I've been telling you ... knee pain? Acupuncture works! Research supports this.

Knee pain - pre and post surgery even - acupuncture works! All orthopedic surgeons and PTs should be referring to Chinese Medicine practitioners (in my opinion).

http://www.healthcmi.com/index.php/acupuncturist-news-online/518-acupunctureceuskneestudynih

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For an appointment, call 303-947-6224 or write DrMLucas@AcupunctureWoman.com

Photoacupuncture, Cold Laser, Low Level Laser Therapy = pain relief and more

I started my interest in Chinese Medicine via becoming a Colorpuncturist. Colorpuncture is the use of light rather than needles to treat a variety of conditions. Now I am going back to my roots and offer low level laser therapy or cold laser. Cold laser stimulates the regeneration of tissue (and is therefore used for cosmetic purposes), reduces inflammation (helps reduce pain and stiffness), relieves pain (by reducing inflammation and regenerating cells).

For cold laser treatment along with proper Chinese Medicine evaluation and diagnosis call 303-947-6224 or email DrMLucas@AcupunctureWoman.com.

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"Women's" issues and Chinese Medicine: herbs better than bc pills in some cases

This study's title is about pelvic pain and Chinese Medicine but it lists other issues that are resolved by acupuncture and/or herbs and that may require more study so that these therapies are more accessible to women. There is NO reason to suffer through what we commonly call "women's issues".
Call 303-947-6224; email DrMLucas@AcupunctureWoman.com, or go to www.AcupunctureWoman.com for a consult or appointment. I offer the service of health insurance billing.

http://www.asianscientist.com/health-medicine/rcog-opinion-paper-acupuncture-herbal-medicine-relieves-chronic-pelvic-pain-2012/

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Acupuncture: another study showing its effects on the brain - and therefore the body

I love these studies that show how acupuncture affects the brain. Yes, it's true. Why do you think it works so well to reduce the effects of stress?

If that's not a strong enough reason to receive acupuncture, how about these?

- it improves immune system function

- reduces inflammation (one of the ways it improves the immune system)

- rebuilds digestion so you make better quality qi (energy)

- can help you avoid surgery for chronic issues like back pain (true!!)

- got sciatica? Acupuncture works!

- and it can help reduce lines and wrinkles if you are interested in maintaining your youthful appearance.

Call 303-947-6224 or email me at DrMLucas@AcupunctureWoman.com.

We bill health insurance.

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Seasonal allergies? Chinese herbs can stop your sniffling and sneezing!

If you are suffering through seasonal allergies, give me a call. Not only does acupuncture successfully treat allergies but I have the bomb Chinese herbal formula for allergies. I kid you not, 100% (including myself) of people who have taken the formula say it basically "cures" their allergies. No more symptoms! And, you don't need to take it forever like you do some pharmaceutical drugs. No more allergy symptoms just put it away for next time.

It's the healthy way to treat your allergies.

Since it is a Chinese herbal prescription, I will need you to come in for a treatment so that I can get your medical background and do a proper pulse examination/diagnosis to be certain that the energetic properties in the herbal formula are right for you.

Call 303-947-6224 or email me at DrMLucas@AcupunctureWoman.com

The magic pill medicine

The magic pill medicine to which we have all become accustomed started w/ the emergence of infectious diseases. Then, because it seemed like such a miracle that we could be "cured" w/ a pill, everyone wanted a magic pill for everything. Hence the development of diet pills, pain pills, birth control pills, etc. etc.

Chinese Medicine's magic pill is prevention - MAINTAINING GOOD HEALTH. Can I make your symptoms go away? Almost certainly. But then, it is so important to maintain your good health state. Why only deal w/ symptoms all the time? Why wait until you are sick or in excruciating or constant pain (physical OR emotional) to pay attention to your body? Does that even sound as though it makes sense to you?

No, it doesn't. And, that type of healthcare is a huge strain on the body. It takes your body a lot more energy/qi to recover than it does to maintain. It's true; think about it.

Example case study: Patient in his 60s with kidney disease from childhood. Had done all he can w/ allopathic medicine, surgery recommended, taking prednisone 10 days a month etc. Basically there was nothing else he could and, frankly, taking that much prednisone each month didn't agree with him. He started to come for acupuncture and hasn't had to take prednisone for 5 years!!!! His commitment is to acupuncture every week and look how dramatically his life has changed. He is HEALTHY; he's NOT JUST TREATING SYMPTOM with any "magic pill" he can find.

Chinese Medicine Rocks!!

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Your insurance pays for acupuncture if you work for the Fed and ....

.. you have BCBS Group #105 (and I think Group 106 as well). That's right - they cover between 22 and 26 visits per year! Think about it. You could resolve any symptoms that you are having AND do what Chinese Medicine has been doing for centuries - prevent illness! Maintain good health! I have to say that this is one of the best acupuncture coverage plans I have found.

So, check your plan - it may even be worth your upgrading since your premium increase may still not be as much as receiving acupuncture every other week would cost. That's natural, powerful health care every other week - feeling fantastic and warding off illness all year. Can't ask for more than that.

If your insurance is through another carrier I can check your coverage for you. Call 303-947-6224 or email DrMLucas@AcupunctureWoman.com. You may subscribe to this blog at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=777691

Medicinal Chinese Herbs Really Do Help Prevent Diabetes

Many traditional Chinese herbal medicines can be effective in the prevention of diabetes, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and published in the journal Cochrane Library has confirmed.

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 16 previously published studies conducted on a total of 1,391 adults who suffered from either impaired glucose tolerance or fasting glucose, both of which lead to the mildly elevated blood sugar levels known as pre-diabetes and raise the risk of full-blown diabetes. In most of the studies, participants were assigned to control their blood sugar with either a combination of traditional Chinese herbal remedies and lifestyle changes or with lifestyle changes alone. A total of 15 different herbal mixes were tested, including Jiangtang Bushen, Xiaoke huaya and Tang Kang yin.

The researchers found that participants who took Chinese herbs were twice as likely to achieve normal blood sugar levels as those who used lifestyle changes alone, and two-thirds less likely to develop diabetes over the course of a given study. The average length of the studies examined was nine months.

None of the studies found any serious side effects to traditional Chinese formulations. Grant advised that anyone seeking to use traditional Chinese herbs take them under the supervision of a qualified practitioner. Traditionally, Chinese Medicine practitioners have prescribed herbs based on the health history of a given patient, she noted. Therefore, it is not possible to recommend a collection of herbs that can be expected work for all people with a given condition.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy & acupuncture

I am working w/a patient on this right now .... he's had the neuropathy for 2 years since his chemotherapy. Improving!! That's because acupuncture affects the brain (i.e., CNS, central nervous system).

http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/pb/25131

Physiological affects of acupuncture: It affects our brains ... why do you think it's so relaxing?

I tell my students all the time that acupuncture affects the brain. Here is an interesting read about MRI studies and acupuncture.

http://www.healthcmi.com/index.php/acupuncturist-news-online/474-mristudyrevealsacupuncturemechanisms

Dry needling is acupuncture. ALWAYS ask about your medical practitioner's training.

Dry needling is acupuncture. ALWAYS ask about your medical practitioner's training.

This is a cute little video where a PT and a practitioners of Chinese Medicine/Acupuncturist are discussing whether dry needling is indeed acupuncture and the very large discrepancy in training. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtOBE_qkZ0

Dry needling is acupuncture. ALWAYS ask about your medical practitioner's training.

This is a cute little video where a PT and a practitioners of Chinese Medicine/Acupuncturist are discussing whether dry needling is indeed acupuncture and the very large discrepancy in training. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtOBE_qkZ0

More evidence that Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine helps those with fertility challenges

I keep reading study results like this one and don't understand why more couples don't consider a natural medicine either before they start on hormonal and physical procedures or in conjunction with them. All hormonal and physical procedures cause more qi and blood stagnation so why not combat that using acupuncture?! Additionally, research has demonstrated that women who undergo hormonal procedures are at a higher risk for certain gynecological cancers. I've said this for years: our hormonal systems are BASIC to our existence, they don't tolerate hormonal intervention very well. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-traditional-chinese-medicine-fertility-treatments.html

Article accepted by Alt and Comp Therapies journal!

Alternative and Complementary Therapies has accepted an article of mine about how TCM treats chronic prostatitis! They were looking for practitioners who could write a (very) short article on how we treat CP in our practices. Unfortunately they wouldn't publish a formula that I mentioned because there wasn't enough room to list each ingredient and say why/how it works.

Natural cures: this one for diarrhea. More to come!

One of my patients and I were talking about natural cures (or treatments) for various conditions and she shared this natural cure for diarrhea that she's used since she was a child in Europe. http://m.voices.yahoo.com/natural-cures-treat-diarrhea-pomegranate-555760.html

Pain effectively treated with acupuncture

This is a nice review article about acupuncture for the treatment of pain. And don't forget, I also use Chinese herbal prescriptions for various conditions/symptoms.

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/acupuncture-for-pain.htm

Acupuncture helps relieve cancer-related fatigue (CRF)

One of the things I like about this article is that the researchers also advise lifestyle "changes" ..... and I am always talking in my practice about how I am a guide, Chinese Medicine heals but one also may need to help oneself through QiGong, Taichi, yoga, exercise, nutritional changes, etc. Life without pain is a lifelong journey that can require vigilant treatment or other activity that makes our quality of life better. In this case, the goal is cancer treatment with minimum negative side effects. I have treated many people going through various cancer-related treatments who say that acupuncture helped them maintain a "more or less" normal level of activity. Some didn't even have to take much time off from work.

http://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/using-acupuncture-to-relieve-cancer-related-fatigue/article/215933/

Acupuncture training: What does L.Ac. mean?

Have you ever wondered what "L.Ac." means? Or wondered what training this person doing acupuncture has had? Here are your answers. L.Ac., those of us who are trained in the medical system called Chinese Medicine of which acupuncture is just one of the therapies are required to have 3 to 4 years of academic education in an approved Traditional Chinese Medicine school. Naturally, physicians can do acupuncture and generally they take a 300 hour course if they want to add acupuncture to their medical practice. Chiropractors can get "certified" to do acupuncture after a 100 hour course. Physical therapists do something called "dry needling" or trigger point therapy - don't get confused, this is NOT acupuncture and should not be called such. There are weekend courses in dry needling for PTs who want to add it to their cache of therapies. Where does that leave you, the consumer? Ask questions! Ask where your practitioner went to school and/or how much training he or she has in acupuncture. Ask what his/her theory of treatment is, how good a needler is the practitioner, etc. As I said, practitioners like me are what I called "fully trained" in Chinese Medicine AND nationally certified by the NCCAOM. We practice acupuncture, manual therapies like guasha, we can prescribe Chinese herbal medicines, auricular acupuncture, and more. Some of us also have additional training. My doctorate degree is in Research Psychology and my experience with allopathic (Western or modern) medicine was in doing research with heart patients. After a number of years of professing and research assignments I decided to learn Chinese Medicine. Being a research scientist is helpful in my Chinese Medicine practice because I can determine whether studies about acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are well done. There are many gifted practitioners available. Do your research and find the one who is right for you!

Acupuncture: just one therapy in the system of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Acupuncture is but one of the therapies available in the system of medicine that is called Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Practitioners also offer Chinese herbal prescriptions, gua sha &/or tuina (both manual therapies), cupping, nutritional advice according to the theory of TCM and energetics of food, QiGong (I give all of my patients a QiGong CD in which I guide you through moving the qi through your body and storing it in your lower dantian/belly), take-home acupuncture tacks or bio-ceramic balls, and I am excited to announce that I will be adding cold laser as an energetic/electrical therapy for pain and cosmetic work soon! In CO, our title "licensed acupuncturist" does not reflect our full scope of the medical practice. It is a limiting title for those of us who practice a system of medicine rather than one therapy.