Amazing practitioner! I’ve been seeing Lisa Marie for years now. She has helped me with everything from neck discomfort to fertility support. Lisa Marie is very knowledgeable and supportive. Her healing space is welcoming and warm. I truly enjoy seeing her every time I go.
JT Kensington, MD
Many people seek advice from healthcare professionals without realizing that the most potent, most important healing medicine is lying dormant within their own body–mind–spirit. Health coaching is a huge part of my practice. It’s rare for me to see a patient without talking about the power of self-care. Oftentimes my first words of advice to a patient are to practice relentless, self-directed lovingkindness. To ceaselessly direct lovingkindness toward their own hearts in every moment. People’s first reaction is one of amazement: “That would be different” they say. Sometimes patients immediately break into tears at these words, their hearts are so tender and sore from self-judgment and recrimination.
When we walk around in a perpetual state of stress, anger and judgment, whether it is directed at ourselves or others, we are setting up a toxic stew of chemicals in our bodies that affect our mood, our state of dis-ease, and our relationships. Chronic stress, anger and anxiety put you into a permanent state of fight-or-flight. This can raise your cortisol levels making you gain weight; elevate your blood pressure and heart rate; and weaken your immune system. All this puts you at greater risk for the dis-eases of our time: Diabetes, Heart Disease and Depression. It also makes you more susceptible to many other illnesses.
The idea that you can choose your emotions is a new concept to many patients. But it is the cornerstone of self care. Often we feel the opposite, that we are at the mercy of our emotional responses. There is always choice. And treatment often involves a multi-prong approach: acupuncture to reset the neurological stress response; herbs and supplements to give depleted bodies the resources they need to heal; and mind-body-medicine. Of these, the most important factors in healing are the things you do every day: the emotions you choose to cultivate; the way you move; the food you eat; the relationships you nurture.
My favorite ways to use self care to overcome emotional habit-patterns of stress are also the easiest, most gentle methods.
As you can see, none of these techniques involve strenuous meditation techniques or radical lifestyle change. They are baby steps to purposefully change your biology. If stress is the problem, then self care medicine can’t cause more stress!
Everyone deals with insomnia at some point in their lives. For some people it’s an occasional annoyance, for others a life-altering challenge to their health and ability to function. Chinese medicine for insomnia can be very effective. From the viewpoint of Chinese Medicine, there can be many different causes of insomnia. It can be a caused by a deficiency of Blood and Qi or by internal heat pathogens or even by stasis, when the body is not circulating blood and qi in a healthy way. Getting to the heart of the cause of the insomnia and individualizing treatment is what makes Chinese Medicine superior to one-size-fits-all pharmaceutical drug treatment. Here are some of our approaches to treat insomnia.
*The Deficient Patient: This person is often a young woman, with normal or scanty menses, who suffers with anxiety and insomnia. She may be cold or she may alternate feeling cold with feeling hot at night. Her tongue will often be pale. We will use blood and qi building herbs and dietary therapy that builds blood and qi.
*The Hot Patient: This person will feel hot a lot or very hot at night. They may have symptoms of nausea or unexplained vomiting and sweating. The tongue will be red. We will use herbs that cool blood, have a gentle, sedative effect and expel heat from the body
*The Yang Rising Patient: This person may have excess symptoms of rising yang such as feeling hot, headaches, anxiety. The tongue may be red with a peeled coating. We will use herbs that nourish yin, sedate yang and expel heat from the body
*The Stagnant Patient: Signs of stasis such as body pain, menstrual pain, purple tongue, cold hands/feet give us a clue as to the nature of this type of insomnia. We will use herbs that improve circulation of blood and qi.
Nutritional supplements and dietary therapy for insomnia: Dietary therapy can have an impact on insomnia. It is especially important to avoid hot and spicy foods. My favorite nutritional supplements for insomnia are time-release Melatonin and GABA. These are usually not a cure, but can help with symptomatic relief.
Good sleep hygiene is imperative for insomnia. Reduce usage of computers, devices, TV during the day and eliminate after 6pm. Use the evening to wind down by listening to quiet music, meditating being outside in nature, take a shower, etc.
If you have trouble with insomnia, give us a call (240)-780-9130 or schedule here!
Recent clinical studies of Acupuncture for Premature Ovarian Failure have found that acupuncture may be an effective treatment for this condition. Patients with this condition lose normal ovarian function before age 40. The research indicates that acupuncture can stimulate the recovery of normal estrogen production. Also tracked were effectiveness of acupuncture in balancing hormones, alleviating menopausal symptoms and reducing stress and anxiety. Some of these studies also used Chinese herbal medicine, in addition to acupuncture for Premature Ovarian Failure.
Premature ovarian failure is estimated to affect 200,000 women per year in the United States. The symptoms of premature ovarian failure are similar to menopause and can include: skipped periods, hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, irritability and decreased sexual desire. This condition can be associated with other diseases and health conditions. Premature ovarian failure can affect teenagers and is a very traumatic diagnosis for young people. Studies have indicated that women and teens have a lot of anxiety and stress related to this diagnosis. Premature ovarian failure causes infertility. Currently the only treatment is use of hormone replacement therapy
Chinese medicine has its own system of differential diagnosis that is different than Western medicine. Based on patterns of symptoms and signs, patients with premature ovarian failure may have different Chinese medical diagnoses that require different treatment plans. This method of individualizing treatment is unique and can provide benefits for difficult to treat conditions. Three main treatment methods were used in the studies, based on this diferential diagnosis:
The frequency of acupuncture treatment may be the key to success for this condition. In these studies, women were treated three times a week for 3 months before normal menstruation was restored. Chinese herbal therapy should be used in addition to acupuncture, for optimal results.
In these clinical studies, the researchers used blood levels for follicle stimulating hormone, estrogen and luteinizing hormone to track progress in treating Premature Ovarian Failure. At the end of the study, they found that FSH and LH levels had decreased, while estrogen levels had increased. In one study, the acupuncture group showed 89% effectiveness while the medication group showed only 64% effectiveness.
Acupuncture points used are summarized below, but treatment should always be individualized for the patient’s presenting pattern.
There are currently no effective medical treatments to reverse Premature Ovarian Failure. Based on these studies, women may consider acupuncture for Premature Ovarian Failure, as well as Chinese herbal medicine, as part of their treatment protocol.
Chen Y, Fang Y, et al. (2014). Effect of acupuncture on premature ovarian failure: a pilot study. Evid Based Complement Alternate Medicine. 2014:718675.
Li Qin Zhao (2011). The Treatment of premature ovarian failure using TCM. Chinese Medicine Times. Vol 6 Issue 2.
Sha Gui E., Zhao Wenmin, Ma Renhai (1999). Acupuncture Treatment of premature ovarian failure using 76 clinical cases. Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Vol 4, 199-201.
Many readers have been asking me for more information about how acupuncture treats migraines. I thought it might be helpful to show some recent case studies of real patients who have the most common types of migraines. Each patient is evaluated and an individualized treatment plan is created that may include Acupuncture, Dietary Therapy, Manual Therapy (such as Cupping, Moxabustion or Gua Sha) and Chinese herbal medicine. Are you tired of cookie cutter medicine? Well, read on and you will see that we always tailor the treatment to the individual patient.
‘Mary’ is a patient with a so many stressful health issues for a young woman in her twenties. She has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and subsequently developed ocular migraines. She originally sought acupuncture and dietary therapy for help with her digestive issues. She had extreme diarrhea which made it difficult to work and lead a normal life. After doinig a complete health history, feeling her pulses and examining her tongue, I diagnosed Mary with Spleen yang deficiency and yin deficiency. We created an individualized dietary plan with her input–because the only effective diet is the one you can stick with. Together with weekly acupuncture treatments, the severity of her digestive issues became less and less. Over time, I made recommendations for a couple targeted nutritional supplements, which Mary found to be helpful. She was eventually able to go off one medication and reduce the dosage of another. As her digestion improved, she was amazed that her migraines went completely away. Occasionally she had a short episode of blurred vision, but had no pain. Mary is thrilled at what acupuncture and dietary therapy has done for her quality of life!
I first saw my patient ‘Natalie’ for chronic pain conditions that had troubled her for many years. After acupuncture eliminated the chronic pain, Natalie asked me if there was anything that could be done about her serious allergies. As we went deeper into her health history she revealed that she also had chronic migraines which worsened during times of stress and during allergy season. Natalie’s allergies were very severe and of 40 years duration. She was on multiple medications, but like many allergy patients the meds just didn’t seem to work anymore. Natalie was not interested in dietary therapy as she felt her diet was good enough, but she was open to taking Chinese herbs. Based on her diagnosis according to Chinese Medicine I was able to recommend a patent herbal formula in tablet form that contained 15 different herbs. Though a single herb can have a strong action that creates side effects, Chinese Medicine uses complex formulas have been developed over thousands of years using multiple herbs to produce a synergistic effect, and eliminate side effects. We continued with weekly acupuncture for allergies, changing the focus of our previous sessions which had been centered on relieving her back pain. Within days Natalie noticed a massive improvement of her allergy symptoms. Eventually she was able to discontinue all her allergy medications. While she still had some mild allergy symptoms during the worst of the allergy season, her migraines disappeared completely.
My 17 year old patient, ‘Shana’, was going through a rough time. She had recently gone off off her birth control medication as she felt worse on it. She had chronic back pain; irregular and painful menses; and daily headaches and migraines. Her diet was extremely poor (as is the case of many teens) and her mood swings were creating chaos at home. Her doctors were urging her to go back on the pill and to go on anti-depressants, but she knew these were not right for her and her mother did not like the idea of her being on so many pharmaceutical drugs. Shana’s migraines clearly worsened around her menstrual cycle and had a hormonal component. She had other symptoms that pointed to hormonal imbalance like her irregular, painful periods; mood swings; and acne. While Shana enjoyed cooking she didn’t really have much cooking skills or experience, and both her parents, busy with working full-time, did not make time to cook from scratch. Too many of their meals were fast food, process food or junk food.
I really love to give my teen patients my favorite cookbook and encourage them to cook at home. Oftentimes, as in this case, the parents realize that the whole family will benefit from more regular meals and get into the spirit of it. I encouraged Shana and her parents to set aside at least one or two times a week to cook together using recipes from the cookbook I gifted them. We spend a lot of time reviewing the principles of a good diet and as always, a diet plan is created together.
While Shana’s improved diet was the foundation for good health in the future, it was not enough of an intervention to balance her hormones–she needed stronger medicine. Weekly acupuncture eliminated her back pain and migraines and helped make her periods more regular and less painful. After a couple months she still had some lingering irregularity, pain and menstrual headaches, so I recommended a patent herbal formula which she took for six weeks. At that point, all remaining symptoms were cleared up. Shana continues with monthly treatment to keep her on track.
If you think we can help you with migraines or headaches, make an appointment now!
Urinary incontinence plagues people of all ages, frequently affecting women after childbirth, men after prostate surgery, and the elderly. Stress urinary incontinence is very common among women especially, with laughter, sneezing, coughing and lifting all very common causes of urinary leakage.
Several studies have shown that acupuncture is more effective for urinary incontinency than conventional therapy, including drugs. Herbal medicine can also be helpful.
Researchers compared the effects of electroacupuncture treatment with drug treatment. A randomized clinical trial of 100 female participants with mild to average level SUI were separated into two groups: electroacupuncture treatment and drug treatment. The treatments were administered over three 10 day sessions. The drug treatment group was given 2.5 mg of midorine hydrochloride tablets, 3 times per day. The eletroacupuncture group was treated with mid-intensity electrostimulation.
The results demonstrate that the short-term complete recovery rate for the electroacupuncture group was 20%. An additional 54% of participants showed signs of significant improvements. The short-term complete recovery rate for the drug group was 10%. An additional 24% demonstrated significant improvements.
If you think we can be of help to you, schedule an appointment now!
