Sea Band

"Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease."

-Hippocrates

Nauseous? Feeling nervous, maybe a little stress in the chest? Perhaps having some trouble taking a deep breath. There is a nifty little wrist band out there that can take care of that for you, especially useful for those who don’t want to take any type of medication to get over the issue.

Its called a sea band, based off of the principles of acupressure, its an elastic wrist band that has a tiny plastic nub attached to it that applies pressure into the skin over a specific point. The band is made specifically to be applied over an acupuncture point called Pericardium 6 or Inner Pass. This point is on a channel that connects to the hearts pericardium, a protective covering for the heart. This part of the body is in the chest area and lies above the diaphragm, which assists in breathing; the diaphragm is also above the stomach and liver. The heart, the diaphragm, stomach and liver are all closely connected, and the Inner Pass point is a direct connection to them all. Pressure on this point relaxes and stimulates all of the above organs.

When a feeling of nausea, vomiting, stress or trouble breathing arises due to pregnancy, frustration, airplane rides, riding in a car or of course being on a boat. Applying pressure to this point with the help of the sea band can make a world of difference.  Keep in mind that a change won’t take place right away, but after 5- 15 minutes relief should be felt.  For a more effective result a sea band should be worn on both wrists. You can wear it as long as you want, the pressure applied may cause some external discomfort after a while, but you can move it up or down slightly if you don’t want to remove it. Also, no side affects should occur, its like a constant massage pinpointed to the inside of the wrist.

The point specifically lies between two tendons above your wrist crease and two thumbs width up, the tendons are Palmaris Longus and Flexor Carpi Radialis. Not every one actually has the tendon Palmaris Longus, matter of fact 20% of the population does not have this tendon.  In this case the point lies inside(medial) to the Flexor Carpi Radialis tendon. 

In my opinion this band is perfect to use on other acupuncture points on the body as well. For instance if you place the band on the Inner Pass point and turn it around 180 degrees to the exact opposite side of the forearm. The plastic nub will apply pressure to a point called Triple Heater 5 or the Outer Pass. This point is good for migraines, earaches and stiffness on the lateral sides of the neck.

For more information on the Sea Band and how to get it I recommend going to their website http://www.sea-band.com/ .  I hope this has been a useful read for you, I hope you have a wonderful day. Please leave any comments or questions, thank you!

Acupuncture and Dreams

What does acupuncture have to do with dreams?  Helping form a diagnosis is what. When it comes to Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) theory for acupuncture many things are taken into account before a diagnosis for treatment is made. For instance, how someone smells, sounds, talks and walks. Plus tongue and facial observation along with pulse taking are essential to forming a proper diagnosis. That’s half the battle; the other half of forming a diagnosis comes from the actual talking and intake before a treatment.

During the intake process it is good for a practitioner to question the patient’s dreams in order to look for a clue in finding something pathological or excessive.  Excessive dreaming for instance may be due to an imbalance in the body, which could mean an internal organ has a deficiency of some sort and the body is trying to tell you, through dreams, that something is wrong.

Each organ in the body has a mental and physical job to undertake, for instance the stomach not only takes in food and breaks it down for the body to make blood and have energy. The Stomach takes in life and allows an individual to digest the things that come their way.  If some one is having stomach related issues like acid reflux and is also dreaming of eating really big meals, it adds another check mark on the list to mean that the individual is having a stomach deficiency.

The dream is a clue to the imbalance; it helps the practitioner pinpoint a diagnosis. The dream also adds a general viewpoint on the patients view on reality. In this case the person may be having stomach issues because physical life is really becoming to much for them to handle. TCM does not separate the body from the mind, all acupuncture points on the body not only pierce the body, but affect the mental and emotional aspects of the being as well. Strengthening the stomach with the help of acupuncture can help some one-digest life, in general, more easily.

Each organ has its own mental/emotional aspect and when in excess or deficiency it may manifest in dreams. The following is a short list of organs and their corresponding pathologies and how they may appear in dreams.

Liver/gallbladder= Anger, indecision, seeing trees, forest

Heart/small intestine= Laughing, Joy, seeing fire

Lungs/large intestine= Sadness, grief- flying, being constipated

Kidneys/bladder= Fear, drowning, swimming

Spleen/ Stomach= Worry, eating, building a house

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s article, if you have any comments please let me know!

Acupuncture for a Speedy Recovery

Whether its undergoing surgery, physical therapy, seeing a chiropractor or even taking medications to alleviate unwanted symptoms acupuncture can boost your bodies healing system for a speedy recovery.            

The number of acupuncture points on the human body can range from nearly 400 to 10,000 depending on which practitioner you ask, but in general only 100 to 200  points are actually used to choose from and 10 to 60 points maybe actually used for treatment. That is because some points are more powerful then others and can affect many different parts of the body at once. All acupuncture point’s lie on pathways, commonly known as meridians, which are like highways that pass through out and over the body. Some of these pathways are longer then others and some are like major intersections that tie other pathways together.

All pathways are tied and intertwined to the internal organs, where they originate from; manipulating the outside of the body with tiny needles will alter and boost the workings of the internal organs. This manipulation in turn creates better blood flow , better circulation of all body fluids and reduces inflammation in and around the body. Endogenous opioids (natural body made drugs) are also released in the body that can reduce pain and cause a feeling of relief.

In general acupuncture is a holistic treatment that is based off of how the body works and therefore can boost the body’s own healing ability. This is what makes acupuncture a very effective adjunctive therapy to all other therapies and a great preventative therapy.

With a decent diet, a little exercise, and a good nights rest along with a positive outlook is usually all the body needs to stay healthy, but of course stuff happens and acupuncture is a safe and relaxing way of keeping the body healthy.

Thanks for reading and if you have any comments please let me know J