"My Chi"

The New York College of Health Professions has obtained the patent for a line of sports apparel aimed at allowing the athlete to administer self-acupressure during play. I suppose this is not unlike sending a patient home with ear seeds and having them press on them several times a day, but I am having trouble envisioning a football team bending over in a time-out huddle rubbing on themselves to get a boost of energy for the big play or a golfer massaging Shenmen (Heart 7) through his specially patented gloves. I will admit, the commentary would be awfully amusing and I cannot wait to see who is going to be the first to sponsor it.

SYOSSET, NY (PRWEB) May 24, 2006 -- New York College of Health Professions announced today that it has received an exclusive license on a patented, new line of clothing and accessories that provide the benefits of acupressure to specific points when in contact with the body. This product line is so easy to use that it can be self administrated by the wearer during sports activities.

Acupuncture and Acupressure have been used for thousands of years and are well known in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Both have been shown to produce chemicals in the body that allow a person to either relax or become energized. "We now have the ability to apply this to lines of clothing," says Donald Spector, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of New York College of Health Professions, and well-known inventor. "While the application in sports is obvious, these clothing and accessories can also be used to reduce motion sickness, help in weight reduction and assist in smoking cessation," says Spector. The means of attaining the natural drug release is by putting small seeds in the right places. When the consumer presses on these points they are basically practicing the most basic technique of Acupressure. "We are not going to say that this is as effective as our licensed professionals that the College trains to become practitioners of Acupuncture or Acupressure," says Lisa Pamintuan, "but there should be a noticeable effect in many cases."

"Imagine it's the ninth inning, the score tied, you are one run up but bases are loaded with no outs. I wouldn't want to be the pitcher," says Lisa Pamintuan, who years ago played at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and is now President of New York College, the 25-year-old pioneering institution of Holistic Health (http://www.nycollege.edu/). "However, hopefully, our baseball cap will make situations like this a little easier. All athletes look for ways to enhance their performance, whether on the field or the tennis court. I wish I had worn this line of clothing when I was playing at Wimbledon as a 16-year-old. I would have been able to press the acupressure points in the clothing, like my sweatbands, and I would have been able to be either energized when I was tired, or relaxed when it was a tight match."

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Pet Peeve PS: I know there is no real Pin Yin standard, but I always learned it as "Qi" not "Chi"

Different care could aid NHS – therapists

Across the pond, practitioners in the UK have many of the same woes we do - battling the skeptics and the critics. Oriental Medicine is not a system of healing that lends itself to traditional research methods and as a result, most of the studies out there are small with plenty of limitations that fuel traditionalist criticisms. Thankfully, there are competent, educated practitioners like Nina Wilson who defend the wrote and tired attacks our profession.

Published on 26/05/2006


Healing hands: Nina Wilson believes that complementary therapies could save the NHS money By Pamela McGowan

Health reporter

THERAPISTS have defended their profession after a group of leading UK doctors this week labelled complementary medicine as "bogus" and "unproven."

The critics urged NHS trusts to stop using treatments such as homeopathy and Reiki because of a lack of evidence that it does any good.

But west Cumbrian therapist Nina Wilson, who practices oriental body balance and acupuncture, has hit back at the comments.

She said she has seen how acupuncture can help to heal people who have had no luck with western practices.

This includes back and neck problems, muscle strains and repetitive strain injuries, which often results in patients having to undergo surgery if seen by western doctors, she said.

Miss Wilson, who is based in Whitehaven, added that it is hard to carry out controlled, clinical tests into treatments like acupuncture because unlike western techniques, it does not focus solely on a specific problem and it varies with every individual.

But she said that in China it is used alongside conventional medicines in hospitals and some patients choose it as an anaesthetic when having major operations.

She believes the UK government could actually save money if it were to make complementary medicines available on the NHS, alongside existing treatments.

"I treat a lot of people who have been able to go back to work after being off with long-term injuries. That saves money," she said.

The criticism of alternative practices was made in a letter written by 13 medics and sent to 476 health trusts.

In north Cumbria, the primary care trusts do not directly fund any such treatments. However a spokeswoman told the News & Star that if a doctor or physiotherapist was trained to carry out a procedure such as acupuncture and decided to use it, it would be covered.

Carlisle Reiki teacher and hypnotherapist, Marion Dunlop, has also worked as a nurse and believes the two approaches can work together in harmony.

She said billions of pounds have been spent on research into western medicine. However, complementary therapies have not had that investment to prove or disprove their effectiveness.

"I would argue that just because the scientific evidence isn't there it doesn't mean it doesn't exist," she said. "People existed for thousands and thousands of years before we had western medicine and survived."

But she added: "I am not knocking western medicine. We always view ourselves as complimentary."

Press Release

This is the full press release from the NCCAOM concerning the bill in Kentucky. I muct share this quote from the article as it sums up what I believe most professionally trained Oriental Medicine practitioners feel:

As of today, there are still six states, including Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming that have no regulatory laws for the practice of acupuncture. In most of these states, only physicians and osteopaths, often with little or no formal education in acupuncture, are allowed to practice. As a result, healthcare consumers in these states may not experience the full efficacy of acupuncture treatment. In addition, the healthcare consumer is potentially placed at risk for treatment received from an unqualified individual who claims to be an acupuncturist.


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Needle Works: Obtaining Qi

“The most important thing in acupuncture is the arrival of Qi” – Ling Shu Chapter One

Here is a little back-to-the-basics guide for obtaining, moving, and maintaining Qi sensation. The name of the techniques come from the text Acupuncture and Moxibustion: A Guide to Clinical Practice. I find that it helps to go over these introductory texts periodically to maintain skills and to keep from growing complacent with our own patterns in practice.

Qi should feel like:
aching, numbness, tingling, itching, brief coolness/heat, pressure, heaviness, twitching, electric shock (aka tongue on a 9-volt battery – I have about a 60% acknowledge rate on this analogy). Qi should travel along the meridian pathway, may differ in intensity on the opposite side, and will arrive more slowly or feel less intense where energy is deficient.

Techniques

Waiting for qi by:
Probe for qi by bringing the deeply inserted needle to the epidermis, re-angle, push back into the body, and repeat until Qi is obtained.
Massaging the meridian with thumb or forefinger
Pushing using the fingertips around the acupuncture point
Flick the hand of the needle with the third finger
Bird peck by lifting and thrusting the needle rapidly with small amplitude
Vibrate using lifting and thrusting extremely fast a’la electric stimulator
If all else fails – relocate the needle.

Move qi after obtaining qi by:
Lifting and thrusting
Rotate in one direction slowly to avoid tangling muscle fibers
Swing and scratch by holding the needle and swinging it 45 degrees back and forth like a pendulum then scratch the handle of the needle down to reinforce and upward to reduce
Crank and shake by pushing needle to the maximum depth, withdraw to the muscle level, then bend the needle to 45 degrees and “crank” 3 times around, then swing back and forth – this is a reducing technique
Block the by placing the thumb on the opposite side of the meridian that the qi is intended to travel
Flying away involves rotating the needle 45 degrees once and releasing the handle quickly to reinforce or reduce.

Maintaining Qi by:
Cock the crossbow by grasping the needle and bending the needle backward
Bend the needle forward and perform flying away

Acupuncture and infertility

Although there is not a huge call for infertility in my practice, I have been lucky enough to assist a handful of couples having fertitlity issues and can report the majority were able to conceive thanks to lifestyle changes and Chinese Medicine techniques. It it incredible rewarding as a practitioner to be able to help these couples and to see the pictures of the babies they thought they would never have. Of course, it is heartbreaking when a client turns to alternative therapies as a last resort after exhausting all conventional methods and they find that they are still unable to have a child. As with most other conditions, it is frustrating that we cannot get these couples into the office sooner and be thought of as adjunctive or complementary treatment rather than as a last-ditch effort. I am sure these are obstacles that our Canadian neighbor Lorne Brown encounters daily at his fertility clinic in Vancouver. Check out his story:

It's been used in China for over 2,000 years but acupuncture to help infertility is a new concept in North America.

Dr. Lorne Brown is a doctor of Chinese medicine specializing in fertility. This former Fredericton resident is now living in Vancouver.

Daily, he says, he receives e-mails from around the world from couples who have been unable to become pregnant who want more information on acupuncture as a treatment for infertility.

"We know it increases blood flow to the reproductive organs. The more blood flow to the ovaries the more nutrients and oxygen and balanced hormones. That means, hopefully, better egg quality and also the more blood to the (uterine) lining which means better implantation of the embryo."

Acupuncture has also been shown to reduce the effects of stress which has been proven to impair fertility. If stress and its negative hormones can be lowered and blood flow can be increased, he says, this can help people who want to have a baby.

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Acupuncturists Without Boarders

After Hurricane Katrina, I was searching for volunteer opportunities for nurses as I figured there was nothing I could do as an acupuncturist. I was wrong . . . sort of. Acupuncturists Without Boarders, an organization that provides free community acupuncture in various venues, attempted to render assistance in New Orleans but had to undergo a few rounds of battle with the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners. In the end, the acupuncturists won out and were able to offer hundreds of free acupuncture treatments to the victims and were able to obtain waivers for out-of-state practitioners. This is a fantastic move forward in spreading awareness not only about acupuncture and oriental medicine, but the role community-style acupuncture can play in traumatology and environmental stressors.

The mission of Acupuncturists Without Borders is to help alleviate suffering of people worldwide in urban and rural communities in need, and to support self-empowerment, through community acupuncture treatment and training. Your support of AWB helps establish and maintain our programs so that the benefits of this beautifully simple and effective treatment can be brought to these communities.

AWB was established to develop and implement acupuncture based programs that help facilitate community and personal healing in the face of large-scale traumatic events and their aftermath. When left untreated, the emotional and psychological consequences of trauma have the potential to compound the damages, further unraveling lives.

Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) is devoted to bringing compassionate and effective relief to underserved communities affected by natural disaster, war, conflict and poverty around the world. Utilizing community acupuncture, and working through local alliances, our initial presence in an area is devoted to overcoming the immediate effects of trauma. In some cases where the situation is not acute, but the need is great, we will develop longer term training programs for local professionals in basic acupuncture.


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Acupuncture Research and PTSD

Over the past year, I have been fortunate to have been asked to participate in the creation of a two grant proposals involving the effects of acupuncture on PTSD. University of Louisville's Michael Hollifield MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Medical Director of Biobehavioral Oncology, had conducted an initial study in at the University of New Mexico (my alma matter) in 2003. Nityamo Lian DOM (and a fellow alum from the International Institute of Chinese Medicine) helped create a standard treatment protocol that allows for not only a general "point prescription", but also for individual variation. At this time, the results of the study have not been published on-line, but I do have some old links to the research, as well as a link to ongoing clinical trials in the acupuncture world. As for me, at this time both of the proposals received low scores which means more revisions, more resubmissions, and more waiting. With hope, we have funding for both studies in the next few months. Please put out the good vibes for us - having seen some of the patients coming into my mental health facility, we need all the diversity of treatment we can get in helping our soldiers.



Acupuncture for Relief of PTSD Symptoms Studied

Acupuncture Trials