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GERD Awareness

Chronic Pain Syndrome
GERD

Did you know that acupuncture can help with a number of digestive issues? Yes, it’s true!

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), one of the most common GI issues among Americans, occurs when stomach acid frequently flows back into your esophagus – the tube connecting your mouth and stomach.

If you suffer with this, or you’ve ever suffered with it, you might have felt hopeless and frustrated at times that there are no known causes and the only known treatments are either medications or dietary adjustments.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know what causes it in the first place, so that you can start treating and healing the root cause?

Enter Chinese Medicine (CM). CM has known for thousands of years that the blueprint of many physical manifestations is an imbalance in our bodily functions. Reflux esophagitis in CM focuses on transforming, harmonizing, and restoring the normal movement of the stomach to prevent it “rebelling” upwards. The treatment with acupuncture and/or herbs focuses on restoring normal functioning of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), enhancing gastric motility, and improving gastric emptying.

Stomach function usually rebels because of:

  1. Eating in a hurry;
  2. Eating when stressed or angry;
  3. Working late hours;
  4. Eating while walking or standing, repeatedly and over time;
  5. Anxiety;

If we take a look at the most common lifestyle factors which cause or exacerbate GERD, or the upward rebelling of stomach function, we can see that simply doing the opposite of what causes it will be helpful. Also, introducing calming practices like meditation, walking in nature, and, of course, coming for acupuncture treatment.  Because whilst changing our habits will help to prevent GERD from returning, CM specializes in healing the problem and lessening the damage done by the issue.

Quick At-Home Tip:  Something very simple you can do at home to help yourself is after every meal, stroke down the midline from the bottom of your rib cage to the top of your belly button for about two minutes gently. This will help your food to move downward instead of rebelling upwards.

Here’s some more good news: In a 2018 study, acupuncture was trialed over a period of 6 weeks with daily treatment for GERD, with a few days break in between each week of treatment.  The CM control group fared significantly better than the conventional medicine control group. There were also far fewer side effects (virtually none)  in comparison to the control group who were taking Proton Pump Inhibitors and other medications for GERD.

The conclusion of the study – compared with PPIs or Prokinetics therapy alone, CM single therapy can better improve the clinical total effective rate and symptom relief and decrease the recurrence rate and adverse events in the treatment of NERD (non-erosive reflux disease – a type of GERD). The study’s results suggest that CM will be a promising alternative therapy for NERD patients in the future.

Research

Knee Replacement

Chronic Pain Syndrome
Chronic Pain Syndrome

Knee replacement surgery is fairly common in the U.S. with surgeons carrying out nearly 600,000 procedures every year.  Although most replacements can help reduce pain, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons states that 90 percent of patients experience significant improvement, the recovery after surgery can take up to three to six weeks before resuming most daily activities. 

Acupuncture can facilitate and accelerate the recovery process.  A new study shows that electroacupuncture enhances pain relief post-surgery due to its ability to lower levels of prostaglandins and increase levels of endorphins.  As a result, rapid recovery of knee range of motion can be achieved.  Electroacupuncture was performed before surgery as well as after, resulting in lower pain scores, and higher range of motion scores than compared to the pain drug group. 

Research

Your Mental Health

Chronic Pain Syndrome
Chronic Pain Syndrome

During the pandemic nearly 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder.  This is up from 1 in 10 in 2019.  As a result, several negative impacts have been noted including: difficulty eating or sleeping, increases in alcohol consumption or substance use, and worsening chronic conditions. 

A 2019 study demonstrates the effects of using acupuncture with the combination of a SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor) to aid in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).  The results show that this integrative approach was more effective at restoring cognitive functions, such as attention, memory and problem solving, as well as lowering pro-inflammatory factors.  Treatments lasted six weeks, and the group was administered electroacupuncture in addition to escitalopram (SSRI).  Treatment consisted of 45-minute sessions daily for two consecutive days, followed by a two-day break. 

Both subjective and objective measures of patient outcome showed significant improvement when drug therapy is combined with acupuncture versus drug treatment alone.

Research

Personally, acupuncture was instrumental in helping me through my bout with depression.  In my case, the side effects from the medication I was taking progressively became worse than the depression, so I had to find an alternative.  I specifically sought out acupuncture to treat the insomnia that accompanied the depression.  After several treatments I noticed that my mood improved, I had better mental clarity, and I was sleeping more soundly.  It was a true life-changer. 

Lower Back Pain

Lower Back Pain
Lower Back Pain

A popular ailment for those seeking acupuncture is certainly low back pain (lumbago).  It’s the single leading cause of disability, affecting nearly 80% of people at some point in their lives. 

Ligament sprain, muscle strain, disk herniation or joint inflammation can all lead to back pain.  This may be due to trauma, repetitive strain, poor posture, or improper lifting techniques.  These injuries, if not properly cared for, can lead to repeated damage to the structures of the lower back, which tend to worsen over time.  If left untreated, it can progress to widespread chronic pain throughout the whole body (called central sensitization). 

With a heightened awareness of quality of care especially due to the epidemic of prescription opioid overuse and abuse, an acknowledgement of the benefits of nondrug approaches to pain continues to be adopted.  In fact, the American College of Physicians updated its low back treatment guideline in 2017 to include acupuncture as a non-invasive nondrug option for low back pain treatment. 

Some recommended ways to avoid back pain:

  • Get more exercise – it can help ease inflammation and muscle tension;
  • Watch your weight – extra pounds in the midsection can put undue strain on the lower back;
  • If you smoke, stop – smoking impairs blood flow, which can affect spinal tissue;
  • Pay attention to posture;
  • Take breaks throughout the day – if your job involves a lot of computer work, take time to get up, stretch and readjust your eyes.
  • Be careful how you lift – bend at your knee and squat to lift heavy objects, and don’t twist while lifting;

Acupuncture for low back pain

In order to treat back pain effectively, it’s important to consider three factors: motor inhibition, peripheral sensitization and central sensitization.  Motor inhibition refers to muscle inhibition of specific groups that support the back.  They become inflamed and decrease in function. Acupuncture can effectively restore proper function by interrupting the inflammation signal to the brain.

Peripheral and central sensitization refer to a heightened sensitivity to pain due to an overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system.  This can be modulated with acupuncture as well to aid the body back to a parasympathetic state (aka “rest & repair”) in order to facilitate healing. 

What does treatment look like?

Acupuncture treatment will often include local and distal (away from area of pain) points in order to adequately address the motor inhibition and sensitization.  Initially, treatments will be scheduled in quick succession, typically 2-3 times per week depending on the acute or chronic nature of the pain.  Once consistent improvement is achieved, the frequency of treatments are reduced to once per week until the pain is resolved.  Going forward, it is always recommended to schedule “tune-up” treatments as a preventative measure and avoid re-aggravation.   

 

Bell’s Palsy

Bell's Palsy
Bell's Palsy

Approximately 40,000 Americans are diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy every year.  The disorder presents with a sudden onset of facial paralysis, which may be preceded by slight fever, stiff neck, or weakness on one side of the face.  Paralysis results from decreased blood supply or compression of the facial nerve, which controls facial movement and expression.  Although the exact cause of Bell’s Palsy is not known, viral, or a compromised immune system is suspected to play a role. 

Most cases resolve in two to three weeks,  and 80% can resolve within three months.  Acupuncture is an effective therapy for facilitating recovery and expediting resolution especially when treatment is started early.    A recent study demonstrated that electroacupuncture combined with warm needle therapy produced a 94.6% total effective rate for treating Bell’s Palsy. 

Research

 

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