Acupuncture Services of Central NY

I was recently asked by one of my patients whether or not I thought acupuncture treatments would benefit their sister who was told she had a bladder prolapse. Since most of my patients seek help for painful conditions, it reminded me that many people are not yet aware that Chinese medicine is also very beneficial for other types of disorders.

Yes! Unless the condition has progressed to the point of requiring immediate surgical repair, acupuncture may help prevent organ prolapse conditions from deteriorating, if not completely rectify the problem.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 03:15 AM | Acupuncture Treatment For Bladder, Uterine or Rectal Prolapse

There are many Master Tung points that I personally have found to be more effective than traditional meridian acupuncture points and Wu Hu (Five Tigers) is in that category. Wu Hu is a set of five acupuncture points located on the radial aspect of the proximal segment of the thumb on the border of the red and white skin. The points are numbered sequentially, one thru five, with Wu Hu 1 being the most distal point and Wu Hu 5 the most proximal.

Wu Hu 1 is selected for finger pain, palmer pain and tenosynovitis. Wu Hu 3 is selected for toe pain. Wu Hu 2 is added to strengthen the effect of Wu Hu 1 or 3. Wu Hu 4 is needled for instep or dorsal foot pain and Wu Hu 5 is very effective for heel pain (in combination with points on the heel of the palm and PC 7 on the pericardium meridian). As with most Master Tung points used to treat painful conditions, points are needled contralaterally to the pain and the patient is asked to move the affected part of the body while the needles are stimulated.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 11:08 AM | Master Tung Five Tiger Points For Finger and Toe Pain

Master Tung passed away in 1975 leaving behind only one book documenting his acupuncture points. Today there are only three direct disciples of Master Tung living in the US. Dr. Wei-Chieh Young is one of them. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Young for sharing his experience with Master Tung’s points via his lectures, seminars and recently published books.

Xiaojie is a point that Dr. Young discovered based on Master Tung’s holographic imaging of the body and contralateral needling technique. This point is located at the base of the ball of the thumb and needled for an inch and a half thru the thenar eminance of the palm. This acupuncture point alone is amazingly effective for sprained or strained ankle and I have had occasion to use it several times in my clinic.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 05:23 AM | Acupuncture Point Xiaojie for Ankle Pain

This two-point unit is located on the ulnar aspect of the proximal segment of the dorsal side of the thumb. This acupuncture point is very effective to treat almost any kind of gynecological disease including irregular menses, dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, amenorrhea, endometriosis, fallopian tube blockage, uterine pain or fibroids, frequent miscarriage and infertility.
This point is needled on one hand and often coupled with a different point on the opposite hand called Return to Nest (Nest being a reference to the uterus). The first time Fu Ke will be needled on the left and Return to Nest on the Right. The next time, Fu Ke will be needled on the right and Return to Nest on the left. Continue alternating the points with each treatment.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 10:59 AM | Master Tung’s Gynecology (Fu Ke) Acupuncture Point

If I had to pick one event in the last six years that had the most impact on my career as an acupuncturist, I would have to say that it was in 2003 when I listened to a taped lecture by Susan Johnson on Master Tung’s Top Ten Points.

At the time, my training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) had focused on the 365 points of the Fourteen Meridian System, a system that has been standardized in the People’s Republic of China. This is the system that is most often taught in the acupuncture schools of the U.S. It is the system upon which the national (NCCAOM) acupuncture board exam is based.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 10:00 AM | The Magic Points of Master Tung

With the new year, come New Year’s resolutions, and several people have been asking me about using Chinese medicine to help them to quit smoking. Acupuncture has been used successfully to overcome addictions in this country for decades.

The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) was formed in 1988 and promotes the use of a specific ear acupuncture protocol to help with the anxiety and stress associated with hardcore drug addiction withdrawal. This protocol has been applied to smoking cessation. Four or five points are selected on the ear and stimulated either by hand or with electrical stimulation.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 03:01 PM | Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine for Smoking Cessation

There are many good books on the market for auricular acupuncture and I have several in my reference library, but there is one that is special to me – “Modern Chinese Ear Acupuncture” by Ping Chen. Dr. Chen (though she always insisted that we call her Ping) was one of my professors at the International Institute of Chinese Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a dedicated teacher and compassionate doctor and I am very grateful to have had her as a mentor.

Ping’s book is thorough in point location and indications with detailed diagrams and case studies. She speaks of many ways to stimulate the auricular points including seed acupressure, needle implantation, plum blossom needling, ear moxibustion, ear massage, medicated plasters, electroacupuncture, magnet therapy, medicine injection and bloodletting.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 06:37 PM | Bleeding the Ear Apex

A local support group for heart and stroke patients asked me recently to give a talk about acupuncture and Chinese medicine at one of their monthly meetings. One gentleman approached me afterwards and said that he had not slept well since his heart bypass surgery, which had been about three years earlier. This did not surprise me, as the Heart in Chinese medicine is said to house the spirit and has a lot to do with the body’s ability to sleep peacefully. Since the problem was becoming really worrisome (he only slept two hours a night), and he did not want to add another medication to his long list of prescriptions, he decided he had nothing to lose by trying acupuncture treatments.

We started weekly treatments. I used points that are well known to calm the mind and nourish the heart to help sleep. For a couple of weeks, he would sleep better for a night or two only to return to the same pattern of two hours a night. After four treatments he was getting discouraged, and even though I did not expect to turn around a three year-old habit overnight, I was searching all of my materials for the best protocol for his constitution.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 08:49 AM | Insomnia Due to Heart Disease

by Dr. Chen Decheng

I have written before about the power of a single point being able to resolve pain in the body, but here is a book from my library that documents 100 diseases that can be treated with a single point!

Many of the points that Dr. Decheng writes about are well known points either on the regular meridians or extra points that are commonly taught in acupuncture schools around the country. For example, a point on the leg on the stomach meridian (ST38) is commonly used to treat frozen shoulder. The master point of the Du meridian, which runs through the spine, (SI3) is commonly used to treat stiff neck. Moxa (an herb) is burned over the point BL67 (next to the nail on the little toe) to correct a transverse or breech fetal position. And the extra point Er Bai, on the palmer aspect of the forearm, is specifically used to treat hemorrhoids.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 08:26 AM | 100 Diseases Treated by Single Point of Acupuncture and Moxibustion

In March of 2006, I attended an excellent weekend seminar at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC entitled Acupuncture for the Cancer Patient. They offer this seminar to licensed acupuncturists and other health care professionals twice a year. This seminar, sponsored by the Integrative Medicine Service, is so popular, I had been on a waiting list for a year.

The Integrative Medicine Service at Sloan-Kettering was established in 1999 and has grown exponentially. They offer many complementary therapies, including acupuncture and massage, on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. They conduct research studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture. And they offer their expertise to other health care facilities around the country on the best way to integrate this adjunctive care into the mainstream protocols.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 08:04 AM | Acupuncture For The Cancer Patient

I often tell my patients that there are many styles of acupuncture and many theories of how to select the points for a treatment. A person could go to three different acupuncturists and potentially have three completely different treatments that all could very well be effective. As a practitioner, I want to have as many tools of the trade at my disposal as possible. Some techniques may be better suited for children or needle phobic patients. Some systems may be better suited to those who are physically unable to lie on a treatment table for any length of time. Sometimes, a patient just doesn’t respond to a particular approach and it is always nice to have a plan ‘B’.

Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture (WAA) is a relatively new branch of the acupuncture field. Dr. Xinshu Zhang brought the system into being in Shanghai, China in the 1970’s. It differs considerably from meridian style acupuncture in both theory and needle technique. The best English text on the subject that I am aware of is “Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture, Methods and Applications” written by He Hon Lao, MD. It is an excellent instructional and reference resource. Enough pictures and diagrams are provided of point location and needling considerations, so that with a little practice any acupuncture practitioner could become proficient in the technique.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 07:57 PM | Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture Methods and Applications

During my training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we were taught that acupuncture and Chinese herbal formulas were often used in China to treat herpes zoster – more commonly known as shingles. But as luck would have it, I never encountered a case in the student clinic. Two weeks ago my 78 year-old diabetic mother complained of back pain that was excruciating during the night and subsided during the day. She did not remember straining her back. Then on the third day, she noticed a cluster of blisters on her right side. She called her doctor and was told that she had shingles and that there was very little that they could do for her other than prescribe a pain medication (which has been quite ineffective to treat her pain).

I immediately dragged out all of my notes from school and rummaged through all of my reference materials. I learned that my mother is in the age group with the highest incidence of shingles and with the greatest risk of developing postherpatic neuralgia – pain that may last years after the blisters have healed! Luckily, I found many protocols in TCM that can be very effective in reducing the severity and duration of the pain.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 07:52 AM | Treating Herpes Zoster (Shingles) with Bloodletting Therapy

In China, acupuncture is recognized as the most effective of all therapies for the treatment of herpes zoster (shingles). Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) usually attributes shingles to a combination of excess and deficiency in the body. Therefore, shingles usually affects older patients whose constitutional energy is deficient or younger patients who are suffering from exhaustion. The more pronounced the weakness of the patient, the more likelihood of complications and the more prolonged the course of the disease is likely to be.

Shingles is explained in TCM by the presence of pathogenic damp, heat and wind in the body. TCM acupuncture treatment of shingles is based on pattern differentiation according to the pathogenic factor and the energy channels involved. If damp is predominant, the lesions are more likely to be in the lower part of the body with more fluid discharge from the blisters. If heat predominates, blisters show more heat and redness and the pain is more severe. If wind predominates, the lesions are more likely to be in the upper part of the body with greater itching sensation.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 07:05 AM | Acupuncture Treatment of Shingles

In the past, when a couple has had difficulty conceiving, the assumption was that the problem was with the female partner. Not so anymore. Male infertility now accounts for 40% of infertility cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) assesses male fertility via a sperm analysis, which measures the volume, count, motility and morphology of the sperm sample.

The average male sperm count has dropped 45% over the last few generations. The cause of this drastic decline has been linked to the increased exposure to environmental pollutants. Other factors include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and some prescription drugs. Cell phone usage has also been implicated in the decline and men hoping to impregnate their partners should avoid wearing cell phones on their belt.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 11:37 AM | Traditional Chinese Medicine Helps Male Infertility

I am often asked if acupuncture can help with weight loss. There are many studies that suggest that it can. But the first thing I tell my patients who are interested in using acupuncture for weight loss, is that it is not a substitute for lifestyle changes. To lose weight you have to eat less and move more!

How does acupuncture help a weight loss program? There are some immediate benefits. First, if you find yourself eating to relieve stress, acupuncture is wonderful to promote a sense of deep relaxation in the body. Secondly, acupuncture can help to curb the appetite. There is actually a point on the ear called the Appetite Control Point (Hunger Point). When this point is needled along with two or three other auricular points (Ear Shenmen, Point Zero and the Tranquility point) cravings for carbohydrates are reduced and the appetite is suppressed.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 09:14 AM | Acupuncture for Weight Loss

Acupuncture & IVF
By Lifang Liang, O.M.D, Ph.D., L.Ac.

In 2002, a group of German researchers, led by Dr Wolfgang Paulus, conducted a study where women were given acupuncture treatments immediately before and after an IVF procedure. The analysis showed that the pregnancy rate for the acupuncture group was almost 50% higher than the control group that did not receive acupuncture. They published their findings in the April 2002 issue of “Fertility and Sterility”. Since that study, more and more Western fertility clinics are suggesting to their patients that they consider acupuncture in preparation for IVF.

In her book, Dr. Liang outlines the protocol used in the German study. Acupuncture points that were selected are known to relax the uterus, stabilize the endocrine system and improve the flow of energy to the abdomen.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 09:00 AM | Acupuncture & IVF

Out of everything that I have learned in my study of Chinese medicine, I think the theory behind auricular acupuncture is the most fascinating. The Chinese have used points on the ear to treat disease in the body for thousands of years. But as recently as the 1950’s, Dr. Paul Nogier of France, did his own mapping of the body on the ear based on the theory of superimposing an inverted fetus over the structure of the ear.

Using this somatotopic representation, the ear lobe represents the head, the feet are towards the top of the ear and the body is in between. The outer edge of the ear (the helix curve) corresponds to the back of the “baby” as it lies inverted in the womb. Once you see this image taking form, you will see that the raised ridge on the ear (the antihelix) represents the spinal vertebrae. All of the internal organs are located in the innermost part of the ear. The heart and lungs are in the lower depression (the inferior cavum concha) and the intestines, kidney and bladder are in the superior cavum concha.

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Posted by Webmaster at 08:00 AM | Auricular Acupuncture - The Whole Body Imaged on the Ear

Fertility issues affect at least one in six couples in the United States alone. Millions of women have gone through every test Western medicine has to offer to try to determine why they have not been able to conceive. Ultrasounds confirm that the ovaries and uterus appear to be normal. Blood work confirms that hormone levels are within normal range. Their partners have passed sperm analysis with flying colors. Many women tolerate hormone injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs. Some attempt intrauterine inseminations (IUI’s) or expensive invitro fertilization procedures (IVF’s) in an attempt to bypass cervical, sperm or any other mysterious fertility issue. Many attempts fail and couples are given the dreaded, frustrating diagnosis of “unexplained infertility”. So, if nothing is wrong, what is wrong?

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 09:00 AM | “Unexplained Infertility” – Explained by Traditional Chinese Medicine

Regardless of the ailment that is being treated in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the focus is always on treating the whole person. For example, a typical treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome would include placing needles on the body to unblock the energy pathways (meridians) that run thru the wrist, and also to place needles on the body that would have the function of nourishing and/or relaxing the tendons.

While acupuncture is extremely safe and using multiple needles usually puts the body in a profound state of relaxation, caution is indicated if the patient is extremely fatigued, hungry or emotionally distraught.

A few weeks ago, I had a new patient with an acute flare up of carpal tunnel syndrome. She arrived at my office in tears, stating that she had not slept in four days. She had not eaten at all that day. And her pain was so severe that she said she wished that she “could just cut her arm off to make the pain go away.” She said that it felt as if there was a nail at the center of her wrist (exactly at the location of Pericardium 7 for anyone familiar with acupuncture point location). The pain radiated into her palm and up to the elbow along the pericardium channel. She was also a little nervous because she had never had acupuncture before. I was really concerned about treating this patient too aggressively.

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Posted by Webmaster at 10:27 PM | Carpal Tunnel - Never Underestimate the Power of a Single Needle

Trigeminal neuralgia, a disorder of the trigeminal nerve, is a condition that produces intense, sporadic facial pain along one or more of the three branches of this nerve. The pain is severe and can last from seconds to minutes. Another name for this condition is “tic douloreaux” due to the fact that facial muscle spasms often accompany the pain. The pain can be triggered by normal activities such as eating, brushing of the teeth or even touching trigger points on the face during everyday activities such as washing the face or applying make-up. Wind, cold, heat, stress or fatigue may aggravate the condition. The pain is typically one sided, more common in women and more common in the over 40 population. The condition may become chronic and debilitating, often lasting for years.

Once Western medicine utilizes an MRI exam to rule out a physical obstruction pressing on the trigeminal nerve or multiple sclerosis, which can mimic the same symptoms, the choice of treatment is drug therapy to control the pain. Often drugs such as Tegritol or Neurontin can control the pain, but not without the significant risk of side effects ranging from dizziness and nausea to serious heart, liver, kidney and blood complications. Occasionally, surgical intervention is the last resort to provide relief.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 09:00 PM | Acupuncture Relief for Trigeminal Neuralgia

TMJ (TemporoMandibular Joint Syndrome) refers to a condition related to the joint connecting the jaw (mandible) to the skull. Several symptoms may be experienced, including myofascial pain, inability to comfortably open the mouth, locking of the jaw, clicking or popping sounds in the jaw joint, headaches, and ear pain or ringing in the ears. Pain may even radiate into the neck and shoulders.

TMJ may result from injury, overstretching the jaw during dental or surgical procedures, repetitive movements (gum chewing), or clenching and grinding the teeth (bruxism). There seems to be a connection between TMJ and some autoimmune diseases. More than 50% of those diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis also suffer from TMJ.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that up to 25 million people may experience some or all of these symptoms. Though both men and women are affected, women seem to be more at risk. Western medical treatment includes the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, oral splints and in 5-10% of patients – surgical correction.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 06:40 PM | Acupuncture for TMJ

Migraines are recurrent headaches that may or may not be associated with visual or gastrointestinal symptoms. Pain may be one-sided or more generalized. Women are more prone to migraines than men, suggesting that hormone imbalance may play a factor in the etiology. Triggers associated with migraines include stress, fatigue and weather changes. Some people are sensitive to alcohol and foods containing MSG, tyramine and nitrates.

Western medicine attempts to manage migraines with various drug therapies - often effective, but often with side effects. Many research studies have been conducted that confirm the effectiveness of acupuncture to treat chronic headaches, particularly migraines. Patients who received regular sessions of acupuncture reported fewer, less severe headaches and commonly used less medication.

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Posted by Joyce Marley at 08:16 PM | Acupuncture Treats Migraines