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

 Osteoarthritis is the most common joint condition and the most common form of arthritis which is progressive and degenerative. Osteoarthritis is caused by gradual loss of joint cartilage. It is the leading cause of disability and is associated with major impacts on physical function and mobility. The symptoms include loss of movement and joint pain. Diagnosis is based on radiological changes, and clinical presentation of joint pain; including tenderness, limitation of movement, joint effusion, and variable degrees of localized inflammation. Approximately 10% of men and 18% of women aged 60 years or older have symptomatic osteoarthritis worldwide.   Osteoarthritis causes joint pain and stiffness. Anyone can get osteoarthritis. There is high risk if you are in late 40s or older women; if you are overweight or have had previous joint injury or another joint condition; if you have physically demanding job which need to have repetitive movements; people with joint injury history a...

 Acupuncture treatment for acute shingles Herpes zoster known as shingles, is caused by varicella-zoster virus which affects nerve and the skin around it. This virus is also causes chickenpox which is primary infection. It remains dormant in the dorsal root ganglion after primary infection (causing chickenpox). It affects the sensory ganglia and their area of innervation. This is one of the most painful conditions with pain and rashes in the distribution of the affected nerve. Antiviral drugs are used to limit the damage of the nerve by the virus. Corticosteroids may be used to reduce inflammation. Various painkillers are used to reduce pain. Ursini et al from Pescara General Hospital in Italy studied acupuncture for the treatment of severe acute pain in shingles using randomized trial. They compared the efficacy of acupuncture in controlling intense or very intense pain in patients with shingles with standard pharmacological treatments. The treatments were given for 4 weeks for ei...

 Acupuncture helps improving foot drop Foot drop, sometimes called drop foot is a muscular weakness or paralysis that makes it difficult to lift the front part of your foot and toes. This causes the toes to drag along the ground while walking. To avoid dragging the toes, people with foot drop may lift their knee higher than normal. Or they may swing their leg in a wide arc. Foot drop can happen to one foot or both feet at the same time. Foot drop is a symptom rather than a condition. The causes could be muscle disorders, nerve damage in the leg, or brain and/or spinal injury. Muscles disorders including muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and polio cause the muscles to progressively weaken causing foot drop. Some conditions including sports injuries, diabetes, spending long hours sitting cross-legged or squatting, hip or knee replacement surgery, childbirth etc could cause peroneal nerve damage or compressed causing foot drop. Brain or spinal disorders including strok...

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. When an egg is release, it takes about 8 hours to reach the site within fallopian tube where fertilization occurs and embryo is accommodated there for 72 hours. Once progesterone dominance begins lumen opens and the embryo is transported to ...

What is meridian? Meridians are like vessels forming a network and connecting skin and muscles to internal organs such as heart, liver etc to make energy and blood flowing freely and maintain balance in the body. How many meridians are there? There are 12 regular meridians which are the main passageways for energy and blood, six of which are foot meridians and another six are hand meridians. Foot meridians either start on the foot or end on the foot and hand meridians either start on the hand or end on the hand. These 12 meridinas connect to internal organs and are running bilaterally in the body. Apart from 12 regular meridians there are eight extra meridians which are not as regular and do not connect to internal organs directly. Name of twelve regular meridians Taiyin Lung Meridian of Hand or Hand's Major Yin Lung Meridian Shaoyin Heart Meridian of Hand or Hand's Minor Yin Heart Meridian Jueyin Pericardium Meridian of Hand or Hand's Absolute Yin Heart Protect...

Drowsiness refers to feeling abnormally sleepy during the day. People who are drowsy may fall asleep in inappropriate situations or at inappropriate times. Many conditions can cause drowsiness, such as, chronic pain, diabetes, insomnia sleep apnea underactive thyroid, depression, anxiety etc. Life style such as night shifts, not sleep long enough, alcohol abuse and stress etc can also cause drowsiness. Idiopathic hypersomnia (unexplained daytime sleepiness) is a condition in which excessive sleep or sleepiness interferes with everyday life. There is no underlying cause found. People with this condition are sleepy throughout the day, despite sleeping for a very long time at night. They are struggling to stay awake during the day and are usually compelled to take frequent long naps. The excessive sleepiness may have a negative impact on the person's work, relationships and social life, and they may also have anxiety, depression, fatigue mood changes think or speak slowly poor memor...

Acupuncture points, do you know anything about them? When you want to have acupuncture treatment, you see an acupuncturist. Your acupuncturist will put needles into your skin. However the treatment is not just put needles anywhere in your skin. The points for needling chosen are important to achieve best treatment results. There are 365 essential acupuncture points in the body and many more. Which acupuncture points to choose and right for your? Many people heard of tongue and pulse diagnosis. Do you know acupuncture points can contribute to the diagnosis and treatment? Acupuncture point is the essential factor in acupuncture diagnosis and treatment. There are pathological changes of the corresponding acupuncture points for particular conditions. For example, Diji (SP 8) is the most important and commonly used point for the treatment of dysmenorrhea. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), SP 8 is the Xi-cleft point of the Spleen meridian of Foot Taiyin, where th...