- Cloud 9 Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine22 West Padonia Rd. Suite A-203
Timonium, MD 21093
Anxiety
How Acupuncture Affects Willpower
By Bradley Stiles, L.Ac.
Can acupuncture increase your willpower?
According to the National Library of Medicine it can! In a study that was conducted using electro-stim at acupuncture point ST 36 acupuncture was shown to stimulate the vagal nerve supporting the bodies ability to produce dopamine.
Dopamine is responsible for your reward response in your brain. Too much dopamine and your aggressive, euphoric, or can cause intense sexual feelings. Not enough dopamine causes you to be at higher risk for Alzheimers, Parkinsons, depression, bipolar disorder, binge eating, addiction, gambling, and schizophrenia.
Acupuncture has also been shown in other scientific studies to regulate dopamine release if there is an excess of dopamine, so it creates a nice balance of dopamine in the body and can result in a reduction of negative symptoms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3949155/
https://www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/increase-dopamine-naturally
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201105/dopamine-primer
Bradley Stiles sees patients in Timonium on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 7am-12pm. Read more about Bradley at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/bradley-stiles-acupuncturist/
Earth Constitutional Factor
By Kelly Ferguson, L.Ac.
You may hear your practitioner speaking about your CF or Constitutional Factor, and you are probably asking yourself what that means? In Five Element Acupuncture Theory there are five elements or seasons that we use to help diagnosis and understand our patients. We have each of these elements within us, but we prefer one to two of them over the others. Those elements that we unknowingly prefer or align with are what we would call a person’s Constitutional Factor or CF. Within each CF there are the meridians, colors, odors, sounds, emotions, personality traits, seasons, etc. that go along with it.
One of these Constitutional Factors is called Earth. The season for this element is Late Summer which we are getting ready to head into. This element is very grounding or centering. It allows us to nurture ourselves and those around us. Earth CF’s can sometimes sound like they are singing as they are speaking. They tend to have a yellow complexion to their skin around their eyes, and their odor can be a bit sweet smelling. The meridians that go along with Earth are spleen and stomach meridians.
Kelly sees patients on Tuesdays & Thursdays 12p -8pm, Saturdays 10am-3pm in Timonium, and Wednesdays 12:30pm-7:30pm in White Marsh. Read more about Kelly at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/kelly-ferguson-acupuncturist/
Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse and Tongue Diagnosis
By Kelly Ferguson, L.Ac.
Looking at someone’s tongue is a helpful tool for Acupuncturists. The tongue allows us to see what is going on in a person’s body. When we are looking at your tongue we are checking the color, texture, coating, shape and markings on the tongue. By seeing what the tongue looks like we can see if we need to build qi or energy, help the flow of qi throughout the body, clear phlegm or heat, or build fluid in the body.
In addition, there are different locations on the tongue that correlate to the meridians. While we are looking at the color, texture, shape, marks and coating of the tongue; we are also looking at how they look on the different areas of the tongue to determine which meridians to use during treatment. The tongue does take time to change, so after you’ve been getting treatments for about a month take a look at your tongue and see the difference.
Pulse Diagnosis
During your acupuncture treatments, your practitioner will take your pulses on both wrists. We are looking for six pulse positions on each wrist. These pulses connect to the meridians or pathways that move qi or energy throughout your body. These pulses help us to diagnosis which meridians might need to be flushed out or strengthened.
The analogy that comes to mind is with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the story the porridge can’t be too hot or too cold, it had to be just right. This is what we are looking for with pulses. The pulse can’t be too high or too low in strength. We want the pulse to find a happy median.
Kelly sees patients on Tuesdays & Thursdays 12p -8pm, Saturdays 10am-3pm in Timonium, and Wednesdays 12:30pm-7:30pm in White Marsh. Read more about Kelly at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/kelly-ferguson-acupuncturist/
How Does Summer Show Up in Your Body?
Fire Constitutional Factor
By Kelly Ferguson, L.Ac.
You may hear your practitioner speaking about your CF or Constitutional Factor, and you are probably asking yourself what that means? In Five Element Acupuncture Theory there are five elements or seasons that we use to help diagnosis and understand our patients. We have each of these elements within us, but we prefer one to two of them over the others. Those elements that we unknowingly prefer or align with are what we would call a person’s Constitutional Factor or CF. Within each CF there are the meridians, colors, odors, sounds, emotions, personality traits, seasons, etc. that go along with it.
One of these elements is a Fire Constitutional Factor. The season for Fire is Summer which is coming to an end as we head into Late Summer. This element is very loving and playful. It likes to build connections with others and find partnership. Fire CF’s will have some red or lack of red on their skin around their eyes, and will have a scorched smell odor to them. They connect to the heart, pericardium, small intestine and triple burner meridians.
Kelly sees patients on Tuesdays & Thursdays 12p -8pm, Saturdays 10am-3pm in Timonium, and Wednesdays 12:30pm-7:30pm in White Marsh. Read more about Kelly at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/kelly-ferguson-acupuncturist/
Meet Our New Acupuncturist! Bradley Stiles
We are proud to announce Bradley Stiles, M.Ac., L.Ac. as our newest acupuncturist. Starting on July 30th, Brad will be seeing patients:
Monday … 7am – 11am
Tuesday … 7am – 12pm
Wednesday… 7am – 11am
Brad is ready to see patients with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna and Aetna plans.
Read a little more about Brad…
Bradley Stiles’ path to becoming an acupuncturist started out as a skeptical patient. He went into treatment to find help for the chronic back pain that comes from his scoliosis. Surprised by the results, Brad decided to study acupuncture. He completed his Masters degree of Acupuncture in September 2016 at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Brad has a clinical interest in sports medicine acupuncture and creating improvements in injury recovery, pain management, and the side benefits (instead of side effects) of acupuncture creating better overall health and well-being.
Brad is Certified in Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture and received his training under Virginia Doran. Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture uses acupuncture to reduce the impression of fine lines and wrinkles. Facial Acupuncture uses needles in certain areas to reduce the effects of sagging portions of the face including the jowls, cheeks, or eyebrows.
When Brad isn’t working he enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife and twin girls, traveling to new and interesting places (with plans to visit Thailand and Peru soon!), and enjoys staying active by doing weightlifting, yoga, and running. He occasionally finds time to put together a star wars Lego set for fun.
