Ransom Acupuncture

Join Me in Joint Health

By Daoshing Ni, D.O.M., L.Ac., Ph.D, Dipl. C.H.,

From our jaw to our toes, anywhere that two bones come together is a joint and there is much more to a joint than we might think. Our freely movable joints are made up of bones, tendons, muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and synovium that work together to bear our weight and allow us to move our bodies through space.

The ends of our bones are covered with a hard, flexible rubbery material called cartilage that provides a slick, smooth surface for movement to take place. Our synovium is a sac that surrounds the joint and along with the fluid within, provides nutrition and lubrication to the cartilage. Ligaments surround the synovium and hold the bones of our joints together, and tendons attach our muscles to our joints and also provide our joints with stability.

Some of our joints are hinges; they allow movement in one plane such as those in our elbows and knees. Others are ball and sockets joints that allow rotation in all directions such as those in our shoulders and hips. Pivot joints in our neck allow us to turn our head from side to side, up and down, while our thumbs are saddle joints that make it possible for our thumb to oppose our fingers. There are also a few small gliding joints in our wrists that give us a little extra flexibility.

Joints can be injured by overuse, an accident, or in a sporting event. Ligaments are flexible and elastic and hold our joints together, while tendons are strong and non-flexible and hold our muscles to our bones. Sprains are stretched or torn ligaments while strains are stretched or torn muscles or tendons that occur because of sudden movement or lifting a heavy object. In addition, the bones of our joints can be dislocated and pushed or pulled out of position which is a medical emergency.

Overuse joint disorders occur gradually and are caused by working a joint repetitively and too hard such as in playing a musical instrument, in sports like bowling, pitching, or tennis; or from repetitive jobs like construction work, assembly line work, hairdressing, working at a check stand, or doing maintenance.

Arthritis is the leading cause of joint disease throughout the world; it falls into two main types: osteoarthritis and autoimmune disease. Osteoarthritis is the breakdown of cartilage over a lifetime of wear and tear. It is progressive and is most common among women and those over 50. Autoimmune forms of arthritis include rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and juvenile arthritis. Lupus can trigger arthritis as well, gout affects the joints in the toes and feet, and bursitis is an inflammation of the small fluid-filled sacs that cushion our joints, tendons, muscles, and bones.

Many minor joint aches and pain that occur during sports, recreation, at work, or in projects around the house will feel better after a week or so of at-home treatment although they can take three months or longer to heal completely. Rest the injured joint for a day or two, use ice or cold packs to bring down swelling, loosely wrap the injured joint in an elastic bandage, take an over-the-counter pain medication if necessary, and after a few days of rest gently resume movement of the joint.

The best way to prevent injury to a joint may seem counterintuitive but physical activity is one of the best things we can do to avoid or slow down joint problems since activity strengthens the muscles around the joints and helps them function more easily. We need to exercise at least 30 minutes a day at a minimum of five days a week in order to keep our joints healthy. Low-impact joint-sparing exercises such as walking, cycling, swimming, yoga, tai chi, or qi gong are the safest for already affected joints.

Stay at a healthy weight to avoid putting extra pressure on weight-bearing joints like hips and knees, control blood sugar to keep joint tissue flexible, and stretch gently to keep joints limber. We should wear appropriate protective gear when playing sports, and always lift with our knees and hips, and not our back. We should eat fish that are high in Omega-3s such as salmon, trout, and mackerel at least twice a week; and for certain we should not smoke.

Researchers have found that acupuncture can be very helpful in treating joint injury and disease. Traditional Chinese medicine theory states that acupuncture restores the body’s smooth flow of vital qi energy while experts in Western medicine say that acupuncture stimulates our nerves, tissues, and muscles and releases our body's natural painkillers.

According to the Arthritis Foundation, the main benefits of acupuncture are stress relief following the stimulation of endorphins and oxytocin, better sleep due to the release of melatonin, and an improved sense of well-being from the release of serotonin, and stimulation of nerve fibers that block out the signals of pain.

If you have an injury or condition that causes painful joints, you may want to think about acupuncture because it works well in managing pain and inflammation. Chinese tuina massage, along with Chinese herbal and nutritional therapies can also help.

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HEALING A LEAKY GUT

By Albert Vaca, L.Ac.

Feeling foggy and low energy? Do you have skin conditions that won't go away? Constant bloating and/or gas? You may be suffering from intestinal permeability, also known as Leaky Gut Syndrome.

What is Leaky Gut?

Leaky Gut occurs when the epithelial cells that make up the lining of your intestines become compromised. These cells are the barrier between the gut microbiome and your bloodstream. When the lining is no longer effective as a filter, toxins, waste, and undigested food products leak into your bloodstream; the body's immune system reacts, and inflammation increases, resulting in problems with your health.

Fatigue, unexplained weight gain, digestive trouble, food allergies, and skin conditions are just some of the signals that you are not assimilating and absorbing the nutrients that you consume.

What is Leaky Gut?

A poor diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies that can increase intestinal permeability. Diets high in saturated fat, processed, fatty foods, and low in fiber can affect the balance of beneficial bacteria.

Leaky Gut is sensitive to inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, alcohol, and sugar. Chronic stress can negatively affect our parasympathetic nervous system, our rest, and our digestion. Excessive strenuous exercise can be detrimental because blood flow is diverted from an inactive gut out to your limbs and muscles. The use of antibiotics can also disrupt our microbiome and intestinal environment.

How Can I Improve Leaky Gut?

Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture are excellent for improving the nervous system and digestive health. Your practitioner will guide you in fine-tuning your condition based on your TCM diagnosis.

Good quality prebiotics and probiotics can help. Prebiotic fiber acts as food for preexisting good bacteria and stimulates their growth. Green bananas, garlic, artichokes, and berries are good prebiotic dietary sources. Probiotics are living strains of bacteria that add to the population of good bacteria in your digestive system. Miso and cultured veggies like kimchi and sauerkraut provide digestive enzymes that are beneficial to the health of the upper and lower digestive tract.

Vitamin deficiencies have been linked to an impairment of the intestinal barrier. Vitamins A and D are two nutrients that have been found to be important for maintaining a healthy gut barrier while Vitamin C is important for collagen formation which strengthens capillaries.

Exercise moderately to move the blood through your body. Keep your stress levels at bay with meditation, tai chi, community, and laughter.

Dehydration and Your Health

By Dr. Mao, L.Ac., D.O.M., Ph.D, Dipl. C.H., ABAAP

As the hot months of the year are upon us, it's easy to become dehydrated. In fact, when the temperature and humidity enter the 70/70 zone (both temperature and humidity are over 70) we are entering the dehydration danger zone when it is imperative to sip frequently, and hydrate before, during, and after any activity.

Not only does dehydration make you thirsty, but it can also be dangerous to your health so here is how your body will tell that you are not drinking enough: bad breath, sugar caving, dry skin, tiredness, irritability, chills, muscle cramps, lightheadedness and confusion, headache, constipation, dark-colored urine, and excessive thirst.

Dehydration can cause headaches in several ways; lack of water affects serotonin levels which can give you headaches. In addition, small blood vessels in the brain respond quickly to hydration levels and can lead to full-blown migraines. You could try drinking a glass or two of water the next time you have a headache and find that it disappears.

From the beginning of time, water has been extolled for its therapeutic values. Centenarians (persons age 100 and older) on every inhabited continent swear by their native waters as their source of long life. One thing their water had in common is purity, with no chemicals and no toxins. But even if you happen to live far from a city near a clear mountain stream, your water may not fare better than city water due to acid rain and toxic levels of minerals that are present in groundwater.

You are what you drink! Everything that goes down the drain from our lawns, agricultural fields, pharmaceutical drugs, or elsewhere in our environment inevitably ends up in our drinking water. Invest in a carbon-based filter to remove impurities from tap water.

The best way to remove contaminants is through a filter system. The best kinds of filters employ activated charcoal which removes the impurities but leaves in water-soluble minerals. Two things to avoid when it comes to water are water softeners, which remove essential minerals and storing water in plastic containers that can leach PCBs into the water.

Forget the "8 glasses a day" rule. It's a good rule of thumb, but water intake needs vary depending on the individual. Sixty-four ounces may be too much for inactive people or far too little for those who exercise or work outdoors. Hydration is a highly individual thing and changes daily. The best indicator of dehydration is not thirst - it's actually the color of your urine - the deeper the color, the more dehydrated you are.

Avoid energy drinks for hydration because they contain large amounts of sugar and stimulants that can be dangerous and counterproductive. Instead, try our balancing Ancient Treasures Tea chilled as a refreshing iced tea on a hot summer day. And of course, water doesn't just come from water! Many fruits and vegetables contain over 85% water, such as celery, cucumbers, lettuce, grapefruit, cantaloupe, berries, oranges, plums, and the aptly named watermelon, just to name a few.

Nothing says summer like juicy, cooling watermelon. My own mother used to make this salad for my brother and me during very hot summers, and it would cool us down immediately. Watermelon is an excellent source of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been associated with reduced incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and macular degeneration. It's also filled with vitamins A and C, both good for your vision, and it contains the amino acid arginine, which helps lower blood pressure through its production of nitric oxide.

1 cup chopped watermelon

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Drizzle of honey

Combine the melon, cheese, onion, and mint in a serving bowl and mix gently. Drizzle a little honey over the top for a touch of added sweetness and serve immediately.

May you Live Long, Live Strong, and Live Happy!

ACUPUNCTURE AND ALLERGIES

By Dr. Daoshing Ni, D.O.M., L.Ac., Ph.D, Dipl.C.H.

Up to 40% of the world's population suffers from allergies or sensitivity to foreign substances in their environment. Allergies occur when our body, specifically our immune system, reacts to these foreign substances. The substances that cause allergies are called allergens that in most cases are not in themselves harmful, although some of them indeed are poisonous. Allergens can be air-based such as pollen, weeds, or grass; or food-based such as dairy products, wheat, nuts, or shellfish. When we react to an allergen, our body creates protective proteins called antibodies to fight bacteria, viruses, and allergens. These antibodies recognize and latch onto foreign substances in order to neutralize or remove them from the body.

It is important for our immune system to remove harmful allergens like insect or snake venom but when it overreacts to harmless allergens like pollen, our body produces antibodies that can inflame our skin, sinuses, lungs, or digestive system. Allergic reactions can be so severe that they cause anaphylaxis, a life-threatening emergency, although most of us suffer from far less dangerous symptoms like sinus congestion, nasal itchiness, a running nose, burning eyes, swollen lips, a sore or itchy throat, postnasal drip, headaches or head stuffiness, shortness of breath, cough, eczema, a rash, nausea, gas, bloating, or diarrhea.

Allergies are not a sign of a weak immune system; rather they are a signal that our immune system is out of balance and has overreacted to allergens that are not in themselves harmful to our body. The most common airborne allergens are pollen, fungal spores, dust, dust mites, and animal dander. The most common food allergies are eggs, milk, peanuts, soy, wheat, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, raw fruits and vegetables, and sesame seeds. Currently, there are no known permanent cures for allergies but there are many treatment methods that can help manage and minimize allergic reactions. Over-the-counter antihistamines, anti-inflammatories, and other medications can be helpful. Immunotherapy, like allergy shots, can also be helpful. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine offer helpful management tools for reducing or eliminating the symptoms of allergic reactions.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), immunity is a function of defensive energy called Wei Qi. Wei Qi is found everywhere in the body, but it exists primarily in the pores of our skin, in our tissues, in our respiratory pathways, and in our digestive system. Wei Qi is not static; it flows constantly throughout our body via energy channels or collaterals, and it is created from nutrients that are absorbed from the digestive system. Wei Qi is responsible for fighting off pathogenic invasions from the outside of our body and the very existence of the fight that is occurring is expressed through allergic symptoms or reactions that we see. In TCM, allergic symptoms are considered to be a combination of the strength and nature of the pathogens, the proper functioning of our Wei Qi energy, and our body's constitutional balance. As practitioners of Chinese medicine, we look at the totality of this action and reaction, then develop treatment strategies to bring the "fight" back in balance.

Acupuncture is capable of influencing how our body creates antibodies. Several research studies on bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis have confirmed the modulating effect of acupuncture on antibody profiles and it is quite remarkable to see that the production of some antibodies is reduced while others are not affected. It seems that acupuncture treatments help the body to cease the production of antibodies that cause allergic symptoms while not affecting antibodies that protect our immune system. Acupuncture has also been reported to be particularly effective in the reduction of nasal and conjunctival signs and symptoms; it has also been shown to reduce cutaneous symptoms like eczema, rash, and swelling along with improving the quality of life.

Many Chinese herbs are known to be helpful in reducing the symptoms of allergies. Research on fresh ginger, turmeric, garlic, coltsfoot flower, or Kuan D**g Hua, along with many other herbs have demonstrated effectiveness in minimizing certain symptoms of allergy. For example, fresh ginger is very useful for alleviating stomach-related symptoms of allergy while coltsfoot flower is useful for reducing the symptoms of respiratory allergies.

Finally, a healthy lifestyle is conducive to a healthy, evenly balanced immune system and regular exercise has been shown to reduce the severity of allergic reactions. Performing meditative exercises such as Qi Gong and Tai Chi have also been known to reduce allergies.