Gracey Holistic Health

Acupuncture

Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Robert Gracey

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It was my chronic back pain that introduced me to acupuncture and for that I am thankful. Holistic medicine helped bring my joy in long-distance running back to me, and I’ve now made it my life’s work to help heal those who also suffer and teach those who also want to help heal.

New England School of Acupuncture

Like many Americans, I hadn’t been exposed much to this kind of medicine. Truth be told, I considered many alternative treatments for my back before before turning to acupuncture. But after only a few treatments, my back pain started to subside. And as my sense of peace and clarity increased, I knew this was the right next step in my career.

At the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) my love for Japanese acupuncture (more on what that means in another blog!) and for Boston grew. After graduation, I joined NESA as a faculty member, teaching students and watching them find the same joy in relieving pain and bringing the peace that I felt when I first began practicing.

Non-insertive acupuncture

I have been practicing acupuncture now for over 13 years, and have had the privilege to study in both Japan and the United States. Part of what makes my practice unique is that I’ve been trained in Shakuju Therapy (SJT), which is a non-insertive form of acupuncture.

I personally remember feeling hesitant about the use of multiple needles and intense stimulation. As I learned more about how acupuncture affects the body, I realized that the same principles of healing could be applied without needing to break the skin. For someone who might have an aversion to needles to begin with, this can be a revolutionary way of understanding acupuncture.

Neighborhood treatment in Belmont and Brookline

Now, 30 years after my back pain subsided, I have been fortunate enough to operate two holistic medicine practices, one in Belmont and the other in Brookline. I have sunk my roots here in the Boston area, and I know no greater pleasure than improving the lives and well-being of those in my community.

Whether you are skeptical about how acupuncture could help you or are hopeful and want to learn more, I am an advocate for your health. The complementary therapies and health coaching I offer work as a system to improve your overall health.

If you have an existing care plan, I can integrate my work to complement what you’re already doing to improve your own well-being. This includes discussing your concerns with your other healthcare providers and helping to explain any possible side effects and interactions of medications to you.

After all, I know holistic medicine helped me, and I believe I can help you the same way.

How Acupuncture Works: A Biomedical Overview

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In biomedical terms, acupuncture is a needling technique that restores internal homeostasis. As Christian Nix and Paul Raford state, acupuncture accomplishes this by “down-regulating a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system, thus disrupting and modulating the stress response”.

A hyperactive system has a number of adverse effects, such as:

  • Increased blood pressure and heart rate
  • Increased emotional and physical stress
  • Decreased heart rate variability
  • Decreased blood flow to digestive organs and soft tissue
  • Impaired cognition from irregular sleep

In turn, down-regulating a hyperactive system can help:

  • Reduce blood pressure and heart rate
  • Increase blood flow and repair muscles
  • Reduce emotional and physical stress
  • Fight the symptoms of depression and anxiety
  • Promote overall feelings of wellness
  • Improve sleep patterns

Acupuncture also stimulates nerves to release a number of chemicals that can aid in muscle repair, pain relief, stress relief, and an overall sense of wellbeing.

How acupuncture repairs muscles

One way the body responds to acupuncture involves a process of nerve stimulation known as “axon reflex”. Acupuncture needles are used to stimulate the skin and muscles, which causes chemicals, such as calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and ATP, to be released. Because CGRP is a vasodilator, this chemical dilates blood vessels, thereby increasing oxygen-rich blood flow to the immediate area. In turn, this fuels tissue and muscle repair, and effectively helps aid in the recovery of musculoskeletal conditions.

Acupuncture and pain relief

Acupuncture can help relieve pain by blocking pain messages through a process referred to as the ‘segmental effect’. By gently stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture triggers nerve signals to a portion of the spinal cord called the dorsal horn. This causes local cells to release the body’s own pain-suppressing mechanisms, such as a chemical called encephalin, which blocks further stimulation of the nerve. Since nerves supply large portions of the body, such as organs and muscles, blocked stimulation of one nerve will help block pain messages coming from a much wider area of the body.

Acupuncture for stress, anxiety, and depression

Nerve stimulation occurring through acupuncture will also propagate up from the spinal cord and into the brain. This influences many portions of the brain, including the limbic system, or the emotional center of the brain, thereby enhancing production of ‘feel good’ hormones such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

The release of endorphins and oxytocin may be an important component as to why many patients describe their experience as sedating, calming, and relaxing.

Acupuncture not only regulates body’s stress response but may also fundamentally recalibrate aspects of the primary Central Nervous System responsible for symptoms and severity of anxiety and depression.

References:

www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32905

http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/For-Patients/Articles-By-Physicians-About-Acupuncture/Doctor-Whats-This-Acupuncture-All-About

http://aim.bmj.com/content/27/1/33

https://chriskresser.com/chinese-medicine-demystified-part-v-a-closer-look-at-how-acupuncture-relieves-pain/