The Bulging Disc and Back Pain...

The Bulging Disc and Back Pain…

Linda came to the office with her MRI report in hand. The report revealed minimal disc bulges in her lower back from lumbar 2 to lumbar 5, and degenerative bony ridges from lumbar 5 into sacral 1. 

The good news was that she did not require surgery or have a more serious condition like a herniation of the discs or spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal cord). The bad news was that she was in constant pain and had a limited range of motion throughout her lower back.  

Linda had been suffering with right-sided back pain for the past fourteen months. She experienced daily pain varying anywhere from a dull ache to sharp and shooting pain. Linda had to limit any bending or twisting, and had even giving up exercising on her stationary bike because of the pain. 

The doctor had prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs and muscular relaxants along with physical therapy. The physical therapy had helped reduce the stiffness in her low back, but did not help with her pain levels.  

Linda wanted to be able to stop taking her anti-inflammatories and her pain medications as she felt they were affecting her health adversely. But without a  solution, she was still in too much pain and discomfort to stop.

Intake

During our intake, Linda was anxious and concerned that she would suffer from stiffness, pain, and limited range of motion in her lower back for the rest of her life.  Linda was a 42-year-old single mother with an 11-year-old son to support. She had endured a contentious divorce several years back and had been given sole custody of her son, which left very little time for self-care or exercise. 

Linda was forced to juggle childcare with her busy work schedule. She had no support system from her family for backup childcare, and she was tense and exhausted most evenings. Her job in finance required long periods of time sitting at the computer as well as a 45-minute commute on the train to and from work in the city three days a week. 

I noticed as we spoke that she had forwardly rolled shoulders with a forward head alignment, which compromised the health of her lower back. The weight of her rounded shoulder and forward head placed her lower back in an over-stretched position creating stress on her muscular skeletal structure, particularly in the lumbar spine. This set the stage for the beginning of her disc issues.

How did the Back Pain Begin?

Linda believed that the heavy computer she carried back and forth to work was the culprit that led up to the painful episode fourteen months earlier. She worked from home in the suburbs two days a week, requiring her to lug her large work computer back and forth from the city on a weekly basis. 

One morning, preparing to leave for the office, she twisted her torso when lifting her heavy computer and noticed a painful twinge in the right side of her lower back. The pain persisted throughout the day and by that evening she was unable to sleep because of the stabbing pain in her lower back. The rest is history.

What is a Bulging Disc?

A bulging disc occurs in the spinal cord, most often in the lumbar spine (the lower back). These discs are composed of soft, gelatinous material inside, surrounded by tough cartilage on the outside. The discs serve as a cushion for the vertebra of the spine. A bulge occurs when a disc shifts out of its normal radius. It is usually the tough outer layer of cartilage that gets displaced or flattened down. 

A herniated disc tends to be a more serious condition. This occurs when there is a crack in the tough outer layer of the cartilage of the disc, allowing the soft inner gelatinous material to protrude out of the disc. Bulging or herniated discs both can cause pain and dysfunction in the muscular skeletal system if there is compression of the nerve.

Homework

We had to get to the root cause of Linda’s pain. The lack of daily exercise and poor alignment had lead to a weakening of the spinal ligaments and joints and predispositioned her to disc problems.

First, her alignment needed to be addressed and improved upon. We discussed proper neck, shoulder, and hip position when sitting and standing. It became very important to bring proper alignment into her work place as she sat at her computer, and equally important to carry and lift her computer and any other heavy objects with good form. 

She eagerly bought an ergonomically engineered office chair for her home,

started taking stretching breaks during her workdays at the computer, and started daily exercise. She was given core exercises to strengthen her back and abdominals. She also began cycling on her home exercise bike again, at first for only ten minutes at a low resistance and then increased the intensity, duration, and frequency as she became stronger. 

She found that if she did her back exercises in the morning and evening and used her bike several days a week, the pain in her lower back lessened significantly. Linda also found the “MELT” method -- using a soft foam roller to relax her tight spinal muscles -- was very useful in her recovery.

Chinese Diagnosis

I diagnosed Linda with chronic “stagnation of qi and blood.” This is characterized by a severe, stabbing pain that becomes worse with inactivity and better with light exercise. She found that sitting, standing, or lying down for extended periods of time made the pain worse. The affected area was tender to the touch and there was also marked rigidity and stiffness of the back muscles and an inability to flex, extend, or rotate at the waist. 

The Treatment

We began acupuncture treatments once a week for twelve weeks, and then every other week for four more weeks until Linda was pain free. Afterwards she came in for maintenance treatments every six to eight weeks.

I placed acupuncture points locally to increase blood circulation, reduce inflammation, and decrease muscle stiffness and tightness. Distal acupuncture points were also used to help move blood and qi throughout the meridian of the spine, starting at the base of the cranium and ending at points near her ankles. Needles were also placed next to the lumbar vertebrae to encourage the disc to heal. 

Moxibustion, an burned herb (mug wart), was used to warm the acupuncture points to further increase blood circulation and relax the tight musculature. Cupping was also utilized to reduce blood stagnation and to relieve the tight muscles and fascia around her lower back -- lessening the pull on the vertebrae and discs. 

At the end of the acupuncture sessions, sometimes tui na (medical massage) was used to help further reduce the tight knotted fascia throughout her spinal muscles. Linda also used a moist heating pad in the evenings for twenty minutes to help relax her tight muscles and to further encourage good circulation and blood flow. 

End Results

Linda was able to stop all pain and anti-inflammatory medication. She is careful about maintaining her core strength, flexibility, and her cardiovascular health. She has learned how to work at her desk with good alignment and take well-deserved stretching breaks throughout her workday. But most importantly, she is now pain free.

Working with Linda was a pleasure as she was highly motivated to incorporate all that she was learned during our treatments into her daily life. She would have struggled with ongoing back pain if she had not taken responsibility for her own health. It takes commitment and discipline to maintain radiant health and Linda has them both. 

2013…Year of the Snake

2013 is the year of the black Snake begins on February 10th shortly after the New moon in Aquarius, the humanitarian of the zodiac. This 2013 year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create. The Snake is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs. It is the enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animals Signs. Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.

Oh my aching lower back and hip…

Oh my aching lower back and hip…

Back pain can sideline the strongest of us. When an ache becomes a chronic pain, even something as small as a single step can feel like too much. Here is one woman’s story of coming back from the sidelines to recover from a seemingly endless amount of pain, and how acupuncture helped.

Mindy’s Pain

Mindy came to my office after suffering for one year from bursitis in her right hip and referred tightness and soreness in her low back. She had made all the rounds with the medical doctors and had all the tests and procedures needed to diagnose bursitis of the hip. At the end of the day she was told to take over the counter anti-inflammatories and have physical therapy sessions twice weekly. 

Even with the anti-inflammatories and physical therapy, the pain was unbearable. Too much walking, standing, or sitting caused the hip to ache, which then referred into the right side of her back and into her right knee. She had difficulty getting up and down from seated positions. She walked with a limp and could not get comfortable sitting, standing, or lying down. Her sleep was disturbed because her hip pain woke her throughout the night. She had a 24/7 pain cycle that kept her very stressed, anxious, and depressed.

After months of painful physical therapy did nothing to relive the hip and back pain, Mindy’s doctor resorted to injections of cortisone shots into her aching hip. But this proved ineffective as well. Her doctor told her to take her medications daily for the pain and that she should “be happy that she didn’t have arthritis in her hip.” She felt dismissed and discouraged with this “recommendation.”

Why Acupuncture?

Through the entire ordeal Mindy had also been receiving massage therapy. While this helped her relax, it did nothing to relieve the pain. After months, her massage therapist recommended that she try acupuncture for her chronic hip and back pain. And that was how Mindy ended up in such a desperate state at my office. 

The year of pain and suffering had taken its toll on Mindy. She was losing hope in returning to her “normal” life. She was an articulate, youthful 62 years old when we met and she had lived a very active, full life up until the hip and back pain had sidelined her. Happily married with two grown children and two grandchildren, her life was full with family, friends, and travel.  

Before the pain she adored spending time with her young grandchildren that were only a train ride away. Her daughter relied on her to help with the children and up until the chronic pain, Mindy was always up to the task. It frustrated her that she could no longer go to the park with her grandchildren or get down on the floor to play with them -- not to mention that she could not longer walk around NYC without hip and lower back pain. 

Before the pain she often volunteered her time, going to third world countries to participate in building homes and structures in depressed communities. The builds were very physically and mentally demanding, lasting for several weeks at a time, and were impossible for her to even consider with the pain. She had cancelled all her upcoming builds due to her physical problems and this felt like the beginning of a long life of pain, suffering, and inactivity.

As we sat and talked during our initial intake, I noticed that she was sad and lacked confidence that she would ever have the physical ability to live her former full life again. She usually walked three miles up steep hills every weekend with friends, which was a great source of exercise, fun, and social connection for her. But with her hip pain, this was out of the question. The pain was taking away, little by little, all the things in life that were rewarding and brought her pleasure.

The Goal

Mindy had always been a powerhouse, full of life and passion. She constantly was helping and giving back to her family, friends, and communities around the world. Although she had little hope that she would regain her old life, she had some dreams.

She hoped that she would be able to go on a build again, to give back to the communities she so cared about. She hoped to play with her grandchildren with ease, rejoin her friends on the weekends, and start enjoying her normal day-to-day activities again. 

I made no promises or guarantees except that I would do everything in my power to help mend her hip and back. This is when I wished for my magic wand, to wave her back to her former active self.

The Diagnosis

Mindy’s Chinese Medicine diagnosis was “qi and blood stagnation” as well as “cold damp bi” (pain) syndrome. This was an acute condition that had persisted for the past year, now turning her condition into a chronic one -- much tougher to resolve.

Bursitis is a painful condition that affects the small fluid sacs, call bursae, that cushion the surroundings bones, tendons, and muscles around the joint spaces in the body. The bursae reduce friction on the joints during movement and it is when these bursae become inflamed that bursitis occurs. The symptoms are stabbing, shooting pain and stiffness around the effected joint. Movement makes the pain worse. Bursitis in the hip joint is very common and is usually due to overuse or repetitive movement.

This was the case with Mindy. She had been working with a personal trainer for several years and he had recently added a routine of repetitive squats and lunges that had lead up to the bursitis of the hip. She stopped all physical training when she began seeing me, as even the physical therapy was causing more pain.

The Treatment

We began our acupuncture treatments with a focus on reducing her hip inflammation and reducing the muscle spasms in her low back at the sacrum and buttock area on the right side. She came twice weekly for the first month and then when her symptoms lessened, we continued with weekly treatments. As the inflammation became less and less, we added gentle stretching exercises to encourage better range of movement and blood flow to the effected joints. 

After six weeks of treatment, Mindy was able to ride on her stationary bike for twenty minutes at a very low resistance. After three months Mindy was ready to increase her exercise routine. She wanted something more engaging than the stationery bike that bored her to no end. This was when I suggested the mini trampoline.

Bouncing to Health

Before she began the mini trampoline workouts, I scheduled a home session so we could go over proper form and establish a safe workout schedule. Her excitement and motivation to regain her strength and fitness was the force that helped her achieve this goal. After six months of working together she was back with a vengeance. 

Not only was she rebounding on her mini trampoline, but she had also incorporated strength training into her routine. Mindy was a little apprehensive about taking classes at a local Pilates gym, but she went in in spite of her fear. These strength classes have done her a world of good for both her bodily and mental confidence. She now has her muscular strength back as well as her cardiovascular strength -- all without pain. 

This past summer Mindy took part in a build where she endured heavy lifting, lots of walking, and extreme heat -- all without hip or back pain! She is back to “full speed ahead” in her active life, enjoying all her roles as grandmother, wife, world traveler, and woman extraordinaire. 

Mindy continues to amaze me with her interest and zest for life. It’s patients like Mindy that make my work so rewarding. Her spirit, inner strength, and belief in herself made all the difference in her healing.

Oh my aching back...

Oh my aching back…

Back pain is one of the most common and costly conditions that motivates people to seek medical attention. Did you know that more than one million people in the USA are affected with back pain, costing an estimated 37 million dollars annually? This adds up to millions of hours of lost work and productivity, not to mention the pain and suffering of countless people.  

Half of all adults will experience some form of back pain in their lifetime, making this a significant source of inconvenience and suffering. This is also one of the most common reasons that many patients seek my help with acupuncture and herbal treatments. Back pain comes in many shapes and sizes, intensities, and durations, making the treatment of each patient an individualized one.

How Does Back Pain Present?

Common causes of back pain are sprains and strains that can occur from over-stretching or over-loading the muscles and ligaments. This can occur suddenly, as with a fall or accident, or over time through wear and tear from poor posture, improper use, or structural imbalances (like scoliosis, curative of the spine).

Other common ways back pains present are:

• Disc herniation or subluxation -- when a disc that is the inner cushioning between the vertebrae bulges out causing compression of the nerve root in some cases. This can cause referred pain to other areas of the body.

• Sciatica -- a nerve that begins at the spinal cord and goes to the hips, buttocks, and then branches down each leg. It is when the sciatica nerve is irritated or inflamed that one experiences pain, most often radiating into the buttocks or down the legs, causing pain, numbness, and muscle weakness. 

• Osteoarthritis -- when wear and tear on the joints causes the breakdown of cartilage that surrounds, protects, and cushions the bones at the joints.  This can cause pain, swelling and stiffness throughout the spine. This condition is commonly seen in the elderly.

Types of Pain

There are two types of common back pain: acute and chronic. 

Acute back pain occurs suddenly, making it impossible to walk, bend, or even conduct daily activity. Acute back spasm can induce a pain cycle that leads to muscles that are distorted, which in turn pull on discs and joints and compress nerves.  This is a very painful situation and demands immediate attention, usually a multi-faceted approach: acupuncture, massage, heat therapy, and sometimes medication and spinal adjustments. 

Back pain can also be chronic in nature -- a dull ache that never really seems to go away. This condition takes a little more time to resolve and requires an understanding of how to correct muscular imbalances and weaknesses with restorative exercises and physical therapy, as well as all the other modalities already listed.

95% of back pain cases will resolve with therapeutic treatments without the need of invasive surgeries. 

How Can Acupuncture Help Back Pain?

Acupuncture can play a major role in the reduction or elimination of back pain by promoting blood flow, reducing inflammation, and helping restoring normal function of the muscles, joint, ligaments, tendons and nerves.

Research studies have shown that acupuncture treatments cause the body to produce natural steroids and promote the production of natural endorphins. These natural steroids reduce inflammation and swelling, while the endorphins reduce pain levels in the body. This in turn can break the pain cycle, help improve activity levels, increase range of motion, promote faster recovery time, improve function of the musculoskeletal system, and reduce the chances of reoccurring back pain.  

Acupuncture and herbal remedies can also reduce the need for painkillers or other medications that can cause unwanted side effects or delay the healing process.

Chinese Medicine Patterns of Back Pain

In Chinese Medicine the patterns of disharmony are divided into several different types of back pain and whether the condition is acute or chronic:

• Deficiency type pain is usually dull, chronic and improves with rest. Back muscles are often weak and under conditioned.

• Qi and blood stagnation is often acute with severe and stabbing pain. Back muscles are stiff and tight and the patient feels worse with rest. This pattern is often related to an acute sprain or strain.

• Cold damp obstruction back pain is worse in cold and damp weather and there is often numbness, swelling, and a sense of heaviness in the muscles. This is often seen in arthritic conditions.

The treatment approach is different for each type of back pain. In the deficiency pattern the approach is to improve muscle function, promote blood flow and reduce pain. When there is stagnation of qi and blood, the approach is to move the blood and reduce pain and spasms of the muscles. In the cold damp obstruction, the approach is to move the fluid in the lymph system, improve circulation, and restore nerve function.

In all types of back conditions the goal is to improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, alleviate pain, and increase the recovery time. Chinese Medicine has been shown to do just that, as well as provide long term benefits by addressing all the underlying health issues to prevent any reoccurrence of back pain.  

My patient Scotty is an example of how Chinese Medicine and lifestyle changes can keep back function at optimal levels.

Case Study

Scotty, a dapper, articulate man of 64 with a soft southern accent, came to me with the complaint of lower back pain that radiated down into his left leg.  His massage therapist had given him my name and encouraged him to try acupuncture along with his ongoing massage and physical therapy.

Scotty had been experiencing back pain for the past year.  His health profile revealed that he was diabetic, hypertensive (controlled with medication), overweight, undernourished, chronically dehydrated, and suffered from depression and seizures. His weighed 201 pounds and before his gastric bypass seven years ago he was weighing in at 355. This is a great accomplishment but he needed to learn better eating habits to help control his blood sugar, and to further reduce his weight. We would need to address his current unhealthy diet as well as his lower back pain.

The first order of business was to tackle his chronic back pain. His occupation as a hair- dresser required long periods of standing on his feet without rest. His spine from the upper cervical area down to his lumbar and sacral iliac joint suffered from the many years of standing and working with his arms elevated. The excess weight in is mid-section only exacerbated the situation. 

His back pain had been so acute six months prior to seeing me that he had been hospitalized for a week to determine what was causing all his discomfort. He was experiencing numbness, tingling, and a dull ache that had come on gradually, starting from his waist and running down to his toes and feet. He had extreme weakness in his left leg with a feeling that his leg could not support him at times when he was standing and walking. He had not had an accident or an injury that had caused this painful condition. 

While at the hospital he had been seen by three neurosurgeons, two neurologists, an osteopath, and a physiatrist all who could not determine why he was suffering with pain and numbness. The neurosurgeon recommended surgery, which was not something that Scotty was inclined to do at this point. He “gave up” on all the doctors and went to a massage therapist to “relax.” It was after taking the advice of his massage therapist that he came for acupuncture and herbal and nutritional advice. 

We started with acupuncture treatments that focused on reducing the numbness down his leg, while reducing swelling and nerve inflammation in his low back/sacral area.  His Chinese diagnosis was cold damp deficiency type low back pain. He felt better with rest and warmth and his low back and sacral area were swollen and cold to the touch.  The needles were placed from the cervical spine (neck) down to his ankles to increase circulation and help improve nerve and muscle function. The majority of needles were placed in the lumbar and sacral areas of the spine, while also using moxabustion to warm and improve blood flow, and electric stimulation to improve nerve function and to break the pain cycle.

In the last 5 months of every other week acupuncture and massage he is 95% symptom free.

The numbness in his left leg and foot are barley noticeable while the strength in his spine and legs have increased to the point that he is pain free and back to his daily activities without limitation. His energy is at a record high due to all the dietary changes that he has made. 

Due to the gastric bypass, it was very difficult for him to digest his foods, so I suggested that he puree and blend much of his foods. The morning anti-oxidant smoothie helped him get the nutrients in the morning to sustain him through his 12-hour workday, and his vegetable soup purees helped him get the vegetables that he so needed in his diet. He started eating on schedule and avoided sugary and fatty foods that he often ate while working. 

Scotty kept himself hydrated and avoided the diet sodas and coffee. He also started taking flax oil and herbal tonics, which helped in the healing of his muscular skeletal system.  He is always working at improving his diet and fitness level.

Scotty is always asking questions and has a renewed interest in learning about healthy living and it shows. His colleagues and clients notice the renewed bounce in his step and that his quick wit and joyous personality have returned. He has told me that I have saved his life!!  He saved his own life by taking the steps that he needed to take to change a lifetime not exercising and eating regularly and properly.  This has all changed as now he is in his “second spring” as they say in China.

We now are working together to cure his type two diabetes with diet, exercise and Chinese Medicine.

The journey continues…

The Infertile Patient, isn't…and becomes pregnant.

The Distraught patient…fertility and Chinese Medicine

When studying Chinese Medicine in school I was never prepared for the emotional roller coaster ride of treating an infertility patient. I studied acupuncture point prescription and herbal protocol for enhancing the endocrine system, but there was never a mention of assisted reproduction with drugs and surgery. When I opened my own practice, I found myself integrating ancient medicine with modern cutting-edge fertility treatments. You have to be a quick study to keep up with this new approach in treating the many patients that come knocking at the doors of Chinese Medicine clinics!

“Fertility enhancement” is the term I like to use with my patients -- from my point of view “infertility” sounds so doomed and final.  These patients need hope, understanding, and a treatment plan that can increase the chances for becoming pregnant with a healthy baby! Happily, Chinese Medicine is effective in doing just that.

The Science behind Fertility Treatments

Many studies have been published and books have been written that show the profound benefits of acupuncture and herbal medicine for enhancing fertility. One recent study from Israel showed a 42.5% pregnancy rate when acupuncture treatment was used in conjunction with assisted reproduction, as compared to the 21.3% of assisted reproduction without acupuncture treatment. This gives a huge leg up to the fertility patient.

These exciting studies and books have piqued the interest of fertility doctors, clinics, and patients seeking additional help in achieving their dreams of becoming parents.  It is commonplace for fertility clinics to also recommend acupuncture treatment alongside the IUI (Intrauterine insemination fertilization) and IVF (In vitro fertilization) protocols for their patients. These studies have actually altered the number of fertility patients that are seen weekly in my practice.

Now I find myself catapulted into a new world of drugs, IUI, and IVF protocols while learning how to assist and support my patient every step of the way in this gut wrenching, anxiety producing journey.

The Challenge

Now this is where the challenges really begin for me. Most of these fertility patients would never have chosen or sought out the expertise of an acupuncturist or herbalist before arriving at this difficult place in their lives. My fertility patients come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and cultures and with their own unique history and health issues. In these situations, not only are we treating the physical health of the patient but also their emotional health, which most often can be precarious at best.

Often I must follow and support the already established high-tech assisted reproduction treatment plan. These patients come from fertility doctors armed with their hormone injections, dates and times, and numerous step-by-step procedures. I am the backup, the cheerleader, the voice of reason, and a place of refuge from the cold and clinical fertility clinics.

Why Infertility?

Women are now waiting longer and longer to start families, and in NYC this is the rule rather than the exception. The older patient has a greater challenge at becoming pregnant due to a reduced egg reserve as well as a reduction in the quality of the eggs. This makes assisted reproduction commonplace as well as a huge moneymaker for doctors, clinics, and hospitals.

But age isn’t the only factor -- fertility is also being affected by the high levels of chemicals and toxins that are in our environment, our food, and our water supplies. Reduced sperm counts, increased miscarriages, and reduced fertility are on the rise due to the overexposure of environmental toxins and chemicals. This is the very reason that I stress a cleansing diet that is organic plant based, with lean organic meats and wild mercury free fish, along with herbs and acupuncture.

How does Acupuncture Work for Fertility?

Let me count the ways:
·      it increases blood flow to the ovaries and uterus
·      improves the endocrine system by regulating the function of the thyroid, adrenals and the reproductive hormones
·      stimulates follicle quality and growth
·      builds healthy lining
·      increases ovulatory function
·      reduces the FSH
·      reduces the side effects of the high doses of drugs used in assisted reproductive protocols
·      and reduces stress and anxiety.
Chinese Medicine can help cultivate a healthy fertility environment both physically and mentally with herbal and acupuncture treatments for patients undergoing assisted reproduction protocols.

But what about the patients that don’t respond to aggressive reproductive procedures? Many reproductive clinics and hospitals give up and suggest adoption or egg donors as the next step towards becoming a parent. In some cases these are the only options, and in some cases this could not be further from the truth.

Case Study

I’ll always remember the very first fertility patient that came to my newly opened practice more than 10 years ago. I had such a vested interest in helping her reach her dream, and I so wanted Chinese Medicine to come to the rescue.

Her name was Lorna, and she was not the typical fertility patient as she was only 34 -- quite young to have already started down this path. She was from Chile and had moved to NYC with her husband when he was transferred for his job.

Lorna had gotten my name from her insurance company and I was now number three on the list of acupuncturists that she had visited. The previous acupuncturist had asked her to chant during her treatment that it was not her fault that she had not become pregnant. I had to assure her that this was not how it was going to be while we were working together.  She was skeptical at best.

She was without a strong support system and felt lost, distraught and downright depressed.  During the lengthy intake process I learned that she had had under gone three IUI and two IVF cycles, and all had failed.  The doctor over seeing her case had told her that her only options for becoming pregnant were through an egg donor program. He even had egg donor profiles in his office that she could choose from.

I thought this strange and a conflict of interest, but she told me she was done with him, the drugs, and all the rest of assisted reproduction. After all, there was no hard medical evidence to support his recommendation. After this ordeal, she was open to a completely holistic, natural approach to becoming pregnant.

So it was all on my shoulders to help her achieve her goal and I was up to the task. Lorna had gained over 40 pounds in the past two years with the overload of fertility drugs, bad eating habits, and lack of exercise. She felt bloated, exhausted, and wanted to sleep all the time. She was not working and had very few friends since she was new to this country. Her confidence and self -esteem was very low due to all the failed attempts at becoming pregnant. Her husband was supportive but very busy with his new job and away from home much of the time. She needed some social support and connections in her new city.

On the physical side, her menstrual cycle was irregular with very little flow, she did not ovulate, and she had very scant cervical mucus. Her thyroid was sluggish, although her reproductive hormones were all within normal ranges, even her FSH (follicle stimulating hormone). She had reason to believe that she could in fact become pregnant but need a little help from Chinese Medicine!

The Treatment Plan

The first step was to regulate her period, get her active and eating a balanced diet, reduce her stress and anxiety, and find ways to build her trust and confidence in acupuncture. I asked her to chart her cycle so we could see the improvements month to month and I recommended weekly acupuncture and herbal treatments.

Lorna joined a nearby gym to help regain her fitness and help with the weight loss.  Little by little she was taking steps to improve her body, life, and confidence. She started smiling and enjoying her new life here in NYC. This was such a joy to see!

Her Chinese Medicine diagnosis was spleen qi vacuity with damp accumulation and heart qi vacuity with liver blood vacuity. She had a stagnant condition that needed to be addressed before she could ever get pregnant.  For this condition she took herbal formulas twice daily which were precooked for her from raw herbs and had weekly acupuncture treatments for over eight months.

With each passing month her condition improved. Soon she had a 28 day cycle with good rich blood flow and she ovulated each month mid-cycle. To her delight, her weight returned to the 115 pounds that she had been before the fertility treatments. Her mood had improved and she felt positive again. She even returned to Chile for one month to visit her family and ground herself again. We sent her with a suitcase full of herbs to take while away.

Acupuncture Worked!

One month after her return from Chile and eight months after beginning acupuncture and herbal treatments she became pregnant. It was such a huge accomplishment for both of us. We had become a team working together. She was patient and trusted the process and in the end it paid off. Lorna gave birth to a healthy baby boy and went on the have another boy (without any help) two years later!

Lorna taught me many lessons about the inner strength that can be tapped when needed. She chose to tap into that place in the face of despair and unfounded medical advice, and come out a stronger and more resilient person. Her Christmas card this year showed two adorable boys that have her beautiful olive complexion and dark brown eyes with big bright smiles.

Lorna inspires us all with her strength and perseverance. 

The Desperate Patient

The Desperate Patient … who finds her way

As an acupuncturist, I frequently get desperate phone calls, e-mails, and texts from patients that have exhausted every avenue trying to cure their affliction and in a last ditch, “what the hell effort,” have decided to give acupuncture a try. OY!! These patients tend to be my hardest cases, as they are frustrated, scared, angry, mistrusting, and downright exhausted from seeking help and getting none.

Sometimes their expectations are high -- they want a miracle to occur and want to be healed in one to two treatments just like their friends, colleagues, or spouses. Other times their expectations are low -- they are total non-believers in Chinese Medicine, but there are no other choices left for them to try but this “voodoo” medicine. Starting a relationship with either too much or too little trust and unrealistic expectations is a tough way to begin.

It is a hard road working with and educating the so-called “difficult-to-treat patients” that are most often discarded from the western medical community. These patients are sometimes labeled “crazy,” “difficult,” “non-compliant,” “not listening,” “too demanding,” ”hysterical,” or  just plain “silly.” This may be so, but to get shuffled off to another expert while being left without answers and meaningful treatment plans seems unfair.

This is the very type patient that called me last year. The patient, Anita, was utterly distraught and very frightened about her health condition when we first spoke on the phone. She came for a consultation after getting my name from a very satisfied colleague.
Anita wanted to have a face-to-face meeting to discuss her health issues before committing to acupuncture or herbal treatment.

It was a fall day when Anita, a very sweet, pleasant, Caucasian, premenopausal woman of 49 years, came to my office for our first consultation. She was a professional, working in the financial sector for the past twenty-five years, and was surrounded by a supportive family and many friends. Her heritage was of Ecuadorian decent and her diet reflected this cultural background. Her primary care physician had been treating her for hypertension for the past five years.  It was when her hypertension was no longer under control with her current medication that all the major problems begin to unfold. Her physician had recently placed Anita on another hypertensive medication that seemed to have caused a severe allergic reaction.

After several days on this new medication Anita developed facial pain in her left cheek, eye, and had pain radiating up to her forehead.  She had the feeling of “fireworks” going off on the top of her head as well as a dull throbbing on the entire left side of her face twenty-four hours a day. She was light and heat sensitive and felt best in a cool dark room.

When we spoke, she covered the left side of her face with her hands and asked me to lower the shades in the sundrenched room. She could go to work and function, but had to wear a hat and dark glasses when going outside in the daylight. The constant “fireworks” and throbbing had left her exhausted and frightened.

Her many doctors: her primary care physician, endocrinologist, neurologist, and cardiologist, all deemed her healthy and able to continue on with the new hypertensive medication in addition to steroids and anti-inflammatory and sleep medications. Anita felt that she was over-medicated and decided to stop all medication.

It was then that I took pause. This was going to be tricky. I can’t condone someone not taking lifesaving medication, but I felt there was another approach that had not been addressed. Even though the primary care physician said that the new hypersensitive medication would not cause the facial/ trigeminal nerve inflammation, I had to disagree. It seemed such a clear cause and effect reaction, especially when she was getting some relief after going off the new hypertensive medication.

When delving further into Anita’s health history, her blood work revealed elevated triglycerides, high cholesterol, pre-diabetic blood sugar levels, and a high A1C level. She also was obese, weighing in at 198 on a 5”5 foot frame. That was causing strain on her muscular skeletal system as well as on all her organs of her body.

We discussed that her diet, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of vigorous exercise were the root causes of many of her medical issues. It was clear that if she continued down this path she would be placed on many more medications for treating diabetes and high cholestorol, as well as diuretics, hormone replacement drugs, steroids to control her facial nerve condition, and of course more hypertensive medication.

Even though Anita was one of the most conscientious patients when following the advice of her medical doctors, she was never given lifestyle advice, up until now. Her diet and exercise was the first issue at hand. She was so motivated to control her own health without drugs that she was eager to do whatever it took to become healthy.

We started with taking all dairy, white flour, and sugar out of her diet and we added in three to five servings of vegetables, two fruit servings of apples or berries, and thirty minute walks every day.  She stopped eating all fast foods for lunch -- no more Pizza Hut, Subway, and McDonald’s for her -- now it was salad bars and soups for lunch. Her staple cultural diet of white rice, heavy meats, and surgery deserts where a thing of the past. She was eating lean proteins, quinoa, brown rice, healthy morning smoothies, and snacks of fruits and vegetables.

Her official Chinese Medicine diagnosis was “spleen qi vacuity with heart fire and uprising of liver heat,” not something that I would discuss with her primary care physician. She was treated with weekly acupuncture treatments for 3 months and when her blood pressure and facial pain were more under control, her treatments were then tapered down to every other week for the past year. Her treatments focused on reducing inflammation around her facial nerves, increasing her metabolic rate, regulating her thyroid and blood pressure, and reducing stress.

She was also treated with herbs and nutrition supplements. The formulas I used were Dan Shen Pian to improve her facial pain and circulation and Tian Ma Gou Tang Pian to help control her blood pressure. These combined treatments worked very well to improve her health crises.

I also had an arrangement with Anita that she was to see the office nurse for weekly blood pressure checkups and readings when she came to the office for her acupuncture treatments. Only if her blood pressure remained stable would I continue treating her while she was not taking western medications. I am not reckless with my patients’ health. This is all about integration of healthcare, not abandonment of all the advances of our modern day healthcare.

Anita’s motivation to be drug free propelled her into a new way of living. She is now in charge of her own health. Her weekly acupuncture treatments, herbal protocol, and exercise program enabled her to lose twenty-five pounds, control her blood pressure, and reduce her facial nerve pain to a barely noticeable level. She is still working on losing more weight and continues with her new healthy eating plan.

Anita and I have been working together for one year now and she continues to delight and surprise me with her dedication to continue on the path towards better health. At her annual checkup this past month, all her doctors were amazed at her improved blood work, blood pressure, reduction in facial pain, and her weight loss. She told me that when she told them that she was using herbs and acupuncture to control her facial pain and blood pressure, her doctors’ “mouths gapped wide open.”

Anita is still a work in progress, but aren’t we all? Taking personal responsibility is the reason Anita has had so much success towards improving her health and life, free of prescription drugs. If we all take responsibility of our own health, we might all be as healthy and successful as Anita -- and I hope to continue to help people on their personal journeys to well-being.