Can Anxiety generate Fear and Insecurity?

Good morning Dear Readers!

Today we are going to talk about 3 feelings that have appeared very intensely in acupuncture offices: Anxiety, Fear and Insecurity.

For Chinese Medicine, each organ has a relationship with a specific feeling and also with its consequences, that is, its imbalances.

We consider Anxiety a normal feeling when it occurs because of good things that are to come in a person’s life, but the kind that doesn’t take sleep, doesn’t generate palpitations or any type of symptom that resembles something negative. We say the same about Fear. Fear is considered absolutely normal when it’s related to our survival instinct, when we stop doing something because it could put our lives at risk. Insecurity, on the other hand, is one of the consequences of Fear, which shows that some organ is out of balance.

When Anxiety an imbalance,  is related, most of the time, to the Heart Heat. Thus, anxious patients have palpitations, cold sweat, insomnia or very light sleep. The tongue of the patient in this condition will have a darker red tip than the rest and there may be petechiae.

When the patient remains in a state of anxiety for a long time, we say that the Heat of the Fire Element (which represents the Heart) rises all the way to the head and dominates the individual’s mind, causing incoherent thoughts, lack of logical reasoning, lack of discernment.

With all energy concentrated at the top, that is, in the head, there is a difficulty for the energy of the rest of the body to circulate, generating several imbalances, especially in the Kidney.

In a normal situation, the Water Element (which represents the Kidney) dominates the Fire Element, literally “squeezing out” its excesses, however, when the anxiety is too great and maintained for a long period of time, the counter-dominance phenomenon begins to happen and, instead of the Water extinguishing the Fire, we have a situation where the Fire dries up the water in the Kidneys.

And what does that mean?

The kidney has two energies: the Yin and the Yang. Yin represents the body fluids and vital essence, and Yang the ability to heat and move fluids and essence throughout the body. When there is a Fire insulting Water, 3 situations can happen, in the following sequence:

1. Kidney Yin Deficiency – when Heart Heat consumes body fluids. The individual will become even more agitated mentally, will have symptoms of dryness, such as: little urine, dry skin, dry hair, etc. He will also experience lower back and knee pain, night heat, and develop fears with no known cause, such as Panic Syndrome or attacks. This is because the vital essence is reached in this case.

2. Deficient Kidney Yang – the Heart Heat trapped in the head is not able to nourish the Kidney Yang, which is deficient, does not move the  Yin, leaving the fluids concentrated in the lower heater. In this case, the patient will have symptoms of cold, such as cold lower back and knees, high amounts of urine (which can even lead to urine loss), lack of libido, infertility, etc. And the patient will feel insecure about taking action and moving through life. He will often settle into an uncomfortable situation for fear of taking action. (Yang is the energy of movement in our lives).

3. Deficiency of Kidney Qi – over the years, when the patient does not treat Chronic Anxiety, the initial cause of Heart Heat, that can lead to the 2 previous deficiencies, the Kidney, no longer able to work properly, enters a state of Deficiency of Qi, which is nothing more than a Deficiency of Yin and Yang at the same time. All the symptoms described above add up.

Perhaps you have noticed that over the years we have become less courageous. It is very common to hear phrases like: “when I was younger I had the courage to do this, but today I think I was crazy when I was young…”

This is because over time, the vital essence from the Kidneys physiologically decreases, so fears naturally increase. If the patient becomes an anxious adult, the fears will become more intense than bearable throughout life.

Therefore, dear readers, when a patient arrives at the office complaining of insecurity or fear, check if these feelings are not caused by uncontrolled anxiety, generating Fire in the Heart.

Hope I have helped in your understanding.

A big hug!

Prof. Fernanda

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Therapy with Gua Sha – what are the benefits?

Good morning readers!

Today let’s talk about therapy with Gua Sha, known and practiced in the orient for thousands of years.

The words: gua sha mean respectively shave and pathological factor. Therefore, the technique consists in shaving through the skin and to out of the body, the things that are bad for health. How it’s a very ancient technique, in its beginning, even rocks or animal horns were used to shave the skin, until the polish jade stone became the main resource to realize it.

It’s believed that besides the healing power of shaving, the jade is a stone associated with health, prosperity, strengthening friendships, raising spirituality and thoughts in those who use it.

But, what are the objectives and benefits from this technique

  • Remove dead skin from surface, promoting skin renewal
  • Realize vasodilation, to improve blood circulation and nourish tissues
  • Improve lymphatic circulation, diminishing the liquid accumulation (drainage)
  • Movements Qi and Blood, improving inner organ functioning
  • When done over the point line Shu Dorsais(Dorsal Shu) and Shen Shu it causes energetic rebalance
  • Realiave pain on the spot it’s applied

How is it done?

The procedure may be done with or without oil for sliding. On the beginning it was done without oil, causing marks on the patient skin and described as a painful technique. Nowadays it’s done with a little bit of oil, for sliding, that may be chosen according to the patient’s needs, associating the aromatherapy technique to gua-sha.

The therapist must then spread a little bit of oil through the desired surface, and then slide the jade stone over the surface, starting with easy and slow movements, slowly going up according to the patient’s sensibility.

There isn’t an exact number of times that the jade stone must be slid, however the therapist must keep in mind that the more marks it leaves, the longer it will take to recover. It’s normal that some blood capillaries break during the procedure, creating then, redness and even hematoma. The technique may only be done with this vigor in more resistant areas, such as the back.

When there are marks, it’s normal that they remain there for 7 to 10 days. The patient must avoid sun exposition on the spot.

Gua Sha is frequently done in the face, in order to do lymphatic drainage and nourishing the tissues thus increasing skin beauty. The movements must be done always from the middle to the lateral, never the other way, to avoid skin “wrinkling”.

We may say then, that Gua Sha is nothing more than a technique that uses micro injuries through skin shaving that forces the body to renew the superficial layer and nourish tissues for cicatrization, bringing all already mentioned benefits.

Practice and see the results. 

My warmest regards.

Profa. Fernanda Mara

The amazing art of saying NO – Submission in Chinese Medicine

Hello readers!

Today let’s talk a bit about “the amazing art of saying no”.

How many people you know, or even how many times have you, being that reads this post, have had trouble saying “no”, and ended up doing things you didn’t want to, didn’t need to or even maintained an unhappy relationship?

In Chinese Medicine, the ability of deciding what you want and mostly what you don’t want, is related to the Gallbladder function.

The Gallbladder, besides having the capability of helping Liver during digestive processes, also has a very important psychic function, giving the person courage to take action, reducing shyness, granting focus and life sense and granting limits to yourself and others, in the decide what to do and not to do context.

When a person becomes excessively shy, developing what we name “pathological shyness”. An example would be, the person is unable to accept an awesome job offer due to a fear of: not feeling well in the work environment, of talking to other people, this person has a Weak Gallbladder.

On top of that, when a person gets into a “bad with him, worst without” type of relationship, this person allows abuse, such as, “he hits me everyday but I’m afraid of being alone”, or even submits itself to any order or command that wasn’t needed, assuming any responsibilities even if it isn’t need and turns itself into a state of complete submission in situations where it’s opinion or point of view should be take into account, we may say that this person has a Weak Gallbladder.

How do we weaken our Gallbladder?

The Gallbladder is weakened once we eat too much junk or fried food, or when we consume too much alcohol. This food type can contribute to the creation of gallstones, those which will weaken the gallbladder even more.

The Gallbladder may also weaken when the Liver is overloaded of medications, during life.

Besides that, the submissive behaviour by itself, weakens the Gallbladder, thus creating a vicious cycle, where the patients actions turn repetitive.

How can we strengthen the Gallbladder?

The acupuncture can help in attitude change, strengthening the decision power of the people who seek professional help. The points: GB39 + GB40 + GB41 are, combined, an excellent choice for the treatment.

Auricular points: gallbladder + liver and liver yang are also of big help.

Foods such yam, pineapple, grape, plum and eggs will help strengthen Gallbladder and positively affect the behavior of those who need to courage up.

That’s all for today folks.

Keep in mind that all people that live on this planet have desires, however not all of them can express them, be it because of fear or shyness. Anyway, we can only feel happy and free once we are able to express ourselves.

My warmest regards!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

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Menstrual Cramps Treatment in Chinese Food Therapy

Good morning readers,

Today we are going to talk about a frequent topic: menstrual cramps.

I have already written about this topic on other occasions, however, today we are going to use the Chinese Food Therapy approach. What shall we eat to avoid such uncomfortable pain, before, during, and after our periods?

First, before we get our food chart, we must first remember the types of cramps and its causes, according to Chinese Medicine.

  1. Abdominal Cramping:

Abdominal cramping is usually marked by Liver imbalances that occur mainly previous to the period.

  • There are 2 common Liver imbalances when we are talking about menstrual cramps, they are:
  1. a) Qi Stagnation and/or Liver’s Blood:

Usually this menstruation has dark blood and clots and may, eventually be late. The cramping will worsen under pressure and/or massage and usually will go away as soon as the period ends. To be sure of the diagnosis, we just need to verify if the patient’s tongue sides are purplish.

This being the case, we need foods that give blood more movement and Liver energy, for this reason, it’s recommended that the patient eat neutral and lukewarm foods for the Wood element, such as: grapes, plums, dates, camomilla tea and even a glass of wine.

  1. b) Yang Excess or Liver Heat:

Few days after Qi and Blood Stagnation, the Heat arises in the body, in an attempt of eliminating the stagnations. In such a case, period can come early, or blood comes out in a lively red, no clots and cramps shall happen previous or during period, in an acute manner, throbbing pain.

In order to be completely sure of the diagnosis, we check the patient’s tongue once again, this time observing if it’s redder on the sides when compared to the rest.

In this situation, we shall refresh Liver Heat and control Yang energy. Therefore, it is recommended that the patient eat cold and fresh foods for the Wood element, such as: lemon, yogurt, banana, blackberry, blueberry, etc…

  1. Lumbar Cramping

Lumbar cramping is a direct result from a Kidneys Yin Deficiency. In such cases, pain may happen during or after the period, the blood might come out normal or in a scarce and dark manner.

The patient’s tongue coating might look a bit peeled, through the body but mostly on the root.

If this is the case, remembering that Yin energy comes from a cold nature, we shall recommend fresh and cold foods from the Water element, such as: tangerine, orange, asparagus, watermelon, etc. Sesame black tea is also a good option for treating this cramp type.

When should the patient start her treatment?

Aware of the cramps possibilities, the patient shall start consuming foods that avoid them, around 3 days prior to its usual begging. However, treatment may be done during all month without causing any health damage.

It’s always good to keep in mind that ideally the patient should know her cycle and take notes on a notebook or app, so that the treatment accuracy brings benefits.

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

Hope that you liked it!

A very warm hug!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Lower Back Pain – Do you know All the Causes?

Hello dear Readers,

With the pandemic still ongoing, the number of people home-officing is still at a rise, many times sitting down for way more hours than what they did in the past, in the “normal” world, and in chairs that aren’t proper for home-officing.

Based off that, we observe a grow in complaints about lower back pain in our offices. That’s why, this text has been idealized with the purpose of helping therapists and patients on lower back pain control, explain each and every one of the possible causes and treatment.

1) Lower Back Pain in Chinese Medicine:

In Chinese Medicine lower back pain is related to a Kidneys energy imbalance. The Kidneys can easily become unbalanced, due to overwork without proper rest, emotional stress, lack of physical activities, bad eating habits, lack of water, and utmost Fear and Insecurity.

In the current scenario, Fear and Insecurity are 2 very present factors when we are talking about mechanical causeless lower back pain, and it explains very well the words of some patients: “the pain started out of nowhere, for no reason”.

To this pain, I suggest some acupuncture points, such as: BL23, BL52, GV4, CV4, KI3 and KI9, as well as other auricular points like Kidney and Emotional Tension, and obviously Lumbar point, located on the ear.

2) Lower Back Pain Caused by Muscular Tension:

A great portion of lower back region pain is related to bad posture or even to the fact that the patient remains sitting for many hours with bad posture due to the job he has. Another thing that may lead the patient to suffer pain is working out in a badly conducted manner.

The main muscles that cause lower back pain are:

  • Quadratus Lumborum: located on the lower back region of the spine, the muscle quadratus lumborum usually is considered the only pain causative in this region, however, we may state that alone he is the least of the problems. The quadratus lumborum tension is felt specifically from the gluteus, not being the main cause of low back pain.
  • Gluteus Maximus: located on the center of the gluteus, this muscle creates similar pain to those generated by the quadratus lumborum, in particular the region around the gluteus and it’s not the bigger of our problems.

If you’re telling us the Quadratus Lumborum and Gluteus Maximus muscles aren’t the principal pain causatives, then which muscles should we address?

Despite not being the main muscles involved in low back pain, Quadratus Lumborum and Gluteus Maximus will generate stiffness on the hips, changing its mechanics and activating pain. Among them, low back pain, that may be originated from the following muscles:

  • Gluteus Medius: located on the side of the hip, the muscle Gluteus Medius has pain irradiation potential for the lumbar region and all gluteus, being one of the most responsible for low back pain in patients that remain sitting many hours a day.
  • Gluteus Minimus: located just behind Gluteus Medius, the muscle Gluteus Minimus creates pain on lumbar region, gluteus, and potential to irradiate through all thigh and leg lateral, even getting down to the feet. ** Pay Attention: This pain is different from the sciatic nerve pain. 
  • Iliopsoas: also called “soul muscle” it gets tensioned very easily when we are nervous/anxious. Located on the region prior and deep of the body, on low abdomen, front part of the thigh, next to the crotch and one the biggest low back pain causatives.
  • Soleus: Located in the middle of the “calf”, when tense, the muscle Soleus is able of irradiating pain to the lumbar and sacral region. The non-treatment of this muscle may make it so that the patient doesn’t completely heal himself from the low back pain.

How should we treat low back pain caused by muscle tension?

On such cases, it’s the therapist responsibility to palpate the trigger points of those muscles and in case the patients show any signs of pain during palpation, these points must be treated with deep needling, may it also be complemented with electroacupuncture, massages, moxibustion and another techniques. 

Situation improvement shall happen in less than 24 hours after application.

In order to execute maintenance without pain, the patient must do exercises to strengthen abdominal and back muscles, as well as stretching, at least 3x a week.

In this text some causes of low back pain were explored…. Many other might still be discussed, such as herniated disc, disc protrusions, scoliosis and others.

I will make another text for you all very soon!

Warm regards!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

 

Acupuncture for Kidney Failure

Hello readers!

Today I’m going to talk a bit on the benefits of Acupuncture in patients that suffer from Kidney Failure.

In Chinese Medicine, kidney failure is defined as a kidney inability of filtering blood with the purpose of eliminating substances that might be toxic to the body when in huge concentrations on the blood, like for example urea and creatinine. A change in the normal behavior of the kidney can happen due to dehydration, sepsis or kidney damage caused by presence of stones on these organs (https://www.tuasaude.com/insuficiencia-renal)

 

In Chinese Medicine, besides the reasons already mentioned by Occidental Medicine that cause kidney failure, there are also other reasons that might take the Kidney to it’s weakness, they are:

  • Overwork without proper resting
  • Overdoing physical activities or having a sedentary lifestyle
  • Excess of sexual activity / pregnancy and successive births
  • Bad eating habits
  • Emotional stress

Kidney Failure is a severe disease and may result in death. In Occidental Medicine it’s usually treated with medications and, in more severe cases, with hemodialysis.

What can Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine do for the patient who suffers from Kidney Failure?

In fact, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine cannot revert a Kidney Failure condition, but for sure there are benefits on this technique.

According to Jung-Sheng Yu e cols (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2016.0119) acupuncture applied on points LI4, ST36 and KI3  associated to electrotherapy of 2HZ, once a week, for 12 weeks in a row, reduced the concentration of creatinine and raised the glomerular filtration rate for chronic kidney patients.

Alencar Melo e cols. (https://www.scielo.br/j/reben/a/TLGQjkFqPNm7VCH3DsBzBWj/?lang=en&format=html) made a systematic revision of articles that comprove that acupuncture improves life quality, fatigue and sleep in chronic kidney patients. In the presented articles, the most utilized points were: KI1, KI3, KI11, HT7, ST36, SP6, LI4 and GB34.

When we think about kidney failure, we should also think about improving both the structure of the kidney (Yin) and its function (Yang). Using this line of thought, some points can certainly be regarded as a treatment to improve the patient’s life quality and assist on the actions of medications, such as decreasing the need of dialysis (and not replacing it).

Thinking this way, we may use:

  • KI3 – balance the Yin and Yang energies of the Kidney
  • KI6 – tone Kidney’s Yin 
  • KI7 – tone Kidney’s Yang
  • BL23, B52 – balances the Kidneys Yin and Yang energies 
  • GV4 – tone Kidney’s Yang 
  • CV4 – tone Kidney’s Yin 

We may not be able to heal a patient that suffers from Kidney Failure, but surely we can improve the quality and life time of the patient.

Hope you enjoyed it.

A big hug!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

How to Alleviate Rhinitis Using Chinese Medicine Techniques

Hello Readers!

Today we are going to talk a little about an allergic disease that bothers many people during the winter: rhinitis.

Rhinitis is an allergic disease where there is inflammation of the nasal mucosa causing common symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, itchy in the nose, eyes, ears and skin redness, among others.

It is a very common disease in all ages, both in men and women, and has some factors that can cause acute phase shots, such as strong smells, dust, animal hair and the cold and dry climate, as happens in winter in Brazil (I’m sure this weather happens in other countries at some point in the year).

Rhinitis, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, directly attacks the Lung, causing dryness of its fluids which will lead to the production of heat symptoms, such as those mentioned above. Thus, to minimize symptoms or even to avoid crises, patients with allergic rhinitis need to maintain the production of body fluids and their adequate dissemination, a function that is related to the Lung.

Therefore, the treatment will consist of 4 parts:

1. Maintain body fluid production

The organ responsible for the production of body fluids is the Stomach, not forgetting the participation of the Kidneys as well. So that the fluids are kept in adequate volume inside the body, I suggest the following points: ST-36, SP-6 and KI-6. The patient should be asked to consume the proper amount of fluid for their weight and height. Some literature advocates the consumption of 35ml of water per kilogram of weight.

In auriculotherapy, Stomach and Kidney points can be used.

2. Keep the Lung’s fluid-disseminating function balanced

The function of disseminating fluids properly gives the Lung the ability to keep all body tissues well nourished, including skin, nails and hair. When a tissue does not adequately receive fluids through the Lung, the structures dry out, with consequent itching, the urge to sneeze and other symptoms already correlated with rhinitis in this text.

To maintain the fluid dissipation function, we must use point LU-7. In auriculotherapy the Lung point.

3. Strengthen the Lung

Once the production and dissemination of bodily fluids is restored, the therapist should strengthen the patient’s Lung. For this, point Lu-9 should be used in body acupuncture and recommend that the patient eat, at least twice a day,  foods considered neutral for the Metal element, such as rice, carrots, cauliflower… The full table link it can be found at the link: https://www.facilitandoacupuntura.com.br/tabelas-de-alimentacao-terapeutica/

If one of the patient’s symptoms is runny nose, milk and dairy products should be avoided even if they appear as an indication in the recommended table. Feeding should be maintained for at least 15 days or until you notice improvement in the condition.

4. Treat the symptoms

Rhinitis symptoms are well treated with local acupuncture points, such as:

  • Sneezing / itchy nose / runny nose: LI- 20, extra Bitong point
  • Itchy eyes: GB-14, ST-2
  • Itchy ear: SI-19
  • Itchy throat: ST-9

To reduce the sensation of a congested nose, the patient can inhale 2 to 3 times a day the essential oil of peppermint. It is recommended to drip a drop into the palm of the hand and, after light friction, inhale with the hands cupped for 3 to 5 full breaths.

The treatment usually generates benefits and improves the condition in the first session, but the treatment time varies from patient to patient.

Hope this helps!

A big hug to everyone!

Prof. Fernanda Mara

Anxiety – Acupuncture and Chinese Therapeutic Food

Hello dear readers

Today our reading will be about anxiety!

Do you feel anxious? Have you ever wondered if Acupuncture and Diet Therapy techniques can help in such an uncomfortable state of mental agitation?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anxiety is a feeling of unease and concern, generally widespread and unfocused, as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as threatening. It is often accompanied by muscle tension, restlessness, fatigue and problems with concentration.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, anxiety affects the Heart. The Heart is responsible for controlling Shen, that is, the mind. When we are anxious, we have a “Disturbed Shen”, that is, a “Disturbed Mind”.

Every movement of agitation generates an internal heat, and in the case of anxiety, we have Heart Heat. Thus, it is recommended that, in order to feel less anxious, we must “remove the heat from the heart”.

Some points are indicated to decrease the heart heat: HT-7, HT-8, PC-6, PC-7, PC-8.

There are points with the indication of improving anxiety, without necessarily having the function of removing heat from the heart, such as Yintang, GV-20 or ear points of Anxiety, Heart and Emotional Tension.

It is important to know that acupuncture points react to different types of stimuli and not just with needles. If it is not possible to attend to a patient personally, who needs to control anxiety, we can guide him to press these points for 1 to 3 minutes, always bilaterally (when the point exists on both sides). In addition, stimulation with magnets or stiper can also be performed.

Assuming that in anxiety there is Heart Heat, we need to make the patient eat substances that have a cold or fresh essence for this organ, such as melon, watermelon, strawberry, mint, apple, among others.

More foods can be found in the tables available at: https://www.facilitatingacupuncture.com/therapeutic-food-tables/

In addition to the Heart, the Spleen may be impaired and weakened by excessive thoughts. To reduce excessive thoughts, use SP-3 and consume good quality roots like yams and sweet potatoes often in the diet. Teaching the patient to stimulate SP-3 is an excellent way to calm anxiety and improve attention, focus, concentration and the ability to learn new things. These situations are hampered by anxiety.

Remember, anxiety about something good that is going to happen, like a trip, an entry of money into the account or a gift that will be received is normal. But under no circumstances, failing to live in the present waiting for an uncertain future, will be healthy for the body. So are we going to take care of the mind and the heart?

I hope you enjoyed!

A big hug to everyone!

Profa. Fernanda Mara