Elimination and Your Health

Nobody loves to talk about bowel movements, but digestion and the resulting elimination are important indicators of your overall health. Being healthy means loving even the hard-to-talk-about aspects of your well-being.

Many of the health issues occurring in your daily life are connected to the dysfunction of your bowels. Excessively frequent or irregular bowel movements indicate imbalances involving the internal organs.

If you’ve been living life coping with elimination and digestion issues, keep reading to learn how acupuncture and herbal medicine can improve your health.

Don't Sweat It-Acupuncture for Hyperhydrosis

Hyperhidrosis is a skin disorder characterized by excessive sweating usually in the armpits, and on the hands and feet. Western medicine is still unsure as to the cause of this disorder and why it occurs in some people. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is understood that nothing happens in your body without a reason. Our bodies are finely tuned machines that don’t waste energy, expending it only for a productive outcome. When the machine becomes weakened, and a leak occurs, a larger, system-wide problem needs to be treated.

In excess sweating, a deficiency of qi/energy causes moisture to leak out of your body. When something is leaking—your garden hose, the oil in your car—the fix is to tighten the leaking area, right? I take the same approach with a leak in your body. An acupuncture treatment to curb excessive sweating focuses on placing needles to treat the loose areas, strengthening the weak processes that lead to the release of moisture. This means focusing on points along meridians that target the yin, blood-filled organs of the liver, lungs, kidney and spleen. I will also prescribe tonifying herbs or herbs that replenish moisture and help to hold in the sweat and rebalance the yin and yang of the body. This approach provides lasting benefits to your long-term health.

Botox injections are a frequently prescribed, FDA-approved treatment for hyperhidrosis. But is Botox the right answer? I don’t believe it is. These injections block the nerve signals responsible for sweating, stopping the sweat glands from over-producing. Temporary relief may occur, but long-term problems too often arise. Retreatment is generally needed every four to six months. Repeated injections often result in arm pain, weakness or numbness. If the body’s temperature is being regulated through sweating (even if excessive), it will now try to release heat another way, such as metrorrhagia or excessive uterine bleeding (see the article below). Likely, the injections will not cure the problem, but only temporarily constrain it.

Botox injections may be an effective temporary solution for quick relief, but for long-term results acupuncture and herbal medicine are the best solution for hyperhidrosis.

A Holistic Approach to Metrorrhagia

Many women suffer needlessly from irregular, painful and excessive menstrual bleeding called metrorrhagia. Metrorraghia presents as extremely heavy blood loss during the menstrual cycle, an abnormally long cycle, and/or spotting between cycles. This can occur any time during your lifetime, with most occurrences showing up around childbirth and menopause. This points to hormones as the culprit, but why is this happening? Many women don’t experience metrorrhagia, so why do some? Most doctors will explain that the problem is due to fibroids, endometriosis or hormonal issues, but they do not have an explanation (or cure) for why metrorrhagia symptoms occurred. The solutions proposed are fairly radical and invasive—birth control, ablation, or hysterectomy. In Traditional Chinese Medicine we have a deeper, but gentler approach to controlling excessive menstrual bleeding.

When a patient comes into the clinic suffering from metrorrhagia, we first have a discussion to fully understand the issues, then I access their medical history to diagnose and treat the root cause of the problem with a holistic approach. The source of the issue is usually multiple internal systems best treated through acupuncture.

Because your body is always trying to maintain homeostasis or balance, when an imbalance occurs due to an extended period of loss of energy, moisture, or temperature regulation, compensation will occur—in this case, excessive bleeding. For example, if you are producing excess heat, one way to distribute and eliminate this heat is to release it through the blood of the menstrual period. Heavy blood loss will initially cool the body, but eventually, this needs to be regulated and balanced. The procedure of ablation is destructive to the uterus, but it does seem to fix the problem as it results in lighter periods. But the cause of the initial excessive bleeding was never found, nor treated. How now will the body adjust to this extreme procedure? Will vaginal dryness and atrophy result, with painful side effects? How will the hormones be regulated after this procedure?

Using TCM protocols, I first stop the metrorrhagia with acupuncture and herbal medicine. Once the excessive flow has abated, I work to balance your body by treating the kidneys and liver blood. If the blood loss was due to weakness with resulting anemia, I tonify the spleen and the stomach. If the excess bleeding was due to heat, I clear the heat, cool the blood and stop the bleeding with acupuncture treatments targeted at the spleen, liver and intestines. If heavy bleeding includes clots and pain, I treat to eliminate stagnation and aid emotional constraint.

I know that this is a lot of difficult and specific information to try and understand, but I want to let my patients and future clients know that I can help—there is no need to take drastic and irreversible measures! Your body is not a malfunctioning enemy, it is working really hard to protect your major organ functions with a viable workaround. Acupuncture will assist your body in regulating the dysfunction and getting you back to normal without creating additional trauma, cost and future side effects.

Schedule a consult today at Acupuncture by Andrea and let me help you on the path to happiness, goodness, and wellness.

How Many Sessions Do I Need?

“How many treatment sessions will I need?” is one of the first questions most clients ask. This is a great question, and the answer is "it depends". I have had patients visit once for the treatment of lingering cold or flu symptoms, which improved and further treatment was not needed. However, most people and most medical issues I see at the clinic require multiple treatment sessions.

Acupuncture is highly effective when it simultaneously treats your current symptoms and the underlying issues that caused them. Most of us did not wake up yesterday with a sudden pain or ailment but rather have been living with ongoing or increasing pain and illness. It took time for these ailments to build up and it will take time to break them down. Some patients living with chronic pain or ongoing conditions such as anxiety or high blood pressure, have received treatments monthly for several years. After your initial consultation and treatment, follow-up sessions are generally recommended. While individual cases vary, four to eight visits over four weeks usually achieve the desired results.

How many treatments are needed is varied, and depends on your health, your lifestyle needs, and your budget. Multi-treatment packages are available at a discounted rate. Call or email me and we’ll make time at your next appointment to discuss your long-term care needs.

New Office Hours

I will see you at the Acupuncture by Andrea office for the same great massage and acupuncture treatments, herbal medicine consultations and insightful conversations, with new hours. Appointments are available on the following days and times:

• Monday and Tuesday 9 am-5:30 pm
• Wednesday 10-7 pm
• Thursday no appointments
• Friday 9-5 pm

Please get in touch if you have any questions or problems booking an appointment. I will try to accommodate your health and wellness needs and get you in as soon as possible if available times do not fit your schedule.

Please note that appointments canceled with less than 24 hours' notice will be charged a $45 fee and missed appointments with no communication will be charged the full cost of the scheduled service.

The Beautiful Life

The Italians have developed many beautiful ways of looking at and living in the world. These phrases are words of wisdom that are easy to put into practice to help you live your La Dolce Vita, The Beautiful Life.

Festina lente—Make haste, slowly

Set tiny, short-term goals. Don’t try to accomplish everything all at once. Taking small, measured steps in the right direction is better than taking fast leaps in the wrong direction.

Il dolce far niente—The sweetness of doing nothing

Master the art of enjoying the moment without the need to be productive or busy. Take time to recharge, life is not a race—the best ideas come when your mind is at rest!

Fare una passeggiata—Go for a walk

Italians love a nightly after-dinner stroll with loved ones. Taking walks will clear your mind, reduce stress and anxiety, and allow you to connect with your surroundings.

Sprezzatura—Making things look effortless

Try to cultivate a sense of ease in everything you do, even when facing challenges. Quiet confidence is the key!

La vita e bella—Life is beautiful

You don’t need life-changing milestones to experience joy. Tune in to the little things—that first sip of coffee, a gentle sunset, or laughing with loved ones. Italians know how to savor the moment.