Podcast: The Broad Range of Issues Acupuncture Can Treat

I have had two comments from patients in the last year that point to a lack of public understanding about what conditions acupuncture can treat. This is very understandable because our experience with western medicine is one of specialization where one doctor only considers the functional system of the body.

One question was, “Eight years ago acupuncture increased my heart ejection fraction when it was low. How is that possible?” The other was a statement from a patient who had experienced help in many different areas, from ankle pain to PTSD nightmares. He said, “I never had any idea of the broad range of issues acupuncture can treat.”

So how is it possible that these patients experienced very significant help from one physician, with no medication involved, just acupuncture needles? This is a big question, but let me try to distill it down for you.

A crucial point to consider is that ancient Chinese medical science treats a human being, not the disease they may exhibit. Central to this concept is that any medical condition given a name in western medicine may have a completely different cause in one individual than in the next.

For example, high blood pressure could be caused by an inflammatory diet, insufficient fluids causing dehydration leading to low blood volume, by liver fire due to either anger and frustration or consuming excess sugar and alcohol, by weak kidney energy resulting from tremendous physical labor over years, or by blood stagnation resulting from emotional turmoil. And there are more possibilities.

Diagnosis of a disease or dysfunction must therefore be specifically individualized, and based on the root cause of an issue, not solely its symptoms. Through the lens of ancient Chinese medical science an acupuncture physician is able to discern what in a patient’s life is causing a problem and take immediate action to treat it using the energetic channels of the body. Most importantly however, acupuncturists educate patients with meaningful, history-based wisdom about what in life is making them unwell, like poor diet and difficult emotional struggles.

Ultimately, we must all take responsibility for our own health and not depend on doctors to do it for us. If we keep doing the same things in life that are causing a problem, like the Standard American Diet (SAD), the likelihood of getting well is substantially less. I have noticed that it makes many people uncomfortable or even angry to hear this reality. I have had patients say, “I don’t want to think about it, just fix me.” This reflects the unfortunate modern belief that our bodies are nothing more than machines, not a house for our spirit.

To return to the question of heart ejection fraction, what are potential ways acupuncture can help strengthen the volume of blood pushed out of the heart with each beat? One concept is to use acupuncture primary channels to circulate the energy in the whole body. This has effect because the heart solely propels blood into circulation and the energy leads it around its 100,000 km journey in the blood vessels. Another concept is to use an extraordinary channel called Chong Mai to bring energy and therefore blood back to the heart to strengthen its circulation so contraction is strengthened. Another concept would be to warm weak and cold digestion through diet and acupuncture to help the body return to a higher level of blood production in the stomach so that there is sufficient blood to fuel the heart in the first place. These are but three possibilities of causes and treatments that could increase ejection fraction; there are many more. The treatment approach would be based on the individual patient.

And how about the broad range of conditions mentioned in the other patient’s comment? He came to me with decades of being inundated with physical injury and traumatic emotional exposure in his career in the military, as well as eating a Standard American Diet. He had an ankle injury that caused him to walk with a cane. He had had several traumatic brain injuries, and experienced constant headaches, he was always on high alert for danger in his surroundings, and he was experiencing frequent nightmares about war experiences. He was also taking 10 pharmaceutical medications, including one for high blood pressure and one for diabetes.

All of these conditions have improved after a year and a half of acupuncture, about 28 treatments in this case. And this gentleman listened intently to my ancient Chinese medical information about diet and acted on it fully, committing himself to the self-love of a non-inflammatory diet. This alone has enabled him to see the cause and effect of diet on his health and to lose 35 pounds. He rarely experiences headaches, his cognitive abilities have improved, his ankle does not hurt and the cane is gone, he is off all but three of his medications, and he is much less vigilant of and reactive to his environment.

Acupuncture treatments helped all of these things with specific treatments each session to address his condition that day. Clearing heat and dampness from his system, relaxing constraint in his liver, strengthening his digestion, modulating his reaction to old experiences and thoughts with Luo channels, using an Extraordinary channel to help him complete his past and live more fully in the present, and purifying his brain of heat to normalize cognitive function and headaches. These are concepts of treatments as the signs and symptoms are processed through the lens of ancient Chinese medical science.

As you can see from these examples, acupuncture can treat a wide range of conditions. Every human alive has the potential to transform their health and their life. Ancient Chinese medical science, with its exceptionally nuanced ways of describing human life, opens a door to experience our potential, to heal from an illness, to make meaning out of a physical problem, and to learn to see ourselves not as physical machines, but as a unique spirit living a conscious life in its body here on Earth. The potential for healing is unlimited.