it further. The truth is that Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine still remains a ‘well kept secret’… even after Oprah’s show and Dr. Oz’s commentary. She endorsed only the tip of the iceberg.

A patient recently suggested I write an article helping people to understand how one could combine the use of acupuncture and western medical treatments. A lot of people think it’s an either/or…  an oppositional conversation.

One of the common inquiries I get is from women wanting to know if I can help them to lose weight though acupuncture. The bad new is that there is no ‘weight loss point -no ‘magic bullet’. The good new is that weight issues are very often a reflection of an underlying imbalance. When the imbalance is treated, and lifestyle shifts are made, then shifts in weight can be a result.

As we come out of summer and approach Autumn we leave behind our experiences of the loss of some loved celebrities like  Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, to name a few.  Icons and imprints on our cultural national stage.  But, what of our own personal losses? The death a loved one? What about the grief we bare and how it affects us – body, mind, spirit?

If I respond ‘no one knows for sure’ that would be unsatisfactory (even though it’s close to the truth). If I said the National Institutes for Health (NIH) has been working on putting acupuncture under ‘the microscope’ since the 1980’s when Richard Nixon returned to the USA with his infamous discovery of Traditional Chinese Medicine; that too doesn’t really answer the question.