Gua sha is rooted in traditional Chinese medicine. Practitioners of this medicine believe that a person’s qi, or energy, must flow unhindered throughout the body so you can feel your best. When qi becomes stagnant, health problems occur. With Gua sha, your acupuncturist uses a smooth-edged tool to gently scrape areas of your body where inflammation or stagnant qi exist to help improve circulation and promote healing. When done correctly, Gua sha can help you unlock radiant skin and achieve holistic well-being.

Gua Sha, pronounced “gwa sha,” literally translates to “scraping” in Chinese. Originating from ancient traditional Chinese medicine, it has been a well-guarded secret for centuries, passed down through generations. Used primarily as a technique for facial and body rejuvenation, Gua Sha involves gentle scraping of the skin to stimulate circulation and lymphatic drainage, promoting detoxification and revitalization.

The efficacy of Gua Sha isn’t merely anecdotal; it’s backed by science. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, Gua Sha significantly increased microcirculation in treated areas, resulting in improved skin health and texture. Additionally, research conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) found that Gua Sha therapy reduced inflammation and oxidative stress, contributing to a youthful glow.

But Gua Sha transcends its physical benefits; it’s a ritual of self-care and mindfulness. As you glide the smooth stone across your skin, you’re not just sculpting your features – you’re releasing tension, unblocking energy pathways, and inviting a sense of serenity into your life. It’s a moment of indulgence in an increasingly hectic world.

Health Benefits of Gua Sha

Gua sha can help relieve several health conditions. Some of the benefits of Gua sha include:

• Relieving musculoskeletal problems, especially major ones like tightness in the shoulders, legs and back.
• Alleviating tension headaches, migraines, neck pain, or swelling in your body.
• Helping with hepatitis B, migraine headaches, breast engorgement, neck pain, Tourette syndrome, and perimenopausal syndrome.

Using Gua Sha at Home

For those intrigued by the allure of Gua Sha, incorporating it into your skincare routine is simple. Begin with clean, moisturized skin and apply a few drops of facial oil or serum to facilitate smooth gliding. Hold the Gua Sha tool at a 15 to 45-degree angle and gently stroke upwards and outwards, following the contours of your face. Take your time, allowing the stone to work its magic as you bask in the soothing sensation.

As the stresses of daily life melt away under the gentle pressure of the Gua Sha stone, you’ll find yourself embracing a newfound sense of radiance and vitality. With consistent practice, you’ll notice diminished fine lines, reduced puffiness, and a more sculpted visage staring back at you in the mirror.

So, why not embark on this ancient journey to luminous skin and holistic wellness? With Gua sha, the path to beauty is not just skin-deep – it’s a transformative experience that nourishes the body, mind, and soul. Talk to your acupuncturist about how they can incorporate it into your next treatment session and how you might use it home. Are you ready to unlock the secret to radiant skin and embark on a journey of self-discovery?

Orthopedic pain is a big deal for many Americans, and it comes in many different forms including knee, hip, shoulder, and other joint pain. Acupuncture has been proven an effective tool to deal with orthopedic pain…even Harvard Medical School thinks so. 

Chronic pain can be debilitating for those suffering from it and directly impacts quality of life. People often treat chronic pain with anti-inflammatory medications (both prescription and over the counter), physical therapy, or with ice and heat, but those options don’t always provide long lasting relief. According to Harvard Medical School, “acupuncture is an option with a good track record that’s worth considering.” 

Harvard cites a study originally published in the Archives of Internal Medicine that found acupuncture to be a valid and effective treatment for chronic pain conditions. “Research from an international team of experts adds to the evidence that it does provide real relief from common forms of pain. The team pooled the results of 29 studies involving nearly 18,000 participants. Some had acupuncture, some had ‘sham’ acupuncture, and some didn’t have acupuncture at all. Overall, acupuncture relieved pain by about 50%.”

It’s important to note that the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment varies for each individual depending on the severity of the condition, there are many who find relief through acupuncture treatment for their orthopedic concerns. Here are a few ways it can help.

Acupuncture is extremely effective at pain management by modulating pain signals and stimulating the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. There is also something known as gate control theory where the needling process used can activate nerve fibers that inhibit pain signals, following the gate control theory of pain. 

Acupuncture can reduce inflammation, improve blood flow, aid in muscle relaxation, improve joint and mobility function, address nerve compression, and reduce the stress that so often comes with orthopedic and chronic pain. 

What acupuncture does best is not to merely address the pain, but to treat the underlying cause of the pain. For example, acupuncture is often indicated to treat chronic pain conditions that radiate pain along a nerve pathway, pain causing muscle spasms, inflammation, scar tissue, and pain that is in multiple areas of the body. 

The number of acupuncture treatments required to properly address these health concerns varies according to the severity of the issue. In general terms, a chronic condition might require one to two weekly treatments for several months, while the sudden onset of pain can likely require a fewer number of visits. For others, significant relief is found after just a single treatment.

Just a quick Google search of acupuncture and chronic pain studies provides ample reason to give this therapy serious consideration. One of the greatest benefits to receiving regular acupuncture treatments is that it doesn’t just relieve your current pain. Having regular acupuncture sessions can reduce your overall occurrences of pain.

When your acupuncturist carefully places those needles, it is going far beyond just pain management. Through regular acupuncture treatments, you can strengthen your immune system, decrease stress, lower your blood pressure and even improve your sleep.

If you struggle with chronic pain, acupuncture is a pharmaceutical free, low-risk option that studies prove can offer long-term benefits for your overall health, not just your chronic pain. Let your acupuncturist do a proper health assessment and develop a plan to get you out of pain and back on track to a healthy and active lifestyle. Make your appointment today!

Whether a weekend warrior or a seasoned semi-professional or professional competitor, athletes are always looking for that competitive edge, the thing that can keep them healthy and give them a bit more in the tank to defeat the competition. 

Sports acupuncture is a great tool athletes can use as part of their overall health care strategy. Sports acupuncture is a hybrid form of acupuncture and sports medicine that is specifically used to support sports-related activity. Athletes and runners especially can use sports medicine acupuncture to relieve pain, accelerate the healing of sports related injuries, improve performance, and increase muscle flexibility. Let’s unpack each of these benefits and see just how sports acupuncture can be used to treat athletes.

Pain Management

Acupuncture is often used to alleviate the pain associated with sports injuries, overuse, or even chronic conditions developed from years of intense competition. Needles are inserted into specific points to help release endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and reduce inflammation. It’s all about restoring the balance of energy or, qi, to the body to achieve ultimate wellness. 

Muscle Relaxation

Athletes can use acupuncture to address muscle tightness and spasm as well. Needles are strategically placed at various acupuncture points along the body to stimulate relaxation and reduce muscle tension. 

Injury Rehabilitation

Acupuncture can be an effective tool in an athlete’s rehabilitation plan post-injury. It can help to accelerate the healing process by improving blood circulation, reducing swelling, and promoting tissue repair. 

Stress Reduction

Athletes, especially those who compete at a very elite level, can experience extremely high levels of stress due to the intense training or simply the competitions themselves. Acupuncture can help to manage stress and anxiety by promoting relaxation and balancing the body’s energy.

Enhanced Recovery

Acupuncture can contribute to faster recovery between training sessions and competitions. By improving blood circulation and reducing muscle soreness, athletes might be able to resume their training more quickly by incorporating regular acupuncture into their training routine. 

Immune System Support

When athletes endure intense training, it can sometimes suppress the immune system, making athletes more susceptible to illness. Acupuncture is believed to support the immune system by addressing the balance of energy in the body through specific meridians, thus helping athletes to stay healthy. 

Mind/Body Connection

One of the most effective things acupuncture accomplishes is the improvement of the mind/body connection. This can be an incredibly valuable tool for supporting athletic performance. Acupuncture is known to stimulate a parasympathetic nervous system response, sometimes called a state of “rest and digest.”

Regular acupuncture sessions can improve an athlete’s natural ability to tune into this mental state in times of stress or anxiety, such as right before a big race or competition. Acupuncture has been shown to support cognitive function and reduce performance anxiety.

Whether you are thinking about incorporating acupuncture into your regular wellness routine or using it as a companion to other medical treatments, talk to your acupuncturist today. Your practitioner will do a full health history and talk to you about your training regime and fitness goals. They will work with you to develop a plan specific to your needs. Call and make an appointment today so you can incorporate acupuncture into your regular wellness routine.

Whether you are a professional, college, or high school athlete (or maybe just a weekend warrior), you know that injuries can happen when you least expect it. Sometimes, it’s a traumatic injury because your body was pushed beyond its limit and sometimes, the injury comes from simple overuse. And every athlete wants to get back on the field, court, or track as quickly as possible.

Many athletes have discovered that acupuncture is an ideal treatment to augment recovery, speed up healing, and reduce pain. Acupuncture basically works like this. When you suffer an injury, the flow of energy (also known as Qi) to and from the area becomes disrupted which causes pain and stagnation. Blood circulation can also be limited which can extend healing times, prolong swelling and bruising, which all combine to most people taking more pain medications.

Acupuncture is used to reestablish the flow of Qi, or energy, to the injured area. This all helps to increase circulation, blood flow and to remove cellular waste from the injury. Your acupuncturist might also add herbal medicine to your acupuncture treatments to help alleviate pain. Herbs used for injuries can be applied topically or taken internally, depending on the type of injury sustained.

According to the Pacific College of Health and Science, “Specific acupuncture styles and techniques were developed to stop pain and dramatically increase recovery time. This tradition continues today, and its use has expanded into competitive athletics that result in similar injuries. Pain is one of the most common complaints in sports injuries followed by reduced function. The whole approach of Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture to the treatment of pain and reduced function is to see it as a disorder in the body’s natural state. The treatment is geared toward rectifying the disorder and restoring internal harmony.”

“Recent studies show that acupuncture effectively treats sports injuries such as strains, sprains, neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle pain, swollen muscles and shin splints. In addition to treating the injury, Acupuncture can also improve performance and give athletes a competitive edge.”

Because of this “competitive edge,” many professional sports teams have acupuncturists on staff to help shorten healing time and resolve overuse injuries (i.e., throwing/pitching, tennis elbow/shoulder, track and field injuries, etc.). However, you don’t have to be a competitive athlete to benefit from regular acupuncture treatments.

A 2015 study from Zhengzhou University examined the effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine style acupuncture and herbal treatments on amateur and professional athletes suffering from motor impairments due to physical training. The study ultimately found that the “total effective rate for the acupuncture only group was 70% and the herbal medicine group achieved a 62% effective rate.” Not bad results at all. However, the group receiving both acupuncture and herbal medicine achieved a total effective rate of just more than 84%. The researchers concluded that “acupuncture combined with herbs is highly effective for the treatment of physical activity induced motility impairments. The combined therapeutic approach is more effective than either treatment modality as a standalone procedure.”

If you are training for a triathlon or marathon, or you are a regular at the tennis courts or the golf course, you might want to consider regular acupuncture treatments to keep those injuries at bay. Talk to your acupuncturist about different preventative measures to stop injuries before they start or talk to them about a recovery plan if you have already had an acute traumatic injury. They can help you reach your goals of getting back in balance and getting back to the sports you love. Don’t wait, make an appointment today!

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, almost 50,000 people die every year from opioid overdoses, more than 10 million misuse opioids in a given year, and opioids are a factor in 72% of overdose deaths. You hear about the opioid crisis on the nightly news frequently but what can be done to help people deal with chronic pain (the reason they are likely taking the opioids in the first place). Can acupuncture really help? 

Acupuncture and Pain Relief

Chronic pain can be debilitating for those suffering from it and directly impacts quality of life. People often treat chronic pain with anti-inflammatory medications (both prescription and over-the-counter), physical therapy, or with ice and heat, but those options don’t always provide long lasting relief. Which is why people then seek out more and stronger medications to help deal with the chronic pain. This, in turn, can lead to drug dependence and an addiction to finding relief from the pain. 

What acupuncture does best is not to merely address the pain, but to treat the underlying cause of the pain. For example, acupuncture is often indicated to treat chronic pain conditions that radiate pain along a nerve pathway, pain causing muscle spasms, inflammation, scar tissue, and pain that is located in multiple areas of the body. Stopping the cycle of chronic pain is the best way to begin to address the addition. 

Opioid Dependency

It’s important to acknowledge that many people who suffer from opioid additions and even those who overdose don’t fit the typical profile of a drug user. These are people who have suffered from injuries due to a car accident, workplace accident, or even a sports related injury. Injuries like these can cause chronic pain and require pain management. The road to addiction can happen without people even realizing it before it is too late. 

Perhaps the first benefit acupuncture offers is that it does not introduce chemicals into the patient’s body. Acupuncture is a natural way to address chronic pain by detecting the underlying issue causing the pain. By the placement of the needles, your acupuncturist is activating the natural hormones in your body to initiate healing from within. 

Acupuncture has been proven to alleviate stress, reduce inflammation, and improve mood without any chemical interference. This makes acupuncture a tremendous option for those suffering from opioid dependence. Those using opioids eventually develop a tolerance to them which requires larger doses to feel the desired effects. People become dependent on them and are often ashamed or simply desperate to alleviate the pain. 

As an entirely holistic process and with thousands of studies in support of its use for a variety of conditions, acupuncture has become a trusted pain management option. Many leading national hospitals including Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, Cleveland Clinic, and others offer acupuncture as part of various treatment programs. Some of the most trusted groups in the nation have endorsed the use of acupuncture, especially for treating chronic pain. These groups include the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Pain Society. 

If you or someone you love is suffering from opioid dependency, give your local acupuncturist a call to make an appointment today. They will do a thorough health history and intake process to uncover the root of the problem, and not just mask the pain. End the cycle of addiction and pain with the natural healing properties acupuncture is known for.