Acupuncture for losing the baby weight

Acupuncture for losing the baby weight

Acupuncture has been touted as the Traditional Chinese Method treatment that works to solve every type of problem: health, old injuries and fertility — but can it help you lose weight after having a baby? Some women and experts swear it works wonders. What’s the theory behind it and when should you go to see an acupuncturist?

Acupuncture for weight loss

The whole premise behind acupuncture is that the needles help to stimulate the body’s meridians to release energy flow, improving the Qi and balancing the forces in your body. If you’ve received TCM and acupuncture treatment for fertility, you will have an understanding of how it regulates hormones. Similarly, weight gain and obesity are controlled by hormones, which is why it is reasonable to think that acupuncture can help you lose weight.

By stimulating your meridians, acupuncture can complement your diet and work out regime by increasing your metabolism and energy levels, regulating your hormones and improving your digestion and organ function.

Which points are stimulated?

The best acupuncture points for weight loss are located on four points on the body. They are as follows:

• The Shen Men point on the ear which controls appetite
• The stomach point, which stimulate muscles and reduce hunger
• The mouth point, which is calming and reduces hyperactivity
• The endocrine point, which improves Qi in the liver and increases metabolism

Treatment can be also accompanied by consuming Chinese herbs.

RELATED: 6 easy exercise routines to lose the baby weight

When can I go for acupuncture?

Find out when you can go for acupuncture on the next page…

When can I go for acupuncture?

First of all, you should not run to your acupuncturist the instant you’ve given birth. TCM practitioners believe very strongly in the practice of confinement, which is why you should be staying home to recuperate for at least a month, if not more.

Next, you should give yourself another couple of months to see if you are naturally losing the weight. There is no need to compete with Hollywood stars who are under pressure to regain their figures immediately. Breastfeeding mums often burn a lot of calories and lose weight quickly. Your genetics also play a part in weight loss. If you are losing weight at a healthy pace already, there’s no need to go for acupuncture since you don’t need the stimulation.

However, if the weight isn’t budging despite working out and eating healthily, and you feel sluggish, acupuncture may be a good solution. Consult your acupuncturist for a solution that is good for you. You may want to start with just acupuncture and skip the Chinese herbs, especially if you are breastfeeding, since they may be quite strong.

RELATED: What you SHOULDN’T do after having a baby

Alternatives to acupuncture

Although acupuncture is the most effective way to stimulate your meridiens, you can also achieve some of the same effects with Chinese Tui Na massage. You can also get electronic stimulation kits that send pulses into the meridian spots. Just remember though that the point is not to lose weight fast quickly but safely! Slow weight loss is much more permanent than rapid weight loss. As a new mum, you need a lot of energy, so don’t put yourself in harm’s way with extreme dieting and exercise.

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Acupuncture for Kids

Acupuncture for Kids

Acupuncture has surprising advantages for kids with health problems. One of the biggest? Few side effects. “A lot of kids are medication-sensitive, and acupuncture doesn’t have the side effects of medication,” explains Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist

Another advantage is fewer doctor visits. “We can address multiple symptoms in a single treatment just by different point selection,” says Dr. Katholi.

More than a pain reliever

Acupuncture’s use in children and adolescents has mirrored the technique’s rising popularity among adults. A study of 450 children from birth to age 17 who had acupuncture found the technique to be safe in the hands of well-trained practitioners.

Many think acupuncture is just for pain. It can encourage the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. But acupuncture helps children and teens with a wide range of issues, including:

• Sleep problems
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Reflux, nausea and stomach pain

• Bone and joint pain
• ADHD
• Asthma and allergies
• Bedwetting
• Drooling

Getting to the point

In acupuncture, local, regional or global (body-wide) points are selected to achieve different effects. “You can stimulate some of these points or you can calm them in order to reduce certain symptoms,” says Dr. Katholi.

This is done by:

• Gently inserting needles
• Using laser stimulation
• Electrical stimulation
• Acupressure (gentle massage of points)

One step at a time

If children are reluctant to try needles, Dr. Katholi is careful to explain that acupuncture needles are different from the needles used to draw blood. They are hair-thin and nearly painless.

“We can introduce acupressure as the first option for things that might be too painful or anxiety-provoking,” he says. Dr. Katholi actually teaches kids acupressure therapies they can use on themselves at home.

Laser acupuncture can help children who are extremely sensitive to needles. “When things calm down a little bit, we can introduce needles for greater effect,” Dr. Katholi says.

A complementary treatment

Acupuncture doesn’t replace traditional medical treatment, says Dr. Katholi. “Acupuncture can’t treat everything; if you have diabetes, you still need insulin. If you have seizures, you still need epilepsy medications. So there’s a place for both.”

He finds acupuncture especially helpful in treating children and teens with complex conditions such as brain injuries or chronic pain. “Using acupuncture has been very rewarding,” says Dr. Katholi.

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Acupuncture for Issues with Insomnia, Anxiety and Attention

Acupuncture for Issues with Insomnia, Anxiety and Attention

By Saima Anto, R.Ac, R.TCMP

Fall is coming, and with it, the beginning of a new school year. Whether anticipated with fresh hopes or attended by memories, our thoughts turn to learning:

Reading books and articles, composing essays — and sleepless nights preparing for tests and exams. So this is a good time to note that issues with insomnia, memory and cognition, anxiety and performance stress, are not restricted to students!

Most of us would benefit from better sleep, and as we leave our student days behind, the complexity of our lives (and potential sources of anxiety) tends to increase, rather than decrease. And we often dismiss absentmindedness or forgetfulness as something we just have to put up with, as the price of getting older.

But you don’t have to put up with insomnia, anxiety, ‘brain fog’, restlessness, or poor memory/concentration. Acupuncture can help manage all of these symptoms, while steadily and gently correcting their underlying systemic causes.

Anxiety, insomnia, palpitations and even panic attacks are all related to the traditional concept of the Heart in Chinese Medicine. The cognitive functions (such as memory, focus, and concentration), which Western science assigns to the brain and nervous system, also belong to your Heart system according to Chinese Medicine. This means we can address a lot of seemingly unrelated symptoms with a single coherent and comprehensive treatment plan, informed by over two millennia of cumulative clinical experience.

Treating anxiety with Acupuncture

Acupuncture treatments are customized for each patient; we don’t offer one-size-fits-all ‘solutions’. Someone with a pale complexion, who typically experiences milder anxiety, difficulty falling asleep, busy dreams, palpitations, easy startlement, and poor memory, would be treated very differently than someone with a flushed face, more severe anxiety and insomnia, restless dreams, palpitations, thirst, and (possibly) mouth or tongue sores. Both patients have insomnia, anxiety, palpitations, and poor memory, but the causes are quite different — and the treatment approach must also be different.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recognizes and treats many types of anxiety, from mild to severe. Absent-mindedness, indecisiveness, timidity, or even just a vague sense of lacking direction, can all be part of a straightforward clinical picture, with a clear diagnosis and treatment plan. But even severe anxiety, agitation, confusion, restless and manic behaviour can be successfully managed with acupuncture based on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Treating ‘brain fog’, poor memory and difficulty concentrating with Acupuncture

If you are experiencing poor memory, insomnia, and palpitations, your practitioner may ask you seemingly unrelated questions: Do you also experience tinnitus? Loose stools and scanty periods? Any backache? Headaches? Prickling, numbness or tingling sensation anywhere? Do you find you feel restless?

If you have trouble concentrating, do you also have loose stools and a sense of fatigue? Or a tendency to constipation? Is there any dizziness? Does your head feel heavy, or empty? Are you easily startled? Do you feel listless or apathetic, and somehow ‘dull’? Is there a tendency to irritability?

Exploring these kinds of questions enables your provider to differentiate between the various causes of poor memory and other cognitive-functional issues. That way, we can treat the root cause of the problem, instead of just managing an apparent mish-mash of symptoms.

Treating hyperactivity with Acupuncture

Traditional Chinese Medicine recognizes at least six common types of hyperactivity, each caused by a different systemic imbalance. Hyperactivity, poor concentration, and insomnia can be accompanied by numbness and tingling, dizziness, blurred vision and dry eyes, irritability, and tendency to thinness. Clearly, such a case requires a different approach than if the hyperactive patient instead experiences tendency to gain weight, speech impairment, lassitude and fatigue, and loose stools, for example.

Whatever the mix of symptoms you experience, and whether they are severe or mild, your acupuncturist can pinpoint the specific systemic imbalances causing them, and explain what to expect from a course of treatment based on a plan tailored to your needs.

Saima Anto, R.Ac, R.TCMP provides acupuncture services at Pacific Wellness and is available for appointments four days a week. If you would like to explore how acupuncture could help your health concerns please call us at 416-929-6958. Acupuncture treatments are covered by most employee benefits.

Original article and pictures take www.pacificwellness.ca site