Upcoming Seminar

4-Hour Seminar

Zheng’s Manipulation Therapy

Saturday, August 2, 2014

2:00 – 6:00 PM

Presented by Master Jinan Zheng

Master Zheng is an expert practitioner of a unique form of TCM bodywork combining acupressure, trigger point stimulation, Tuina, and Qigong. This intensive manipulation technique is outstanding therapy for musculoskeletal pain, and effectively treats neurological diseases such as migraine, multiple sclerosis, dizziness, stroke, and osteoarthritis. Jinan Zheng began practicing this manipulation technique over forty years ago, and has continued to develop his therapeutic skills ever since.

This enlightening four-hour lecture and demonstration by Master Zheng is FREE of charge, and open to all TCM students, practitioners, and interested patients. However, if you plan to attend, please register by Friday, August 1^st. 

To register, contact the front desk at AAAOM with your name and phone number and/or email address.

Register by phone: 651-631-0204, ext. 1

Register by email: frontdesk@aaaom.edu

Battlefield Acupuncture in Minot Air Force Base

Battlefield Acupuncture; Fighting the Pain

No one really knows how it began. The most common story is about an Army surgeon in Ancient China who was treating a soldier for chronic back pain. During battle, his patient was shot in the leg by an arrow, and strangely enough his back pain disappeared. Shortly after, another soldier was shot in the same exact spot. He too was relieved of pain he had previously been experiencing. From that moment on the surgeon began sticking his patients with arrows to treat their pain. Thus began acupuncture.

Regardless of where it came from, battlefield acupuncture is becoming more popular every day. It was more thoroughly developed in America approximately 10 years ago for use during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hence its name.

"It is a quick, simple and easy method of pain control that can be treated on the battlefield," said Capt. Laramie Richmond, 5th Medical Operations Squadron physician's assistant in the personnel reliability program clinic. "It is convenient because Airmen can still wear the studs without having to remove their helmets, Kevlar and other important pieces of armor."

Battlefield acupuncture is used to treat many different types of pain caused by surgery, acute injuries, sprains, broken bones, neuropathic or even long term pain.

This treatment is provided at Minot Air Force Base for all Department of Defense beneficiaries, who aren't pregnant, on PRP or on flying status.

"We have 65 patients currently enrolled in this program," said Richmond. "Our results show that 80 percent of our patients get some form of relief."

Master Sgt. Nathan Carlson, 219th Security Forces Squadron health technician, is one of the clients receiving treatment here. He was in a motorcycle accident in 2007 that left him with injured vertebrae and chronic back pain.

"Acupuncture provides immediate relief and no pain for about 5-10 days," said Carlson. "The best part is there is minimal to no pain during the procedure."

It begins with testing a position that typically causes the patient pain. After allowing the patient to rate the amount of pain, the medical provider will clean the ear and insert the first stud. The studs are placed in five key points in the ear that stimulate nerve pathways to disrupt the pain, causing temporary relief. The provider will have the patient walk around to check for any signs of faintness. Lastly, they will test the position again to see if another stud is needed.

Carlson has seen a chiropractor and physical therapist for years but battlefield acupuncture seems to be the go-to treatment for him.

"Battlefield acupuncture is great," said Carlson. "It is like a reset button on my pain in life."

Source of the story is here.

Cosmetic Acupuncture in India

Stay Radiant and Blemish Free with Acupuncture

There are many cliches about beauty. Who has not heard of the popular saying that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. That old adage now has been rewritten as beauty lies in the hands of the skilled cosmetic surgeon.

Though the pain and perils of cosmetic surgery are well-known but the quest for lasting youth and beauty has meant that more people than ever before are willing to undergo surgery. But what if all that is sought after is possible after just a few painless pin-pricks?  Acupuncture, popularly thought to have originated in China offers the possibility of taking years off one's face and other parts of the body.  

Lacotse Catherine, a 49 year-old French lady living in India, decided to try acupuncture for her sagging facial skin and crow's feet and is happy with the results.  

She says, with a broad smile on her face, "I took about 10-12 sessions for this problem but I also had other health problems when I first started getting acupuncture done.  After the sessions, even my husband commented on the change in my face."  And husbands do not lie, especially when it comes to being brutally honest about their wives' appearance.  

"When it comes to wrinkles, in acupuncture we can only do a seven millimeter pull of the skin around the wrinkle. If a wrinkle requires more than that to be straightened, then the wrinkle cannot be removed", says Dr Raman Kapur.

That is why those who practice acupuncture do not call it a facelift, the term otherwise popularly used by cosmetic surgeons.
Acupuncture remedies
Acupuncture can and does offer remedies for many cosmetic problems like sagging facial skin, double chin, sagging breasts, breast augmentation, bags under the eyes, upper and lower medial eye areas, reducing male breasts, forehead wrinkles, cheeks, upper and lower epigastria area (middle of the stomach), obesity, sagging upper arm, obesity and cellulite.

Acupuncture needles stimulate collagen (protein) synthesis, which is how the wrinkles get smoothened out.  The needles also increase blood supply to facial tissues and that is how the skin starts looking radiant and blemish free.

But for the effect to be permanent, the organ or organs responsible for the damage also needs to be treated.  If your internal organs work well, then your face will show it. For instance, if the spleen channel (not to be confused with the organ) is deficient then the body will be prone to loose skin, cellulite and varicose veins.  And that is why with ageing, when the energy flow of the channels reduces, wrinkles start appearing and the skin starts sagging.  

Catherine puts it succinctly when she says, "Basically your disease is visible on your face in acupuncture."

Since we live in an imperfect world, there have to be caveats to what seems to be the discovery of a cosmetic heaven.  If the skin is long gone due to the body's natural degenerative process then acupuncture offers little hope.  And if the sagging part of the body needs more than a seven millimeter pull, then too acupuncture offers little hope.

Like many women who have tried acupuncture in pursuit of beauty, Becker hoped that having needles strategically inserted into her face would be cheaper and last longer than her birthday injections. Becker, now 53, started with 10 sessions in five weeks ( $1000) and has gone for monthly maintenance since.  

I can really see a difference in my face, said Becker, who sees a licensed acupuncturist in Minneapolis.  "It looks younger, smoother, brighter and uplifted."  Early adopters like Becker first spread word of the virtues of a so-called acupuncture face lift.  Before the 2005 Academy Awards, a crew of facial acupuncturists descended on Soho House, a makeshift celebrity hangout in Los Angeles, and A-listers jumped at the chance to transform their skin from the inside out.

Cosmetic acupuncture has caught the attention of more of the wrinkled public. Its holistic approach appeals in particular to women who want to slow signs of aging but do not want to undergo surgery or to inject chemicals.
Whether it is called facial rejuvenation, acupuncture face-lift or cosmetic acupuncture, the aim is to tackle wrinkles, muscle tension that may be causing unsightly lines, as well as systematic issues standing between you and glowing skin.

What does a cosmetic acupuncture session involve?
1. Application of local anesthetic cream on the face.
2. Using body acupuncture points to improve the flow of Qi and blood.
3. Tonifying the jaw muscles and tightening them.
4. Points on cheek, around eye, along nasolabial fold, chin line.
5. Use of special cosmetic needles on the face.
6. After removal of needles, special Jade roller is used for massage.
7. Entire treatment is totally painless and it is a one hour treatment session.
8. An average patient requires twice a week treatment for 6 weeks and thereafter once a month for maintenance of facial rejuvenation.
9. The cost of per treatment session is Rs. 2500.

Lion is Acupunctured!

Paignton Zoo Lion Has Acupuncture

One of the lions at Paignton Zoo is being treated with acupuncture following a foot operation. Recent arrival Lucifer had previously had a tumour removed but it had failed to heal properly.

Veterinary anaesthetist Nicki Grint had previously only used acupuncture on dogs. The aim is to reduce pain and improve blood flow to aid the healing process.

Lucifer got his name because his number in the computerised Animal Record Keeping System (ARKS) is 666. He recently arrived in Devon to join two females, mother and daughter Indu and Maliya.

Source of the story is here.

Beijing Acupuncture Protocols

China Introduces New Acupuncture Treatment Protocols

A total of 18 medical protocols for acupuncture and moxibustion were issued Friday to make the centuries-old traditional therapies align with modern medicine.

The National Technical Committee on Acupuncture and Moxibustion Standardization Administration of China and China Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion (CAAM) issued the protocols.

The protocols address different aspects of the therapies, such as the use of acupuncture needles, how to treat asthma with acupuncture therapy and the dictionary of medical terms used in acupuncture and moxibustion therapies.

China has so far issued 41 medical protocols related to acupuncture and moxibustion.

All the protocols have been instructions rather than compulsory rules due to the nature of these two ancient treatments, said Liu Baoyan, CAAM president.

Acupuncture treats patients by manipulating thin and solid needles that are inserted into acupuncture points in the skin. Moxibustion is the practice of burning the mugwort herb against the skin.

Practiced by Chinese since 400 BC, acupuncture and moxibustion have been effective treatments for various conditions such as headache, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis and stroke.

As with many old medicines, the knowledge and skills for acupuncture and moxibustion have traditionally been passed from masters to their apprentices. Abilities vary from practitioner to practitioner and do not meet the scientific requirements of modern medicine.

Lack of uniform protocols is one of the biggest barriers to incorporating acupuncture and moxibustion, whose effects have been proved by practice, into modern medicine and introducing the treatments to people in other countries, Liu said.

There will also be safety concerns if practitioners apply different protocols, Liu added.

The health department and CAAM have been trying to unify protocols among different schools of acupuncture and moxibustion treatments without compromising their flexibility, he said.

In 2010, UNESCO listed acupuncture and moxibustion as an intangible cultural heritage.

The World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Society has issued four international protocols on acupuncture and moxibustion and the International Standardization Organization (ISO) has issued a standard for acupuncture needles, including their texture, diameter, length, and flexibility. 

Source is here.

Acupuncture Helps Vincenzo Nibali’s Tour de France Win

Nibali’s Secret to a Tour de France Win: Acupuncture

The mere mention one of Vincenzo Nibali’s secrets on his way to victory at the Tour de France on Sunday is enough to make any cycling fan nervous: Needles on the bus. Almost every day.

But these aren’t the kind of needles that have dented cycling’s credibility for decades. When Team Astana uses them to treat Nibali, nothing is injected, nothing is extracted.

We’re talking about acupuncture.

“It’s those little extra details that can help us,” Nibali said when he was asked about the treatment by a Belgian television station. “Maybe now others will also use this technique.”

This summer in France, Astana seemed to be the only team to bring its own acupuncturist to the Tour, a Belgian named Eddy de Smedt. For most of the year, he runs a private acupuncture practice and treats athletes outside of Brussels. But for the past three years, he has also worked for the Kazakh cycling outfit, including at last year’s Tour and last spring’s Giro d’Italia.

“There’s four doctors, two osteopaths, 10 to 12 physios, and then you’ve got me,” he said on Saturday

Throughout the Tour, De Smedt has visited with all of the Astana riders twice a day—once before stages in the soigneur’s room at the back of the team bus and once at night in the team hotel. Working quickly and carefully, he uses six to 10 needles about an inch long at key points along the riders’ legs, feet, hands and even their heads, he said, “to promote recovery and relaxation of the muscles.”

Once they’re in, De Smedt turns and twists the needles to stimulate those points, an image that isn’t for the squeamish. Although the cyclists didn’t take long to buy into it, especially Nibali.

As for the other kind of needles, Nibali has answered the inevitable questions about doping on most days during this Tour, especially as he racked up the most stage victories (four) of any champion since at least 2006. His directeur sportif, Team Astana’s Giuseppe Martinelli, insisted Nibali’s victory was clean.

De Smedt pointed out that acupuncture can’t cure anything structural — strained muscles stay strained, a broken collarbone stays broken. But it can work as a palliative measure. “If a rider has some pain, the goal is to keep him in the Tour,” he said. “Then after, a correct medical diagnosis should be done.”

This story is from the  Wall Street Journal.