Stick out your tongue!

First time patients are often surprised when asked to stick out their tongue. And they are even more puzzled when six pulses are taken on both wrists.

The tongue and pulse are the diagnostic tools that help acupuncturists formulate a Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment plan. The treatment plan includes the choice of acupuncture points, the understanding of the specific meridians that need to be regulated, and whether or not herbal medicine will be used. But before a treatment plan can be established, acupuncturists must first consult the tongue and pulse.

I like to think of reading the tongue and pulse as looking into a window into the internal workings of my patients. Both are good indicators of what is going on internally with respect to the health and balance of the body. This is a valuable way of checking in, and a useful gauge for monitoring the improvements or decline of established patients’ health from treatment to treatment, or to observe clinical manifestations in the first time patient.

Reading the Tongue

The tongue is a map of your body’s organs. There are five zones that correspond to each of the internal organs.

When examining the tongue the color, shape, size, texture, and coating are all important aspects of consideration. A normal tongue appears vibrant and has a light red or pinkish body with a thin white coat. A baby’s tongue is a great example of a normal tongue.

When a person is not healthy, the tongue reflect this change. A deep red tongue can indicate inflammation or heat and, in contrast, a pale tongue can indicate anemia or blood vacuity. And a purplish tongue points to poor circulation, or what is known as blood stasis.

The observation of the color of the tongue body has clinical importance as it most often reflects the true condition of the patient. Reading a tongue can open up a dialogue with a patient and help in gleaning deeper understanding of the disharmonies within the body.

The shape and size of the tongue can give further insight into the health of the patient. For example, a swollen, puffy tongue with scalloped shaped sides can indicate that fluids are not being properly metabolized, and digestion is not optimal. Whereas a small, short, dry tongue can indicate a deficiency of fluids from dehydration or inflammation.

The final indicator is the tongue’s coating and thickness. These reflect the strength of the pathogenic factors as well as the progression and location of disease. For example, a thick yellow tongue coat can reflect a condition that is hot and more acute. Conversely, a thick white coat indicates a cold and chronic condition. A tongue completely without a coat can be indicative of a depletion of fluids, as well as point to a more long-standing chronic condition.

With a simple glance at your tongue, an acupuncturist can make an important and valuable diagnosis.

Reading the Pulse

Pulse diagnosis is another tool that acupuncturists have to help determine the health of the patient. However, reading the pulse is more subtle and subjective than reading the tongue, and may be more complicated to explain.

There are three positions on each wrist that represent a pair of organs. On the right wrist, position one, closest to the thumb, is lung/large intestine, position two, the middle position, is the spleen/stomach, and the third position represents the kidney yin (the yin energy source of the body).

On the left wrist, the first position is the heart/small intestine, the second position is the liver/gallbladder, and the third position is the kidney yang (the yang energy source of the body). 

The strengths and weakness of the pulses are used diagnostically to assess the conditions of the organs systems, as well as any underlying imbalances of the body. To make things even more difficult, there are 27 pulse types – from descriptions such as floating (indicative of a flu or cold invasion), wiry or choppy (indicating stress or anxiety), and slippery (where a patient could be pregnant). All these pulse types have clinical significance and influence the treatment plan and protocol.

So when asked to stick out your tongue or show your wrist, you now know that your internal world is being revealed.

Moxa

Smoke in an acupuncture office! We know that it’s legal in some states now, but what is going on??

Many of my first time patients experiencing Chinese Medicine are concerned about the strange smells that they often encounter when at the office. No it is NOT marijuana! Although the smoke does have a similar smell which often adds to the apprehension patients have when coming to an acupuncture office for the first time.

This treatment is called moxibustion, or moxa for short.

What is Moxa?

Moxibustion Sticks

The pungent smell comes from an herb called mugwart that is sometimes burned in tandem with acupuncture treatments to enhance the healing of many disorders.

Mugwart is a warming herb that can be used in many forms including cigar shaped moxa sticks, small moxa rolls that are placed directly on the needles, as well as moxa cones that are placed directly on the skin. However, the last technique is not often performed in the USA due to the potential of burning the patient!

I most often use the moxa cigar, which is applied one-inch above the skin to the areas of the body that are to be treated. And no... I do not burn my patients!

Uses of Moxa

The radiant heat from moxibustion has a laser-like effect -- penetrating into the deepest layer of the bodies tissues all the way to the bone level. The healing effects of moxibustion stimulate blood flow, increase circulation, and enhance an immune response, resulting in an acceleration of healing time for many disorders.

Moxibustion has many applications and can be used calm the nervous system and relax stressed muscles, as well as to treat other disorders such as:

•       fertility enhancement

•       breech presentation

•       menstrual regulation

•       digestive disorders

•       arthritis

•       sports injuries

•       pain syndromes

Why Start Burning?

I personally love moxibustion, and have found it works through my own experience. In my early fifty’s I fractured my tibia plateau from an encounter with my horse. He spooked while I was standing next to him, giving me a side tackle of 1,500 pounds into my unsuspecting body. So I hobbled off for my x-ray to find out what damage had ensued.

The next day my orthopedic surgeon reported that he and the radiologist agreed that I had a break, and my bones would not heal. I was to have plates, screws, and surgery as soon as they could find a room at the hospital for me.

I balked at this treatment plan as I do not do surgery unless every other avenue has been explored. Instead, I insisted that I would go home with the soft cast and sit still like a china doll because one false move would further displace my bones. To the displeasure of my surgeon I went off to heal myself.

With my endless amount of free time due to the broken leg, I used moxibustion twice daily for thirty minutes each session, and gave myself acupuncture every other day. I was amazed how quickly the bruising and the swelling from the break resolved.

Two weeks later, when the next x-ray revealed that my bones had indeed kitted back together and that I was in fact healing ahead of schedule, this became my triumph: Chinese Medicine and moxibustion rocked! My surgeon was unimpressed but regardless of his disbelief, my bones were healing ahead of time. Because of moxibustion I am to this day hardware free.

So when your acupuncturist starts to light up, just relax and enjoy the treatment.

Cupping

What is cupping? And why should anyone get cupped?

Cupping is a technique that practitioners of Chinese Medicine use along with acupuncture to help promote circulation and healing.  This technique dates back thousands of years and has been used in many cultures throughout the centuries for healing.

It is a bit misunderstood here in the USA. People that are unfamiliar with cupping are at times horrified by the marks left from the cups, as well as mystified as why someone performs this technique in the first place. I know, because I was one of those horrified patients before I understood the reasoning behind cupping.

When I was a young dancer getting my acupuncture for all my muscular skeletal pains, strains, and tears, I was cupped for the first time by an acupuncturist that I had just started seeing. True to the Chinese style, the acupuncturist explained nothing about what was happening. All of a sudden my needles were taken out, there was this great torch of fire, and then I felt a strange suction sensation all across my back. In a short period of time the cups were removed and off I went without any explanation. “Oh well,” I thought.

That evening my husband gasped at the strange appearance of my back.  When I looked in the mirror I couldn’t believe what I saw. There were dark red one-inch circle marks covering my entire back. I looked like I had been attacked by an octopus. That was my last time visiting that acupuncturist as I assumed that she must be crazy.

Cupping Explained

Now that I use and value the cupping technique, I wanted to help demystify and explain this ancient practice to the public.

I always explain and forewarn all my patients about the down time from cupping.  For example, if they are going on vacation to the beach, wearing a backless dress to a function, or bikini modeling the next day, we will not do cupping that session. Although Gwyneth Paltrow did showed off her cup marks on the red carpet wearing a backless dress.

Cupping is a technique that uses small glass cups (most often) as suction devices that are placed directly on the skin. “Fire cupping” is the technique that I learned in college and that I use to this day. This is done by using the flame of an alcohol soaked cotton ball to create a vacuum within the cup. When the vacuum is created, the cup is quickly placed on the areas that are to be treated.

The number of cups used is dictated on the size of the areas treated.  When I am treating the back for pain and spasms it is not uncommon to have as many as six to eight cups placed on the patient’s back at one time. Cups can be placed and left static for 5 to 10 minutes, or can be moved in a sliding technique up and down the area needing treatment.

Why Cup?

Cupping brings the skin, superficial muscle, and fascial layer of tissue lightly up into the cups. Cupping then becomes an inverse massage. Rather than the downward pressure of message it uses gentle pressure to pull the muscular and facial tissue upwards facilitating the healing process. The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, increase blood flow, relax the nervous system and increase lymph drainage. 

Cupping is one of the best deep-tissue therapies available as it can effect tissues up to four inches deep from the surface of the skin. This encourages toxins trapped in the tissues and blood vessels to be cleared, and relax and improve function of the muscles and internal organs.

Cupping is the choice of treatment for:

•   muscle pain and spasms

•   neck and shoulder pain

•   mid to low back pain

•   sciatic and hip pain

•   calf or hamstring pain and spasms

•   coughs and asthma

•   general relaxation

Cupping can be a valuable addition to your treatments. So the next time you have pain, ask to be cupped like Gwyneth!