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Integrative Health Centers Acupuncture Blog
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I would say the majority of my patients experience an increase in pain when the weather is rainy and cold. Patients who suffer from arthritic conditions are famous for experiencing increased pain when the weather turns, sometimes you can use them as weather forecasters as they seem to know a storm is coming before the meteorologists do. The scientific data is inconclusive when it comes to weather change and chronic pain, generally it is considered irrelevant to an individual’s condition, even those with arthritis. So is this phenomenon simply a giant placebo effect?
I find it hard to believe that all of my patients have succumbed to an urban legend and have real effects from this group hypnosis. Chinese medicine suggests there is a direct relationship between weather patterns and our health. I don’t think it’s an incredible leap to suggest we are affected by our environment, we have conditions such as SAD(seasonal affective disorder) which are known to be caused by the shorter winter days and lack of exposure to sunlight. We know that being too hot or too cold has direct effects on our body with conditions such as hypothermia or heat stroke. So why wouldn’t we be affected by the rain?
Chinese medical theory suggests that excessive moisture in our environment creates a condition knows as “dampness” in the body. The idea is that because we are composed primarily of water we are susceptible to moisture changes in our environment. When it is excessively damp or rainy for periods of time, we essentially become water-logged and our body systems slow down and become stagnated. Circulation is slowed causing this stagnation which leads to increased pain and stiffness. Combine this with cold and you have the ingredients for some serious pain.
Other theories suggest we are susceptible to the change in barometric pressure which occurs when we have changing weather patterns, particularly approaching storm fronts. The sharp change in barometric pressure causes an imbalance with our internal pressure and this transition can exacerbate painful syndromes. I’m not sure what the cause is entirely, but I do know that the weather has an effect on all of us and it’s not just in our heads…
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Many of my headache patients tell me: “I didn’t have a migraine last week, but I did have a sinus headache”. In my experience actual sinus headaches are rare. This is because migraines can cause a generalized swelling in the entire cranial cavity, including the lining of the sinuses. The symptoms are indeed in the sinuses, but the root of the problem is usually a migraine pattern. The nasal sinuses are lined with erectile tissue (just like the sexual organs) and there can be many fluctuations in the behaviour of this tissue. If a migraine triggers these tissues to swell then phlegm can get trapped in the twists and turns of the sinuses and bacteria will grow. And then - voila! a sinus infection is born. Then the intense pressure, pain and even fever will let you know it’s time to go to the doctor for an antibiotic. But remember, no amount of antibiotics will interrupt the cycle of migraines. Of course people with migraines can also have allergies, which further confuses the issue. If your eyes water and itch, there are probably allergies involved. But here is the good part. You don’t need to know what you have. Acupuncture treats all of these conditions - sinusitis, migraine, allergies. So if your head hurts or you are full of phlegm for any reason, come see us.
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Of course we would all love to sleep peacefully every evening for 7-8 hours but how many people actually pull it off? There are things to be done, thoughts to distract us and late night TV to catch up on. The old cliche ” there just aren’t enough hours in the day” well I happen to think many people would still find an excuse to sleep poorly if there were one hundred hours in a day. The problem for most people who have trouble sleeping properly isn’t usually poor time management skills, it’s generally a product of bad nighttime habits. Of course we are excluding people with chronic diseases that directly affect sleeping behavior, but even those folks might want to think twice about getting off the CPAP machine they’re using to control sleep apnea. One of the biggest habits people fall into is watching television up until they go to bed or in some cases actually falling asleep with the TV on. Although television can create a feeling of relaxation, it is not conducive to productive sleep patterns and in many cases stimulates the nervous system to keep insomniacs awake. Late night eating can also lead to digestive issues and therefore tend to wake people up during the night due to problems with indigestion or needing to go to the bathroom.
Sleep is essential to good health and can affect nearly all aspects of your mental and physical health, leading to chronic disease and a generally poor quality of life. It is recommended that individuals begin a pattern of winding down for at least one hour prior to bedtime. This usually includes dimming the lights, avoiding food or drink and turning off the TV. Engage in activities which create a sense of calm and relaxation while avoiding any activity which stimulates the mind or body. taking a measured approach to your nighttime sleeping ritual will pay tremendous dividends over your lifetime.
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Three square meals a day is all you need. Well not if you want to control portions, improve digestion and increase weight loss. Eating smaller meals 5-6 times throughout the day is a far more efficient system of eating and is much better suited to the human digestive system. Waiting until your desire for food is peaking often leads to poor food choices, over-eating and fast eating. Thoroughly chewing your food is essential to digestion and also allows time for the brain to receive signals of fullness from the stomach. When you are “starving” for food, your cravings will tend toward quickly available sources of fat and sugar, rather than allowing you the clarity to choose food wisely based on nutritional value.
Eating every 2-3 hours will maintain healthy blood sugar levels, which in turn keeps your metabolic rate steady, while helping the body to burn more calories throughout the day. This also keeps you from feeling dramatic levels of hunger which in turn allows you to make better choices of food and food quantity. There is significant research to back-up eating smaller meals more often, which shows groups eating 2-3 meals and 4-6 meals with nearly identical calories, fat content, protein and carbohydrate content. The frequent eaters lose more weight through diet and exercise, while also reducing weight gain during sedentary time periods.
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It sounds too simple, of course we need to be properly hydrated in order to be healthy. I think the issue for most people is they feel they get enough “fluid” by drinking beverages all day long. The problem is, most of these are loaded with caffeine and sugar which leads to further dehydration. Water is needed for the processing of sugar in the body and caffeine acts as a fairly strong diuretic. The common guideline for drinking water is 64 ounces per day, which is ok for individuals of average height and weight, the key is drinking 64 ounces of pure water. If you are of a smaller or larger build than average, one should adjust accordingly and those who are very physically active need to consume more than 64 ounces to accommodate fluid loss during physical activity. Consumption of water should occur gradually throughout the day, trying to consume large amounts of water in a small period of time will create a diuretic effect on the body leading to limited hydration value.
The benefits of proper hydration are tremendous as every process in the body requires water to function properly. Water is a truly a “miracle” cure for almost any disease pattern we may encounter and will certainly make it easier to recover from or manage any disease in the body. Water is essential to maintaining healthy skin and can dramatically reduce the effects of aging on the skin. Proper hydration will improve energy levels, improve cognitive function, athletic performance and will help with weight loss. Water is essential to everyone’s health.
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I don’t think anyone is unaware of how beneficial exercise is to a person’s health. I do believe people underestimate its necessity to maintaining one’s health. Exercise is not optional, it’s not something that healthy people with extra time on their hands do because they want to look good at the beach. It’s also not something you start doing after your knee replacement surgery or cardiac surgery because your doctor is “making” you do it. Exercise is as essential to human health as breathing, eating and sleeping. Human beings did not evolve as sedentary creatures who thrive on sitting around and lounging.
In clinical studies, exercise often beats pharmacological drugs for treating anxiety and depression. Even people who suffer from chronic pain syndromes will benefit from a consistent, low-impact exercise regimen because it helps to preserve muscle mass and keep weight gain to a minimum. I think many people are unable to maintain a suitable exercise regimen because they are uninformed as to what is proper for their individual needs. Working out for hours on end is really not helpful to the majority of people out there, a consistent and effective exercise program lasting 30-60 minutes is often ideal. The key is getting in 4-5 sessions per week, making the exercise regimen a part of your life, not something you do on January 2nd, once a year.
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Managing stress has become critical to health and well being. It’s no longer something done by trendy companies to show how much they care about their employees. It is truly something every individual must consider when managing their daily lives. If you’re pondering whether or not to take on a new project, job, child, etc. you must take into consideration the effect it will have on your overall stress level. Many people take on unsustainable stress levels for personal gain, namely financial, but also for fulfillment of ego, i.e. to show everyone how great they are. The question we have to ask ourselves on a regular basis is, ” Is it worth it? ” When we take on added stress we must consider how we will be able to offset the burden. Will the new high-paying job allow me more time to pursue things which help me to relax? If a woman decides to stop working in order to meet the needs of her growing family will she have the time to pursue some of her own interests? These are typical situations which people find themselves in, but often fail to ask themselves these questions. More money doesn’t equate to less stress if you haven’t figured out how you’re going to accommodate the added pressure of more responsibility. The stay-at-home mom is the classic example of what appears to be a lower stress lifestyle, when in fact many women become more stressed by being so involved in the lives of their entire family.
Managing stress is essential to health and longevity and is something we cannot afford NOT to do as individuals. There isn’t a single greater risk factor for mortality than increased stress. Take the time to determine what it is that helps you to relax and reduce your stress levels, while making time in your daily life to pursue these activities. Maybe your best stress reducer is doing nothing at all, when was the last time you did that?
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March 17, 2008 – 12:57 pm
A patient asked what I thought were the most important things he should do to live a long and healthy life. I have always felt that most people are quite uninformed about what it takes to live a healthy lifestyle. There is just too much information out there for the average person to sift through and most of it is based on limited scientific evidence. As a health care practitioner I absorb a tremendous amount of information and also see what really works while observing my patient base.
Here are the fundamentals to good health in my opinion:
1. Manage stress
2. Exercise regularly
3. Drink plenty of water
4. Eat smaller meals, 4-6 times per day, no more than three hours apart.
5. Sleep 7-8 hours per night
I’ll elaborate on each recommendation in future blog posts.
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Or any comments about the website in general. We are really trying to expand the usefulness of the website for our patients and to become a reliable resource for health care information. It’s hard for us to gauge whether or not people are checking out the website regularly if they are not responding to us on a regular basis. I’d like to have an interactive chat session in the near future to discuss questions people might have about acupuncture or health care in general.
If anyone out there would like to see an article about a specific subject please respond to one of the blog posts or send us an email. I’m going to try and post more often in the future about a variety of healthcare topics. I’m also planning on using this blog to keep people updated about events going on through our practice. I will be giving a free lecture at St. Joseph’s Medical Center on April 30th at 7pm, the topic is acupuncture and pain management.
Go ahead and call St. Joe’s to sign-up! 410-337-1109
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