Dr Maggie Ju Acupuncture London Chelsea, North Kensington, Notting Hill, and Richmond

 

The leg is the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle. There two bones the tibia or shinbone together with the smaller fibula bone. Muscles in the legs move the ankle, foot and toes. There are three muscles at superficial layer: the calf muscles, including the gastrocnemius and soleus are the muscles at the back of the leg and plantaris. Achilles tendon is attached to the calcaneus bone in the heel. There are four muscles in the deep compartment of the posterior leg: the popliteus, tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus and flexor digitorum longus. These muscles contract to flex the foot — such as when standing on the tiptoes — and flex the toes. They also stabilize the ankle joint and foot and to maintain the body’s balance. There are four muscles in the anterior compartment of the leg; tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, extensor hallucis longus and fibularis tertius. They invert the foot at the ankle joint and extend the toes. There are two musc...

Chronic abdominal pain Fortunately, in most of cases the chronic abdominal pain is not caused by severe illness, but it can be depressing if the abdomen is always painful. There are many problems that can cause abdominal pain. Smooth muscle is in the walls of hollow internal organs, such as the arteries, intestines, bladder in the abdomen. When they contract, the organ is squeezed. Most of the abdominal pain is visceral pain which is pain arising from the internal organs. Visceral pain is triggered by smooth muscle distension or contraction, stretching of the capsule surrounding an organ, ischaemia and necrosis, or irritation by chemicals produced during inflammatory processes. If stomach or intestine wall becomes spasm, this may result in pain. So do kidneys, gallbladders and other internal organs. When the uterine smooth muscle becomes spasm, menstrual cramps occur. It is often deep, dull or dragging and is typically diffuse and poorly localised. It can be associated with nauseas, vo...

 

A slipped disc is a condition in which the disc in the spine is torn and the central part inside comes out. It causes chronic back pain. The pain often begins in the lower back and over time it spreads to other parts of the body. Sometime there is no symptom. This is because the slipped part of the disc is small which will not affect nerves or spinal cord. If sciatic nerve is affected the pain could travel from the low back, through the buttocks and down the legs to the feet as stated above. Acupuncture does not make slipped the disk go back but acupuncture treatment can help to release the pain and other symptoms. Which acupuncture points are most used to treat slipped discs? A study analysed data from recent 10 years. They found 49 main acupuncture points from 173 studies. there were 10 most common used acupoints on Bladder Meridian [Geshu (BL 17), Xiaochangshu (BL 27), Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Pangguangshu (BL 28), Guanyuanshu (BL 26), Weizbong (BL 40), Zhibian (BL 54), ...

Why acupuncture is effective for low back pain? There are several mechanisms that explained the effectiveness of acupuncture on pain relief. Acupuncture stimulates nerve endings located in muscles and other tissues leading to production of endorphins and other neurohormonal factors. Acupuncture reduces inflammation by releasing vascular and immunomodulatory factors. Acupuncture increases local blood circulation and improves muscle stiffness, joint mobility and swelling. Standardization of acupuncture points for low back pain Acupuncture treatment for specific patients with chronic low back pain vary widely across practitioners. If you go and see a few different acupuncturists, you would get acupuncture at different points. There are no standardized acupuncture points for any conditions. A study has shown that twenty diagnoses and 65 acupoints were used at least once; and only one point UB23 was used for every patient by most acupuncturists. In China standardization of acupuncture point...

The quadriceps femoris also known as the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads is agreat extensor muscle of the knee and it is a four headed muscle on the front of the thigh or four separate portions of the muscles. They all have their own names. All four parts of the quadriceps muscle join together forming one tendon which extends to the patellar lligament on the knee. Rectus femoris is in the middle of the thigh, covering most of the other three quadriceps muscles. The rectus femoris muscle starts as two or three heads from pelvic bone. The straight head attaches to the anterior inferior iliac spine, and the reflected head attaches to the superior rim of the acetabulum and capsule of the hip. Sometimes there is a recurrent head that arises from the anterosuperior angle of the femur’s greater trochanter. All the heads join, and the belly of the muscle then runs down the anterior thigh to attach by a broad aponeurosis to the base of the patella. The rectus femoris muscle not only e...

The hip bone or pelvic bone is a large flat bone connected with sacrum and coccyx of the lower spine. Two hip bones join each other at front midline and join together with sacrum and coccyx at the low back forming pelvis surrounding the pelvic cavity which accommodates bladder, reproductive system and bowels. The hip bone is formed by three parts: illium, ischium and pubis. The ilium is the highest and largest part of the hipbone consists of the body and wing. The ischium is the lowest part of the hip bone and made up of three parts–the body, the superior ramus and the inferior ramus. The pubis is at the anterior of the hip bone. It is divided into the body, superior ramus and inferior ramus. The hip bone has a few groups of muscles attached as follows The abdominal muscles include the abdominal external oblique muscle (attaches to the iliac crest) , the abdominal internal oblique muscle (ataches to the pectin pubis) and the transverses abdominis muscle (ataches to the pubic crest and ...

Cluster headaches Cluster headaches are uncommon but very severe headaches. The pain always strikes one side of the head typically located in or around one eye and is very severe burning or sharp pain. The affected area may become red and swollen, the eyelid may droop, and the nasal passage on the affected side may become stuffy and runny. The attack starts abruptly and lasts for 30 to 60 minutes. This type of headaches tends to come in clusters, with one to eight headaches a day during a period of weeks, months or a couple of years. In between clusters, there may be no headache symptoms, and this headache-free period can last months to years. Acupuncture again is effective to reduce cluster headaches.

The Gluteal muscles The gluteal muscles are a group of three muscles making up the buttocks: the glutes maximus, gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus. They originate from the back of the pelvic bone ilium and sacrum and end on the thigh (femur). The largest and the most superficial of the three gluteal muscles is the gluteus maximus. It makes up a large portion of the shape and appearance of the hips. The functions of the muscles are extension, abduction, external and internal rotation of the hip joint. Gluteus maximus starts from the posterior gluteal line of the inner upper ilium crest, the posterior surface of the lower part of the sacrum and the side of the coccyx, aponeurosis of the erector spinae, sacrotuberous ligament and the fascia covering the gluteus medius. The gluteal maximus go downward and lateralward and insert into iliotibial band and glutealtuberosity. It extends and laterally rotates the hip and extends the trunk. Gluteus maximus injury is a common source of the l...

The skin is a barrier of the body. Its out layer is responsible for keeping water in the body and keeping other harmful chemicals and pathogens out, making skin a natural barrier to infection. However, it does allow some chemicals to pass through and enter the body. This is so called skin absorption which refers to transporting chemicals from the outer surface of the skin into the skin or even into other part of the body when skin exposed to chemicals or cosmetic products. Absorption of substances through the skin depends on duration of contact, concentration and solubility of the substance as well as physical condition of the skin itself. When applying skin products, it is important that the product is not toxic. If it is toxic, it is not only harmful to the skin, but also it can get into the body causing harm to the whole body.

Pain receptors Pain is a signal that is transmitted from the injured part of the body to the brain. Most illness causes pain; therefore the pain signal cannot be ignored. Noxious stimuli elicit tissue damage and activated pain receptors. Activation of pain receptors initiates the process that pain is experienced. Pain receptors are free nerve endings presented in the skin, muscles, joints, bone and viscera. They are sensory receptors that sense and detect tissue damage and then transmit the signal through nerves to the brain. There are three types of pain receptors. First type is skin pain receptors which are in the skin. They can sense pinching, cutting, stretching, temperature, chemicals and other mechanical. If the stimulation is prolonged, these receptors are sensitized and respond more widely. Second type is joint receptors in the joint capsules and ligaments. Third type is visceral pain receptors located in internal organs. Silent pain receptors or sleep pain receptors are these ...

Pain starts from activation of the nervous system. There are 9 steps of the pain circle: Step 1: Local inflammation. Anything causing tissue damage such as injury, surgery, or infection can lead to local inflammation. This is the origin of the pain. Step2: Peripheral sensitization. Local inflammation irritates the nerves lowering the pain threshold causing peripheral sensitization. Step3: Central sensitization. Nerve signals are transmitted to the brain causing central sensitization. Step4: Pain sensation. The brain tells you that there is pain in the body somewhere. Step5: Pain cognitive processes. The brain where is sensing the pain connects other part of the brain where controls emotion causing emotional and behaviour changes. Step6: Depression and anxiety. The brain where controls emotions is affected by the pain signals and alters its function causing depression and anxiety Step7: Cortical reorganization. The brain reallocates its task to different parts of the body to reduce pai...

Pain is an unpleasant feeling and a signal in the nervous system that something may be wrong. Pain could be in one area of the body, such as back pain or all over the body such as fibromyalgia. It could be divided into two types of pain according to the onset and duration. There are two types of pain: acute and chronic Acute pain usually comes on suddenly, because of a disease, injury, or inflammation. It can often be diagnosed and treated. It usually goes away, though sometimes it can turn into chronic pain. Chronic pain lasts for a long time, and can cause severe problems. There are mainly three types of pain sensations Pricking pain is caused by a needle, pin prick, skin cut etc. This type of pain is precisely localized from the skin and conducted by the A fibers of the nerves. It is sharp, fast and short duration in nature. This pain is a protection mechanism to the body and warning to the brain that something goes wrong. Burning or soreness pain is caused by inflammation, burned s...

Endorphins are neurotransmitters produced in the brain known as endogenous opioids and they can be found in the pituitary gland, in other parts of the brain, or distributed throughout the nervous system. They transmit electrical signals within the nervous system by interacting with opiate receptors in the brain. The action is similar to morphine and codeine, but without addiction or dependence. At least 20 types of endorphins have been found in humans. In response to pain and stress, they decrease feelings of pain and also lead to feelings of euphoria, modulate appetite, release sex hormones, and enhance the immune response. As a result, it makes people feel less pain and less stressed. Many studies in animals and humans have demonstrated that acupuncture can cause multiple biological responses. Endorphins are released during acupuncture and that the analgesic effects of acupuncture are at least partially explained by their actions. That opioid antagonists such as naloxone reverse the ...

Pain is a sensation of hurt resulting from the activation of pain pathways by harmful stimuli to lead to tissue damage. Detection of the stimuli is a protective process to help the body prevent injury or to avoid further contact with the stimuli. However in many clinical conditions the pain is no longer protective, but causes harm. The pain in these situations arises spontaneously, can be elicited by normally innocuous stimuli, is exaggerated and prolonged in response to noxious stimuli and spreads beyond the site of injury. This is caused by pain sensitization. There are two types of sensitizations: peripheral sensitization is a reduction in threshold and amplification in the responsiveness of pain receptors. This occurs when the receptors are exposed to inflammatory mediators and damaged tissue. Central sensitization is an enhancement in the function of neurons and circuits in pain pathways. This is caused by increases in membrane excitability and synaptic efficacy as well as to redu...

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is the fastest growing health disorder and the most common cause of disability. This is due to gradual loss of joint cartilage and local inflammatory processes. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs and joint replacement surgery are the treatments in Western medicine. Due to undesirable side effects of long-term pharmacological treatments and knee surgery, complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies are increasingly used. Acupuncture treatment represents the most popular form of CAM. Much evidence from clinical trials and systemic reviews has suggested that acupuncture can be effective in treating pain and dysfunction in patients with KOA. For example, A randomised trial on acupuncture in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee from Germany investigated the efficacy of acupuncture compared with minimal acupuncture and with no acupuncture in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients with chronic osteoarthritis of the knee were randoml...

The body is mostly made up with water. It distributed in the blood, muscles, organs and even bones. Sometimes the body holds on to too much of water at particular places causing water retention which feels puffiness and swelling. The circulatory system including blood circulation and the lymphatic system, the kidneys, hormonal factors, and other bodily systems all help maintain healthy fluid levels. Water retention occurs when there is a problem with one or more of the body’s mechanisms for maintaining fluid levels. The main symptoms are swelling and discomfort. Water retention can be found in the legs, ankles, feet, the abdomen and chest as well as the face and hands. The symptoms of fluid retention will depend on the area it affects. If it is in the limbs, feet, and hands, symptoms can be swelling, changes in skin color, shiny or puffy skin, areas of skin that remain indented when pushed in with a finger, aches and tenderness in the limbs, stiffness in the joints, weight gain. If it ...

Qigong is a technique used in Chinese medicine to create Yin Yang balance and improve Qi circulation. It is an ancient Chinese healing technique that combines body movement, breathing and mental focus. It coordinates the body, breath and mind and opens the flow of energy in meridians used in acupuncture. One of the purposes that people practice qigong throughout China and worldwide is for exercise and relaxation. The Baduanjin qigong(八段锦) is one of the most popular forms of Chinese qigong used as exercise. It involves the eight individual movements to improve health. This exercise is originating from the Song Dynasty. It attributes to the Chinese folk hero General Yue Fei. He taught the exercise to his men to help keep their bodies strong and well-prepared for battle.

 

Dry eye is a common condition. When tears can’t provide adequate lubrication for the eyes, the eyes become dry. This can be caused for many reasons such as not enough tears or poor-quality tears are produced. This leads to inflammation and damage of the eye's surface. The symptoms of dry eyes may include: a stinging, burning or scratchy sensation in your eyes, stringy mucus in or around your eyes, sensitivity to light, eye redness, a sensation of having something in your eyes, difficulty wearing contact lenses or night-time driving, watery eyes, blurred vision or eye fatigue. Dry eyes symptoms can occur in certain situations, such as on an airplane, in an air-conditioned room, while riding a bike or after looking at a computer screen for a few hours. If you have dry eyes, you may experience some complications: such as eye infections and eye inflammation causing pain in the eyes. Treatments for dry eyes are to control the symptoms of dry eyes. Acupuncture is effective to release dry...

There are certain foods associated with Christmas, and nuts including walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and pecans are one of them. Where are the ideas from? This goes back to pre-Christian time, the shortest day of the year which is often 21st and 22nd of December. It was celebrated by encouraging light to return. Feast is used to celebrate. In Christian time, Christmas became such an important feast and every luxury item was saved up for it. Nuts were harvested in autumn and were available to store for the big festival. Eating nuts at Christmas became such an important part of the celebration. Do you know that nuts promote your fertility? Nuts are important part of fertility nutrition; this is because they contain ample protein, minerals and essential fatty acids. Eating nuts provides vegetable proteins you need and this promotes your ovulation. There is high level of selenium, a natural antioxidant in Brazil nuts and this plays a key role in the early stages of conception. Nuts with ...

 

 If there is emotion problems, such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, acupuncture can help relieve it. 

Connective tissues in the body Connective tissue is the tissue between organs and tissues and it provides structural and metabolic support for other tissues and organs. It links whole body together. All connective tissue consists of three main components: elastic and collagenous fibers, ground substance and cells. Cells are spread through an extracellular fluid. Variations of the fibers and ground substance determine the property of the tissues. For example, Bones, tendons, cartilages have specific forms of fibers and ground substance. There are three types of connective tissues: loose connective tissue, dense connective tissue and special connective tissue such as bone, cartilage adipose, reticular connective tissue and blood etc. Loose connective tissue contains many cells, a loose arrangement of fibers and moderately viscous fluid substance such as the tissue in lymph gland. Dense irregular connective tissue contains a dense network of collagenous fibers arranged irregularly, for ex...

There was a randomized controlled clinical trial for acupuncture stimulation of Neiguan (PC6) for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting. There were 60 patients who were undergoing craniotomy. They were allocated into two groups: acupuncture group and control group. 30 pateints were in each group. Then regaining consciousness from the surgical anesthesia, patients in acupuncture group received acupuncture immediately and the acupuncture points used were bilateral PC6. The needles were manipulated about 1 min and repeated 10 min after insertion. The needles were left in the place for about 20 min after second manipulation. Patients in control group received no treatment.  Result showed that in acupuncture group one patient had a vomiting from 0-2 hours after acupuncture treatment; one patienthad a vomiting from 2-6 hours after the treatment; and no patients had vomiting 6 hours after the treatment. In contrast, in control group, 11 patients had vomiting from 0-2 hours; 8 patie...

Acupuncture is used to various conditions such as fertility, low back pain and other pain conditions, facial treatment etc, however how acupuncture works is still not completely clear. Recent research has suggested many theories to support the application of acupuncture. Acupuncture is suggested to increase oxygen concentration and blood flow in the brain. For example, a study has shown that small increases in oxygen saturation and a significant increase in mean blood flow velocity during acupuncture measured simultaneously at different depths within the right middle cerebral artery. Acupuncture is also suggested to increase oxygen concentration and blood flow in the muscles. For example, acupuncture at trapezius muscle increased in oxygen concentration and blood volume in the muscle. These studies provided a preliminary research data and pointed a direction for future wider studies to provide a mechanism of acupuncture application for many conditions. References Litscher G et al (1980...

 

Everyone has mood changes in some degree, however too much mood changes could be caused by ill health and further affects one’s health. Mood expressions include positive scales like "activity, joy, contemplation, calmness" and negative scales like "anger, irritation, depression, fatigue”. Patients with chronic disease supposed to have dominant negative mood scales. Do you know acupuncture can help you improve mood changes. A research has shown that there was an immediate, fast suppression of unusual slow high amplitude EEG waves in response to acupuncture needle rotation. Also there was a significant improvement on positive mood scales and a decline in negative mood scales after 10 acupuncture sessions. Patients with chronic pain reported a significant decrease of pain intensity after 10 sessions. Acupuncture is cost-effective compared with counselling or usual care alone in treating depression There is emerging evidence that acupuncture is effective for treating patient...

Acupuncture began in China about 2500 years ago and it is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is based on theory of meridians (channels). Chinese Medicine believes that energy (called qi) flows around human body freely through meridians without being interrupted. If the channel is blocked resulting that qi cannot pass through the channel, this may cause illness. The acupuncture needles are inserted into certain points of your body along with the channels to unblock the channels. The effectiveness of acupuncture to treat disorders is still a long standing question in research field. There are many conflicting research results on treatments of different kinds of conditions. Sometimes it is difficult to draw firm conclusions, because of the way that the research was conducted. Researchers are trying hard to perform well designed research using control group and sham acupuncture. For some conditions, the effectiveness with acupuncture treatment is agreed, such as back pain by the...

  Acupuncture for pelvic pain release is recommended by Medical Doctors in the US

What is fascia? Fascia is a band or sheet of connective tissue consisting of collagen lying under the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs. Fascia is classified by layer, as superficial fascia, deep fascia, and visceral or parietal fascia, or by its function and anatomical location. A recent study by Helen Langevin a researcher at the University of Vermont has suggested that people with chronic and recurrent low back pain had 25 percent greater fascial thickness than a low back pain-free group. She concluded that increased thickness and disorganization of connective tissue layers may be an important and so-far neglected factor in human LBP pathophysiology. Another study in Skeletal Radiology, 2005,2 found that pathological Achilles tendons showed increased thickness and 89 percent were painful. Antonio Stecco, MD, recently completed an unpublished study3 using ultrasonography on chronic (longer than 3 months' duration) neck pain...

The nervous system is involved in all body functions. There are three types of nerves: autonomic nerves, motor nerves and sensory nerves. Autonomic nerves are involved in internal organs activities such as heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, digestion and reproduction etc; motors nerves control the skeletal muscles and involved in the body motion; sensory nerves transmit signals to the brain and let feel pain and other sensations. These nerves can be damaged by many conditions, such as virus infections, tumors, and autoimmune disorders. The symptoms of nerve damage vary greatly depending on the location and type of the nerves affected. Nerve pain is a common symptom of sensory nerve damage. Other symptoms involved in sensory nerves are sensitivity, numbness, tingling, burning and problems with positional awareness. The location of pain depends on which sensory nerves are involved. Acupuncture can help to improve nerve pain. For example, there were many researches showing that acupun...

 

Thigh pain is a very common complaint. It presents constant achy throbbing pain sometimes cramping in the thighs or it could be on and off, but the pain does not go away. It could be one thigh or both thighs. This pain could radiate down to the knees, legs and feet or up to the hips. The pain can be felt when sitting and lying down. It could cause trouble walking long distance. The pain on the outside of your hip, upper thigh, outer buttock or outside of knee is usually caused by problems with muscles, ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues that surround your hip joint. Pain killers don’t work well with this kind of pain. Acupuncture is very effective to release the pain and help to restore daily activity. Meralgia paresthetica (MP) or lateral femoral cutaneous neuropath is a condition that also causes thigh pain and numbness. It is caused by injury or entrapment to the nerve that innervates to the thigh called the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve. This causes numbness or pain in ...

The frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain just underneath frontal bone. It controls important cognitive skills, such as emotional expression, personality, problem solving, memory, language, communication skill, judgment, and sexual behaviors. It makes up about one third of the brain and is the largest lobe of the brain. It also controls muscles movement and speech. The frontal lobe enables us to respond to any changes accordingly. Acute stress can impair the function of the frontal lobe that required complex and flexible thinking by increasing both dopamine and noradrenaline release. Chronic stress induces the structural changes. chronic stress weakens the structures that provide negative feedback on the stress response and strengthens the structures that promote the stress response. Stress and anxiety are related to this part of the brain that is not functioning well. The stress and anxiety of frontal lobe is reflexed at the forehead tension. Acupuncture releases the str...

Acne is a common cause of spots that occurs on the face. Acne is not life threatening condition, but it does have many impacts on the people psychologically and physiologically. There are 10 reasons that you should try acupuncture to get rid of acne. No1, Acne is chronic condition that can last for years without responding to any treatments. No2, Acne spoilt your look especially those more inflamed spots such as cysts, nodules. No3, Acne damage your confidence in social life. No4, Acne spots do not occur on the surface of the skin. The blockage in the pore is in the hair follicles which are deep beneath the skin surface. They are not dirt which cannot be washed away. No5, Inflamed acne spots can irritate the skin and cause pain on the face. Acupuncture reduce pain and skin irritation. No6 Inflammation plays a key role in acne lesion formation. Acne lesions develop in the oil gland follicles. Increased oil production and accumulation combined abnormal inner lining cells growth cause the...

Persistent coughs caused by mild chest infections were not benefit from antibiotic treatment. There was a study led by Prof Paul Little from the University of Southampton about antibiotic treatment for patients with persistent cough lasting more than 28 days. This study including about 2000 patients across European countries showed that the severity and duration of symptoms in these patients treated with antibiotics were no different to those given a sugar placebo. Unless pneumonia is suspected, using antibiotic to treat some respiratory infections is not helpful and could cause harm such as developing resistance and other side effects including diarrhoea, rash and vomiting. Most of mild chest infections are mainly caused by viruses which are not responding to antibiotic treatment. These infections will settle by themselves. This is because body defence system will fight against virus infection and eventually get rid of those viruses. Do you know acupuncture can help chronic cough cond...

 

Pain and burning in the affected area, decreased strength and flexibility, and pain caused by everyday activities are very common. This is often caused by tendinopathy-tendon injury. Tendon is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone. It is responsible to transmit muscle force to the bone. A healthy tendon is up to twice as strong as the muscle, making the body of the tendon unlikely to tear before the muscle unless the tendon has already been weakened by degenerative changes. The effects of ageing, wear and tear, genetic pre-disposition and inflammation are known factors contributing to tendon injuries. Injured tendon can cause pain, loss of limb function and prevent exercise and activities of daily living. Injured tendons heal by fibrotic repair and are highly prone to re-injury. Tendons consist of collagens, proteoglycans, glycoproteins, water and cells. It takes over 100 days to make new collagen. The healing time for injured tendon varies. ...

We all know that sun exposure can damage the skin. Do you know wind and chill can damage the skin too? The body gives off a layer of heat that protects the skin from cold temperatures. A strong wind can blow this layer away from the skin, taking away this natural defence to the cold. As the wind increases, the body is cooled at a faster rate causing the skin temperature to drop. Exposure to wind and chill can cause windburn and frostbite. Being exposed to below zero wind chills can induce frostbite within five minutes. While wind chills below minus 20 degrees can result in frostbite within a minute of exposure. The affected skin and tissue go numb. It’s most likely to strike the fingers or toes, ears, cheeks, chin, or nose. The exposure can lead to severe damage. Other conditions related to wind and chill. Chilblains is a condition in which the small blood vessels in the skin is inflamed after being exposed to cold. These clusters of small blood vessels get red, itchy, and swel...

Having shin pain? Acupuncture can help Shin pain or shin splints is pain on the front of the lower leg between the knee and the ankle. It can hurt directly over the shinbone all the way or over the muscles that are on the inner or outer side of the tibia. It can be a dull aching, or sharp and severe pain. It could be one or both shin with large area across whole length of the shin bone. This pain is usually caused by overuse from irritation of the muscles or other tissues in the lower leg. They are common in runners, tennis and basketball players. The cause is not clear, but it is suggested that running and repetitive weight baring on the legs leads to inflammation of the tissue around the shin bone. Acupuncture can help release shin pain by reducing inflammation of the area. The ankle is a large joint made up with three bones: two are from the leg tibia known as shin bone and fibula –the bone next to the shin bone; one foot bone talus sitting above the heel bone. Ankle joint moves th...

Chronic pain is often defined as any pain lasting more than 12 weeks. Chronic pain persists—often for months or even longer. Pain is a very personal and subjective experience. There is no test that can measure and locate pain with precision. Chronic pain can occur anywhere in the body from the head to the toes, such as headaches, neck pain, back pain, thigh pain, leg pain and foot pain, facial pain, chest pain, abdominal pain, pelvic pain and genital pain etc. Chronic pain may occur in a variety of locations in the body and for many different reasons. With chronic pain, the goal of treatment is to reduce pain and improve function. No1 chronic pain compromise the quality of life so much. No2 It makes you tense. Chronic pain indicates there is chronic inflammation and it irritates the nerve and creates muscle tension. No3 It can make you have fatigue. All the inflammation from the chronic pain makes you feel tired all the time. No4 It can disturb your sleep. Chronic pain always irritates...