Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Acupuncture helped a cute puppy article - Animal acupuncture? Hey, it works
Animal acupuncture? Hey, it works
Posted: November 13, 2014 - 6:15pm
When Max the Shih Tzu began suffering symptoms of a possible stroke, Dr. Andrea Cecur, left, successfully treated him with acupuncture needles. Tom Higley, right, said Max seemed like a new dog after the treatments.
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Tom and Brenda Higley were willing to do about anything to help their baby. About seven weeks ago, Max started walking sideways and would curl his back in weird fashion. He quit eating. Doctors were baffled.
“I thought, ‘What in the world is wrong with this little guy?’” Tom said.
Max wasn’t saying. Being a dog — a Shih Tzu — might be the reason. He is 5 years old, a rescue dog the Higleys got from Midland three years ago.
One veterinarian, Dr. Pat Chase, ruled out poisoning. Tom guessed it might be a stroke. She concurred. Chase suggested Max be taken to the vet hospital at Oklahoma State to be sure. The Higleys were willing to do about anything.
But, wait, Chase said. First, maybe take Max to see Dr. Andrea Cecur in Umbarger. She does acupuncture on horses and dogs.
“I said, ‘Wait, do what now?’” Tom said. “I didn’t know what to think.”
He’d tried acupuncture in the 1970s to quit smoking. Acupuncture might help Max kick the habit if he had one, but a stroke?
Acupuncture on a dog from someone who also does this on horses? OK, where’s the camera? Sounds like a rerun of “Green Acres.” This has to be a practical joke.
“A lot of owners are surprised,” Cecur said. “They never thought acupuncture applied to animals. Sometimes they’re kind of skeptical, but they’ll try it because they’re willing to do whatever they can to help their animal.”
Cecur is the lone employee at Harmony Veterinary Services. Her office was at one time a package store — this is, after all, Umbarger — a furniture store, and a cowboy church.
She is not your average local veterinarian, inasmuch as she hails from New Jersey and went to Ohio State. She bounced around the country as a vet and working for the USDA until landing in Umbarger in 2004.
That came on the heels of a year studying animal chiropractic care in Illinois and animal acupuncture at Colorado State, making her the only vet in a 300-mile radius performing acupuncture on horses, dogs, and an occasional cow.
So, how many acupunctured animals in her practice?
“Oh, goodness, I have a drawer full of files if that helps,” she said. “Hundreds.”
Most of the dogs, like dachshunds, have back pain or arthritis. Horses are often performance-related to their backs, buttocks or necks.
Acupuncture needles stimulate nerves and blood vessels that relate to parts of the spinal cord, which then relate to muscle, bones and other organs. The ancient Chinese method can bring pain relief, relieve inflammation and swelling, and bring the body back to balance.
An average dog, Cecur said, requires 15 to 20 needles from a quarter- to half-inch deep at specific points for 20 minutes. Horses require around 30 needles, some of which are 3 and 4 inches long for the back and buttocks.
Humans can sort of brace themselves and get ready for needle insertion, but don’t dogs start yelping and horses start kicking at the idea of turning into a porcupine?
About 98 percent of dogs and horses have no issues, Cecur said. They might jump a little bit, but they’d take it better than I would.
“She’s kind of a dog whisperer,” Brenda said.
Her slightly skeptical husband took Max to see Cecur in early October. He sat down Max, who staggered around like a drunken sailor on shore leave. She put Max on a table while Tom held his head.
Cecur talked to him quietly and began to rub her fingers all over him — Max, not Tom — and inserted eight needles in the dog’s lower back and eight in his upper back and neck.
And Max? He went to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, well slap me silly, but Max was put on the floor, began walking straight, poking his nose where he shouldn’t, and then started trotting.
“I said, ‘My God, look what’s happened,’” Tom said. “It’s almost like a new dog.”
If Higley was surprised, Cecur wasn’t. She said about “80 to 85 percent” of animals treated with holistic wellness respond favorably.
When Higley told Chase about the recovery, she told him her own animals had been treated by Cecur with similar results.
Max has been to four follow-up treatments, and when I saw him Tuesday, he could be fitted with a shirt with an ‘S” and a red cape.
“It’s just amazing,” Brenda said.
Acupuncture for animals — who knew?
http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2014-11-13/animal-acupuncture-hey-it-works
Friday, November 7, 2014
PennMedicine Research News Release
Pain Relief from Acupuncture is Real, Penn Study Finds
November 6, 2014
An article from WHYY says scientists have long puzzled over whether acupuncture relieves pain on its own or if it's a case of the placebo effect. In a new study led by researchers at Penn, acupuncture reduced pain by about 40 percent for a group of breast cancer patients, even for the women who did not believe it would work. To our surprise, we found actually in the real electro-acupuncture group, the expectation had no influence on outcome at all, said study author Jun Mao, MD, director of the Integrative Oncology Initiative at the Abramson Cancer Center. Patients performed equally well whether people believed in acupuncture or not.
http://www.penncancer.org/penn_news.cfm?ID=2236
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Pain relief from acupuncture is real, Penn study finds
In a new experiment from the University of Pennsylvania, acupuncture reduced pain by about 40 percent for a group of breast cancer patients, even for the women who did not believe it would work.
"To our surprise, we found actually in the real electro-acupuncture group, the expectation had no influence on outcome at all," said study author Jun Mao, director of the Integrative Oncology Initiative at the Abramson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Patients performed equally well whether people believed in acupuncture or not."
Patient expectations weren't always irrelevant, however. When women received simulated acupuncture and believed the treatment would work, it did -- even better than the actual needle therapy. But, if they were pessimistic, they reported little to no pain relief.
The curious finding, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs, could lead to a new way of prescribing the alternative medicine.
"Potentially, we can personalize the delivery of acupuncture based on baseline expectation to optimize pain reduction outcomes in patients," said Mao.
Larger trials are still needed, he said, but it's good news that acupuncture appears to work even for those who doubt it. The traditional Chinese medicine, he added, can be a useful tool for doctors to consider especially because it has fewer side effects than many prescription drugs.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
New Google+ page for Lychee Acupuncture Clinic, Inc.
New Google+ page for Lychee Acupuncture Clinic, Inc.
https://plus.google.com/+LycheeAcupunctureClinicIncMilwaukee
https://plus.google.com/+LycheeAcupunctureClinicIncMilwaukee
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Crisis Care - Acupuncturists Respond to The Boston Marathon Bombing Aftermath
"Acupuncture treatments are effective for helping people facing stress, anger, frustration, depression, fatigue, and other emotional and physical pain. Therapeutic effects can occur quickly and last for a week or more. These simple acupuncture treatments have a positive, transformative effect, without requiring the recipient to discuss their symptoms or emotions, unless they would like to."Acupuncture Today July, 2013, Vol. 14, Issue 07 |
Healing the Qi: The Boston Marathon Bombing
Acupuncturists Respond to The Aftermath
By Beth Sommers, PhD, MPH, LAc and Kristen Porter, MS, MAc, LAc
"Our medicine combined with the empathetic nature of its practitioners, can serve as a powerful intervention for crisis care and a vehicle of hope during and following times of catastrophe." - Janette Reber MAc, LAc, Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief co-founder
On Monday, April 15 2013, locals and visitors from around the globe gathered for the world's largest marathon in the city of Boston. With 23,000 participating in the race and many more on the sidelines, the marathon represents a Boston institution. Terror and chaos struck as two bombs exploded that killed three and wounded more than 250 others. Survivors of the blasts have suffered injuries ranging from amputation to PTSD.
The phrase "Boston Strong" was quickly coined to describe the resilience of Bostonians that many local and national leaders spoke about. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said "Nothing will take us down because we take care of one another. Even with the smell of smoke in the air and blood in the streets and tears in our eyes, we triumphed over that hateful act."
That caring spirit flourished as the Boston acupuncture community quickly mobilized efforts to reach out to trauma survivors. New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) with the assistance of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Society of Massachusetts (AOMSM) created the Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief project. Using a five-point treatment protocol developed by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) and used for trauma survivors by Acupuncturists Without Borders, organizers mobilized volunteer resources to provide compassionate care to survivors and those affected.
Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief
The Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief, in affiliation with the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA), was created within days of the bombing to provide free trauma relief through the use of acupuncture to those in need during this difficult time. (Of note, NESA is located in the town bordering the location of the manhunt and subsequent capture of the bombing suspect.)
At the time of the bombing, NESA students and many administrators were on semester break, but NESA President & CEO Sue Gorman, MBA, wasted no time by posting on the NESA Facebook page within two hours of the bombings that NESA would offer free acupuncture in the Student Teaching Clinic to anyone affected.
Over 8,000 visitors saw the post that day and their first patient the next morning was a runner from the marathon. When asked about her quick response, Gorman said: "Some of our own students, staff and faculty unfortunately witnessed many of these tragedies playing out in their own neighborhoods. Given the widespread ripple effect of the traumas, we felt the need to respond in the one manner that we could - to provide comfort and care to anyone affected by these tragedies. Within days we treated runners, first responders, bombing survivors, and even Watertown neighbors who witnessed gun battles."
Gorman contacted AOMSM the following morning to ask for help to mobilize a team of volunteer acupuncturists. Rebecca Schirber, LAc, MS, AOMSM Board President, immediately sent an email out to the AOMSM membership and by mid-morning 33 volunteers had come forward. Former AOMSM board member, Katie Walker MAc, LAc (NESA class 2013), worked through the night to collect volunteer info, coordinate, and schedule the over 85 acupuncturists who responded throughout the day.
Katie and Janette Reber MAc, LAc, LMT (NESA class 2012) created the Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief Facebook group by Tuesday morning (https://www.facebook.com/BostonAcupunctureTraumaRelief ). Gorman said "Facebook was a tremendous source of communicating about our trauma clinic. For the week of the bombings (Marathon Monday through Friday) 30,304 unique visitors saw our Facebook posts. The second week saw a drop to 9,433 visitors (we average less than 5,000 visitors per week)."
Social media and technology played a pinnacle role in this unique mobilization.
Within a few days NESA staffers Phuong Nguyen, Sheila Carroll, MEd, and clinical faculty director Valerie Smith, MAc, LAc, built a web page (http://traumarelief.nesa.edu/home) as a portal for both practitioners wanting to help and for those seeking care. Acupuncturists can register their practice or sign up to volunteer on site at NESA. Over 100 licensed acupuncturists in Massachusetts have registered to open their office doors and provide free acupuncture to anyone affected. The website provides a listing of each practitioner, office location and corresponding website for easy consumer access.
Clinics span the state in cities from Chelmsford to Cambridge, Persham to Plymouth. As well, the NESA clinic opened its doors following the tragedy with volunteers standing by to provide free care to anyone who needed it. The work of Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief continues on. Janette Reber says "I am working now to form connections with the area first responders so that we can go to them to provide treatment. It is my hope that the alliance we have formed remains united and advocates the power of our medicine to transform health and society and that we pledge to serve selflessly as a community of professionals in times of great need."
Treatment protocol uses the NADA five-point PTSD prescription on each ear. The website educated consumers that "acupuncture treatments are effective for helping people facing stress, anger, frustration, depression, fatigue, and other emotional and physical pain. Therapeutic effects can occur quickly and last for a week or more. These simple acupuncture treatments have a positive, transformative effect, without requiring the recipient to discuss their symptoms or emotions, unless they would like to."
By May 10th, over 100 trauma patients have been seen at the NESA Teaching clinic. Anyone who calls for a trauma relief treatment is fit into the schedule, that day if possible, and the treatment is free. The trauma clinic has averaged between 25-35 treatments per week. The need to continue the clinic will be evaluated in June.
The quick response of the Boston practitioners can be an inspiration to any community wanting to provide a holistic response to a tragedy. The outcome of such an effort was best summed up by Tom Ralston, 54 of Revere, MA who was watching the end of the race on Boylston Street where he was struck by the second blast and sustained arm and nerve damage, as well as hearing loss:
"NESA was a great relief to me when I most needed some comfort. The staff was extremely helpful and understanding of my feelings and current condition. I was welcomed immediately, and dealt with professionally by the acupuncturist who explained everything she was about to do, and how it would help me. After approximately 40 minutes of treatment, I was feeling at peace and relaxed. I would highly recommend this treatment to anyone with trauma, and I can't thank NESA enough for opening their doors for victims like me, who were directly affected by the Boston Marathon bombings."
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