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

Sex steroid hormones act at a number of sites in both the peripheral and central nervous systems and in both reproductive and non-reproductive tissues. They play a role in pain conditions. Many clinical pain conditions vary with hormonal state. For example, the probability of experiencing a painful condition increases with increasing pubertal development. Sex differences in the prevalence of painful conditions appear after puberty. Variation in symptom severity across the menstrual cycle affected by ovulation and menstruation occurs in a number of clinical pain conditions, such as the pain of dysmenorrhoea, the symptoms of temperomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Interstitial Cystitis (IC) and migraine. The use of the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) to give a more constant hormonal level can sometimes improve pain symptoms. During pregnancy, the cyclical fluctuations in hormones stop. Many clinical pain conditions improve during p...

Tendon is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone Tendons are highly organized connective tissues that transmit muscle force to the bone. Tendons are resilient during the development of tension, but flexible enough to carry on its function. In the resting state, the collagen fibrils exhibit a wavy conformation. As a tendon is stretched, collagen fibrils begin to straighten out, and, as a result, the tendon becomes stiffer with increasing application of mechanical strain. The transition from tendon to bone and from tendon to muscle is progressive to allow an efficient load transfer minimizing stress concentrations. 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. Tendons consist ...

Acute abdominal pain Everyone at some point of their life will experience abdominal pain. Abdominal pain is one of the most complicated symptoms which can be caused by many factors. Most of the causes are not severe and the pain can be diagnosed and treated with good prognosis. However abdominal pain can be a sign of very severe illness. If the abdominal pain is severe or recurrent and there are some other symptoms associated with such as fever, inability to keep food down, signs of dehydration, bloody stools, inability to pass stool and there is persistent nausea and vomiting, painful or unusually frequent urination, severe tenderness when you touch the abdomen, swelling of the abdomen, skin appears yellow, weight loss, pain is caused by injury to the abdomen etc, it is important to recognise the symptoms that are severe and see doctors to get it diagnosed. Be careful if you want to take over the counter pain killer. Pain killers sometimes can mask the severity of the illness. Acupu...

Facial appearance changes with age are inevitable. Aging change not only happens on the surface of the skin, but also underneath the skin surface such as fat muscle and bone etc. With age, features that were previously round may sink ; skin gets loose and sags. Loss fat volume and muscle mass on the face makes the face loss its fullness. Fat pulls downwards and the skin becomes loose and sagging due to gravity and muscle force. Bone also losses its mass and muscles are shortened and straightened. Corners of the eyes and mouth drop, tip of the nose drops as well and ears become longer. Facial muscles Muscles on the face contracting pulling the face downwards The temporal muscle is the muscle at the temples on both sides of the head. This muscle lifts the jaw and retracts the jaw. The orbicularis oculi muscle is the muscle surrounding the eye. It causes the eye to close or blink. It draws the skin of the forehead, temple, and cheek toward the medial angle of the orbit, and the e...

What is ectopic pregnancy? Ectopic pregnancy is that the fertilized egg implanted outside of the uterus. The commonest site is in the fallopian tube. The egg will not develop a baby, but it is threatening condition for the pregnant women. Ectopic pregnancy occurs in 1% pregnancy. The risk factors include pervious pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, tubal surgery, intrauterine contraceptive device and previous ectopic. Patient has positive urinary pregnancy test. Patient presents lower abdominal pain and slight vaginal bleeding. Ultrasound shows empty uterus and may identify ectopic embryo. If the egg dies before it can grow larger, the pregnancy terminates and the tissue is absorbed in the woman’s body. In this case, the pregnancy test becomes negative. If the pregnancy is left to grow, there is a risk that the fertilized egg grows larger and causes the tube to rupture which can cause life threatening internal bleeding. The signs of tube rupture are sudden severe sharp abdominal ...

Age affects fertility in women Women are born with all the eggs they ever have. Women are most fertile between the ages of 18 and 31. When women are getting older, their egg quantity and quality are declining. They become less fertile. There is clear evidence of an age-related decline in female fertility. By the time women reach 35 years of age, their fertility is declining markedly. This presents that the number and quality of eggs decrease; also genetic abnormalities and spontaneous abortion increase noticeably with female age. A study involved in 1000 women in pregnancy showed that 71% of women aged 30 conceived within 3 months whereas only 41% of women aged 36 conceived within 3 months. A negative effect of increasing male age particularly in the late 30s was also found. A study involved 2112 women in pregnancy showed that increasing age for both men and women take longer time to conceive. There were some other studies presented similar results. There is a significant decline i...

The role of fallopian tube is in reproduction The fallopian tube is a part of the women’s reproductive system. It plays an essential role in gamete transport, fertilization and the early development of the embryo. The tube contains inner lining and smooth muscle wall. In the inner lining there are two major cell types are the ciliated and secretory cells. The fallopian tube goes through cyclical changes responding to estrogen and progesterone levels. The ciliated cells are low in height during the menstrual periods of the cycle, increasing during the follicular phase to reach their maximal height in the periovulatory period. Around the time of ovulation, the secretory cells reach peak activity. In the luteal phase, both cell types reduce in height. Fallopian tubes are very important for normal fertility. They play a key role in picking up eggs and transporting eggs, sperm and embryo. When an egg is release, it takes about 8 hours to reach the site within fallopian tube. The fallopi...