1. Get regular acupuncture! Especially before allergy season begins. Acupuncture helps to balance the body’s systems functioning at top capacity. Acupuncture helps to reduce stress, improve digestion, aid sleep and boost the Lung Qi. By staying in balance, you are less likely to get out of balance and suffer from allergies. 
2. Start a constitutional Chinese herbal formula If you’re prone to seasonal, you should probably be on a constitutional formula of Chinese herbs that fits your individual pattern. 
3. Avoid the Wind Stay out of the wind if you can. If you can’t stay out of the wind wear a hat or scarf to avoid having Wind enter. 
4. Adopt a positive mental attitude, limit stress I believe you create your own reality to some extent. If you believe that every time May comes around, you will be miserable, you most likely will. If you believe you’re going to stay healthy, you stand a better chance of doing so. 
5. Stress and negative emotions have a stagnating effect on the flow of Qi in the body. Anger causes the Qi to move erratically. A great way to both reduce stress, calm anger and move Qi is to engage in regular exercise! 

Millions of Americans suffer from IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Symptoms range from abdominal cramping and pain, gas, bloating and changes in bowel movement. Approximately one out of every 6 Americans is diagnosed with IBS and is more commonly diagnosed in women than men.

IBS should not be confused with IBD, or Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which includes Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. A diagnosis of IBD is confirmed with physical changes to the intestinal tract. There is no permanent damage to the intestines with IBS. Potential causes of IBS range from irregular serotonin levels, imbalanced gut flora, improper diet and stress, though the jury is still out on the exact cause of IBS.

IBS symptoms often become worse with stress and anxiety, thus regular exercise, a healthy diet, stress reduction and proper sleep are prescribed to those who suffer from this disorder. Acupuncture can also be very helpful for those having symptoms. Regular acupuncture treatments are helpful for regulating bowel movements, relieving gas and bloating, reducing stress and regulating sleep patterns. Research studies have also shown acupuncture to be effective in treating IBS, along with meditation practice and Tai Chi.

(Information taken from the Mayo Clinic, PubMed and Lu, Hu, Tenner 2000 study on IBS)

Acupuncture helps to decrease knee pain by improving blood flow to the area. Improved blood flow promotes the healing of the tendons meniscus and decreases inflammation. From a Chinese perspective, acupuncture frees the flow of Qi and Blood to an area. Areas of the body with Qi and Blood stasis naturally have pain. Moxabustion (burning mugwort) over knees that get worse with cold weather or low pressure fronts can really benefit achy knees. Chinese medicine tells us that the Kidney controls the knees. Low Kidney energy can be the cause of some of that aching in the winter months.

Be sure to take care of your knees:

1. Keep moving. Staying immobile for long periods of time only makes knee pain and stiffness worse. Get up from your desk, walk around a bit and do some stretches. Get on a regular exercise routine that fits your abilities
2. Consider wearing a knee brace on days when you know you will be putting stress on the knee, for instance skiing or golfing.
3. Stretch after exercising for 15 minutes. Ask your MD, PT for personal trainer for some good ones for you and your condition.
4. Glucosamine/Chondroitin can help repair damaged ligaments. Chinese medicine recommends eating tendons (like those found in Vietnamese Pho soup), broken marrow bone soup and homemade chicken soup from the whole chicken to maintain the joints and bones. 

Adrenal Fatigue

Symptoms

Although the diagnosis of Adrenal Fatigue is not often recognized by those in mainstream Western medicine, it has been recognized by naturopaths, homeopaths, acupuncturists, nutritionist and other alternative medical practitioners. It is defined as the hypofuntion of the adrenal glands which secrete vital steroid hormones including cortisol. Adrenal Fatigue comprises a complex of symptoms which include, but are not limited to:

1. Fatigue not alleviated by sleep, inability to wake in the morning, difficulty in performing everyday tasks
2. Decreased sex drive
3. Cravings for salty foods
4. Decreased ability to handle stress, low tolerance for stressful people and situations
5. Frequent illnesses with increased recovery time
6. Lightheaded feeling upon standing
7. Depression and lack of enjoyment in life
8. Skipping meals or inadequate meals makes symptoms worse
9. The need to constantly snack or drink caffeinated beverages to keep going during the day
10. Fuzzy head, poor memory
11. A spike in energy after 6 pm. Inability to fully wake before 10 am; crash at 3-4 pm.

How does it happen:

From a Chinese Medical perspective, Adrenal Fatigue is the perfect storm. Since the adrenal gland sits on top of the Kidneys, it’s no surprise to me that the Kidneys are the root of this disease. In our medical paradigm, the Kidneys are the “batteries” on which we all rely to keep us going. When these batteries are used up, our life is over. The Kidneys are the root of all Yin and Yang in the body. Yin is everything that is moist, cooling, still, receptive, restful and nourishing in our body. Yang is everything that is dry, warm, active, defensive, dynamic, and building. Yin and Yang generate one another. Remember the Taiji, the symbol of Yin and Yang. Each one has a dot of the other inside of it, they are constantly generating, consuming and balancing the other.

Ironically, Adrenal Fatigue often affects the most driven of people. They work themselves to brink and past the brink of fatigue. These people go, go, go until they burn out their Yin. Think of driving your car at 90 miles an hour and never getting an oil change! Without the Yin, the Yang collapses in on itself and there’s no get up and go left. In addition to overwork, stress and poor diet are usually part of the picture. Stress primarily affects the Liver which in Chinese Medicine is in charge of the free flow of Qi in the body. Lack of exercize, emotional, physical and mental stress cause the Liver to become bound up and stagnant. This is like trying to drive around town with your emergency brake on. See my blog entry, “Your Liver and You” below. Poor diet damages the Spleen. A hypofunctioning Spleen leads to poor digestion, food cravings, a decrease in immunity, foggy head, weight gain and allergies. See my blog entry, “Me and My Spleen” below.

Factors leading to Adrenal Fatigue:

1. Overwork
2. Stress, lack of relaxation, lack of emotional outlets
3. Recent bouts of severe illness, surgeries, injuries, auto immune flare-ups
4. Dependence on caffeine and sugar to keep going
5. Consumption of poor quality foods including refined carbs, sugar, fried foods, fatty foods
6. Emotional traumas such as death of a loved one, divorce, job loss, financial strains
7. Lack of exercize

How can I recover from adrenal fatigue?

So, metaphorically, you’ve been driving around town at 90 miles an hour, with your emergency brake on, putting poor quality gasoline in your tank, you haven’t had an oil change in years. This will not a quick problem to fix, but it IS fixable. Here’s my list of changes you can make to feel better. These are good tips for almost anyone dealing with a stressful lifestyle and any level of fatigue.

1. Stop overworking yourself! You must slow down and cut back.
2. Get weekly acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture boosts your Kidney Yin and Yang, it soothes the Liver to decrease stress, it also tonifies the Spleen to improve digestion and immunity
3. Get to be before midnight. Resist the urge to stay up late- even if that’s when you feel most energetic. If you’re really burnt out, you might find you get the best sleep from 7 am to 9 am in the morning.
4. Be sure to give yourself breaks throughout the day
5. Eat regular meals and snacks. Stop skipping meals!
6. Get Jen or Caroline to give you a lesson in how to use a moxa stick to tonify your Spleen and Kidneys on a daily basis. This is an easy way to feel better right away.
7. Ask Jen or Caroline if Chinese Herbs are right for you and your condition. Chinese Herbs improve digestion, relieve stress and boost the adrenals.
8. Discover what’s draining your energy, then change your behavior and lifestyle to address them. Are there people in your life constantly bringing you down? Do you hate your job or certain aspects of your job? Are you overusing alcohol, over the counter medicines or recreational drugs? What can you do differently to limit the effect these have on you?
9. Exercise lightly and regularly, but not to exhaustion. See your MD to determine the best exercise plan for you.
10. Stop smoking, stop using recreational drugs, limit alcoholic beverages
11. Improve your diet. A few guidelines:
    1. Make cooked vegetables one third of your daily intake. Soups and stews are delicious and also easy to digest. Think about making a nice pot on the weekend and enjoying it all week long
    2. Make whole grains, (but NOT wheat) one third of your daily intake. Millet, quinoa, barley, and brown rice are especially good.
    3. Limit animal protiens to no more than on fourth of your daily diet. Vegetarians may benefit by adding organic chicken broth, fish, eggs or chicken breast to their diets.
    4. Limit fruit and do not eat fruit for breakfast
    5. Limit dairy, wheat, sugar and unrefined carbs!
    6. Avoid fast food! Avoid deep fried foods, highly spiced foods, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils
    7. Please no coffee, energy drinks, soda, diet soda, fruit juice or cocoa! Try filtered water, herbal tea, green tea and barley tea instead.
    8. Chew your food well!

According to Western medicine, the Liver filters toxins out of the blood and metabolizes medicines. It also secretes bile which allows the digestive system to break down fats. Finally the Liver stores glycogen (a fuel source) for the body until it’s needed.

From a Chinese medical perspective, the Liver is in charge of distributing Qi to the body in a consistent and even manner. When the Liver is functioning properly, Qi gets to all the organs and tissues that need it. There is no pain throughout the body, the digestion works harmoniously, sleep is deep and restful. “Free and Easy Wanderer” is the name given to an important Chinese herbal formula that keeps the Liver Qi moving freely. I imagine the well-functioning Liver as a happy old hippy wandering around shaking hands, high-fiving people and giving pep talks. Everyone’s getting the Qi they need and everyone’s happy. 

When the Qi isn’t moving freely big problems result: neck and shoulder tension, a predisposition to anger, pain in the body, PMS, alternating constipation and diarrhea, to name a few. Here, I am reminded an officemate I used to work with years ago. Red face, red eyes, shouting voice, angry, he was plagued by digestive issues and high blood pressure. He always looked ready to explode at any moment. He would ignore those of us around him for hours and then burst in and yell “Where are those reports? Why haven’t gotten back to me about what the customer said?!” This is the perfect example of what the Liver does when it is not in balance: too little followed by too much. In the case of GI problems, first the Liver fails to provide Qi to the organs of digestion (the Spleen and Stomach). A lack of Qi can cause gas, bloating, a feeling like food is just sitting in the Stomach, and dull pain. Then, when the Liver sends too much Qi to the Spleen and Stomach this results in cramping and diarrhea.     

When the Qi doesn’t move freely in the muscles and the joints? You guessed it: Pain. Qi stagnation can be caused by traumatic injury, overuse, or lack of exercise. Zhong Zhang Jing is one of the fathers of Chinese medicine and made famous this quote: “Where there is free flow, there is no pain. Where there is pain, there is no free flow.” Over time, the stagnation of Qi leads to the blood in the area becoming stagnant, too. This leads to chronic pain and pain of a more intense and stabbing nature. 

Another function of the Liver is that it “controls the sinews”. Sinews (tendons and ligaments) that do not receive enough Qi, Blood and nourishment from the Liver become dry, brittle, and prone to injury. Inflexible muscles, cramps, and spasms are symptoms of tissues that aren’t being nourished by the Liver. 

One of the great things about acupuncture is that we are by definition moving your Qi. The very act of putting a needle into the human body begins the process of moving Qi. This is one reason why most of us find acupuncture so relaxing: our Liver Qi gets to flow free and easy again. 

6.1.11 Me & My Spleen

Many of you have heard me talk a lot about your Spleen. When your MD starts talking about your Liver or Spleen, it’s usually a fairly serious conversation about a disease like hepatitis or Epstein-Barr. Acupuncturists, on the other hand talk about the functions of these organs regularly! There’s no reason to be alarmed, it’s all normal and good. Chinese medicine doesn’t look at these organs in the same way as Western medicine.

From the Western medical perspective, the Spleen filters and stores the blood. It contributes to the production of red and white blood cells and helps the body fight infection. In Chinese medicine, the organs of the body fulfill energetic roles. Each organ is assigned a number of interrelated processes. The Spleen is not just a fist-sized organ  tucked under the left side of your ribcage, it’s a conglomeration of specific activities needed to keep the body healthy and functional. 

The Spleen’s main job is taking the food that you eat and making it into Qi or vital energy for your body needs to run away from a tiger, solve an engineering problem or heal an injury. For Chinese medicine, the Spleen is the main organ of digestion in the body. This is usually where I explain that what your acupuncturist calls your Spleen really has very little to do with the physical organ “the spleen”. We’re not sure why the ancient Chinese understood it this way. One theory is that they understood the Spleen and Pancreas to be one organ. People sometimes have their Spleens removed and want to know if something horrible is going to happen from a Chinese medical perspective. I tell them the energy and processes of the Spleen are still there and functional even though the physical organ is missing. It may be weaker, but the “Qi” of the Spleen remains intact.  

 When the Spleen is doing a good job you feel energized after you eat, you have no stomach or GI upset, and stools are formed. If you’re Spleen is underperforming, you may feel tired after eating, have gas and bloating, little appetite, and loose stools. Here’s an example: after I eat Thanksgiving dinner, I usually feel like curling up on the couch and taking a nap. My kids on the other hand, although grumpy and tired before a meal, become super-charged after eating! They are still young and their Spleens are in good shape; mine, not so much.

When the Spleen is underperforming it creates what we call “Dampness”. Dampness is what gives you “brain fog” after you eat lunch. You were planning on writing up that report right after lunch and now you can’t remember a thing you wanted to say. Sound familiar? If you’re prone to allergies and asthma, dampness can become mucus that ends up in your sinuses and bronchi. It can also make your muscles feel heavy as if it takes extra energy to lift them. In the GI tract, dampness causes gas, bloating, loose stools, and diarrhea. 

Over time, dampness congeals into “Phlegm”. Phlegm can manifest as adipose tissue (fat), persistent sticky nasal discharge, constant post-nasal drip, a feeling of “stuckness” in the throat, swellings in the skin and lumps.

As you can see, it's important to keep your Spleen in tip top shape to feel your best and have the energy you need for your day.

Next month, I'll tell you about your Liver!    

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