The recent article by NPR, Flattening The 'Mummy Tummy' With 1 Exercise, 10 Minutes A Day, starts off with a sensational, grabbing title. A click bait title that we wouldn't expect from a trusted news source like NPR. But it certainly got your attention, especially if you recently had a baby and now are feeling a little weak around the core. And since this is NPR this should be safer than something random you pull off the internet, right? Well, yes and no.
With addiction, deep fractures are drawn between our mind and our body, our needs and our habits, our emotions and our actions, and in the relationships that we have to ourselves and to others. Yoga, on the other hand, is connection.
It's a great time to pay attention to how stress is affecting you. Common stressors include work, family, money, children, illness and more. Stress can impact both your body and your mind causing symptoms such as muscular pain, irritability, fatigue, and headaches. Here's how we can help...
According to CDC data, 32% of women delivering a baby did so via C-section in 2015. Some of these are elective (planned) & others unplanned or emergent. If you are one of the 32%, what can you expect following a C-section?
Do you feel like your insurance coverage gets more confusing each year? That’s probably because it does! It seems like each year there is another rule or exception to your plan but the cost keeps going up. Here at Jade, we are often asked, “how much will this cost?” The answer isn’t as easy at it seems.
The sun is here and gardening season is underway! This five part blog series focuses on how Jade Integrated Health's collaborative approach to health can make your gardening experience better! From protecting your back to sunscreen updates to reconnecting with the Earth, we give our take on the wonderful world of gardening.
When it comes to brown tail moth exposure prevention is the best route to take. Wear long sleeves and pants, a hood or wide brimmed hat, and watch for/stay away from infested locations. Staying well hydrated can also be a key step in prevention because it helps the skin and mucous membranes protect the interior of the body. Shower with warm water, not hot, when coming in after being outside and wash your clothing in hot water. Brush the dogs off before letting them in the door to keep any hairs outside the home.
In the last article in this series, I said we have an arsenal of treatments for reactions to brown tail moth but I emphasized that everyone is different and reacts differently. For some inhaled hairs can cause cough and chest discomfort. If this occurs and you have difficulty breathing please seek urgent care or see your primary care provider. You should be evaluated in person with a complete history as this could be very serious. Acupuncture and herbal formulas can certainly help with the cough and chest pain and we’ll be glad to treat you but use your best judgement. Acupuncture won’t interact with any prescriptions except to likely help them work better.
Some acupuncturists are also licensed in Chinese herbal medicine. Some of our treasured ancient herbal formulas come immediately to mind for treating the itching that brown tail moth hairs may cause.
Xiao Feng San translates as Eliminate Wind Powder. In East Asian Medicine we call itching “wind”, or we say that wind causes itching. We are not talking about the movement of air but using a metaphor to describe what is happening. Wind refers to any symptom that comes and goes, that moves about, or that comes on suddenly. Wind can originate externally or internally in the body. It often carries with it dampness, heat or cold, or a combination of these. Heat is seen in the red raised rash that brown tail moth hairs create.
I prefer to use powdered herbs for their excellent preparation and because they can be modified to make them more digestible, however, they can be somewhat bitter and unpalatable. Many of our formulas come in “teapills” : tiny round balls. The tea pills contain herbs, activated carbon, botanical wax and talcum. They are gluten and soy free. They can be easier to take but cannot be modified to treat particular symptom manifestations. The cold nature of the herbs in this formula may be hard on your stomach so we can add an herb or two to make it more easily digestible. I wouldn’t recommend this formula if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.
Wind is worse when there is a deficiency of blood or yin. Blood moistens the tissues, plumping them up and softening them, Yin refers to the material substances and fluids of the body as well as the ability to cool and regulate heat. If you have chronic dry skin or anemia the itching response to the brown tail moth hairs may be worse for you and we would use a formula to nourish yin like Dang Gui Yin Zi. The skin is more susceptible to pathogens and irritants when it‘s dry. As stated above, staying well hydrated can help the skin and mucous membranes protect the interior of the body. When the air is very dry or sun exposure is excessive then a topical moisturizer is beneficial, your favorite hand lotion is an example of this.
Let’s hope we don’t run into any moth hairs, that the goldfinches eat them all up and you don’t get itchy but if you do, we are here for you.
Stay tuned for the next installment, where I’ll talk about acupuncture and moxibustion for itching.
This blog series is written by Cleo Wolf L.Ac. Cleo is an acupuncturist, herbalist, and a NCCAOM Diplomate of Oriental Medicine at Jade Integrated Health in Brunswick and Portland
Behind our new location at 12 Windorf Circle in Brunswick is a magical northern forest with trails galore. You will find pleasant easy walks that are well signed and blazed. Maps are posted at the trail junctions and can also be found online at Maine Trail Finder.
Women throughout their pregnancy can assemble their pantry for postpartum healing, and ask their own community to offer gifts of support, in the form of healing food! Join Muriel Webster, owner of Held: Postpartum Care Guided by Deeply Nourishing Whole Food, for an amazing conversation on postpartum healing through Nourishing Food.
It is classically thought that around age 28 women are in the prime of their life in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is a time of great health and fertility because women have a peak supply of the body’s resources including qi, blood, yin and yang at this age. After age 28 there is a natural slow decline in these resources as the aging process occurs.
Thinking about starting a running program? Here are a few tips from our in-house running guru, Melissa Belcher MSPT. Join Melissa and Lauren for their upcoming workshop, Injury Prevention for Runners.
The human movement system is a collection of organ systems that interact to move the body or its parts. Those organ systems are cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, integumentary, nervous, and musculoskeletal. Physical therapists are experts in the human movement system just as physicians are experts in their respective specialties (neurologists, orthopaedists, cardiologists, etc).
It may be hard to see from the top of March, or the top of your favorite tall pile of snow, but Spring is just around the corner! Many of us spend much of winter indoors and begin to be more active as the warmer winds welcome spring. This pattern can lead to injury if we change the demands on our bodies too quickly. Start your spring prep by increasing your activity level with some yoga, take a walk outside to test the waters on warmer days! If you can’t make it out of the house to come to a yoga class try out some of these poses to get your body moving!
With a focus on movement it is beneficial to concentrate on the transitions between poses. As you transition through these postures breathe in and out through your nose and match your movement to your breath. Let the transition to the next posture be initiated by the change in your phase of breath and ride that phase all the way to the next posture. In this way your poses or postures are held in the spaces, pauses, between your breath cycles and your transitions are where your postures grow and move. Ride the breath back and forth between two to three postures and attempt to keep your base of support (hands, feet or both) locked in place as you flow.
Cat Cow: Inhale to cow and exhale to cat
Table child’s pose: Exhale into child’s pose and inhale back up to table/cat
Down dog plank: Exhale to downward facing dog and inhale to plank
Warrior II, exalted warrior, forward angle: Inhale in warrior ii and exhale to arch forward or backwards
Warrior I to humble warrior: Inhale to warrior i and exhale to humble warrior
End all of this movement by finding a comfortable position and observing how your body feels. Observe your breath and notice the effect of movement on your body, mind and spirit.
Qigong is a form of exercise used to benefit your health. Originating thousands of years ago in China, Qigong is made up of three components which produce effects that gently stimulate Qi and strengthen body systems. There are thousands of styles of Qigong. When Qigong is prescribed or implemented in context of medical treatment it can be a tremendous asset to health care.
Within the human body, fluid balance is a delicate process. If the lymphatic system doesn’t transport the fluid effectively, we end up with swelling. This is a specific type of swelling called lymphedema. If you have swelling and it’s getting in the way of your life or causing you discomfort, we can help!
