You know the feeling, tightness and tension in your body, sweaty palms and irritability~you’re stressed! With work, family and your personal life expecting so much from you, it’s bound to happen some time!

Never fear, help is on the way! Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are useful in the management and prevention of this silent killer.

When we feel stressed, we often times tense up. This causes our Qi to get stuck and build up like a pressure cooker and eventually needs an escape valve. Qi (pronounced chee) is energy, the energy of life~our life force. This energy flows throughout our body and it’s Qi (energy) that mobilizes our arms and legs to move, our stomach to digest food, our heart to pump and blood to flow. Without Qi we couldn’t exsist.

When we’re stressed we might get angry and “blow up” at someone or when our Qi in the stomach gets stuck, we have digestive problems, such as heartburn. Some people have bowel problems, like IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) because the stuck Qi cannot move food through the intestines properly.

Have you ever gotten angry  and have literally felt your Qi rise to your head (maybe you even got red in the face)? This happens because the stuck Qi building up HAS to be released. It goes up to the head, and can cause migraine or tension headaches and possibly high blood pressure.

Help is on the way!

Acupuncture effectively has treated disorders caused by stress, by unblocking stuck Qi, allowing it to flow properly throughout the body. We feel more relaxed and food is digested smoothly and moves through the bowels properly. As our tension is relieved, so are the headaches. Instead of being so tense and angry, we remain calm and our blood pressure and our tempers stay even.

How does acupuncture treat stress-related health conditions?

The acupuncturist begins by asking questions about the problem (e.g. headache, heartburn, or high blood pressure) and then asks general questions about all systems in the body and emotions. The acupuncturist is determining a constitutional pattern to explain why the condition developed.

Next the practitioner develops a treatment plan, including acupuncture, herbal formulas and lifestyle modifications to treat the condition.

A recent medical study published in Anesthesiology (June 2003) used ear acupressure to relieve stress and anxiety in patients being transported to the hospital in ambulances. Some got a real acupuncture points (acupuncture group) and some got a placebo (sham) points (control group). At arrival, the stress level in the acupuncture group decreased sixty-six percent. In contrast, the stress level in the control group increased ten percent. Such studies indicate the effectiveness of acupuncture in stress treatment.

To find an acupuncturist in your area check out:

www.yinyanghouse.com

If you’re in Chicago, check out Shen Shen Health and Harmony a beautiful place to Cleanse, Calm, Heal and Renew! Located at 2764 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.

www.shenshenhealth.com  773-935-HEAL (4325)