I just can’t summon up any energy: where has my Qi gone?

Posted on March 26, 2016 by charlottepaterson2013

Qi (pronounced Chee) is a Chinese word that is usually translated as energy. Qi is the body’s motivating energy. Qi enlivens the body and mind. It is the energy and information that maintains each of us as a unique and complex system that lives in balance with the people and world around us. To be healthy we need sufficient Qi, it needs to be flowing smoothly around every part of our body, and it needs to be in balance across all aspects and systems of our body and mind. If you have got to that place where you just can’t summon up any energy, where you frequently catch infections, and where nothing fills you with enthusiasm, then it is likely that your Qi needs strengthening. Acupuncture, alongside rest and good food, is a great way of building that Qi back up.

The classics of Chinese medicine, written around two thousand years ago, explain that one sort of Qi, ‘original Qi’, is what is transmitted from our parents at conception. This is part of our inherited constitution. In addition, Qi is made from the food that we eat and the air that we breathe. This production of Qi depends on a clear flow of Qi and blood round the body. It will be reduced if there is too much physical or mental strain on the body and mind, and it will be disrupted by strong emotional stress – such as anger, grief, fear and sadness. This is one reason why I enquire about your past and present life in its broadest sense. By discussing these issues, we may be able to find things you can do to support the acupuncture treatment and make quicker and more sustainable improvements in your energy levels.

Often, Qi is weak in one particular system or meridian. For example, it may be mainly Spleen and Stomach Qi that is weak – a weakness in the Earth Element. Although the Chinese concept of Spleen and Stomach is not the same as Western medicine, they are the meridians that are concerned with the digestion of food. Consequently, an insufficiency of Spleen and Stomach Qi may give digestive and bowel symptoms as well as general exhaustion. What is interesting about Chinese medicine is that each meridian has a wide range of connections and influences. So a weakness in the Spleen and Stomach meridians may also give rise to blood problems such as easy bruising or heavy periods and give rise to the type of worrying which we call ‘overthinking’.

Another aspect of Qi deficiency is whether it upsets the balance between Yin and Yang. If the weakness is mainly in the Yang aspect, then the lack of energy will be associated with feeling slow, heavy and cold – a desire to snuggle down under the blankets and stay there! Yang energy is especially drained by excessive physical work or over exercising. If it is more a lack of Yin energy, then it may be more of a feeling of ‘running on empty’, with some agitation and hot night sweats. This may be linked to long hours of mental work or strain. Taking brief breaks from this type of work is very important to recharge your Yin.

As we come to understand more about our Qi we will be able to do more ourselves to keep it strong and balanced. During acupuncture treatment it is likely that you will become more aware of your Qi, and of how it feels when it becomes stronger. It is often difficult to make the changes in our lives that we need to, but even small changes can make a difference. And acupuncture is always there for times when your Qi needs that extra boost.

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Can acupuncture help with incontinence and other urinary problems?

Posted on March 19, 2016 by charlottepaterson2013

Problems with weeing are difficult to talk about! When passing water/urine is painful and frequent, it is usually called cystitis, but when it is too slow, too urgent, or just not fully under your control it is more difficult to describe. All of this can also be deeply embarrassing. In Western medicine these symptoms are usually diagnosed as problems with your bladder, and treated with tablets or surgery. In contrast, Chinese medicine evaluates them as part of how your whole body and mind systems are working. Once I have taken time to understand you as an individual, acupuncture treatment can be very effective. However, there are some symptoms that you should always check out with your GP: blood in the urine (possible infection or an early sign of cancer) and gradually becoming very thirsty and producing lots of pale urine (possible early diabetes).

The problem most of us dread the most is incontinence – not being able to control our wee. Bedwetting is common in children of course, and usually improves as the years go by, but it can continue into teenage years or adulthood. I recently treated a 30 year old woman, who I will call Alice, who woke with a wet bed most nights unless she took the nasal spray that her GP prescribed her. She had no other health problems, but I found signs that the system that included her kidney and bladder was weak compared to her other systems. This was what I would call a constitutional weakness and in terms of the Five Elements, I treated her Water element. Very slowly, over many months, her bladder gained more control. She also found that her headaches disappeared, she slept better, and she felt much stronger in herself – in her body and in her mind and emotions. Alice now rarely needs her spray, but still uses it if she is particularly tired or stressed.

Another important factor for Alice was that she was so busy feeding her family that she was not eating well herself. This meant that her body was not making enough Qi (Qi is often translated as energy). This lack of Qi showed itself in terms of a bladder problem because her constitutional weakness was in that area – in the Water element. The idea that we all have a ‘weak spot’ in our make-up is part of our everyday experience of health – some people regulalry come down with colds, some with headaches, some with digestive problems. In Chinese medicine that constitutional weakness is considered very central to treatment and I am always, at one level, treating people to strengthen their constitutional element. Whenever we have any weakness of Qi, eating regular nutritious meals is important. Once Alice understood this, she asked her family to make sure that she ate properly as well as them. This played an important part in her recovery and increased energy and strength.

Another common urinary problem is a sudden very urgent need to wee which, if a toilet isn’t nearby, can lead to incontinence – either just a dribble or sometimes the whole lot. People with this problem know where all the public toilets are and can be very restricted in venturing out far from home. Once again this symptom requires me to make a careful assessment in terms of other symptoms and signs to understand why it has come about. In Chinese medicine the cause of bladder problems may lie in several of the body systems or meridians, all of which need acupuncture to bring them back into balance. For example, I am treating a middle aged man who for many years has had a problem with a very sudden urgent need to have a wee, sometimes leading to incontinence. I have found that for him this is due to a mixture of weakness in his kidney/bladder system and increased heat from the system that runs through his liver (not indicating liver disease in a Western medicine sense). He knows he is a very hot person – ‘always have been’ – and always wears short sleeved shirts. The heat is evident to me when I take his pulse which is rather fast and ‘pounding’. Heat like this often has an emotional cause and is probably linked to his daily frustrations with caring for an elderly relative. Just a few acupuncture treatments to clear this heat and get his Qi moving smoothly round his body has improved his symptoms, but it will take many more treatments to build up the underlying constitutional weakness and to break the cycle of frustration and heat.

These urinary problems are not usually the main reason for seeking acupuncture, but treating them alongside other health problems is rewarding for me and a great relief to my patients. Perhaps if we talked more about urinary problems people would find them less embarrassing and would seek treatment for them at an earlier stage.

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Living in harmony with Spring

Posted on March 13, 2016 by charlottepaterson2013

Chinese medicine suggests that we should live our lives in harmony with the seasons. After a long wait, it seems that this weekend the season of Spring has suddenly arrived.

This is from the classical Chinese text called the Neijing, or Yellow Emporer’s Medical Classic, assembled between 200 BCE and 200 CE.

 In springtime there are three moons,

This is a time for breaking out and bursting.

 The skies and the earth both give birth and all myriad creatures prosper.

Go to sleep at nightfall and rise at dawn.

Take large steps out in the courtyard.

Uncoil your hair and stretch out the body, thus to set the will on birth.

Help bring forth life and do not slaughter,

Help donate and do not take away,

Help reward and do not penalise.

This is a response to the qi of spring

And the Art of caring for life.

 

If you go against it you injure your liver.

In the summer the weather will stay wintry, and there is little to support any growth.

This translation is taken from the Essential Texts in Chinese Medicine by Richard Bertschinger, page 62.

He explains that “We have the rise and fall of Yin and Yang within us, echoing the world outside. The shifting sun and moon, arrival and departure of day and night, warmth and coolness of heated summer days and winter nights, these impinge on us all.”

 

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International Women’s Day: acupuncture for period problems

Posted on March 7, 2016 by charlottepaterson2013

March 8th is International Women’s Day, so I thought I would write to the many women who have problems with their periods. It may be that you suffer with extremely heavy or painful periods or with premenstrual symptoms such as headaches and irritability – problems that mean you cannot function normally for up to one week in four. International Women’s Day is a good time to air the widely held view that there would be better Western medical treatment for such problems if women had more power and equality in the world! Meanwhile, the good news is that acupuncture can be very effective for many menstrual problems. Understanding and balancing out the daily, monthly and seasonal cycles of health are key features of Chinese medicine so that period problems are viewed as part of women’s general health rather than a separate ‘speciality’.

Painful periods are very common but the severity of the pain is often underestimated. It can lead women to take quite major action, such as taking the contraceptive pill without a break. In Chinese Medicine, pain is due to Qi (energy, lifeforce) or blood being blocked so that it doesn’t circulate smoothly through the womb and other parts of the body. When Qi is blocked, periods are often irregular as well as painful and this may be part of a more general ‘Qi stagnation’. In this situation, acupuncture to help the periods may relieve other symptoms such as digestive upsets, aching muscles or feelings of tension. Stagnation of Blood gives even more severe pain, often requiring a day in bed, and responds to acupuncture to move and strengthen the blood. Either of these may be combined with the womb getting affected by cold. In this situation I would warm the womb with Moxa as well as using acupuncture to move the Qi and blood – and encourage women to wear much warmer clothing over the belly.

Another common problem is very heavy periods. Not only is this difficult to manage at the time, especially if there are moments of real flooding, but it can lead to blood deficiency (or anaemia). There are several different reasons for heavy periods. So understanding the underlying cause depends on me spending a long time with you on the first appointment, to understand your health as a whole, including mind, body and spirit. For example, heavy periods may be due to too much heat in the body and once I have identified where this heat is coming from I can treat the underlying problem. This is common around the menopause, and may be due to overwork and/or emotional stress causing a lack of Yin – the cool, stable, calm part of our Qi. In this situation acupuncture would be accompanied by encouragement to rest and relax more, maybe taking time out for yourself rather than running round after other people. This is another issue that may be helpful and fun to discuss with your women friends. Even when doctors have diagnosed fibroids as a cause of your heavy periods, a longer course of acupuncture can reduce the amount of bleeding.

Perhaps the most misunderstood period-related problem is pre-menstrual syndrome. Because it often has a big emotional content – irritability, tearfulness, poor concentration – it is rarely taken seriously by those who do not experience it. Physical symptoms include breast tenderness, digestive and bowel upsets, and headaches or migraines. Any of these symptoms, especially when they are combined, cause a sudden dip in mental and physical functioning that can last up to a week. This time of the monthly cycle is when our Yang energy is rising – the hot, quick, fluctuating, distending part of our Qi. By finding out about you as whole person, I can understand the underlying cause for problems in this rising of Yang, and use acupuncture to not only regulate the extremes of this time period but also strengthen the underlying weakness and imbalance. It is likely that talking about it to me, and to your family and friends, you will also be able to reduce the stress is your life which will help you be more healthy in a general way. One feminist analysis of premenstrual syndrome is that during this part of the month we are expressing some true feelings that most of the time we repress, in order to be the person that society wants us to be.…. another topic for International Women’s Day!

In my experience as a general practitioner these are health problems that impact greatly on women’s lives but are difficult to treat using Western Medicine. Changes in your menstrual pattern should be discussed with your doctor to exclude serious disease such as cancer. However, these symptoms are rarely due to such a disease, so investigations are usually negative. This is reassuring but leaves you with no explanation or treatment. Sometimes, heavy or painful periods are so severe that you may be offered a hysterectomy – a major operation that most women wish to avoid. Alternatively, women learn to accept such symptoms as ‘normal’. Consequently period problems are rarely the main problems that women consult me about, but nevertheless they improve when another problem is treated by acupuncture that strengthens and balances the body and emotions. Maybe International Women’s Day is a good time to give priority to feeling better throughout the month. Start talking to your women friends about your period problems, share experiences and ways of helping yourselves, and consider trying some acupuncture treatment.

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Sports injuries – getting the Qi to flow freely

Posted on February 29, 2016 by charlottepaterson2013

Injuries to our tendons, ligaments and joints are both painful and immensely frustrating. Suddenly the everyday and sporting activities that we take for granted become very difficult. These injuries can be sudden, or can come on slowly. Either way, the pain and restriction can really get us down. In this situation, acupuncture is used by a number of different therapists. When acupuncture is used by someone trained in Chinese medicine you can hope to both relieve the pain and get to the root of the problem. That way the problem is less likely to recur and as a bonus you may feel better is other ways too.

I often treat people who have injured their shoulders, wrists, knees or ankles. Shoulder tendons, for example, are easily injured in sport or are strained by over-use and the pain can be especially troublesome in bed at night. If it is not treated early, the shoulder can stiffen up – so called frozen shoulder. Wrist injuries interfere with nearly everything we do and knee problems spoil our taken-for-granted ability to walk.

In Chinese medicine, pain is due to a blockage in the free flow of Qi. Qi, translated as energy or life-force, is the basis of health and illness. To be healthy, in mind, body and spirit, we need our Qi to be plentiful and strong, to be flowing freely around the body, and to be balanced across the different body systems. A sudden injury to a tendon or muscle blocks Qi and Blood, and gives rise to pain. Acupuncture is used to re-open the channels or meridians that Qi flows through, so that Qi can flow smoothly again. I may place needles near to the injury and also at points far away from it – these are near the end of the blocked meridian. When pain comes on more gradually it is often due to over-use of the joint or muscles. This weakens the Qi in the affected area.  Like a stream that gets easily blocked because it has slowed down to a trickle, Qi also gets easily blocked when its flow is weak. In that situation acupuncture is used not only to clear the channel, but also to strengthen the Qi.

For example, I am treating a keen sportsman who has injured his shoulder tendons several times over the years. The shoulder is stiff so he cannot raise his arm fully or twist it behind his back and the advice from Western medicine is to have an operation. His experience of previous operations is that it is a long slow recovery, so he is trying acupuncture while he is waiting. I am treating him weekly, with needles around the shoulder and down the arm where he feels the pain. The details of his pain and tenderness suggest that two Qi meridians are partially blocked, so I am adding in needles in his hands near the end of these two channels. In addition, I am treating the underlying weakness of Qi in these channels by warming and nourishing Qi with a Moxa stick. Moxa is a herb and the stick is like a cigar – I light it and move it over the channels that need strengthening. And lastly, I am using other acupuncture points to treat his constitution. He has good general health but his tendons and ligaments appear to be his weak spot. In terms of the Five Elements, my assessment suggests his constitutional element is Wood. Wood is the element associated with Spring – the energy is strong, upward and direct, like the new growth of Spring. Plenty of physical and mental activity is important to Wood types and they enjoy competition. However Wood is also connected to tendons and ligaments, so when the body is pushed a bit too hard it is often the tendons that give way. By strengthening the Wood element and keeping it in balance with the other systems, I aim to stop these tendon problems recurring.

He has had three treatments and his shoulder is already more mobile, but we will need quite a few more to get that Qi strong, balanced and freely flowing.

 

 

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