Gracey Holistic Health

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Acupuncture as you age

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Getting older can stink (and none of us are unsusceptible)! As a medical provider, it can be a real challenge to treat an older patient. More than half of adults age 65 or older have 3 or more medical problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, or high blood pressure. That’s not even taking into consideration the general aches of growing older and the devastating effects of mental decline.

But does getting older really have to stink? Not necessarily. For instance, an improvement in any one aspect of health can alter (or even reverse) the progression of other physical or mental issues. Personally, as I’ve aged, my annual physical indicators (vitals, lifestyle review, targeted lab testing, to name some) have stabilized or even continued to get better. The simple solution is to be vigilant in maintaining balance in all areas of life, such as regular exercise, good dieting, and time for rest, relaxation and enjoyment with those things most dear to us.

Further, holistic medicine can make a difference for maintaining better balance. It works by targeting the many facets of health, and it’s proving to be a viable treatment option and pain reliever for geriatric patients.

Acupuncture can help heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and Alzheimer’s disease

Yes, it’s true! UCLA researchers found over 10 years ago that acupuncture treatment showed promising help in significantly lowering stress and improving heart function in the very sickest heart failure patients. Further comprehensive research is underway by the lead UCLA author, Holly Middlekauff, MD, to study “if acupuncture decreases adrenaline levels in heart failure, thereby potentially improving survival and quality of life.” Researchers also found “acupuncture equally effective for the treatment of hypertension as…a pharmaceutical medication used for the treatment of high blood pressure and angina.”

Additionally, Alzheimer’s can often be the largest culprit in compounding physical issues for geriatric patients. After all, if an older man can’t remember to take his heart medication, that can have serious repercussions.

But acupuncture can also play a role in improving health outcomes for those with declining mental capacities. “Two separate studies have shown that acupuncture may be able to help people with Alzheimer’s. In both studies, researchers found that acupuncture could improve the lives of people with the disease by increasing verbal and motor skills and improving their mood and cognitive function.”

Chronic back pain relief

Some common ailments are not even necessarily a sign of illness.

I wasn’t that “old” when I started experiencing chronic back pain, and it’s why I sought out acupuncture. Many geriatric patients experience chronic back pain. In fact, it’s the number 1 reason why people seek out acupuncture. And for good reason.

In 2016, a group of researchers in China studied 751 patients with low back pain. The study was carefully performed measuring each patient’s pain level and functional ability before and after acupuncture treatment. They found that acupuncture may have “a favorable effect on self-report pain and functional limitations in LBP [low back pain] patients.”

Also, in 2012, the New York Times reported that acupuncture in a comprehensive and rigorous analysis of 29 randomized trials involving 17,992 patients led by Dr. Andrew J. Vickers helped reduce back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headache, and shoulder pain.

There’s no shame in help for pain

If you’re starting to experience the pains of getting older, stop by at our Belmont or Brookline offices. We can talk through what’s bothering you and get you the help you need to reduce pain and prevent the early onset of illnesses.

Acupuncture: A leg up on the competition

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Last week, we talked how important movement is to fostering a healthy relationship with your body. This week, it’s all about specific, repeated, skilled, competitive movement—also known as sports.

Anyone who’s competed in a sport knows that it requires both mental and physical grit. In the top US sports, professional athletes only play for about 5 years before retiring!

  • Football (NFL): 3.5 years
  • Basketball (NBA): 4.8 years
  • Baseball (MLB): 5.6 years
  • Hockey (NHL): 5.5 years

Even if you don’t suffer a severe injury from sports, there are many healthcare professionals that can help you perform at your peak—from sports psychologists, to physical therapists, to (yes!) even acupuncturists.

Acupuncturist Matt Callison is a faculty member at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and has treated players from the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. He has been working with athletes for more than a decade. “Acupuncture is one of the quickest ways to restore muscle balance,” Callison said. “When acupuncture is used at specific sites, the muscle spindles are reset, and then that balance is reawakened.”

For those unfamiliar, there are many things that holistic medicine can offer to help you get from “out of the race” to “first place”. Yet, for some who are not quite as competitive, they are exceedingly grateful with simply finishing the race without injury. Below are some ideas for starters.

Acupuncture treatment for sports injuries and sore muscles

When athletes are prescribed rest for an injury, many use sports or orthopedic acupuncture to help speed up the healing process and reduce pain. The benefit of acupuncture is that it works without side effects, unlike pharmaceuticals.

Consistent treatment, like physical therapy (PT), can also help the body to heal itself by stimulating blood circulation and allowing the body to better communicate with the injured or tired area. In fact, I work with PTs all time. This complement to my practice helps patients not only recover from injuries but also helps prevent them from happening and can enhance performance.

That said, given that I’ve treated patients head to toe, from tennis elbow, to pulled obliques, to a number of leg, arm, back, neck and shoulder issues, to knee pain, to achilles tendonitis, to wrist, toe and finger problems and more, you can feel confident that I’ll give you the best quality care I can offer. This means not only what I can do for you personally, but also my willingness to work in conjunction with your other health care providers or refer out, as needed.

Health coaching for athletes

Getting gold isn’t a result of one good race or one good day of competition. It’s a result of all the daily choices months (and possibly years) before the competition even happened. I can help keep you accountable to health and lifestyle choices that are best for you. By understanding your health holistically, we can better know what diet and exercise options will be most effective to elevate the output of not just your body, but your mind and soul as well.

Mindful movement, for health

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Try sitting up straight right now. How long can you hold that for? Get tired after a while?

By now it should go without being said that movement or exercise are important to overall health. But exercise is more than about just getting your heart rate up. It’s about your relationship with your body.

My relationship with exercise

As a long distance runner, it took me awhile to figure out a healthy relationship with my body, sometimes ignoring what my body was telling me. In fact, it cost me in running the Boston Marathon one year, as I was about 80% improved from an overuse injury, when at mile 21 or so, my left leg and knee (Iliotibial [IT] band) locked up, forcing me to hobble the last miles to the finish line and take an extended recovery period.

This can be said of other endeavors I’ve partaken in. Whether it be hiking, biking, surfing, tennis, snow skiing, etc., my mental perseverance has pushed the edge of the body’s ability to respond, leading me to learn from injuries. To name some, this has included achilles tendonitis, multiple lower/upper back pain and neck issues, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist and finger problems, leg, foot and ankle conditions, trunk issues (strained oblique and intercostal muscles) and so on. In only two major bicycle accidents within 30 years of riding on my racing bike, I sustained a punctured lung, a hip fracture, broken ribs and multiple contusions and scrapes.

Now, I concertedly pay more attention to my body and am careful not to overextend myself. While I can’t prevent freak accidents or incidents hard to control, I’ve learned to:

  • Listen to my body
  • Be more aware of my surroundings and capabilities (especially as these change over time)
  • Exercise and stretch prudently
  • Take time to recover
  • Eat well for my lifestyle/health
  • Seek out holistic advice or treatment, as needed

This approach to more mindful movement and living has enabled me to heal well and continue in the most meaningful aspects of my active life with a greater sense of enjoyment and accomplishment. This also flows into a more positive attitude in all aspects of my life.

Your relationship with movement

You don’t have to be athletic to enjoy the benefits of mindful movement, I started out as a novice to all my activities and worked way up to desired levels. You can choose whatever healthy level you desire and, any way you cut the mustard, you’ll be glad of the outcomes if you stick with it.

Now, let’s talk some more about relationships with each of our bodies, so you don’t repeat my mistakes and best benefit by applied mindful movement.

And what makes for a good relationship? At least two things:

  • Respect
  • Listening and communication

Respect your body

Yes, exercising or moving is a good way to respect your body. But rest days can be equally important and respectful. Learn about some signs that you might need a rest day. Remember, rest doesn’t have to mean “doing nothing.” You can take the rest day to stretch your muscles.

The image above shows how we use foam rollers to provide relief to tight muscles and the connective tissue between muscles.

Listen and communicate with your body

What was your body telling you when you sat up straight? Did your neck hurt? Were your shoulders tight? Was it easy? This posture exercise is a great example of how you can get the conversation started with your body.

Mindful movement—like yoga and tai chi—originated as ways to meditate with movement. And meditation’s focus on the mind-body connection is important in holistic medicine. The slow, physically taxing static postures of these practices allow time to listen to the sensations happening in the muscles and communicate by adjusting the posture as needed.

But you don’t need to take it “slow” to have a good relationship. Apply the same principles when lifting or running—with each lift or each stride, focus on feeling which muscles are being used and what the sensation feels like. Keep going if it feels good, and change if it doesn’t. Not only will this help you get in better touch with your body, but it’s a great way to avoid injury or overuse.

Check in with your body, heal your pain

Finally, while mindful movement starts and ends with you, guidance and focused attention along the way can make all the difference. If you haven’t checked in with certain parts of your body in a long time, need treatment, or would like some healthy tips, acupuncture and related complementary therapies can be a great way to bring attention to a particular area in a gentle way that (unlike the gym) won’t leave you sore the next day.