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Acupuncture, Massage, and Chiropractic for Fibromyalgia

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Acupuncture, Massage, and Chiropractic for Fibromyalgia   by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc
in Health    (submitted 2004-10-28)

Q: Can accupuncture help with pain of fibromyalgia? About how many treatments can it take to see results and is it helped along if you combine it with massage therapy and chiropractic care? How do I find a reliable one in my area? Thank you, Debra

A: Thanks for the question, Debra.

There’s just one ‘c’ in the spelling of acupuncture. I’m not sure where this double-c misspelling came from.

Acupressure & Tui Na The massage that acupressurists do may or may not be Chinese medicine. If you ever go that route, check into how many years they were formally trained in acupuncture/meridian theory. The standard “real” massage of Chinese medicine is called Tui Na, which means “push and grasp.” More about massage below.

Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Acupuncture is just one therapy you can get from Chinese medicine practitioners, who are generally called acupuncturists. “Acupuncturist” isn’t a great name, since most of us also are trained in Chinese herbal medicine, cupping, moxibustion, food selection, lifestyle advice, etc. All of these therapies are based on the Chinese medical system.

Accurate Fibromyalgia (FM) Diagnosis I want to make sure you’ve had a doctor spend enough time with you to get you a proper FM diagnosis according to the standardized criteria. Too many doctors just toss this term around without using the criteria (which is unethical – imagine the negative emotional impact – worry, fear, etc. – that it has on patients!) Who knows how many people think they have it, when they really have something else entirely? And so long as they try to treat the wrong thing, they’ll use the wrong remedies, and whatever condition or problem you do have will remain untreated. This is one reason why I advocate seeing health professionals instead of self-care; misdiagnosis leads to the wrong treatment and perhaps even further harm. Read about the criteria for the FM diagnosis here, and make sure they’ve been applied to your case. If they haven’t, get a second opinion!

The Chinese Medicine Treatment of Fibromyalgia I will defer to the experience of my wife, Dr. Lynda Harvey-Carter, since she has helped hundreds of FM/CFS sufferers get better. That information is covered in this Q &A.

The upshot is that 80% of patients experienced marked improvement (decreased chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia symptoms), and 50% said they had been completely cured. This is not an instantaneous process, but most of the patients had experience significant improvement within 3-4 months.

Affordable Fibromyalgia Care I know all of this care costs money. Most patients want to do whatever’s going to be most effective at the least cost. I can’t see any other reason to worry about how many times you’d have to visit an acupuncturist, so I’m going to say more about FM treatment in terms of cost-effectiveness.

Chiropractic for Fibromyalgia? To be quite candid, for the FM sufferer, I’m not convinced that chiropractic is the best way to spend your money. Many FM/CFS sufferers experience greater pain and symptoms after an adjustment. This may be a neccesary part of healing, but if there’s not an x-ray confirmed spinal issue to be addressed, I wouldn’t do it. Though many of them are good and honest, and though I am open-minded about their role in the treatment of non-spinal issues, chiropractors are well-known for their aggressive marketing techniques, so be careful. To be clear: chiropractic may help you. This isn’t my area of expertise.

Massage for Fibromyalgia? Massage can be nice, but I’m not sure it’s the best for FM either. Deep techniques can make FM patients feel worse. The light, soothing, circulatory/Swedish style can relieve stress, and lightening the load on your sympathetic nervous system and adrenals, but there are less expensive relaxation methods. I think the best test is: how long does your relief last? If it’s just a few hours, how much would it cost to maintain that benefit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Acupuncture Treatment for Pain On the other hand, acupuncture has proven its ability to relieve both new and old pain. It is the safest pain relief technique. It is the only pain reliever I know of that can wipe out chronic pain. It works via the nervous and immune systems, which are two major systems that FM/CFS affects. It releases natural opioids that can relieve pain for 1-3 hours (endorphins) and 1-3 days (enkephalins). It also, via some other route, normalizes the way the brain interprets sensations, and erases the grooved in patterns of chronic pain.

Chinese Herbs Chinese herbs, like acupuncture, can work systemically, and/or they can be targeted. Chinese medicine discovers your particular constitution and patterns of imbalance, and seeks to balance them, thus giving the body the strength to restore normalcy.

Working With Medical Professionals Find health practitioners who are qualified AND that you can trust, because they have the training and experience to make accurate diagnoses, choose appropriate remedies, and make the best plan for your healing. Once you’ve found good practitioners, follow their advice. Trying to save money on alternative health care may tempt you to ignore your practitioner’s treatment plan and see them less often than they suggest. Or, you may try to avoid professionals and get your information from magazines (whose number one goal is to sell advertising – thus, they do not go into complex medical issues or therapies in the kind of depth needed for safe and accurate usage of natural medicines, nor do they print articles that compete with or contradict their advertiser’s products).

The Chinese Medicine Fibromyalgia Expert If there is a FM/CFS expert in Chinese medicine, it’s Lynda Harvey-Carter. I haven’t heard of anyone else who’s had as much success. To follow her program, you’ll need to go to a Chinese medicine practitioner for a good 12-16 weekly visits, get herbs and take them religiously, do some counseling on any emotional issues you have (pre-FM, or just dealing with FM),change your diet, take certain nutrients, and get involved in spiritual growth that requires growth of character, trust, surrender, hope, and faith. The patients who were most willing to make the most changes in their lives were most likely to recover completely from their FM.

The other insight that Lynda had about recovery from FM is that the sooner you catch it and treat it, the better recovery you can have. It’s not unheard of for people newly diagnosed with it to get serious about treating it and completely recover. I mean it goes away. For good.

But if you only go halfway, or you wait too long to do something about it, you may be ensuring that you have to put up with this pain for the rest of your life.

How to Find a Good CM Practitioner in Your Area Use my website’s acupuncturist-finding resource (see below). Most people end up at the National database. Remember, when you search your city or state, that although some practitioners have not taken the national herbs test, they may still be trained in, good at, and legally allowed to prescribe Chinese herbs. Many states only look at the acupuncture test, and include Chinese herbs in the acupuncturist’s scope of practice.

A common question patients ask is “how many people have you treated with my disease?” That’s a sensible question, but perhaps not always the best one. Most CM practitioners treat a little bit of everything. Some try to specialize, or end up get referrals for a particular disease, but most are general practitioners. I’d say this is possible because, although CM is quite complex, it is not nearly as complex as most western medicine (WM) specialties. Also, WM specialization has become the norm, and because there are 800,000 of them in the U.S., the may have to specialize! However, there are only about 15,000 acupuncturists here, so we need not, and perhaps cannot specialize yet. Fortunately, we learn enough in school to be good general practitioners, and there are more and more reference books. Many experienced practitioners have shared their successes with the rest of us, and translators are constantly offering English-speaking acupuncturists new Chinese experience or research on many topics.

About the Author

Acupuncturist, herbalist, and medical professor Brian B. Carter founded the alternative health megasite The Pulse of Oriental Medicine (http://www.PulseMed.org/). He is the author of the book “Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs, and Acupressure” (November, 2004). Brian speaks on radio across the country, and has been quoted and interviewed by Real Simple, Glamour, and ESPN magazines.

Acupuncture, Massage, and Chiropractic for Fibromyalgia   by Brian B. Carter

Feel Like a Winner in Life

Your sex life decides your zeal of living and if you are ignoring your Sexual Desires and problems then very soon you will also loose interest in living also. If you are facing problems in your sex life and you believe that everything will go smoothly after some time then you are not only ignoring minor problems but also inviting more complicated problems like sexual disability.

In medical terms this ability is called erectile dysfunction or impotency. According to experts, around 75 per cent of cases of Erectile Dysfunction have physical causes and is associated with conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as heavy smoking. Drugs for high blood pressure and antidepressants can also cause impotence. Remaining 25 percent can be psychological that includes mood, desire and environment and stressed It can reflect in getting erection.

Cialis is approved for the treatment of men who experience difficulty having and maintaining an erection (impotence). Cialis works by enhancing the effects of one of the chemicals the body normally releases into the penis during sexual arousal. This allows an increase of blood flow into the penis. An erection is the result of an increase in blood flow into certain internal areas of the penis. How is Cialis different from the currently approved products for erectile dysfunction? It is different from other currently approved products for ED in that it stays in the body longer. However, there were no studies that directly compared the clinical efficacy and safety of Cialis to other products but millions of people are recommending it as the best treatment for impotency.

Everything is in your hand now, check it out and remove that husk of anguish from your soul and life and experiences a new world around you. Get it now, let your partner feel like a winner in life and start enjoying those intimate moments with your beloved. Nothing is as quick and easy as this which can revive your life in just first trial after all millions of men is praising its effectiveness after their mind-boggling experience. Trust me and if you don’t then you can consult your doctor and of-course those who have tried it out.

Feel Like a Winner in Life / Antony Virgese

Antony Virgese is an associated editor to the website: www.cpotent.com – The Erectile Dysfuction Portal. Cpotent is committed to provide visitors with complete information on Erectile Dysfunction, Male Impotence, Cialis, Latest Cialis News, Sucess Stories, Discussion Forum and its related topics. Your Feedback & comments will be highly appreciated at editor@cpotent.com.

Phendimetrazine can Let You Live Lighter than Yesterday

Are you not able to stop your hunger? Are you becoming a laughing stock at party? It’s time to give a thought to your waistline. Obesity is such a disease which gives so much worry, that you hardly find any other thing to do other than thinking about it. Stop thinking, it is time to act. Go to a doctor and seek for a solution.

Here are some of the solutions a doctor might give. Liposuction, surgery, diet pills, exercises to do plus a restricted diet program. The instant you are told about the first two you will get an inkling of what you are to expect; high costs, short-term solution and may need re-operations. Exercise and a restricted diet regimen works naturally, cost effectively but the process is too slow for you. So, the ultimate choice should be combination of natural process plus infusion of diet pills like Phendimetrazine which lowers the appetite.

But what is Phendimetrazine? Phendimetrazine is a sympathomimetic amine comparable to amphetamines. It is an anorectic drug used as an appetite suppressant for obese persons. It stimulates nerves and brain, commonly known as central nervous system to increase blood pressure and heart beat rate. The increase in blood pressure and heart beat leads to suppressing appetite.

Phendimetrazine should be taken for eight to twelve weeks and should be taken orally on empty stomach an hour prior to your meal. A combination of Phendimetrazine with any other diet pill must be avoided. Blurred vision, dry mouth, irritability, insomnia, dizziness, constipation may occur during the initial period of taking the pill. But these side effects are short term and mild. If someone has severe side effects it is advisable to consult the doctor. Prior to medication of Phendimetrazine, notification should be given to the doctor if you have allergy, diabetes, blood pressure, glaucoma, over active thyroid or heart ailments. Children, pregnant women and breast feeding women should consult a doctor before taking Phendimetrazine.

Whatever be the cause behind your weight gain, a combination of diet pill along with restricted diet routine and exercise is the most cost effective and easy way to get over it. It doesn’t matter whether it is Phendimetrazine diet pill or any other new diet pill but the most important thing is that one has do exercise and has to follow a controlled diet program to reap its full benefits.

Phendimetrazine can Let You Live Lighter than Yesterday / Joseph Jones

Joseph Jones received training as a healthcare scientist. He has been working in the same field and writes informative articles for weight loss subject. To find Phendimetrazine, Phendimetrazine online, Phendimetrazine diet pill, diet pills, weight loss pills visit http://www.onlinephentermine.net

The Aroma

The first known recorded use of perfumes was by the Ancient Egyptians. They made it a part of their religious practices, either by burning incense or applying ointments and balms.

The balms and ointments were used for either treating an illness or injury, or cosmetics. They were also known to be used as a tool for clearing or cleansing during rituals. Between the 1500 and 1000 BC they began to also use them during festivals and celebrations, as well as to enhance the sexual experience.

From Ancient Egypt the word got out and they began to follow suit in other countries like Rome and Greece, and then by the Islamics. When Christianity began to become more popular, perfumes were seen as evil and unnecessary, however the Islamics continued to make regular use of it. It was around the 12th C that a downfall of trade internationally re-vamped it

The Aroma  / Taisha Grant

Taisha Grant writes about Scented Monkey Coupons and Deals and FragranceX Coupons and Deals

Anxiety and Panic Attacks: Breaking the Silence About your Anxiety

Keeping anxiety a secret from others can be a huge burden. I know, because I kept my anxiety a secret day after day, year after year for fifteen years.

Looking back, it’s hard to believe.

The secret felt like a lead anchor dragging me down. It was so heavy I could hardly move, both emotionally and physically. I was drowning emotionally.

I thought that if others found out my “secret,” they would believe what I believed about myself… that I was a worthless person who had no place in this world. They would discover that I was faking it. I was really not as intelligent, or nice, or all-together as I appeared. They would discover that I was falling apart on the inside.

Once I decided to share the “secret” of my anxiety with a safe, trusted person, guess what happened?

My anxiety lessened. I started to feel free. It was like a glass prison had been shattered. The anchor I had put around my own neck lightened considerably and I realized that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

There WAS a way to conquer anxiety and gosh darn I was going to take back my life no matter what it took!

It was EMPOWERING.

Anxiety makes you feel like you are alone and not “good enough.” These feelings naturally lead to silence. Breaking the silence is a powerful way to challenge the negative thoughts that perpetuate anxiety.

By breaking the silence with a trusted person, you are saying to yourself that you ARE good enough… you ARE normal…you ARE smart… you ARE capable, and much more.

I am not suggesting that you climb the top of a mountain and announce to the entire world that you experience anxiety. It’s up to you to decide when and with whom you would like to share.

If and when you decide to share, don’t start this conversation when the TV is blaring, the kids are clamoring for dinner, you’re studying for a big exam, or you’re rushing to get ready for work. Choose a quiet, private time so that you have the time and space to speak and the other person has the time and attention to listen.

When you decide to “come out of the closet,” here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Choose a “safe,” trusted person who loves you unconditionally. This person could be a parent, spouse, sibling, a close relative, or a good friend.

Expect that the person may not know how to respond or may not respond the way you’d like, even though they want to help you. It might help if you ask for what you desire up front when you broach the topic, for example:

“I have something important to tell you about what I’m going through right now. I don’t expect you to understand or to “fix” this problem. I just ask you to be here for me and keep that unconditional love coming my way as I work through the recovery process. Some ‘I love you’s’ and hugs would be great!”

Some people find it easier to tell a more emotionally detached third party rather than a loved one, and that’s OK too. You might choose a psychologist, minister, or counselor with whom to share.

If you don’t know of anyone with whom to share, do an Internet search for an online anxiety support group and break your silence there. Another alternative is to record yourself talking about your anxiety. Then play the recording back and listen compassionately, acting as your own safe person.

Breaking the silence about your anxiety with a safe person can be an empowering step in the recovery process!

Anxiety and Panic Attacks: Breaking the Silence About your Anxiety / Deanne Repich

Deanne Repich, founder and director of the National Institute of Anxiety and Stress, Inc., is an internationally known anxiety educator, teacher, author, and former sufferer. Tens of thousands of anxiety sufferers have sought her expertise to help them reclaim their lives from anxiety, stress, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, anxiety attacks and social anxiety. She is the creator of the Conquer Anxiety Success Program, author of more than seventy-five articles, and publishes the Anxiety-Free Living printed Newsletter for anxiety sufferers. To learn more about anxiety and to immediately download her free e-book Anxiety Tips: Seven Keys to Overcoming Anxiety, visit http://www.ConquerAnxiety.com