Search Acupuncture Today

Leslie

Jeffrey

You will frequently have good success in relieving localized bodily pain with microcurrents by simply “circling the dragon”; that is, stimulating where it hurts. This is usually not the case, however, in the treatment of headaches. According to the principles of Chinese medicine, headaches are often the result of imbalanced…

Eighteen boxes, seven piles, and 167 assorted objects found their way from our home to the curbside last weekend. In addition, books from three four-foot shelves were removed and taken to the University Book Give-Away Center. I selected most of the items, some of which dated back to college days,…

The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) define cultural competency as “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations. ‘Culture’ refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts,…

East Asian medical research focuses on quantitative means of proof. This affects the information obtained, thus what become considered best practices. I maintain that the world of East Asian medicine might also be understood through qualitative means. In this article, I address the thinking behind these forms of research and…

The Snackwell Effect, Part 1 talked about how we lost our ability to regulate blood sugar by overwhelming our bodies with cereal, bread and Ho-Ho’s. I finished the article by recommending that you (or your patients) measure a few days of carbohydrate intake (not calories or fat, just grams of…

What would the pulse of aging look like? I use the term “look like” rather than “feel like” because I look at the pulses as the flow of qi through the organ systems rather than as a single or multiple of textures. Naturally I am still “feeling” it but it…

When the famous physiologist Hans Selye was conducting his original research on the stress response in the 1930s, he observed that prolonged and sustained stress eventually attacked the adrenal glands themselves. The end stage of maladaption to stress was the exhaustion phase, during which levels of cortisol production declined to…

This article will address two very specific and important treatment protocols: the Umbilical Pulse and the Akabani Test, both of which can be incorporated with any style of practice. If the Umbilical Pulse (AKA “Center Pulse”) is off center, or if any of the meridians are bilaterally imbalanced (known as…

I celebrated my 40-year anniversary in the field this summer. It was astounding to contemplate how my entire life has been built around learning, practicing, promoting, fighting for, and teaching this medicine all over the world. I have reminisced about the decades of struggle, passion, commitment and reward.

Recently, a colleague in another city called to inform me that a patient had been vandalizing acupuncturists’ offices around town and, they believed, slashing tires of acupuncturists’ cars. He wanted to know if I knew anything about this person, and to warn me. The police had been called, and the…

It’s not enough to want to make a living to do what you do. Nor is it enough to be extraordinarily talented - the world is full of passionate, talented failures. If you want to earn money with your passion, you’ll be running a business, and the sooner you accept…

In his July column, Will Morris asks “What’s In A Name?” Rather more than Shakespeare’s Juliet would imagine; indeed, more things than are dreamt of in her philosophy, to invoke Hamlet. Confucius teaches us the importance of names. One of the central tenets of his teachings is zhèng ming ,…

Given the current debates taking place over the role complementary medicine (and acupuncture and Oriental medicine in particular) should play in the changing health care environment, it is important to understand where the profession is currently at. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) has just released…

Dysmenorrhea, which can be quite common in women, is characterized by lower abdominal pain and cramping, sometimes accompanied by heavy bleeding, that begins at the start of the menstrual cycle. Studies have estimated that the prevalence of women who suffer from dysmenorrhea can range from 28 percent to as high…

The statistics are sobering, to say the least. According to leading pain specialists in the Veterans Administration, nine in 10 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans return home with some form of pain, and 60 percent have significant pain. Now, a recent announcement by top Army officials may help address this situation…

Tyehao

Kerry

James