3 Keys to Finding the Right Acupuncturist (Traver H. Boehm)

As a licensed acupuncturist, I know finding the right acupuncturist is an important part of complete wellness and can also be confusing. Use these 3 tips to find the right one for you.

Avoiding Over Training: How Chinese Medicine Can Help (Alyssa Dazet)

As an acupuncturist, I often have to remind my patients we workout to keep ourselves fit and healthy. When exercise crosses the line one needs to step back and re-evaluate their training.

Cupping and the Injured Athlete – Does It Work? (Brandi Ross)

Today, myofascial decompression, better known as cupping, has made a return to western society, especially in the physical therapy and athletic training room settings. What is it and does it work?

Easy, Natural, Home Remedies for Your Monthly Visitor (Traver H. Boehm)

PMS is no fun. Here are two great natural, home remedies to help you alleviate pain, cramping, and other discomfort. Just make sure you open a window.

Science Says Massage Heals Your Muscles (Becca Borawski)

We all know massages help tense muscles feel good, but now scientists show massage therapy also helps damaged muscles heal faster and could help arthritis as well.

3 Common Health Complaints & 3 Remedies You Already Have (Traver H. Boehm)

Sick with a cold? Menstrual cramps? Nausea? Here are three time-tested home remedies you already have, to keep you feeling at the top of your game this holiday season.

Plantar Fasciitis – Prevention and Treatment (Becca Borawski)

Do you know where your plantar fascia is? Chances are you don’t unless you have injured it and developed plantar fasciitis (inflammation of the plantar fascia).

Product Review: Pain Terminator Herbal Patch (Traver H. Boehm)

Loaded with powerful Chinese medicinal herbs, Golden Sunshine’s Pain Terminator Herbal Patch is a must for every CrossFitter and combat athlete.

Product Review: Arnicare Tablets and Gel (Logan Gelbrich)

Arnicare gel and tablets are all natural, plant-based products intended to relieve the pain and inflammation from injury and training. A great natural alternative to standard pain killers.

Time to Get Chilly: 3 Ways to Use Cold Therapy For Increased Recovery (Andrew Read)

Who doesn’t love an freezing cold ice bath? While athletes may not love them, they DO love the benefits. Find out three ways cold therapy can improve your performance.

3 Simple Ways to Heal a Stiff, Sore, or Injured Neck (Traver H. Boehm)

One of the most common martial arts injuries is cervical strain or sprain – meaning a sore, tight, or injured neck. Here are three simple ways you can help yourself heal.

The post Get Better, Naturally: 10 Articles To Help You Heal appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The adrenal glands are part of the endocrine system and are located on top of the kidneys. The main purpose of the glands is to release hormones in response to stress. This is done by synthesizing corticosteroids such as cortisol, as well as catecholamines such as epinephrine (better known as adrenaline).

• Cortisol – Cortisol is a glucocorticoid that is released in a response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids. The main function of cortisol is to increase blood sugar through glucogenesis, suppress the immune system, and aid in fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism.
• Epinephrine – When the body becomes stressed or threatened, adrenaline or epinephrine is released. This is indicated by an increase in heart rate, constriction of blood vessels, and dilation of air passages. This is often referred to as the “fight-or-flight response.”

So that’s a little scientific literature to explain what the adrenal glands do, but what in the world is adrenal fatigue? Adrenal fatigue has never been medically recognized, but it is a common term in the alternative medicine realm. Simply put, adrenal fatigue is a term used to describe the belief that the adrenal glands are exhausted and unable to produce adequate amounts of hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine.

Think you just may be experiencing adrenal fatigue? Here are common symptoms associated with this condition:

• Fatigue
• Trouble falling asleep at night or waking up in the morning
• Salt and/or sugar craving

That being, said, what causes adrenal fatigue? The cause of adrenal fatigue is not necessarily narrowed down to one specific thing, but is often a combination of more than one of the following:

• Stress
• Not enough sleep
• Environmental toxins
• Too little cholesterol and/or saturated fat in your diet
• Excessive carbohydrate intake
• Excessive caffeine or stimulant use
• Zinc deficiency
• Sodium deficiency
• Reliance on stimulates such as caffeine to perform everyday activities

As with many conditions, stress is often a major culprit in regards to adrenal fatigue. Big changes in your life or a heavy workload could result in stress. Also, if your diet is crummy, it just may be the reasoning behind the onset of adrenal fatigue.

Still think you may be experiencing adrenal fatigue? How can you find out for sure? Often blood or salivary testing is an option at specific alternative medical practitioners to diagnose adrenal fatigue. Keep in mind, however, these tests are not backed with science since adrenal fatigue is not recognized as a medical condition.

What can YOU do to prevent adrenal fatigue?

1. Take a break! This could pertain to work, school, the gym, etc. If you are feeling that you are just being overwhelmed and stressed out, do not be afraid to take a break. A couple of days, or even a week, can do the body wonders.
2. Get some shuteye. Sleep is extremely important in order for our body to perform properly. Make sure you are getting AT LEAST seven sound hours of sleep every night.
3. Clean up that diet. Make sure you are eating a well-balanced assortment of foods that include a good balance of proteins, carbs, and fats. Do not overdo it on the carbs, and make sure you are getting in some good sources of fats such as avocado, fish oil, olive oil, nuts, etc.
4. Lay off the stimulants. Often our hectic lives result in the reliance on stimulants such as caffeine. While stims definitely have their place, if you find you need them to make it through the day, then odds are its time to wean yourself off of them. To prevent extreme side effects, slowly wean yourself off of the stimulants you are using.
5. Take a good multivitamin. While a balanced diet often provides us with enough nutrients, it never is a bad idea to take a good multivitamin. This will ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals you need.

While it has not necessarily been scientifically proven that adrenal fatigue exists, there is enough evidence to warrant the awareness of its possible effects. Hopefully by reading this article you now have a better understanding of the concept, and what to do to prevent it.

The post Adrenal Fatigue: What Is it and What Can You Do About It? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A new patient visited my office recently with a right knee injury. He had torn his meniscus six months ago and recently reinjured it while he was training for an upcoming MMA fight. Upon our interview, I also found out he was dealing with tight hips and elbows, tense shoulders, neck and a bout of TMJ. His vision had recently diminished. His energy was low, he sweat heavily throughout the night and he was waking up at four in the morning unable to get back to sleep. He had three colds in the past four months and was currently fighting a sore throat and sinus congestion. In the continuous cycle of dropping and re-gaining weight for his competitions, he had lost sight of how much he had been eating, which turned out to be not nearly enough. And as we continued to chat, he also openly admitted it felt like he had lost his fire and drive to fight anymore.

I am a firm believer a life of wellness is achieved through the simpler points – proper food, sleep, mental well-being and exercise. Yes, exercise could almost be considered a cure all. But when are you working out too much? When has it gone too far? At what point are you doing more harm then good?

Exercise can be tricky to gauge how much is too much. I train with CrossFit athletes and fighters who are incredibly conditioned. Often times these athletes will physically appear at the top of their fitness levels but upon a closer look, you’ll find them to be rather run down.

Next time you’re at your gym take a look around at your fellow peers. Are they pale and pasty looking? Do their eyes lack shine and look tired? Is their hair limp and dull? Are they breaking out in blemishes? These can all be telltale signs that one may be over training.

Other ways to gauge if you’re overtraining can be:

• Tight, achy or weak muscles.
• A constant feeling of fatigue or exhaustion.
• Challenges falling asleep, waking up very early in the morning or tossing and turning all night.
• Night sweats.
• Lack of interest in your sport or workouts.
• Lack of improvement in your training or performance.
• Re-occurring and/or frequent injuries.
• Irritability, stress, anxiety or depression.
• A loss of appetite.
• An increase in headaches, light-headedness or dizziness.

In all of these cases, rest helps to regenerate the over-trained athlete. The only problem with this is the average athlete does not like hearing the words, “You need to take a break.” Often they desire a fast recovery so they can get back to training as soon as possible.

Integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine can be invaluable for an athlete’s recovery time. Acupuncture has been shown in studies to have measurable effects on the flow of blood to certain areas of the body, which in turn can be used to help decrease swelling, spasms and inflammation, control pain, increase range of motion and help promote healing.

Along with contributing to a speedy recovery, the acupuncturist can teach an athlete to anticipate their unique possible weaknesses in order to stave off injury or overtraining – one example being to work with the athlete in figuring out what the best foods are for them to improve performance and recovery.

Within four acupuncture treatments, an herbal formula and some lifestyle recommendations, my fighter patient had significantly recovered. He had reduced his training, was eating much more heartily and sleeping more soundly. His body and knee had both recovered. His fire was back and he was ready to begin training for his next fight. While physical activity is an extremely important component to good health, it is important to remember that in everything, there must be a balance.

The post Avoiding Over Training: How Chinese Medicine Can Help appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The question? “Will you stick your tongue all the way out for me please?” Usually, the little ones look at me, look at their parents, look back at me and then clamp their lips and teeth down in revolt! To anyone under five years of age, this is similar to being told, “Will you stick your middle finger in the air please?”

Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) use a variety of different diagnostic tools. We’ll look at the color of your eyelids, we’ll look for markings on your face, we’ll ask you about your bowel movements, about your menstrual history, and of course take your pulse. At the end, we’re also going to stare directly at your tongue.

Why do we look at the tongue and what can we learn from it?

TCM believes the tongue is a microcosm of the entire body and will reflect its excesses and deficiencies. Being directly related to the stomach by proximity and availability, the tongue acts as a very good reflection of our digestive systems. If your tongue’s neighbor the stomach is having problems, it’s most likely going to spill over into your tongue’s life.

Everyone loves to ask, so: A normal healthy tongue is pink in color, has a light white tongue coating on it and is proportionate in size to the mouth that it lives in.

When using the tongue as a diagnostic tool, we’re going to look at four different aspects: the shape, the color, the coating, and the moisture level.

The shape is going to give us insight into fluid metabolism in the body:

• If your tongue is puffy with teeth marks along the side, we know that your body isn’t making use of all of its nourishment. This is a common situation with an over-trained athlete who has pushed their body past its own point of functioning optimally, but has yet to do any real damage.
• On the contrary, if someone comes in with a small, very thin tongue we start to immediately ask if they are dehydrated, or are suffering from a chronic condition that has left them depleted severely.

The color of the tongue can tell you if there is heat in your body or a lack of blood and nourishment. Although people’s natural tongue color varies slightly, a strong sway in one color direction or the other is indicative of symptomology:

• A red tongue will tell you that there is heat in your body such as a fever or a hormonal imbalance that is leading to hot flashes or temperature changes. Stress can also make the tongue red. A red tongue tip (heart and lung area) may be present in an asthmatic or even someone recently suffering from a break up. How many of us have seen a tongue ulcer present with high fevers in children? Heat within the body shows well on the tongue.
• A purple tongue will tell you your circulatory system is backed up, perhaps from a major injury or pain condition. Stresses to the Central Nervous System cause physical muscular tension. IN tern this creates pressure on your arteries, slowing the flow of blood. This will be reflected by the purple nature of the tongue. Your body might also be dealing with inflammation or an infection.
• A pale tongue on the other hand is a sign of a deficiency or a lack of energy. This is common in women immediately following their menstrual cycle or in both sexes following a rigorous training cycle or long distance race. This is also common with anemia or after a long standing disease where the body had to tap into its reserves to fight itself back to health. Your immune system is weak here and needs a boost.

The tongue coating (the film that dental commercials tell you to scrub off) and moisture levels give you further insight into your condition:

• A thick coating tells you your condition is more serious and may have a component of phlegm to it. If phlegm shows up in your nose and the corners of your eyes, why not something similar on your tongue?
• A thin coating as was stated above, is actually normal, but a very thin or absent tongue coating lets us know that our system is being taxed greatly, or we have a lack of body fluids.

In combination with the size of the tongue coating, the color of the coating is important as well.

• A yellow coating is a sign of heat and/or infection in the body, as is yellow phlegm from the nose.
• A grey or black coating is a sign that it’s time to stop smoking and drinking coffee before your acupuncturist visits. It’s also a sign that something is very wrong with your health.
• A thick white coating tells us again there is cold in your body and may be responsible for poor circulation in your extremities, abdominal pain and cramping, and premenstrual pain.
• If any of the coats are overly wet then we know the body isn’t using fluids efficiently and similarly a dry or burnt coat indicates a fever or heat issue.

All of the diagnostic tools listed above can be used in conjunction with the organ map pictured here as well. A thick yellow coat in the back of your tongue might be an early sign of a urinary tract infection, while the same coat on the front section of your tongue is more likely an upper respiratory issue.

Take a look at your tongue for a few weeks and begin to notice the differences in it depending on how you’re feeling that day is it swollen when you are run down, is it red when you feel feverish or stressed out? With your tongue sending you signals about your entire system on an hour by hour basis, the more familiar you are with its language, the better health decisions you’ll be able to make for yourself.

The post Know Your Tongue – Know Your Health appeared first on Breaking Muscle.