“You’re trying too hard.  Just relax and it will happen.”   Ever heard that from family or friends?  Well, theoretically they weren’t that far off, but no one has found a magic switch in your brain that you can flip and suddenly feel cool as a cucumber and stress free, so their well-meaning advice is highly impractical. 
 ”Trying too hard” may play a role in up to 30% of all infertility issues.  We humans are designed to deal with a certain amount of stress, but it is chronic stress that seems to hinder our fertility. 
What is stress?  Well, it’s not a specific event and we aren’t always aware of it, but it causes a distinct physiological response in the body.  Even though you tell yourself “I’m not stressed, because stress is bad for my fertility”, it’s hard to fool your brain.  If you are experiencing stress in any form (poor eating habits, too much or too little exercise, overworking, not sleeping), your hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls the release of hormones, is keeping a running score.   So, “just relax!” is easier said than done, right? 
There are many ways in which we can seek stress relief – lifestyle changes, psychotherapy, yoga, meditation.  Perhaps one of the most effective ways is through acupuncture. 
How does acupuncture help?  There are two ways to answer that question – traditional or modern.  In other words, from the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) point of view or the modern allopathic (Western) medical approach. 
Classical Chinese medical philosophy describes channels of energy called Qi (pronounced “chee”) that run through our bodies.  They may be compared to rivers that course through the body to nourish the tissues and organs.  Any disruption in the free flow of Qi is like a dam in the river, which leads to physical and emotional imbalances or illness.  By needling specific acupuncture points on the body, that dam can be cleared and the flow of energy re-established. 
The Western scientific explanation is perhaps easier for our modern, stressed-out, workaday brains to comprehend.  The truth is that there are a handful of very plausible theories, but no single one can explain how acupuncture effectively treats so many different ailments, so let’s focus on what we can prove about acupuncture and stress-relief. 
Acupuncture increases the amount of beta-endorphins flowing through the body.  Beta-endorphins are the feel-good hormones.  Anyone who has ever experienced a “runners high,” has experienced this release of beta-endorphins. 
Interestingly, a research study at the University of California- Irvine used MRIs to look at the brain while patients received acupuncture treatment.  When a point on the little toe was used to address eye pain, because that point is on the channel that is connected to the eye, amazingly the part of the brain that regulates vision lit up on the MRI. 
My patients often ask me how acupuncture works, and it can be very difficult to explain.  The research on acupuncture and infertility is ongoing.  Many of the previous studies were too small to prove any significant results, and some studies even contradict each other.  This is partly due to the fact that TCM looks at each person as an individual.  There is no one particular treatment for everyone, so in order to perform randomized, double-blinded, repeatable studies, we must somewhat go against the grain of TCM and treat everyone the same.  Even when operating within the Western medical context of study protocols, a statistically significant positive relationship between acupuncture and ART outcomes is shown.  
More specifically, current acupuncture research has shown:
• Improved pregnancy rates during IVF treatment cycles
• Increased blood flow to the uterus
• Reduced stress and anxiety levels
In the most recent edition of the textbook Infertility and Assisted Reproduction (Cambridge University Press, 2008), an entire chapter is devoted to the impact of TCM on reproductive outcomes in the treatment of infertile couples (Magarelli, Cridennda, Cohen, pp. 576-603).  In short, integrating acupuncture into IVF may improve reproductive outcomes in the following ways:
• Fewer Miscarriages
• Fewer Ectopics
• More Pregnancies
• Fewer Multiples
• More Take Home Babies
According to Gabor Mate, M.D. (author of When the Body Says No, pub. John Wiley & Sons, 2003), three major stressors that can change your body are:
1. Loss of control
2. Lack of information or uncertainty
3. Emotional isolation (suppressing emotion, always doing for others, feeling alone)
That describes most of you who are on this fertility journey.  Find ways to help relieve the stressors in your world in order to allow your body to focus on your dream of having a healthy baby.  Acupuncture is one proven and effective way to do just that. 

Read the rest of this entry

If you have had some episodes of panic before when you hyperventilated and had cold sweats, you are probably wondering (and dreading) when it would happen again.  The first thing to do is dispel the thought.  In order to stop panic attack now,you should perform preventive measures and not get too worked-up anticipating the event that may not even come.  In fact, did you know that excessive anticipation of panic attacks can actually lead to a disorder?  You definitely would not want this to happen because it only means escalating the condition a great deal.  Now, to help you cope with unnecessary distress, there are some things you can do.

First, you should know that it’s very hard to exactly pinpoint what causes panic episodes.  In some, it can be a certain stressful situation—an illness, an accident, or a traumatic experience.  To be able to start on the right track, the initial step is to talk to your doctor.  Tell him/her what is going on.  He or she is in the position to tell whether it’s best that you to take some medications, see a therapist, or do other things to stop panic attack now.Trust that he or she knows what he or she is doing.  If a therapy is recommended, don’t get cold feet.  Do it!

Read the rest of this entry

Severe depression treatment may seem difficult to treat because of the sheer scope of the condition, but in truth, the treatment for debilitating depression is really very similar to that for less severe forms. It’s all about achieving a balance between mind and body in order to create a sense of emotional well being.

Major depression is characterized by the same symptoms as other types of depression, including feelings of unhappiness, irritability, mood swings, and abnormal eating and sleeping patterns. What distinguishes major depression is the duration of those symptoms. In the most severe cases, symptoms can last for weeks or even months at a time. Alternative treatments for severe depression focus on relieving those symptoms by treating the body as a whole.

Read the rest of this entry

Electronic Cigarette Cartridges Last

Introduction

Read the rest of this entry

The issue of how to deal with depression is more important than you might think. I recently wrote to you on the subject of male depression because it is such an unrecognized but serious issue. The World Health Organization has predicted that by the year 2030, more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem. Not good news.

We’ve explored why men are at risk:

Read the rest of this entry

Since it is affordable and the treatment itself is safe, natural and not quite painless, this gives you more reason to consider going for acupuncture infertility treatment. During the entire acupuncture infertility treatment, you won’t even feel any discomfort. The essence of acupuncture is the need for the right and precise needle placement. In order to stimulate a positive response in the body, the premise of this alternative form of treatment is to hit the right spots.

Needles used are made of steel, iron steel, copper or silver. Among these needles, it is the silver needles that cost very expensive but have antiseptic and anti-infection effects. Much less sensation can be derived from needles that are sharp even at the microscopic level. Easily slide into the body are needles that are silicone coated. Acupuncture does not work in a manner that is easily figured out. The person doing the acupuncture might insert needles in the rim of a person’s ear to treat an entirely different part of the body.

Read the rest of this entry

Throughout the past 33 years in private practice, hundreds of women have told me they felt that their current health problems started soon after the birth of their child. The child may have been her first or fifth, and might now be a teenager or even a grown man or woman, but the mother remembers the postpartum onset of her symptoms as if it were yesterday.

The symptoms that usually start within the first to twelfth postpartum months vary widely among mothers. A few of the most common are despondency and despair, chronic fatigue, sleeplessness, anxiousness, lack of confidence, loss of sex drive and passion, muscle and joint pains, unhealthy skin, hair and nails, digestive disturbances, bladder problems, heart disease, trouble breathing, and a host of troubling emotions and moods swings. A woman can be puzzled, frustrated, even embarrassed when she reveals symptoms that have plagued her for years. She may have shared her self–observations with doctors only to find that they were not worthy of an acknowledgment or comforting comment from her physician. Any attempt on her part to connect the birth of one of her children with those symptoms may have been met with skepticism or passed over. Yet, she can’t shake the feeling that something about that particular birth began her health decline.

Read the rest of this entry

Anxiety is a common disorder suffered by millions of people. Without much hope, many are turning towards acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine.

Research has shown that acupuncture, a treatment based on Chinese medicine, effectively treats anxiety. Acupuncture and anxiety are the perfect partners to deal with and treat anxiety problems by alternative means. A life full of anxiety is really challenging because it affects one’s behavior and lifestyle. Sometimes, a person may face a very difficult situation resulting to his or her ultimate desire to escape reality.

Read the rest of this entry

Stress is a common problem and most of us tend to face it at some point or the other in our lives. There are several reasons for this. The reasons include tough competition, the need to make more money and problems related to relationships.

Read the rest of this entry

In today’s life everybody is so engaged in earning money and beat their rivals that they hardly fid any time for themselves and their family. He works more than his capacity. As a result of that, he becomes the victim of stress. This stress affects their health I negative way. For this they run to doctors who suggest them allopathic treatment which suppresses the stress symptoms but make the body immune system weak and more prone to disease.

Thankfully we have a safe method to overcome this stress in our body i.e. acupuncture treatment. This treatment is a Chinese healing art that uses superfine needles inserted in body parts. According to its theory, an energy flows through our body in the channels known as meridians. These meridians lie all along the length and breath of body and are associated with all the body organs thus providing them energy. On these meridians lie the acupuncture points which have association with one or the other body organ. In the situations of stress, blood and energy flow is restricted which results in stagnation.

Read the rest of this entry