Acupuncture and Nutrition Clinic – Houston

Good digestion is key to good health. If you think about what takes place during digestion, it is important for food (aka fuel, aka nutrition) to be broken down and absorbed properly in order for our body to get what it needs from our food intake. When our digestive processes are disturbed we miss out on the health benefits from the food we eat. Digestion issues like constipation, diarrhea, gastritis, nausea, crohns and colitis affect our overall health because our bodies are not working well enough to ulitlize the nutrition from the food we eat. The good news is that quite frequently acupuncture can help manage or resolve many digestion problems.

My recent trip to China was an eye opener. Digestive problems like gastritis was very common place. General complaints of stomach discomfort seemed almost universal, whether it was in the internal medicine, gynecology or pain clinics I attended. The doctors used mainly herbal formulas to treat digestive issues, although it was also addressed along with other complaints in the acupuncture clinics.

During my three week stay in China, there were people everywhere, everyplace. It was very crowded. Millions of people in the cities (23 million in Beijing, 20 million people in Shanghai and 8 million in the city of Hangzhou where I studied). Try to imagine Houston growing to accomodate 20 million people within the city itself. Think of how we would incorporate all the people, the cars, the pollution, the apartments and office buildings. Imagine driving with cars, buses, bicycles and motor bikes coming in all directions paying little attention to traffic lights, order or lanes in the street. Your hands would be gripping the steering wheel while focusing on avoiding someone on a bike or another car. In short, it is a very stressful way of life.

In my practice, I have seen how stress affects digestion. Stress can create a blockage in liver energy which disrupts the actions of the liver, spleen and stomach energy. When these channels are disturbed, it can cause the stomach energy to rebel making it flow or move upwards toward the esophagus (ie-gastritis, reflux), rather than the normal path of downward to the intestines (normal BM’s). Stress can also deplete our spleen energy causing us to feel tired, sluggish, bloated and swollen. The liver energy that becomes stuck can cause gas, bloating, abdominal pain, irregular bowel movements and depression. In addition, it is quite common to see concurrent issues of sleep problems, anxiety, low energy and high blood pressure along with digestive problems.

If any of this sounds or feels familiar, you are not alone. If you have struggled with digestive issues, acupuncture might just be what you need to resolve or reduce your problems. When all that Western medicine can do is give you drugs to work on the symptoms, remember that acupuncture may very well have an explanation that does not equate with Western terminology. That results in addressing the problem, even if it has been a life long issue. The bottom line is, if nothing else has worked, you have nothing to lose. Try acupuncture. The worst case scenario is that you feel less stressed. Not too bad…

Questions about acupuncture for mental health issues are one of the most common inquiries I receive after questions about pain.

Acupuncture can help with depression, anxiety, stress and bi-polar disorder. So in terms of various mental health issues, yes, acupuncture can frequently help.

I caution to say that acupuncture is not in lieu of continuing or being in therapy. I do not take patients off of their Western medication if they’re already on it. Medication is a discussion between the patient and their doctor. Acupuncture, and in many cases Chinese herbal formulas, work just fine in conjunction with Western medication as the mechanism of action is quite different. They can complement each other beautifully.

When a patient comes in with a Western diagnosis of depression, anxiety or bi-polar disorder, my job is to determine what the underlying problem(s) are from a Chinese medical perspective. For example, if someone presents with anxiety along with insomnia, excessive worrying, hypervigilance and internalizing feelings, the strategy might be to balance the heart and kidney channels. However, if the main complaints include depression, irritability, sleep disruptions and digestive problems, the approach might focus on smoothing the liver channel.

Usually, a patient will present with a combination of the above plus more. After a thorough evaluation, a point selection is chosen based on the most disruptive concerns working our way in to the deepest and most chronic issues. We as human beings are rarely uni-dimensional, therefore it is more complicated than I have described. However, it gives you an understanding that the treatment strategy is quite individualized.

I have treated bipolar disorder and have found that acupuncture can be stabilizing; but with bipolar, it’s really important to stay on your Western drugs and/or be in regular communication with your therapist. What the acupuncture can do is help balance and stabilize some of the mood swings: the degree, frequency and intensity of the ups and the downs. You might be able to reduce the dosage of some of the medications, but again, that’s between you and your psychiatrist.

Stress is a major variable in just about every health issue we have. I think that stress is the one variable in our life that cannot be controlled in a double-blind, placebo control study. So you can have everything, all variables equal, but how do you really control for stress? Stress definitely triggers mental health issues and it triggers health issues overall.

Because stress is a major factor in all of our lives, acupuncture in and of itself helps with mental health issues because it works to balance the mind, body and spirit. When we are in balance, our emotional and physical health is improved.

Check out this great video where I apply a stress-relieving acupuncture treatment to radio host Marc McCoy. Live on the radio! I also explain acupuncture, why it works so well on stress and the purpose of each needle applied. Enjoy!