- Cloud 9 Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine22 West Padonia Rd. Suite A-203
Timonium, MD 21093
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How Acupuncture Can Help You with Your Chronic Pain
By Bradley Stiles, L.Ac.
Can acupuncture help you with your chronic pain?
YES!
The National Institute of Health (NIH) believes so saying “Results from a number of studies suggest that acupuncture may help ease types of pain that are often chronic such as low-back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis/knee pain. It also may help reduce the frequency of tension headaches and prevent migraine headaches. Therefore, acupuncture appears to be a reasonable option for people with chronic pain to consider. “
When I started writing this blog post there were over 700 studies on the relationship between acupuncture and chronic pain on PubMed (short for Public Medical Database, an online resource that complies verified scientific data on all different kinds of research experiments). This positive relationship is well documented and well known. The science behind acupuncture and its reductive effect on pain is one of the reasons most insurances cover acupuncture today. (Thank Goodness!) New scientific research is coming out all of the time!
It is even being used in many hospitals and even in some Emergency Rooms/departments. Below I’ve linked two studies that have shown positive changes that were statistically significant in Pain management outcomes through the use of acupuncture. This means that acupuncture performed better than a placebo effect. Please read the studies below if your interested in knowing more.
With the current opioid epidemic if you know someone that is interested in coming off of their pain meds we at Cloud 9 would love to work together with their doctor to manage the patient’s pain levels with the goal of their doctor either suggesting a reduction in their amount of medication or (with physician supervision and approval) the patient is able to come off medications altogether because symptoms have disappeared by completing a series of acupuncture treatment protocol .
Links Related to This Article:
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/introduction
Acupuncture as a Nonpharmacologic Treatment for Pain in a Pediatric Emergency Department- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Acupuncture+as+a+Nonpharmacologic+Treatment+for+Pain+in+a+Pediatric+Emergency+Department&fbclid=IwAR1EeOIxp4nj2AhbHd938KRgYIqokY-9lnLeWaUrX9kS8ktIWszlbZajxlc
Effect of Integrative Medicine Services on Pain for Hospitalized Patients at an Academic Health Center –
Bradley’s Timonium Hours:
Monday … 7am – 11am
Tuesday … 7am – 12pm
Wednesday… 7am – 11am
Brad is ready to see patients with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna and Aetna plans in Timonium.
Bradley’s Kent Island Hours:
Thursday …10am – 5pm
We do not accept insurance at our Kent Island location.
Read more about Brad & Watch Brad’s Video! at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/bradley-stiles-acupuncturist/
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/
