The Benefits of getting Acupuncture in Del Mar, CA

This article seeks to share some positive lifestyle improvements that come along with acupuncture. 

Acupuncture is typically regarded throughout the West as being an effective treatment for pain, but few people are aware of the powerful benefits of acupuncture for acute injuries such as bruises, burns, sprains and strains, and even bone breaks. Not only does acupuncture help ease the pain of an injury, but it can actually help injuries to heal at a faster rate. Of course, if you have a serious injury requiring emergency medical attention, please don’t call your acupuncturist! In Del Mar, CA, there are plenty of medical personnel available to treat emergencies and serious, time critical conditions. However, after you tend to the immediate emergency, an acupuncturist can certainly help you recover.

Martial artists have known for centuries that acupuncture and herbal medicine assists in speeding recovery from traumatic injuries. In fact, martial arts helped form the basis for a variety of acupuncture techniques and herbal remedies. There are herbal formulations to be taken internally to help strengthen bones and tissues, and there are herbs that are used as poultices and compresses to ease pain and swelling. Western elite athletes and Olympians have caught on to the benefits of Chinese herbs and acupuncture to help them perform better and recover from injuries faster. Many top-performing sports teams regard acupuncture as their closely held secret for consistent wins.

Children can also benefit greatly from seeking acupuncture and herbal medicine during post-acute recovery from sports injuries and accidents. Since children are still growing, a slow recovery time from something such as a bone break can hinder growth, impair development, and lead to chronic pain and repeated injuries. A knee injury in a high school basketball player can lead to chronic knee pain as an adult if post-acute recovery care is not sought out in time.

There are several different modalities an acupuncturist may utilize in the treatment of injuries during the post-acute stage. These include: acupuncture, cupping, guasha, herbs applied to the affected area, herbs taken internally, nutritional recommendations and supplementation, and moxabustion. The precise type of therapy used will depend upon the stage of the injury.

For instance, it is generally recognized that there are three stages of injury. The first stage, typically lasting 48 hours - 1 week, involves a lot of pain and swelling. This stage requires cooling the injury to reduce inflammation. The second stage lasts 2 - 3 weeks, and there is still usually some swelling and pain. Treatment involves pain relief, nutrition, and herbal therapy. The final stage involves stiffness and achiness which can become chronic if the sufferer does not seek treatment. If acupuncture is used throughout each stage of injury, a complete recovery is most likely, and the third stage of injury will be short greatly reduced.

Foods and culinary herbs for decreasing inflammation include: ginger, turmeric, garlic, pineapple, tart cherry, organic berries, and green leafy vegetables. Used in combination with Chinese heat-clearing herbs, they can assist in healing during the inflammatory stage

of an injury. During the second and third stages of an injury, it will be important to include protein-rich foods such as pasture-raised meats and eggs into your diet. Your acupuncturist may recommend making homemade bone broths, as well as taking customized formulations of Chinese tonic herbs, to assist in the healing process during these latter stages.

 

Is your doctor using out-of-date guidelines for assessing your thyroid health?

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists published new guidelines for interpreting thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in 2003. However, many family physicians still use the guidelines that have been out-of-date for over a decade for diagnosing thyroid disease. Learn what the new guidelines are so you can present this information to your doctor.

An estimated 1 out of 10 Americans suffer from thyroid disease, yet half of them remain undiagnosed. In an age in which everyone is aware of the existence and dangers of cancer and diabetes, relatively few are aware of conditions such as hypothyroidism (an under- functioning thyroid) even though there are more thyroid sufferers than there are cancer and diabetes patients combined. Perhaps you are one of the many individuals looking for acupuncture in Del Mar, CA who suffer from thyroid symptoms and suspect a thyroid condition, but every time your doctor tests your thyroid the lab test results all come back “normal.” Many acupuncture thyroid patients in Del Mar, CA and Encinitas, CA have ultimately been told they need to learn to relax, do some meditation, eat less and exercise more, or take an anti-depressant because the problem certainly isn’t their thyroid. The entire process of trying to figure out where the long list of symptoms are coming from, and being told, “There’s nothing physically wrong with you. It’s your imagination,” is almost as exhausting as hypothyroidism itself.

But what if I told you that your symptoms aren’t all in your head? You actually DO have hypothyroidism, and your doctor isn’t reading your test results correctly. If you trust the medical establishment, you might be thinking, “But how could my doctor graduate from medical school and remain in practice if she doesn’t even know how to read a simple lab test result?” The answer is simple. Doctors are very busy. They don’t always have time to keep up with the latest research on every kind of subclinical health issue a patient may have. If you had severe, life-threatening hypothyroidism, your physician would surely be able to recognize it on a thyroid blood test. However, if you have a low-grade case of hypothyroidism (which is what most thyroid sufferers have), with symptoms such as brain fog, lethargy, difficulty sleeping, slow metabolism, cold hands and feet, dry skin and hair, water retention, low libido, infertility, tendency toward miscarriage, anxiety, and depressed mood, you could still very well have thyroid blood test levels in the “normal” range -- according to guidelines set forth before 2003.

If your doctor finished medical school before 2003 and doesn’t specialize in the treatment of thyroid patients, she probably isn’t aware of the new guidelines. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists changed the criteria for the interpretation of the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) test, which is the most basic screening test for thyroid disease, in 2003. The new guidelines are based on the actual TSH levels of healthy individuals in the population who aren’t experiencing any symptoms of thyroid disease or other disease. The TSH guidelines set forth before 2003 are based on the TSH levels of the general population -- both healthy and sick.

According to the old TSH guidelines, a healthy TSH level should be 0.5 to 5.0. According to the new guidelines, a healthy TSH level should be between 0.3 to 3.04. Therefore, if you’re experiencing the symptoms of an underactive thyroid, and your TSH in above 3.04, you most likely really do have hypothyroidism as evidenced by your blood test. These new numbers alone are reason enough to try acupuncture in Del Mar, CA.

Why it’s a good idea to use Evergreen Herbs

This article explains why we use Evergreen Herbs (as opposed to other Chinese herb brands) here at Acuheart. 

Chinese herbal medicine can be incredibly effective at eliminating acute symptoms, healing the body by addressing the root cause of illness, and strengthening the body to prevent disease and biological aging. However, the way in which the herbs were grown, processed, and sealed makes a huge difference in the potency and safety of the herbs. The number of brands of
Chinese herbal formulas on the market in the United States has been rapidly growing since the 1970’s. When you consider acupuncture in Del Mar CA, know that your acupuncturist has searched for the purest, most potent, and eco-friendly brand of Chinese herbs available and may have chosen to carry Evergreen herbs. Here are a few of the reasons why the Evergreen brand is trusted.

1. They utilize eco-sensitive farming methods. All raw materials used in Evergreen formulas come from farmers who adhere to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Herb dregs and biomass leftovers are reused as organic fertilizer in order to reduce waste. Evergreen follows the strict guidelines set forth by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This ensures that endangered species of plants and animals on the CITES list are obtained only from farmers who have a CITES permit. Evergreen herbs also reduces their ecological footprint in the office by putting computers, monitors, and lights on power save mode when not in use.

2. Evergreen herbs must pass 15 purity tests before reaching the consumer. All herbs are tested for over 100 pesticides, total heavy metals, yeast and mold, salmonella, individual heavy metals, aflatoxin, aristolochic acid, microscopic cellular identity, HPLC potency, total bacterial count, e.coli, staphylococcus, ochratoxin, and acontinine. Because of stringent species identity tracking and testing, you are ensured that what’s in the bottle of herbs is exactly what’s on the label. Have peace of mind knowing that there will be no traceable pesticide residue, heavy metals, bacteria, or mold in Evergreen herbs. Considering acupuncture in Encinitas is a good option when seeking advice on selecting quality herbs.

3. Evergreen formulas are produced by expert herbalists in the Oriental Medical tradition. Tina Chen, L.Ac. and John Chen, L.Ac. are the owners of Evergreen Herbs, and they are recognized authorities in Chinese Herbal Medicine as well as Western pharmacology. John Chen has given seminars on drug-herb interactions for regional and national associations, including The American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, The California State Oriental Medical Association, The Queen’s Physician Group of Hawaii, and the North Carolina Acupuncture Association. John and Tina Chen are the authors of Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology (2003) and Chinese Herbal Formulas and Applications (2008).

 

 

The goal of the Evergreen Company is to make both the Western and Oriental Medical communities aware of herbal alternatives to harsh drugs, and the importance of understanding and identifying herb-drug interactions. Evergreen is actively working to help bridge the gap between the East and West by integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine and herbs with modern technological medicine combined with acupuncture in Del Mar CA.