Hello friends!
I hope you had a great month! In this months blog post I wanted to take it back to the basics. I find myself talking to my patients about the same information and I wanted to share it. I feel its very helpful to understand how we look at the body in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
When we are healthy the blood and energy (Qi) flows throughout our body naturally and normally. When we have an injury, accident, emotional event or even sitting/standing in the same position every day, Chinese medicine can observe this as an interruption in blood and energy circulation throughout the body. This interruption is called a Qi or blood stagnation. The goal with acupuncture is to use the needles to increase circulation in the body and remove the stagnation.
With the advancement in technology we can now demonstrate with magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, and/or positron emission tomography, PET, scans what happens to the body when an acupuncture needle is inserted. The scans are showing that inserting the needles into certain points on the body triggers to the brain that a micro-trauma has occurred. This trigger activates an increase in blood flow to the insertion site of the needle. Therefore by inserting needles into certain points on the body we can increase circulation and remove the stagnations.
The Chinese medicine diagnosis method can simply be explained as patterns. We ask the patient about symptoms they are experiencing and then categorize these symptoms into a Chinese medicine pattern. Then we use acupuncture points that are known to benefit the specific pattern for treatment.
Is this starting to sound confusing? Let me give you an example. One of the most common patterns in our culture today is called Spleen Qi Deficiency. Understand when we talk about organs in Chinese medicine we have a different interpretation of the organ’s function than the traditional western medicine interpretation. Spleen Qi Deficiency pattern symptoms include fatigue, worry, overthinking, heaviness sensation, craving sweets, poor appetite, loose stools, difficulty waking up in the morning, sore muscles and a pale tongue. The person may not experience all the symptoms but recognizing the pattern with a few symptoms can help the practitioner choose which acupuncture points to use.
In my clinic, my passion is drawn towards treating the underlying emotional pattern. Last year I wrote my thesis on the neurological connection between pain and emotions. Writing this paper helped me to understand on a deeper level the impact our emotions have on our body and vice versa how our pain impacts our emotional state of mind. Recognizing the impact of stress and emotions that a person may be dealing with can be extremely helpful in the healing process.
My goal with treating emotions is to increase blood production and circulation. When we increase blood circulation throughout the body this can increase blood flow to the brain. Increased blood circulation to the brain can calm the mind and help us fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night. When our digestive system is working properly we extract the nutrients from our food that are necessary to make blood. That combined with a good nights rest can support the regeneration of blood. Having fresh new blood production each night can translate to increased energy and improved appetite the next day. Increased blood in the system can also move out stagnations in the body that may be causing pain or discomfort.
As you can see Chinese medicine looks at the body as a whole system so we can heal entirely. Do you experience any of these symptoms? I am so happy to share this medicine with you. Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to sharing more next month! Thank you for reading my blog!