Acupuncture Del Mar CA: How Acupuncture, Herbs, and Functional Medicine Can Heal Mood Imbalances

If you suffer from a depressed mood, PMS, or constant ups and downs in your emotions, conventional doctors will most likely give you an antidepressant. Learn about how to cure a mood imbalance using the natural approach.

Antidepressants usually don’t have any better effect than a placebo, according to numerous double-blind randomized controlled trials (the gold standard in pharmaceutical research). There is also a growing amount of evidence stating that antidepressants may even increase your risk of becoming suicidal. Pharmaceutical products that are prescribed like candy by many doctors today directly affect your brain’s neurotransmitters (usually serotonin), regardless of whether a lack of serotonin was indeed the underlying cause of your mood imbalance (new research has shown that low serotonin is NOT, in fact, the cause of depression). Because of the way antidepressants change your brain’s biochemistry, they can cause your mood imbalance to actually get worse. (This is why using an antidepressant could make you feel suicidal.)

Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine take a natural approach towards balancing mood. Before any treatment is given, the underlying cause is determined. One patient with symptoms of depression may have a totally different biological cause of that depression than the next patient with symptoms of depression. Therefore, there is not one “herb for depression” or “supplement for depression.” When you get acupuncture in Del Mar, CA, your practitioner realizes that you are an individual -- not a disease or symptom -- and you therefore deserve an individualized treatment.

There are a variety of Chinese herbal formulas that are used for mood imbalances, depending on the underlying cause of the mood imbalance in the individual patient. Likewise, in functional medicine, there are a variety of methods of treatment. Your practitioner may want to test your levels of sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, as well as your neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Because we have artificial light at night, and often sleep next to a fluorescent lit alarm clock (or even get fewer than 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis), it’s highly common for natural circadian rhythms to be disrupted. This stresses the adrenal glands, and subsequently the adrenal hormones such as cortisol and DHEA. That adrenal stress is frequently a cause of mood imbalances -- especially those involving anxiety or the feeling of being “wired and tired.” Acupuncture in La Jolla, CA works to restore balance to the adrenal glands, neurotransmitters, and circadian rhythm.

Finally, you should not ignore nutrition when you’re suffering from mood imbalances. Low cholesterol and a diet low in cholesterol and saturated fat is associated with depression, suicide, bipolar disorder, and mood swings. This runs contrary to the dietary advice that was prevalent throughout the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s. This is also the time period in which obesity doubled, and overweight rose from a mere 10% of the population to nearly 70% of the population in the United States. Eating egg yolks, butter, tallow, bacon, cod liver oil, and plenty of small, fatty fish and seafood gives your body the fuel it needs to produce hormones and neurotransmitters in the proper amounts.

Acupuncture in Del Mar: Treating with Eczema

Acupuncture and herbal medicine can be an effective treatment for childhood eczema as well as adult eczema. 

If you have an itchy, red rash that either comes and goes or seems to never go away, you most likely have a chronic skin condition called eczema, which is a form of atopic dermatitis. Dermatitis is literally an inflammation of the skin. The rash can range in size anywhere from a small area of skin to the entire surface of the body. It looks like a patch of dry skin, and it can be unbearably itchy. 

 

There are two phases to any eczema rash: acute and chronic. The acute phase is characterized by blisters which weep and ooze, while the chronic phase is dry, thick, and scaly. Both stages itch severely. In children who scratch the itchy rash, skin bleeding can also be present.

What causes eczema? Occasionally eczema can be caused by skin contact with an irritant such as a particular type of laundry detergent, perfume, or other chemical. However, eczema is usually the result of an internal imbalance that can be complicated to pinpoint and treat. According to Chinese Medicine, eczema is known as “skin asthma.” And its occurrence has been rapidly increasing in industrialized countries at the same rate as asthma.

There are some theories that growing up in an excessively sterilized environment, being born by C-section and being fed infant formula, and consuming antibiotics that disrupt the delicate microbiota of the body can all greatly increase your chances of developing eczema, asthma, or both. According to Chinese Medicine and Chinese food therapy, as well as other forms of healthcare such as functional medicine, food sensitivities may also play a role in developing eczema. Foods that may need to be avoided include corn, soy, wheat, tree nuts, chocolate, coffee, gluten, nightshades, eggs, cow’s milk, citrus fruit, pasteurized dairy, meats raised with antibiotics, and genetically modified foods.

While external irritants are less likely to be a cause of eczema, it would be wise to avoid direct contact with chemical agents, perfumes, poison oak, weed killers, pesticides, hay, grass, animal dander, and extreme temperatures or high wind. Living in a highly polluted city may also exacerbate the condition, but even in Southern California it shouldn’t be as much of a problem as long as you stay indoors on excessively smoggy days.

The typical allopathic medical treatment for eczema is not particularly effective. Corticosteroid ointments can be applied directly to the rash to alleviate itching, but it won’t stop the rash from occurring. Steroid drugs may be given to suppress the immune system and also force a fight-or-flight response that suppresses the itch. Side effects of steroid drug use include chronic infections, muscle wasting in the arms and legs, and obesity of the torso and neck.

Many are surprised to learn that acupuncture, as well as Chinese herbs, can be extremely effective at eliminating an eczema flare-up. Acupuncture calms the nervous system and can stop itching by 50% after just one treatment. If you live in La Jolla or surrounding areas, your acupuncturist in Del Mar, CA will likely recommend an herbal remedy that is specific to your eczema condition. Your age and the stage of your eczema, as well as your overall body constitution, determine your “pattern diagnosis” and customized treatment.

Depending on how long you have been suffering from eczema, you may require a few months of treatment with acupuncture in the La Jolla, CA area. Going on an elimination diet to determine food sensitivities, as well as using Chinese herbs recommended by your acupuncturist, can ensure a speedy recovery and prevention of future flare-ups.