Conditions that benefit from acupuncture treatment
In 2002, the World Health Organization published a comprehensive review and analysis of controlled clinical trials on acupuncture
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Is there scientific evidence that acupuncture works?
The answer to this question is an emphatic “YES!” there is strong scientific evidence that acupuncture works. If this is a topic that interests you, I encourage you to take ten minutes to watch this easy to understand video from my colleague Mel Hopper Koppelman, where she discusses the three types of scientific evidence that support acupuncture. Read More →
Shockingly grotesque yet amazing wonderful: the benefits of Gua Sha massage
A busy schedule, cold weather, recent stressful events, and a pillow desperately in need of replacement caused a crick in my neck that has been nagging at me for weeks. This morning I had a moment to finally take care of the problem and, in less than five minutes, I regained full range of motion and was completely free of pain using gua sha massage, which is a simple, hands-on technique that has been used in traditional Asian medicine for centuries. . The technique is painless, but it is definitely not pretty. This is what I looked... [Read more...]
Can getting your ear pierced REALLY cure migraine headaches?
A daith piercing Migraines impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. They are difficult and expensive to treat and many patients are left suffering without effective treatment. So when last week the Huffington Post published an article titled Can Daith Piercings Stop Migraines? Here’s What You Need To Know About The Growing Trend a lot of people got really excited. The Huff Po article stimulated a flurry of follow up articles (including ones with optimistic titles like This Simple Piercing Has Completely Cured People’s... [Read more...]
Acupuncture for weight loss
One of the most common questions that I hear is “does acupuncture help with weight loss?” The answer is yes, but in most cases not nearly as fast and not to the extent that most people are hoping. (I do not offer ear stapling or stimulant herbal formulas. While these methods may offer quick weight loss, they do so at the risk of serious side effects.) It is very common for people to come to me for other concerns (such as back pain, allergies, or insomnia) and, after several months of treatment, report that they have lost 20... [Read more...]
One 10-minute exercise to cure texting disease (forward head posture)
by Tom Bisio (photos by Valerie Ghent), republished with the author’s permission The Texting Disease: What is Forward Head Syndrome? A few years ago I was sitting at the computer working on a book project, and my arm went numb. The numbness rapidly became a problem in the days that followed as I noticed I was getting low grade headaches, and had difficulty turning my head. It could have been a serious neurological problem, but in fact was simply due to sitting too much, with my head forward, staring at the computer, and not maintaining... [Read more...]
Acupuncture? Dry Needling? What’s the difference?
The Academy of Otolaryngology now recommends acupuncture for the treatment of allergies
Copyright 2015 Lisa Marie Price, L.Ac. Acupuncture is now a recommended treatment for allergies by the Academy of Otolaryngology. Comprised of primary care doctors, ENT’s and patients, the group reported a lot of great discussion around the growing scientific evidence that acupuncture is effective for allergy treatment. They also explored Chinese herbal remedies as part of the new guidelines but decided against it for now. The Evidence: Why acupuncture for allergies is good science The American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy recently... [Read more...]
Think acupuncture FIRST for pain management
Acupuncture added to Joint Commission standard on pain management In January 2015 the Joint Commission published a new standard of care for pain management and officially recognized acupuncture as an effective non-drug option. This change took place following an extensive review of the scientific literature and was made in light of growing awareness in the health care community of the risks of dependency, addiction and abuse of prescription pain medications. Twice as effective and safer Each week I care for dozens of patients in pain.... [Read more...]
What you must know before you try dry needling
EDITED 05/13/2015: A previous version of this article included a section titled “A few key facts about dry needling”. This section has been removed and I now encourage interested readers to consult a detailed and authoritative discussion of the same issues by the National Center for Acupuncture Safety and Integrity (NCASI) here. To this point I have not spoken out about this issue because I didn’t want to get embroiled in an ugly fight, but it has come to the point that I cannot in good conscience remain quiet about... [Read more...]
The danger of dry needling
As I wrote about here, it is my belief that so called “dry needling” is a danger to public safety. What is dry needling? Dry needling is another name for acupuncture performed by physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists, athletic trainers, physician’s assistants, and other allied health professionals, typically after as little as 30 hours of training The video below is an excellent example of the very real risks associated with dry needling. The video shows a physician performing “deep dry... [Read more...]
Join me on Pinterest!
Are you on Pinterest? If so, let’s connect! There is some fantastic information on Pinterest, including lots of great recipes, self-care strategies, and info graphics that make healthy living easier and more fun. Please follow me so that you can stay up to date with everything I post there. Visit Live Oak Wellness Center’s profile on Pinterest. Follow Live Oak Wellness Center’s board About Me on Pinterest. Follow Live Oak Wellness Center’s board Acupressure on Pinterest. Follow Live Oak Wellness Center’s... [Read more...]
How to make stress your friend
I highly recommend taking the 15 minutes needed to watch this TED talk by health psychologist Kelly McGonigal. The gist of the talk is this: Stress, in and of itself, is not harmful to your health. What is harmful is the belief that stress is harmful to your health. According to McGonigal, properly understood, stress can be a source of empowerment, can exert a protective effect on our hearts and bodies, and can motivate us to make key social connections with others which make us physically and emotionally resilient. The problem is stress... [Read more...]
How many acupuncture treatments will I need?
How do you want to FEEL? Create goals with SOUL!
I’m like most people — this time of year I start thinking about what went well in the year past and what I want to do better next year. But if I am honest I have to say that these goals that I’ve set for myself in years past have never amounted to much — within a few weeks my commitment to exercising more, keeping a journal, and not yelling at my kids has fizzled and I’m left feeling discouraged and annoyed with myself. The Desire Map The year before last I signed up for a program called the Desire Map by... [Read more...]
How I got off hydrocodone, recovered from fibromyalgia, and got my life back
I spent nearly a decade suffering from debilitating pain and side effects from the drugs used to treat it. I was stuck — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — and I felt despair as I looked toward the future. I am now 100% off all of medications and I feel ten times better than I ever did on the pills. I feel powerful and victorious, clear-headed and free. I love it when I fill out a form and can write “none” when I’m asked what medications I take. I am free of side effects and my body is MINE again! If... [Read more...]
Trying to get off hydrocodone? Acupuncture can help
Modalities such as acupuncture and mindfulness meditation can be extremely useful in easing the process of discontinuing opiate pain medications such as hydrocodone. Contrary to what many people assume, discontinuing hydrocodone can result in better overall pain control, improved quality of life, as well as avoidance of the serious side effects associated with this drug. New DEA regulations go into effect If you or someone you love uses hydrocodone to manage chronic pain, you are probably aware that as of October 6, 2014 all hydrocodone... [Read more...]
Not getting better? Eastern medicine may help
Below is a great little video with Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about the new Chinese herbal clinic at the Cleveland Clinic. A patient with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia) is featured. The herbal clinic at the Cleveland Clinic is an exciting development because, although acupuncture is increasingly accepted and utilized at progressive medical centers around the country, Chinese herbal medicine has not been embraced to nearly the same extent. This is too bad because, in China, herbal medicine is considered the preferred modality for... [Read more...]
Three reasons to consider diluting essential oils
Many essential oil users apply oils without dilution and never experience any problems. Personally (knock on wood) I have not experienced any adverse consequences from neat (undiluted) application of essential oils, nor have members of my family. But I am always one to err on the side of caution and am aware that many of my patients fall into the category of “sensitive”. Therefore I wanted to provide guidance in this article and the previous one about who might want to consider diluting essential oils for topical use and how... [Read more...]
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