The Innova Acupuncture Blog

Get Infected!

2010-05-14T14:33:00.002-07:00

I wanted to recommend a podcast I discovered recently: Infected!

Don't be scared off by the title - it's not a podcast about contagious zombies. It's a very intelligent podcast about staying healthy in our increasingly complex society. So far in a little over twenty episodes they've covered topics as diverse as nutrition labeling facts, infertility and, of course, acupuncture.

I was especially impressed with their coverage of acupuncture. I've been practicing now for almost eleven years, and teaching oriental medicine on a graduate level for over five years. In my experience a lot of the concepts used in acupuncture are very foreign to the western mind, and students and patients alike can have difficulty grasping them. The hosts of the show were amazingly adept at explaining these concepts in a way that didn't oversimplify them but also didn't talk over people's heads.

If you want a good understanding of acupuncture I highly recommend that episode.

The most recent episode gives a lot of great info about vitamin C. They also mentioned the email I'd sent them in regards to the quality of the acupuncture episode. It was fun to get name-checked by a couple of people for whom I have a good deal of respect.

Please check out their show and let me know what you think.

At Innova, we fix shoulders, not chakras...

2010-05-12T15:16:00.004-07:00

One of the things that I think turns people off to acupuncture and Oriental medicine is that the diagnostic system sounds so wonky to our modern, scientific minds. We talk about Yin, Yang and Qi (Chi). To the average person, a lot of acupuncturists sound like they're talking about a philosophy or a belief system. Compounding this problem is that some people in my field are very dogmatic about their beliefs and try to impose them on their patients.

Is acupuncture a belief system? Do you need to change your beliefs or ideas about the world for it to work? Of course not. At its root, acupuncture is a system of healing that is very grounded and pragmatic.

At Innova Acupuncture, we try to maintain that sense of balance and grounding. Our goal is to focus on three things: what you want, what you need and how to get results quickly. When I go to my mechanic I don't need to know all the things he did to make my car run well. I just want to know it runs well. When someone walks out of my office, I'm interested in them knowing that their hip pain is gone, or that their knee injury is healing faster.

I'll always take time to answer questions about what I did for those patients interested in learning more about their body, but I don't expect my patients to be physicians or philosophers just to get better.

New Scientist recently published the results of a study about healing spinal damage using acupuncture. The study showed that the participants "in the acupuncture group also had less nerve cell death and lower levels of proteins known to induce inflammation after spinal cord injury and make neural damage worse."

Did it work because they believed in it? Well, in this study, the test subjects were rats, so I'd say their belief system didn't really come into play. Check out the article and see what you think.

Which Foods Should You Buy Organic?

2010-05-10T16:43:00.001-07:00

Found this a while back on Lifehacker.

Organic vegetables can be expensive, and when making choices about whether to buy organic or not, it makes sense to know which veggies are the most chemical-laden. Here's a blog entry about a little cheat sheet to remember which veggies are better to buy organic and which are safe to buy standard.

There's a link on the blog to a printable pdf so you can make a little handheld one to take to the store with you. I hope this is useful.

$10 Acupuncture Day Was a Huge Success

2009-08-08T15:22:00.001-07:00

Wow. I was very happy to see so many people showing up to try out our services. We couldn't accommodate everyone and had to send several people with rainchecks for $10 treatments next week. Exciting. I love being able to help people. Thanks to everyone who showed up. If you had a good experience with us we ask that you please tell your friends.

Our community clinic will be open every Wednesday, starting at 3pm and ending at 7pm, taking the last walk-in patients at 6pm and 6:15pm. No appointments necessary, just come on in. The fee for our community acupuncture is a sliding scale, $20 to $45. No paperwork, no proof of income, no hoops to jump through. Simply pay what feels most comfortable to you.

Also, because everybody was so enthusiastic about it I'm going to run a $10 Acupuncture Day on the first Wednesday of every month until the end of the year. My way of saying thanks to the community.

Last but not least, acknowledgments. Thanks again to my part time personal assistant, Elayne Arnold of The Office Alternative. She took care of a lot of the "administrivia" for me. Thanks also to George Munger and Trish Manes, two students of mine from the acupuncture college who helped with greeting and orienting people as they came in. I couldn't have done it without their help.

$10 Acupuncture Day, Wednesday August 5th

2009-07-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 5th we're launching our community acupuncture clinic with a special promotional deal: $10 acupuncture treatments from 3pm to 6pm. Walk ins are welcome. We'll be taking people in the order they arrive.

After our launch day, we'll have our community clinic open every Wednesday afternoon, from 3pm to 6pm. Community treatments are very affordable, at a sliding scale fee of $20 to $45.

So what is community acupuncture? It's acupuncture in a comfortable group setting. Innova's community clinic is small, three treatment stations, which I feel allows a practitioner to give each patient the attention they need and deserve.

Why community acupuncture? It's a way for me to give something back to the people of Phoenix. These are difficult times for a lot of people, and while I don't have a solution to the bigger issues of the cost of healthcare, I feel this is a way for me to provide a beneficial service that people need at an affordable rate.

I'm very excited about this, and I hope to see many people there.

Healthy Spirit Expo: Epilogue

2009-07-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

The Expo was a great experience. I got the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about Oriental Medicine, how it works, how it can help people, and how inexpensive and safe acupuncture is compared to pharmaceuticals for treating disease.

And now, the thanks and acknowledgments. First off, thanks to Apryl Douglass, owner of Vision Quest for putting the Expo together. She does this twice a year, and since this kind of thing takes a lot of planning it's a testament to her work ethic that everything went very smoothly.

Special thanks go to the people who helped get me up and running with this event. Elayne Arnold, of The Office Alternative, helped me with the planning. Betsy McGrew, of PMA Graphics, designed beautiful artwork for the sign for my table. The good people at Bezt Impressions printed the sign.

Several students of mine from the acupuncture college helped me during the Expo. George Munger, Trish Manes, Melanie Davis and Kim McMaster are all incredibly dedicated and enthusiastic students. I couldn't have done any of this without their help and support.

Lastly, a special shout out to Margaret Merrill, who was my neighbor for the event. She's an author, speaker and life coach, and she was there promoting spiritual retreats at the Oso Vista Ranch in New Mexico. I was highly impressed with her and the services she offered.

I had a great time and saw a lot of interesting things. Thanks again, everyone. :)

Relax Me with Acupuncture

2009-07-10T15:12:00.001-07:00

I just got back from Vision Quest Books getting set up for the Healthy Spirit Expo this weekend. The event looks like it's gonna be a blast. There are a ton of vendors and practitioners, all offering a variety of services and goods. I saw some really impressive glass altars and some nice jewelry at some of the tables.

The event starts at 10am on Saturday with a Tibetan blessing. It will be open 10am to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the vendors there will be lectures going on all day in the back room. You can get more info at the link above if you want to know the when and who of specific talks.

I'll be there doing $20 Relax Me treatments all day both days. It's a protocol treatment designed for general balancing, similar to Miriam Lee's "California Tune Up" and it's a great introduction to acupuncture if you've never tried it. It includes four points:

Kidney 3 - the source point of the Kidneys which are the root of all Qi in the body.
Spleen 6 - crossing point of the Liver, Spleen and Kidneys, to help harmonize these important organs.
Large Intestine 11 - an important point to reduce heat and inflammation.
Lung 7 - harmonizes the lungs and opens the Conception Vessel, one of the deepest pathways in the body.

Come check us out this weekend and see what acupuncture can do for you and your well-being.

Pain Meds Bad for the Liver, May Be Banned

2009-07-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has an article about the possibility of a ban on Percocet, Vicodin and a few other pain meds because of the long term damage they do to the body. From the article:

A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.

The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.

Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least seven other prescription drugs, and all of these combination pills will be banned if the Food and Drug Administration heeds the advice of its experts. Vicodin and its generic equivalents alone are prescribed more than 100 million times a year in the United States.

Read the full article here.

Something Old, Something New

2009-06-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Acupuncture is an ancient form of healing that’s been around for thousands of years, but here in the US it's still something that's new to most people. It's something that's way outside the mainstream these days. Between 2007 and 2008 the number of people who went to an acupuncturist in the US doubled, but the total number is still small - 3 million people, which is only one percent of the population.

It's nice to see that more and more people are becoming interested in acupuncture. Acupuncture is safe, effective and inexpensive, and is poised to take some of the financial burden off of our beleaguered healthcare system. In the meantime a lot of people haven’t yet had a first-hand experience with acupuncture, and I think it’s because trying something new can be intimidating. People have a lot of questions about acupuncture. The two most common are “Does it hurt?” (No) and “Does it work?” (Yes)

But words are no substitute for trying something out to see how you feel about it yourself. If you’re interested in trying acupuncture I’ll be doing introductory relaxation treatments for only $20 at the Vision Quest Bookstore on July 11 and 12 for their Healthy Spirit Expo. I’ll also be available to answer any questions you might have about the medicine like what conditions it can treat successfully. The Expo will from 10am to 5pm both days.

In addition to Innova Acupuncture, there will other practitioners and vendors with a variety of goods and services at the Expo. Follow the link above and click the “Events” link to get more info. It looks to be a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing you all there.

A Little More About Food (Book Recommendation )

2009-05-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a book recommendation for anyone interested in learning more about eating a balanced diet: Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford. The book looks at food using the traditional Chinese diagnostic system and helps you determine the right foods to eat for your best possible health. It's a great resource for people who want to learn how to eat in a way that keeps the body balanced.

Some Good Advice on Eating Well

2009-05-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Here's a great article entitled 10 Commandments for Dropping 10 Pounds & 10 Years. There's a few good rules of thumb here for eating so that you stay healthy. My fave is the application of the "80-20 Rule" to eating:

Eat healthy 80 percent of the time - the other 20 percent - eat whatever the hell you like (but not after 9pm). The whole point of eating well for the long term (your whole life) is knowing that you can also have whatever you want sometimes and that yes, a little bit of what you fancy really does do you good. So - how about eating healthy Monday to Friday and saving the fun for the weekend? Works for me.

I love this advice because often we think about whether food is "good" or "bad" while the truth is that in most cases the food itself isn't good or bad. It's about quantities. Too much sugar is bad for you. Not enough vitamins and minerals is bad for you. Take care of yourself most of the time and your body will have no problem staying healthy and well.

Healthcare is Broken, Part 1

2009-04-24T07:56:00.003-07:00

One of the issues I have with healthcare in modern society is that the main thrust seems to be disaster management. That's not bad in an acute emergency, but for chronic disorders and for actual true health, that mentality doesn't do us any good.

Having a body is a big responsibility. A lot of things can go wrong with it over the eighty or ninety years it's in our possession. And while it's important to take care of your body, there are a lot of things that are part of a normal human existence that can harm us. The key is to find a way to enjoy the good things in life while minimizing any detrimental impact it has on your health.

That's what I see as my purpose: to help you enjoy your life as much as possible. Often the role of western medicine is to fly in in an emergency and provide a stopgap, leaving you with the responsibility of cleaning up the mess left behind. That's where acupuncture can really help - it can help to strengthen your body and deal with problems before they become disasters, and it can help to rebuild the body after an emergency medical situation.

Acupuncture is thousands of years old, and yet it's also on the forefront of change in modern times. Healthcare is broken and we need better ways to care for ourselves. Take care of yourself and enjoy life.

Acupuncture Featured on Good Morning America

2009-04-05T06:41:00.005-07:00

This morning there was an interesting feature on Good Morning America about parents taking children to acupuncturists. Watch the five minute video - it's very interesting and has some footage of acupuncture being done for those of you who've never seen it before.

Check it out.

Healing and Judgements

2009-03-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched the TV show House? If not let me give you a little backstory. The character, Dr. House, is a brilliant diagnostician, but he's also verbally abusive and judgmental to most everyone around him; patients, family members of patients, other doctors, his boss, his friends, everyone.

One of the themes of the show is House's assertion that "everybody lies" and of course this becomes a main part of the drama each week as he and his team attempt to figure out what's going on with a rapidly deteriorating patient. The point being that if your doctor doesn't have all the facts, diagnosis is more difficult. And each week House inevitably is proven right - usually somebody was lying to someone about something.

This got me thinking about some things, specifically about the dynamics of health care. Sometimes people lie, and when it comes to diagnosis, not having all the facts can make the job much harder. But the irritable Dr. House has forgotten something important - it takes two to tango. Nobody like being judged, and if you constantly stand in judgment of others, of course they're going to lie to you.

True healing happens when trust exists between patient and practitioner. One of the most important things I try to impart to all my patients, and to remember for my own well being and sanity, is that while a person's health is their responsibility, it isn't their fault. Does that sentence make sense? If not read it again: a person's health is their responsibility; it isn't their fault.

Giant Acupuncture Sculpture Commissioned in Pittsburgh

2009-03-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

A contemporary art museum in Pittsburgh, PA has commissioned a giant sculprture entitled Acupuncture made up of "six cold-cathode light bars (averaging 100 feet in length) that seemingly pierce through the building’s exterior walls and roof."

Read the article here. You'll especially want to check out the concept pic - it's great.

Placebo? Ask Your Dog...

2009-03-10T18:31:00.003-07:00

An interesting article was published recently in U.S. News and World Report about the success of acupuncture used to treat animals. Here's an excerpt:

After surgery for a ruptured disk two years ago, Nelly's legs remained extremely weak. She could barely move, became lethargic and lost her appetite.

Things were looking grim, but then a concerned friend took the 10-year-old to an acupuncturist, who treated her three times in half-hour sessions.

"Almost immediately after the first treatment, Nelly's energy went from zero to 100," recalled that friend, Annie Washburn, who works as a community organizer in New York City. Nelly became more mobile, ate more and resumed regular bowel movements. "She bounced back in a way that seemed miraculous," Washburn said.

It's a story that might be familiar to people who've benefited from the ancient healing technique. But Nelly, who lives with Washburn, is a frisky, fluffy bichon frise.

I don't treat animals. I like to leave that to the vets. The thing I really like about animal acupuncture is that it challenges the argument that acupuncture is a complex placebo. (Or possibly our pets understand much more English than they're letting on, and we'd all better watch what we say around them.)

;)

Acupuncture Successful For Tension Headaches

2009-03-04T10:06:00.002-07:00

I just read an interesting article about the use of acupuncture to treat tension headaches. Here's the important text:

In those studies that compared acupuncture treatment to no/routine care, 47 percent of patients receiving acupuncture reported a decrease in the number of headache days by at least 50 percent, compared to 16 percent of patients receiving either no or routine care.

Read the full article at Acupuncture Today.

New Services and Prices

2009-03-03T15:41:00.007-07:00

Here's a list of the new services and prices that we're offering at our new location:

Community Acupuncture

Acupuncture treatments in a comfortable yet cost-effective setting of two to three people. Great for general health problems such as headaches, allergies, fatigue, stress, aches and pains and much more. Treatments typically last 30 to 60 minutes. Sliding scale fee of $15 to $45, with a $12 paperwork fee for the first visit.

Med Spa Acupuncture

Private acupuncture treatments designed to be relaxing while tailored to specific goals. Treatments are approximately a half hour long. Cost is $60, with a one-time paperwork fee of $12 for the first visit.

Relax Me: Treatment designed to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Great for increasing energy, clarity, circulation and productivity.

Restore Me: Treatment designed to break habits that keep you from feeling your best. Great for quitting smoking and breaking compulsions.

Reduce Me: Treatment designed to reduce cravings and boost metabolism. Great for weight loss leading to a happier, healthier you.

Private Acupuncture Consultation

A private, one-on-one consultation to review your health history and to address any questions about what’s ailing you. This setting allows acupuncture treatments to be combined with additional modalities such as bodywork, heat therapy, electro-stim and herbal topicals for conditions that require them. Internal herbal formulas may be prescribed when appropriate. Treatments last 60 minutes and cost $85 (first visit $120).

Innova’s New Location

2009-03-01T10:49:00.002-07:00

I’m very excited. It’s March First, and Innova Acupuncture has a brand new home.

The new address is:

10221 N 32 St Suite B
Phoenix, AZ 85028

The phone number for making appointments is still the same:

(602) 451.6735

Our brand new, official email address is:

info [at] innovaacupuncture.com

Our hours have expanded as well:

We’ll be seeing patients four days a week, Tuesday through Friday.

We have a bunch of new services and price points:

More info on this will be rolled out over the next week.

Less is More in Oriental Medicine

2009-02-10T09:23:00.004-07:00

The longer I'm in the business of healing, the more I believe in the principle of "less is more." The way this plays out in terms of treatment of disease in my practice is to always use the least invasive modality possible for each treatment. This means that acupuncture is almost always used as the primary strategy in any treatment. Of all the tools in my toolbox, acupuncture provides the best benefit for most conditions.

Herbs are something I use sparingly these days. I'm a total geek for Chinese Herbology - I find it incredibly interesting and exciting - but herbs have a few detriments when compared to acupuncture. Many Chinese Herbal formulas are complex, and tend to be more focused in their approach, with less overall beneficial effects than acupuncture.

Many of the people who come to see me are on prescription medicines from their doctors, or are taking vitamins and other natural nutritional supplements like Goji Juice (which comes from a Chinese herb). Adding more substances into the body, even beneficial ones like herbs, can sometimes tax an overwhelmed system, or cause unexpected interactions.

For these reason I prescribe herbs only for short periods of time. The overall intention when I treat a patient is to get the body back to a place of health and balance without a need for a daily dose of pills.

US Military to Use Acupuncture

2009-02-06T09:15:00.014-07:00

The US Air Force is training their physicians to use acupuncture for our troops. The decision was made after an extensive study the Pentagon made in 2008 about the efficacy of alternative healing methods to treat combat stress.

Read the article here.

Using The Right Tool For The Job

2009-01-28T17:25:00.059-07:00

On the TV show Home Improvement, Tim was always looking for a tool with more power because using powerful tools can be a blast. The problem is that more power isn't always a good thing, and Al inevitably learned each week that if you use a jackhammer to hang a picture on the wall, you can do a lot more damage than good.

Western pharmaceuticals are kind of like that jackhammer. They're great tools for some jobs, but not everything requires that much power. Lipitor may reduce your cholesterol in the short term but can cause a lot of damage to the liver in the long run. Lipitor in and of itself is not a bad thing; some people require a strong medication. But what about someone with a mild problem, something that isn't immediately life-threatening? Is it worth the risk to use the big guns on every problem?

One of the areas where acupuncture is very successful is cardiovascular disorders. Chronic health problems like high cholesterol and high blood pressure respond very well to treatment with acupuncture with the added benefit of not having the side effects of strong medications. We here at Innova Acupuncture can work along side your regular physician to help you receive the best care possible with the least possible risk to your own health.

Mayo Clinic Uses Acupuncture

2009-01-26T09:28:00.008-07:00

Here's an interesting article by Dr. Ron Reimer, a neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic, talking about his experience and the experiences of other physicians using acupuncture to help their patients.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Dorsher, who has the most active acupuncture practice, has treated more than 1,000 patients with it in the past seven years. One of them is Jim Catlett.

Catlett struggled with constant neck and left arm pain for years after a severe, 1995 car accident. Even a daily dose of a powerful narcotic analgesic didn't dull the pain and allow him to function normally. Sleep was elusive. When his doctor suggested acupuncture, he was skeptical. That changed after his first treatment.

"I slept solidly for the first time in years," says Catlett, 57, "and I didn't need to take my medicine for several days."

When the pain returned, he went back for more treatments, and the length of pain-free time increased after each visit. Now he goes in for a 30-minute treatment every three weeks and only takes a low-dose aspirin daily. He even plays tennis again.

"I couldn't be more pleased," he says. "I'm back as I was before, and I'm thrilled." His success impressed his daughter so much that she enrolled in acupuncture school after graduating from college.

The success rate for acupuncture is fairly consistent, says Dorsher. About 40 percent of patients have a dramatic response, 40 percent see good results and about 20 percent don't respond much.

When the topic of acupuncture comes up, a lot of people ask, "Does it work?" That last sentence is the answer: physicians at Mayo report an eighty percent success rate with acupuncture. Check out the rest of the article for more good info on some of the things that acupuncture can treat successfully. Acupuncture is a great modality that can help with many health problems and I look forward to helping as many people as possible with it.

Welcome

2009-01-08T15:37:00.007-07:00

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
- Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961

"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."
- Innova Acupuncture philosophy for 2009

The future I envision involves a marriage of ancient knowledge and wisdom with modern sensibilities and ideas. Creating the future is like packing for a vacation: the experience you have on the trip is directly affected by what you take with you and what you leave behind. The future we create is directly affected by what we bring with us from the past, and what we choose to leave there.

A lot of people are worried about the economy, but history shows us that tough times can bring people together and that it stimulates innovation and creativity. We have the past to guide us, and the new information we gain about the world everyday to carry us forward. It's pretty exciting.

Welcome to the official Innova Acupuncture blog and thanks for reading. If you enjoy reading what I write, please tell a friend about my blog.