Editor’s Note: This is part three of a three-part series. Part 1 focused on breathing; part 2 on posture.
For the past 17 years, I’ve been making recommendations to patients. I discovered they revolve around similar things: breathing, posture, and stretching (BPS). I made up my own personal acronym to remind myself how to improve my patients’ quality of life. I share this acronym with you because many beginning acupuncturists ask me what kind of suggestions they should make to their patients.
Movement
It started with recommending patients adopt some sort of movement practice. The acronym used to be BPM, which is very easy to remember because of beats per minute. I’ve had the honor of treating patients over a long period of time. Some have been with me for 10-15 years. I’ve seen patients get older, and watched many lean into poor dietary habits and a sedentary lifestyle.
Much of my work in the clinic revolves around bedside manner. Essentially, I am striving to make meaningful connections so I can gently nudge people to make healthier choices. If I nudge too hard, or too often, I lose the connection and often the patient.
I have to be sure that I’ve taken the time to really listen, and use reflecting skills, so the patient feels they have been truly heard. This builds rapport.
I also have to be very careful that my passion for martial arts and trying to live a certain lifestyle doesn’t come across as judgmental. This includes failing to meet the patient where they are at and not having some serious patience.
We can often forget that we’ve been on this path for quite some time so things that come second nature to us are difficult for patients to initially grasp. It takes time to build a trench when you’re stuck in a rut. So, in a way, we need to help patients make first steps, and this is where stretching comes in.
Stretching
If I tell a patient they should adopt some sort of movement practice, I know what that means to me, but to them it sounds vague and intangible. This is why I swapped “movement” for “stretching.” Stretching is simple, easy, and accessible with modifications. Some practitioners have asked me why I don’t teach qigong or tai chi. Most patients are just not active enough to even know how to coordinate breathing in while raising their arms up and breathing out while bringing their arms down.
I show patients 1-2 stretches. I find if there are more than two stretches introduced, they will worry about remembering them. I constantly remind myself that I am taking them into unknown territory, so I have to go slow.
Other than forgetting to do their stretches, patients make the excuse that they just don’t have the time. Therefore, I ask patients to stretch before bed. They are building a timed habit and they always find the time.
There are two important lifestyle keys that stretching brings out. The first is the fact that they have to get down on the floor. I once heard someone say that the epitome of holding onto our youth is the ability to get down on the floor, play around, and get back up again. As we age, there seems to be less reasons to deviate from going from the bed to the couch to the car and back to the bed.
I once treated an elderly gentleman who complained that his balance was poor because when he was walking on a gentle decline, he couldn’t stop himself. His only option was to fall over.
Initially, I believed what he told me at face value, but as I saw him move I wondered how often he challenged his mobility to the fullest. I came to find out that he didn’t even stand from a seated position on his own — he had an electric lift recliner chair that did all the work. It wasn’t a matter of being off balance; he just wasn’t using the muscles required to stand any longer. Stretching makes people use the muscles required to get down and get back up.
The second key is that stretching requires deep breathing.
Putting It All Together
In my first article, we learned that in order to get ourselves out of fight or flight, and into rest and digest, we need to elongate our exhales and inhales. The same can be said when a patient is in a stretch. The muscle is under tension, and breathing helps tell the body that it is OK to release that tension.
In my second article, we learned about posture. If posture improves, the efficacy of the stretch does as well. Additionally, if posture improves, breathing can be deeper, and deep breathing relaxes muscle tension and improves posture.
All three lessons I teach my patients feed into one another. That’s why I believe they are so special — that and the fact that they’ve improved my patients’ lives.
I hope I’ve inspired you to examine what you tell your patients on a daily basis. I’m sure there are some patterns. Maybe it’s to drink more water. Maybe it’s to look at the sunrise and sunset. Maybe it’s to put the phone down at 10 p.m. Just as long as we can take the time to build rapport, we will have the opportunity to impart our wisdom and improve our patients’ quality of life.
Over my almost 30 years in clinical practice, I have used Chai Hu Long Gu Mu Li Tang extensively for a wide array of clinical presentations ranging from chronic headaches to anxiety, insomnia, and prescription drug withdrawal symptoms if these situations fit the appropriate patterns – all with extremely positive clinical outcomes.
There’s no doubt that many of your patients visit your practice because they are in pain. And there’s certainly no doubt that curcumin from turmeric (Curcuma longa) can be incredibly effective in stopping that pain, whether due to chronic conditions like arthritis or acute pain from intensive workouts. But your patients may also benefit from curcumin for other reasons.
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Low back pain is defined as pain the posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS), and it can be acute or chronic, localized or radiating. It is a common ailment for adults in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence as high as 65-80%. Whether or not an MRI is available to provide definitive knowledge of a structural issue, acupuncture can be an effective treatment for low back pain.
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