Dr Maggie Ju Acupuncture London Kensington, Notting Hill, Chelsea 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.

Muscles at the neck The neck is the centre of muscle network of the upper body. The cervical spine and the muscles and ligaments are at the back of the neck. The cervical spine is made up of seven vertebraes between which is a disc. Spinal cord is within the spine and protected by the spine. Nerves come out from the cervical spine and innervated the neck and arms. There are many muscles connect the neck to the head, shoulders and the back. Trapezius muscle Trapezius is a large triangular muscle superficially located at the neck and upper back. It connects the neck to the head and shoulders and upper back and middle back. Apart from trapezius there are many muscles connecting the neck to the head and shoulders. Muscles connect the neck to the head. As mentioned above some muscles connect the neck to the head contributing to the head and neck movement. They are Semispinalis captisis which is deep to the trapezius muscle is originated from the four to seven cervical vertebraes and the upp

Trapezius muscle Trapezius is a superficial broad triangular muscle at neck and upper back, one of the largest superficial muscles at the upper back. It attaches to the base of the skull and extends down to the neck, the upper back until mid back; laterally it inserts to the shoulder blades. There are three functional regions to the muscle: the Upper, middle, and lower trapezius, and each region has its own function: upper region moves the shoulder blades and support the arms; the middle region retracts the shoulder blades and the lower region rotates and depresses the shoulder blades. Rhomboid major and minor muscles Below Levator scapulae muscle are Rhoboids including rhomboids minor and rhomboids major. Rhomboid minor and Rhomboids major are muscles on the back connecting the shoulder blade with the spinal column. Rhomboids major is just below the rhomboid minor. They are deeper to the trapezius starting from spinal column C7 to T5 and inserting to the medial border of the shoulder

Rotator cuff disorders Rotator cuff disorder is another common cause for shoulder pain. The rotator cuff is a group of tendons and muscles in the shoulder, connecting the upper arm to the shoulder blade as mentioned above. The rotator cuff tendons provide stability to the shoulder; the muscles allow the shoulder to rotate. The rotator cuff keeps the joint in the correct position, allowing it to move in a controlled way. Rotator cuff disorders occur when these tendons and muscles get irritated or damaged. The disorders include inflammation of the tendons or bursa, impingement (a tendon is squeezed and rubs against bone), calcium building up and tears of the tendons. The most common causes are 1) normal wear and tear. Rotator cuff is damaged due to years of using the shoulder and changes in the rotator cuff, for instance thinning and wearing of the tendons and reduced blood supply. 2) overuse. Activities involved in using rotator cuff a lot such as tennis, swimming or painting or using

Muscles surrounding the shoulder joint Trapezius muscle Trapezius muscle attaches to the base of the skull and extends down until mid back and laterally it inserts to the shoulder blades. It is involved in the shoulder blades movement Pain caused by middle and lower part of the trapezius can present burning pain or aching on the top of the shoulder. Also pain caused by the lower part of the muscle can present upper shoulder pain; pain at the back of the shoulder blade which could radiate to the inside of the arm to the ring and little fingers. Latissimus dorsi Latissimus dorsi is the largest flat muscle in the back. It originates from the inferior thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, sacrum, iliac crest, and the four most inferior ribs, runs laterally up through the back, inferior part of shoulder blades and inserts to the upper front of the humerus. This muscle plays a role in shoulder joint movement such as adducting the arms, extending the shoulders and rotating shoulder joints medially.

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