Tag: acupuncture

Fertility Enhancement and Chinese medicine

Written by Ann Zimmerman on January 26, 2014. Posted in Chinese Medicine, Women's health.

by Ann Zimmerman, LAc.

Many women get pregnant easily and many do not. Research estimates that 1 in 6 couples in the US struggle with getting pregnant. Optimizing the likelihood of getting pregnant and staying pregnant is an area where the tools of Chinese medicine have something special to offer. Rather than looking at fertility challenges as simply a problem with ovaries, or a specific hormone, Chinese medicine approaches fertility as a women’s natural state of balance. Compromised fertility results from imbalances within the network of organs, hormones, and energy systems of the body.

It is very common these days to combine Western and Eastern fertility treatments. Women and men often look toward Western medicine first believing that there must be something really wrong with them and sometimes there is. The bigger the barrier to getting pregnant the more successful Western treatment tends to be: for example with blocked fallopian tubes, prolific endometriosis, or very compromised sperm the diagnostics and surgeries offered can greatly enhance the outcome. In cases if ovulation issues or symptomatic menstrual cycles fertility drugs can make drastic impact. The assisted reproductive technologies of IUI(intrauterine insemination) and IVF(in vitro fertilization) can be the answer for couples with greatly compromised sperm, same sex couples, or simply successful when nothing else works for no known reason. The cost and side effects of these treatments are significant, rarely covered by insurance, and plain stressful.

Lower Your Internal Thermostat

Written by Ann Zimmerman on August 6, 2013. Posted in Chinese Medicine, Immune Health and Balance.

It seems that everyone is talking about the weather these days. We all know that summer is the season of heat. This is great if you want to go swimming or play in the river, but it can be quite distracting if you are doing most other outdoor activities. Chinese medicine focuses a lot of attention on the internal body temperature. Unlike the western approach of using a thermometer to determine the body temperature, Chinese medicine pays greater attention to how a person feels subjectively about their temperature. In other words, does a patient feel hot or cold, or are they generally comfortable. Temperature is such an important subject in Chinese medical treatment that it is one of the primary 8 principles used to diagnose and treat any illness.

On hot days, it is natural to feel warmer in response to the temperature of our surroundings. It is also expected that when the weather turns cooler our bodies would feel cooler as well. But these tendencies can be influenced by our internal balance. If we are cold internally, then colder weather can exacerbate cold symptoms, leading to a feeling of chilliness, nasal discharge, frequent colds, diarrhea, frequent urination, or digestive problems. If we have “internal heat” in the body, then the warm days may effect us more intensely, leading to symptoms of headaches, increased sweating, red eyes, irritability, dryness, skin rashes/itchiness, constipation, urinary difficulty, digestive complaints, or bleeding problems.

Acupuncture and Pain Relief

Written by Ann Zimmerman on May 23, 2011. Posted in Acupuncture, Pain Relief.

by Clark Zimmerman, L.Ac.

We all have some experience with pain. While pain can be helpful in pointing out problems in our life, it can also limit us from being present and productive in our daily activities. Whether it is a headache, muscle strain or indigestion, many patients seek medical advice when pain or discomfort appear. Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, is very effective at treating most causes of body pain. TCM’s approach to pain is similar in some ways to western medicine, but there are many differences as well. In this article I will explain the similar and different views of pain according to both TCM and western medicine, as well as discuss different treatment options.

Western medicine views pain as an action of the nervous system. It describes pain as the stimulation of specific nerve receptors known as nociceptors. These are present in many different tissues, and are stimulated by tissue damage. When these nociceptors are stimulated, they send a message to the brain that something needs to be done to address the underlying cause of the pain. For example, if you are working in the yard and you lift something that is too heavy and it causes damage in a shoulder muscle, the nociceptors in your shoulder sense that your muscle is damaged and create the sensation of pain to encourage you to stop doing the activity that created the pain. This is a very helpful response to a damaging situation. After the initial cause of the pain is removed, the continuing pain reminds us to be aware of the damaged area and protect it so it can properly heal. This can be helpful in the healing process, but it can also overly limit our movement which can lead to increased muscle tension which serves to slow down the healing process.