Late Spring Cleaning

Influenza

Although the Center for Disease control has reported a less severe flu season this past year. It seems as though the severity of symptoms has become worse. In looking at what kind of patients have been coming into my clinic recently, I have to report the cold and flu season may not be over yet! Although some have come in with the stomach flu and symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, by far the most severe symptom this season is stubborn cough with nasty phlegm that is difficult to expectorate. It seems as though Western Medicine doesn’t have much of a solution once you get it and even the flu vaccine doesn’t offer much protection. Because of the rapidly changing virus, the previous year’s vaccine won’t help you this year. Furthermore, there is mounting evidence in medical journals that the flu vaccination offers little protection at all and far more side effects.

In the spring, I was in San Francisco for an acupuncture seminar on colds, influenza and febrile diseases taught by my teacher from Japan. He mentioned that the antiviral flu remedy TAMIFLU, is not effective against this year’s flu. The main ingredient in Tamiflu came from star anise, an herb used in Chinese Medicinal formulas and Indian cooking. There was a shortage of the herb in China a few years ago due to the production of Tamiflu when it was the most sought after medication on earth. At that time, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of the Bush Administration held a very close connection to the antiviral. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/tamiflurumsfeldh1n1-redux_b_191606.html

With the recent outbreak of the Mexican Flu (aka. Swine flu or H1N1), the makers of Tamiflu have generously donated doses of Tamiflu to the World Health Organization. As we have now seen, the Mexican Flu isn’t the big one. I do believe that at some point, we will have a flu outbreak that will wipe out a relatively large portion of the population. The point here is that viruses will come and go and the best defense is your best defense—have a strong immune system!

You can strengthen your immune system by stimulating your skin by rubbing and scratching it. Regularly taking warm baths or saunas will improve your skin’s protective function, excrete toxins naturally, and raise your body temperature. Most viruses can only live within a narrow range of human body temperature. That’s why we get a fever—to raise the body temperature in order to kill off the viruses. Also, you should get enough sunshine. The production of Vitamin D is an important role of your skin and of course, Vitamin D is important for good immune system function. If you live in Vancouver, where we don’t get enough sunshine in the winter, you may want to consider getting some extra Vitamin D from natural food sources—remember that Cod Liver Oil you used to take as a kid? Well it may be time to bring back that old habit. Finally, if you have a tendency to feel chilled, especially your skin, bundle up, wear long underwear, and as my teacher once suggested, you can use a warm hair dryer on the back of your neck. The area to warm up would be right around the 7th Cervical Vertebrae (the place on your upper spine where the big bone sticks out when you bend your head down).

At John’s Acupuncture Clinic, we include skin needling and warming moxa in every treatment because we know the importance of your skin.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture has known about the importance of form and structure for thousands of years. When put to the test, Oriental health practices like tai chi, qi gong, and meditation are the most ergonomically correct exercises. But even the ancient sages who created these methods knew that it is actually the function which dictates the form. Furthermore, they placed importance on the energetic aspects of the practice at higher levels, while initially the physical structure was the first step in development. After structure, we look at integration of the body unit, and coordinate the mind, body, and breath. At the highest level, we look at the energetics feeding the system. Without your hardware, software, and electricity/battery, your computer won’t work. But humans are not machines and we are more than the sum of our parts. The only way to really get the energetic benefit from acupuncture is to receive treatment or guidance from a traditionally trained acupuncturist. Unfortunately, the modern approach just won’t do it.

With all that being said, if you would like to benefit from a more aware nervous system, relaxed muscles, and more energy—essentially optimizing yourself, try our 3-Pack. You will find that you will be able to recover from injuries and events faster. If you are interested in learning more about the health building practices such as tai chi or qi gong, please contact John. Classes coming soon!