Hello dear readers,

Many people ask me if there is any treatment for striae (stretch marks), through Acupuncture and other Traditional Chinese Medicine resources.

According to the Brazilian Dermatology Society, stretch marks are defined as cutaneous atrophies acquired when the collagenous elastic fibers (responsible for skin firmness) break and create “scars”.

These fibers may break due to big distension on the skin, such as growth spurt in children and teenagers, weight gain or pregnancy.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the organ responsible by the skin strength and resistance is the Lung. Therefore, we may say that we can’t treat stretch marks without strengthening this organ. Thus, first of all, we suggest the use of Systemic points LU7 and LU9 combined with Lung point in auriculotherapy.

However, there are also treatments done with needles directly on the stretch mark spot. In order to stimulate collagen production on the affected place, the needles are introduced through the stretch mark inner part, being a young striae (pink-ish) or an already structurated striae (white). The needles must remain on the spot for at least 20 minutes. Also, sometimes may be necessary to use many needles in the same stretch mark. Where the needle ends, the practitioner needs to introduce another, this way covering all problem’s extension.

Acupuncture needles deliver blood, oxygen and nutrients to the treatment spot, thus having the ability of easing striae appearance.

To make the treatment even stronger, the acupuncturist may add stimulus to the needles that are inside, such as moxibustion in order to heat them up, or using electroacupuncture. Moxibustion may be done with a stick, heating up the needle body or the region where it’s introduced. Everytime the patient say “it’s hot” we must change the application point. However in electroacupuncture, stimulus should be pulsed, within patient limit, keeping in mind that the patient must never feel pain or uncomfortable..

It’s also important that the patient is aware of everything that affects skin or Lung, everything that may create an energy imbalance that generates striae such as: excessive sun without sunscreen and smoking habit.

Therapy diet is also very important, in this instance, as a matter of avoiding that new striae show up. Neutral aliments from the Metal Element chart must be consumed frequently in order to let Lung strong and fulfil it’s objective of protecting and strengthening the skin. Such foods are found in the tables at the link below:

https://www.facilitatingacupuncture.com/therapeutic-food-tables/

What we should expect, in the majority of cases, is that the stretch marks become thinner, clearer and less apparent. Pink-ish striae frequently disappears. White striae just have a improvement on it’s appearance, with lines slightly thinned and clearer. But, with no doubt, the treatment will leave your patient extremely satisfied.

Hope that you liked it, and that this helped you develop the best treatment.

My warmest regards.

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Hello readers!

Today let’s talk about an interesting theme: how to treat trigger finger.

Trigger Finger is basically the maintenance of the articulation in an inflected position, due to the affected finger tendon inflammation and stiffness.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, nourishment and good functioning of tendons relies on a good Liver functioning, thus, everytime we are going to treat a patient that suffers from trigger finger, we must tone and nourish the Liver.

For that purpose, I suggest the points: LV3, LV8, GB34 and GB39.

In auriculotherapy, besides the Liver we should also work on points related with the pathology itself, such as Fist, Hand and Hand Fingers points.

In Chinese Diet Therapy, fresh aliments for the Wood Element may be of big help in order to stop inflammation in the joints and interrupting the disease evolution. Some of these foods are: strawberry, chicory, radish, apple, pear, etc…

You can find the complete food chart here: https://www.facilitatingacupuncture.com/therapeutic-food-tables/

When we are treating trigger finger, we also use a category of points named “Baxie Points” these points are located in the fold of each one of finger phalanx, in order to use needles we need to insert it in a subcutaneous matter, adequate needle size being 18x8mm (tsing needles) or even minor needles. Such points, just like others, shall be in the patient body for 20 minutes.

Baxie points, due to them being local treatment points, will help with easing inflammation, nourishing the tissue, pain (case there is any) and also improves movement amplitude. May also be treated with magnets.

In many occasions, trigger fingers are consequences from rheumatic diseases, such as artritis, artrosis, etc…. Those diseases, however, are related to the Kidney, in Chinese Medicine. Therefore, besides all already said protocol, the therapist must protect the patient’s Kidney.

To strengthen Kidney and bones, I suggest the points: KI3, KI7 ,BL52, BL23.

Neutral aliments for Water Element will help slow down the disease. And in auriculotherapy we will use Kidney points, besides the ones previously mentioned.

When trigger finger is diagnosed early, acupuncture has excellent results, not only in a situation improvement but also healing the patient. However, when there is already articulation deformity caused by trigger finger, the treatment is longer, but shall return life quality to the patient even if cure is out of sight.

Let’s treat it?

Hope that this was useful!

A big tight hug!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Hello Readers!

Today we are going to talk scientifically about Covid-19 related to Diabetes and Acupuncture.

According to Gupta, R. et al (2020), in an article published in the journal Elsevier, it cannot be said that a diabetic patient is more susceptible to contracting Covid-19, however, there is a real risk that the disease will be more serious and lead to death patients with diabetes as a basic comorbidity. The numbers shown in the article are:

• In a study of 26 fatal cases, 42.3% of the patients were diabetic.
• Another study showed that of 150 people (68 deaths and 82 recovered) diabetes could be a danger alert for Covid-19 complications.
• In 72314 cases an analysis showed that diabetic people raise Covid-19’s mortality statistics from 2.3% to 7.3%.

The Brazilian Society of Endocrinology, in March 2020, cited that diabetic patients infected with Covid-19 may have a lack of appetite, spend long periods without food and even, under the use of pain medications, fever, among others, can easily deregulate blood glucose levels. Thus, the recommendation is for the control of measures to be done more frequently.

Scientific studies of Acupuncture point out that the point E36 and VC12 are important allies in the control of blood glucose in patients suffering from diabetes. Kumar, R. et al (2017) mentioned in their article that VC12 stimulation immediately lowers glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Peplow, P. and Baxter, D. (2012) showed that the point VC12 and E36 when stimulated for an average of 30 minutes using electroacupuncture between 2 and 15Hz decreases blood glucose in humans and rats.

Based on this knowledge, would it be possible to help diabetic patients with Covid-19 inside hospitals, using the acupuncture points already studied with confirmation of their effectiveness? Would Acupuncture be a more natural glycemic control resource for patients who are hospitalized and need constant control? Would it be a safe technique, since excess medication can lead to hyperglycemia?

Currently, in Brazil, Acupuncture has no regulation. This means that visits within hospitals with this technique are not allowed or recognized. It is known that in Wuhan, the region where Covid-19 had its starting point for the world, Coronavirus treatments included, for the most part, Traditional Chinese Medicine resources, not only acupuncture points, but also herbal medicine, moxa therapy , among others, associated with western care.

It is necessary, that acupuncturists unite to show the effectiveness of the technique not only in its positive results reported by the patients, but also with scientific bases so that, in cases of great pandemics, we can help the patients also in the front line.

As long as this does not happen, we can continue using VC12 and E36 in diabetic patients, in our office, who are not contaminated with Covid-19, with the intention of helping with treatments to stabilize blood glucose and help with endocrine treatments of traditional Western medicine.

The benefits of acupuncture are certain. The more balanced a patient is in times of serious and opportunistic illnesses, the greater his chances of not being contaminated. And if contamination occurs, it is certain that your recovery will be faster.

There is no doubt that Acupuncture is a solid and safe way to protect the population.

A big hug to everyone.

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Bibliographic references:

• Clarification Notes from the Brazilian Diabetes Society on the coronavirus (Covid-19): https://www.diabetes.org.br/PROFISSIONAIS/
• Clinical considerations for patients with diabetes in times of COVID-19
  epidemic: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339818286_Considerations_for_Patients_with_Diabetes_in_Times_of_COVID-19_Epidemic
• Electroacupuncture for Control of Blood Glucose in Diabetes: Literature Review: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290111000641
• Immediate Effect of Needling at CV-12 (Zhongwan) Acupuncture Point on Blood Glucose Level in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Pilot Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290117300523

Good morning readers!

Today the subject is serious and interesting! Let’s talk about stomach reduction surgery, also known as bariatric surgery and how Chinese medicine sees the consequences of this process.

This type of surgery is indicated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), for patients with BMI above 35 kg / m² who have complications such as sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes, increased blood fats and joint problems, or for patients with a BMI greater than 40 kg / m² who have not been successful in losing weight after two years of clinical treatment (including the use of medications).

In other words, it is not cosmetic surgery, and it is indicated carefully for those who are already having severe damage to health.

In this surgery, part of the stomach is isolated, decreasing its ability to receive food for digestion, causing, consequently, the patient to eat less and become drastically thin.

It is indisputable that the patient who performs this surgery has health benefits, but with less food intake, there is also less absorption of proteins, vitamins, minerals. And so, other health problems can arise, such as anemia, early osteoporosis among others.

But how does Chinese medicine see this process and how can it help people who have undergone bariatric surgery?

In Chinese Medicine, the Stomach is the organ that produces body fluids, the Jin Ye, which fluidize mucous membranes, generate tears, sweat, etc. It is also the main digestive organ, which sends the matured and decomposed food to the Spleen to transform Gu Qi (food energy) and thus the energy transformation chain goes through other organs. In this text, we will focus on the functioning of these two organs after bariatrics.

As the bariatric patient manages to consume only between 10 and 30% of the foods he was able to consume before the surgery, the Stomach will suffer in its functions, as it will no longer have the energy it had previously to function.

Stomach Qi Deficiency causes: dry mouth, dry eyes, dry skin and vagina, hunger without wanting to eat, weakness muscles, reflux, changes in bowel function.

And as the Stomach receives less food, less raw material will also pass for the Spleen to function, which results in Deficient Qi and later Deficient Blood Spleen, which generates symptoms of: muscle weakness, impaired memory (lack of memory , lapses, difficulty in attention), sagging skin and muscles, chronic tiredness, loose stools, ptosis of organs, among other consequences.

With a weak Spleen, the entire energy transformation chain in the body will be compromised, and in the medium / long term, other organs such as the Lung, Kidney, Liver and Heart may be affected. Thus, problems such as decreased breathing capacity on physical exertion, sudden drops in blood pressure, difficulty in digesting fats, hair loss, brittle nails, may also appear.

As bariatric surgery is always indicated for patients who will really benefit their health, greater than the harm caused by it, the acupuncturist who receives a patient who underwent stomach reduction surgery in his office must ALWAYS strengthen the Stomach and the Spleen, trying not only to avoid / improve the symptoms mentioned above, but also to avoid breaking the energy transformation in the body.

They are suggested as points to strengthen the Stomach and Spleen: ST-36, ST-41, BL-21, BL-6, SP-2, SP-3, BL-20, BL-49.

In auriculotherapy, Stomach, Spleen, Pancreas, Metabolism points can be used.

And in therapeutic food, neutral foods from the Earth element should be used.

Chinese herbs should be used when the conventional treatment of acupuncture + therapeutic feeding is not enough.

A dietary re-education accompanied by a nutritionist and hormonal monitoring by the endocrinologist must always be performed in conjunction with acupuncture.

The treatment with acupuncture in these cases is extensive, and should be performed at least one session per week, for 3 to 6 months after surgery and then the patient is reassessed for discharge.

That’s it, I hope you liked it and that it was a very useful text.

A big hug for everyone!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Good Morning Readers!  
Today the text will be about the view of Traditional Chinese Medicine regarding varicose veins.

Varicose veins are dilated and deformed, purple-blue veins that appear along the legs and can cause pain and swelling. Its occurrence is more common in people who need to stand for long periods.

The veins in the legs, which bring blood back to the heart after irrigating the lower limbs, have valves whose purpose is to prevent blood from returning to the feet by the action of gravity. Sometimes, these valves do not work efficiently and blood pools in the veins causing deformation, swelling and changes in skin sensitivity.

For Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are two organs responsible for maintaining blood circulation: the Spleen and the Heart.

The Spleen has the function of keeping the blood vessels strong, preventing blood leaks and bruising. The force of the venous return valves is Spleen responsibility.

When the Spleen is weakened, there is an inability of the valves to propel the blood upwards, thus, it will stagnate in the veins, giving rise to varicose veins.

Factors that weaken the Spleen are:

• Excess milk, dairy products, white sugar and flour products
• Excessive physical activity
• Excessive worry and anxiety.

The Heart, on the other hand, has the function of maintaining the blood flow of the vessels, and when it is weakened, it ends up decreasing the circulation causing the blood to stop inside them. This stagnation of blood is a cause of varicose veins.

Factors that weaken the Heart are:

• Excess of cold food such as melon and watermelon.
• Excessive mental agitation / anxiety
• Emotional shocks
• Large blood losses (such as accidents or surgeries).

In addition to the aforementioned organs related to varicose veins, there is also a genetic factor, which Chinese Medicine associates with an imbalance in the Kidney’s Yin energy.

Knowing the causes of varicose veins in Chinese Medicine, it is possible to suggest treatments that will improve blood circulation and mitigate varicose veins, however, large ones will not be cured by acupuncture.

To strengthen the Spleen, the following points are recommended: SP-2, SP-3, SP-8 and SP-10.

To strengthen the Heart, points are recommended: HT-9, HT-7 and HT-5.

As already known from other texts, roots and dark green vegetables help to strengthen the Spleen and blood circulation. Bitter foods help in strengthening the Heart.

It is recommended that the patient take walks of at least 30 minutes to stimulate blood circulation. Patients who remain standing for many hours should stretch at least 30 seconds 3x a day to relax their muscles and promote a more harmonious flow of blood. In contrast, patients who remain seated for a long time should get up for 5 minutes every 1 or 2 hours to reactivate blood flow.

Massages performed on feet soles and calves also help to improve blood circulation. It is said that in the calf is our “second heart” and that it helps to propel the blood in its venous return. Thus, keeping the calf elongated and at the same time strong, without points of muscle tension, will help in the prevention and improvement of varicose veins.

So that’s it folks. Keeping the Spleen and Heart strong, varicose veins will be softened and prevented from new formations.

A big hug to everyone!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Good morning readers!

In response to several requests, today I am going to write a little about a disease that scares many people: Depression.

For Western Medicine, Depression is a chronic and recurrent psychiatric illness that produces a change in mood characterized by profound and endless sadness associated with feelings of pain, bitterness, disenchantment, hopelessness, low self-esteem and guilt, as well as disorders sleep and appetite.

For Chinese Medicine, the main organ involved in Depression is the Heart.

According to orientals, the Heart is the residence of the mind, known as “Shen”, and Depression is an imbalance of Shen. Furthermore, all feelings, whether good or bad, become the Heart.

According to the theory of the 5 Elements, each organ is affected by a feeling, namely:

Heart – Joy, Happiness

Spleen- Concern

Lung – Sadness

Kidney – Fear (survival instinct)

Liver – Anger

However, it is not the organs that produce these feelings. The Eastern theory assumes that there are “emotional matrices” that are decoded in the Heart. That is, the Heart identifies sadness and sadness affects the Lung or the Heart identifies concern and concern affects the Spleen and so on.

For this reason, Depression is a mixture of emotional matrices, erroneously decoded by the Heart, generating a mix of feelings of all kinds and most of the times, very bad for the patient.

Based on this information, the first step in treating Depression according to Traditional Chinese Medicine is to harmonize the functioning of the Heart.

For this, the points HT-7, HT-5, PC-7 and PC-6 are essential, as they calm the mind and unblock its orifices. Adding these two functions together, the points will not only keep the individual calm, but will also open up the possibility of new thoughts that will help to see the problem of depression as if they were seeing outside of it.

Depressive patients find it difficult to see the problem as it actually presents, so giving the possibility of self-assessment without being in a state of mental confusion is extremely beneficial.

In addition to Systemic Acupuncture points, maintaining auriculotherapy treatment is also of paramount importance. For this, ear points: “Heart”, “Tension” and “Anxiety” have an excellent indication.

Maintaining a good diet, with foods that make the Heart maintain good energy is also part of the treatment. For that, according to the Chinese Therapeutic Food, neutral and warm foods from the Fire element table, such as chamomile, beets and egg yolk, are indicated.

The complete table of therapeutic foods you can find here on the Blog:

https://www.facilitatingacupuncture.com/therapeutic-food-tables/

There are many types of depression, which affect other organs besides the Heart, for this reason, we will approach this same subject in other opportunities, with different approaches.

A big hug to everyone.

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Hello Readers!

Today I am going to write about Phantom Pain.

Phantom pain is pain related to amputations, which can be of two types.

– Phantom limb pain – Unpleasant sensation in the limb that no longer exists due to amputation.

– Pain in the amputation stump – Related to the place where the limb was amputated (stump).

In Western medicine, these pains have little explanation and most of them refer to a sensation generated by neurons that are distributed throughout the body.

In Chinese Medicine, the phantom pain happens because despite the amputation, the energy of that member continues to exist, as in the case of removed internal organs, such as Spleen, Vesicle, Uterus, among others.

We will give the example of the organs. In Chinese Medicine, when you remove an organ, the energy meridian that passes through it continues to exist, so, even if its physical part no longer exists, the functions of this organ, in part, continue to exist because who coordinates them is the energy of the meridian that passes through there. In some cases, the patient may experience symptoms of deficiency of the organ removed in the first months after surgery.

With an affected member, the story is no different. Acupuncture meridians continue to exist even after amputation. This is due to the fact that the energies are interconnected, and meridians that start at the head will end at the foot. Others that start at the foot will have their continuity in the chest. Thus, energetic sensations continue to exist until that energy is rebalanced.

How can we rebalance the energy of the phantom limb?

In Chinese Medicine, we know that the “high” controls the “low”, the “anterior” controls the “posterior” and the “right” controls the “left”.

The first step in eliminating phantom pain is to use needles that control pain on the unamputed side. Good examples are the points: ST-36, GB-34, GB-39, SP-6, for the lower limbs and LI-4, SJ-5, SJ-8, LI-11 and LI-14 for the upper limbs.

In addition to this option, we can work on the meridians that would reach the affected member. For example: Spleen, Stomach, Kidney, Bladder, Liver and Gallbladder meridians have points on the upper body, their points can be used in lower limb amputations, as the energy will circulate throughout the meridian.

The Lung, Large Intestine, Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium and San Jiao have points on the head and / or trunk and can work pains in upper limb amputations.

It is also important to use points that calm the mind and that stimulate the Central Nervous System to understand the new bodily form, such as PC-6, GV-24, ST-8, GB-13.

So,  it is necessary that the therapist who takes care of amputated people and with phantom pain, understand the need to treat the limb as if it were still there, always stimulating the energetic rebalancing of the whole body.

When it comes to pain in the surgical stump, it is important to stimulate nerve endings, through the use of moxa, needles, magnetotherapy and a suction cup when possible, reconnecting local energies.

Whenever there is a scar, the possibility exists that it is toxic, that is, to interrupt the flow of energy from the meridians. Thus, when stimulated, the energy returns to circulate in a harmonic way, interrupting the pain.

There is still much to be said and studied about phantom pain, but it is certain that acupuncture can help everyone who suffers from this problem.

Hope this helps!

A big hug to everyone!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Hello Readers!

Today I am here to write a little about adult asthma from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

For Western Medicine, asthma is characterized by a partial obstruction of airflow in the bronchial tree. This is caused by a temporary narrowing of the bronchi due to muscle spasm, followed by mucosa edema. This narrowing can happen for an unknown cause or because of a reaction to allergens.

For Chinese Medicine, asthma can happen by:

• Invasion of Cold Wind or Wind Heat
• Excessive consumption of milk and dairy products
• Weak constitution
• Emotional Stress

It is common to see people with asthma in childhood, but when asthma appears in adulthood, we need to redouble our attention. This fact occurs, most of the times by the energetic affection of the Kidney or the Liver, besides of course, the Lung.

When an adult abuses of physical activity or work, eats poorly, gets too stressed or abuses of sexual activity, he seriously impairs the energy of the Kidneys, which weak, will consume the energy of the Lung, resulting in asthma.

Thus, it is important that the adult rebalances daily life habits and some acupuncture points may be useful to alleviate crises, such as: KI-3, KI-25, KI-27, CV-4 and GV-4. In auriculotherapy, the Kidney point and Ping Chuan points are indicated.

It is recommended that neutral foods for the Water Element be placed in the Diet, such as egg yolk, corn, pork, raspberry, black sesame, etc. The table of foods you can find at:

https://www.facilitatingacupuncture.com/therapeutic-food-tables/

The Liver can cause asthma in adults directly due to uncontrolled stress. When there is Stagnation of Liver Qi or Blood, or Liver Fire, there may be a blood or Qi rebellion towards the chest, against dominating the Lung and causing shortness of breath.

In this case, the crises are abrupt and must be controlled through the points that remove the Heat or Stagnation of Liver Qi / Blood, such as LR-2, LR-3, LR-5, LR-8, LR14.

In auriculotherapy the Liver Yang point is recommended in these cases, as well as Ping Chuan points. Fresh and neutral foods for the Wood Element should be consumed, such as: apple, pear, blackberry, dates, strawberry, saffron, carrot, etc.

The Lung should always be strengthened and balanced. Points like: BL-13, BL-42, LU-7 and Lu9 are always a good choice.

Adult asthma, for the most part, has effective control with Acupuncture, Auriculotherapy and Chinese Therapeutic Food, but the patient must be aware of other possible Lung disorders. A visit to the medical professional is recommended for a check up at least once a year 🙂

I hope you enjoyed.

A big hug.

Profa. Fernanda Mara