The following information is for patient education.  However, due to the limited scope of the discussion, the information is necessarily incomplete and must not be solely relied upon for making medical decisions.  Individuals should consult their own physicians to determine the best course of action relating to their medical conditions.

1.  Allergies:  Including hay fever, chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis.
 

Nasal blockage causing difficulty in breathing, runny nose, chained sneezing (sneezing one after another) especially in the early morning hours, chronic cough, as well as itchy eyes and nose (in the case of hay fever) are prominent symptoms.  Although the symptoms may seem to be localized in the nasal passage or upper respiratory tract, sufferers of this condition often complained of general fatigue, lack of concentration, poor memory, difficulty falling asleep, and even regurgitation after eating.  Thus, this is not just a problem of the nose but of the entire body.  Conventional medical therapy usually involves the prescription of a nasal decongestant, an antihistamine, and a series of multiple injections to desensitize the body to the allergic substances in severe cases.  However, despite the best efforts of modern medicine, the condition is still quite stubborn, and while symptomatic relief can be accomplished temporarily, therapeutic effects are usually short lived if only oral medications are used; and desensitization programs are expensive and often fail.  Moreover, the associated symptoms of fatigue and insomnia are often not addressed by such therapies at all. 

In contrast, acupuncture and acupuncture-like treatments in combination with herbal supplementation often accomplish a great deal in terms of eliminating the symptoms including fatigue and insomnia.  Therapy usually involves a series of treatments two times a week for several weeks; but when a therapeutic response is obtained, the effect is generally long lasting, i.e. months or years.  Like virtually any therapy, certain patients may not respond to this approach.  However, the treatment is effective for most individuals, however, and when successful, the symptoms may be kept away even without further treatments and the often associated symptoms of fatigue, insomnia also respond.  For this treatment method, it may cost more in time and money for the short term, but most patients find that the therapeutic outcomes are well worth it.

 2.  Repetitive strain injury (RSI) and carpal tunnel syndromes
 

Due to the expansion of usage of increasing prevalence of computers both at home and at the work place, there are more sufferers of these conditions than ever before.  Typing on the keyboard or clicking on the mouse for extensive periods of time without adequate rest and correct posture predispose one to acquire these conditions.  In addition to a sharp shooting pain and/or a dull aching pain in the hands, wrists, and arms, the elbows, shoulders, neck, and back are often affected.  There are also bothering symptoms such as numbness, tingling, and weakness in some cases.  In more extreme cases, even holding up a glass of water can become a real effort.

However, not all repetitive strain injuries involve the use of computer, since any repetitive motions can cause injury through the accumulation of minor traumas to the muscles and the tendons.  Certain sports injuries such as swimmer’s shoulder, tennis elbow, and golfer’s shoulder, can also result from overuse.  Conventional therapies include physical therapies, immobilization, using splints or arm slings, steroid injections and surgery. 

Acupuncture is a highly valuable tool in combating this condition.  The sustained repetitive motions such as keyboarding causing arm pain or assuming a posture for an extended period of time causing back pain are prime examples of repetitive strains.  Muscles contract either to perform the repetitive motion or sustain posture.  When the brain commands the muscles to contract repeatedly, nerve cells become hyperactive and chronically excitable; the muscle becomes accustomed to assume contracted state and thus, symptoms ensue.  Acupuncture intervenes by reprogramming these hyperactive nerve cells to reset their excitability to baseline levels.  This is done through repeated sessions until nerve cells are taught to behave once more.  When this is accomplished, symptoms tend to fade away for the long term, even no further treatments are rendered. 
 

 
Everybody knows what fatigue feels like, but those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome feel like they have just finished a marathon or have stayed up a couple of nights just about all the time.  Aside from feeling tired, they tend to have suffered from aches and pains, sore throats, insomnia or disturbed sleep, intolerance of hot and cold, emotional lability, depression or irritability, poor memory, and reduced concentration, as well as a host of other symptoms.  This condition is notoriously difficult to treat with modern medical therapy.  Interestingly, the sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome are often high achievers and goal getters before falling victim of this disorder.  The long hours of work often accompanied by lack of sleep along with various stress factors associated with multiple deadlines often takes a toll on the body and finally, the system collapses.  Young and healthy individuals, particularly athletes, tend to work themselves into this condition.  This syndrome is well described in the literature of traditional Chinese medicine and both herbal therapy and acupuncture have been used historically to treat these conditions with great success.

 
Injuries sustained during automobile accidents fall into a unique category of its own.  Some people feel pain instantaneously so treatment can be easily directed to the injured area.  In many instances, however, the pain does not manifest immediately but instead becomes noticeable days or even weeks later and is often associated with “soft tissue injury”.  Soft tissue, by definition, is any part of the body that is not bony, i.e. muscles, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, etc.  However, just because there is no fracture does not mean that the injury is not important.  Whiplash injuries involving the neck and back classically occur in rear-end or side-impact accidents and are often set into motion by neurophysiological responses leading to chronic pain and disability.  Left alone, the body heals itself as much as possible and the acute pain gradually subsides, but a low or medium grade chronic painful state often ensues and troubles the patient for years to come. When the body is weakened by contracting the flu, going through menopause, or other stresses, for example, the pain may reactivate.  This is so because the acute injury activates the pain sensitive circuits in the nervous system and increases their tendency to stay activated.  It is thought that the acute pain actually causes this chronic pain state.  Therefore, it is critically important to eliminate as much acute pain as possible and as soon as possible following accidents by applying physical therapy, acupuncture, trigger point injections, and other appropriate treatment modalities.  The sooner one begins to ameliorate this acute process, the greater the likelihood of a complete recovery.  The principle of letting nature take its course and allowing the body heal itself is often not adequate to prevent long term deleterious effects.  Both pain medications and muscle relaxants only serve to suppress the sensation of pain without necessarily altering the physiological events that potentially lead to long term problems.

 
Thousands of people are injured daily while at work.  There are generally two categories of work injuries – acute and chronic: 

A.  Acute injuries:  Work injuries may be due to a myriad of direct causes including slipping and falling, lifting heavy loads, twisting limbs,  chemical burns, falling objects and flying projectiles, or other mechanisms.  Generally, if acute injuries are properly treated, healing is expeditious.  But if initial treatment involved only pain medications, rest, and muscle relaxants and direct interventional therapies such as physical therapy, acupuncture, and trigger point injections, are not instituted or delayed, residual pain and disabilities may possibly result and more extensive treatments may become necessary.  The mechanism by which acute pain establishes chronic pain has discussed under the section “automobile accidents”.

B.  Chronic injuries:  Chronic injuries are subtle and often result from minor  repeated trauma.  When the cumulative injuries reach a certain threshold, severe and disabling symptoms may suddenly develop (See details in the section “repetitive strain injury” above).  Below are examples of mechanisms leading to chronic injuries: 

u An architect who repeatedly tenses his arm and finger muscles in anticipation of clicking the mouse when doing computer design of a building structure may eventually experience hand pain.

u A butcher using the same wrist motions may develop chronic wrist pain after a great deal for cutting. 

u A forklift operator that uses an arm to operate a lever for several hours each shift may suffer from elbow pain;

u A train engineer or equipment operator who extends his head out of a window and looks to one side to check traffic signals or clearances day after day may develop chronic neck pain and headache.
 

 
Sports injuries are rather commonplace in active individuals.  In acute injuries such as a shoulder dislocations,  disc herniations, or leg fractures, soft tissues including muscles, tendons, vessels, and nerves are often also injured.  Acute pain from such injuries tend to increase the likelihood of suffering from chronic pain; thus, it is important to aggressively eliminate pain even after acute skeletal injuries are treated.  For example, even after fracture repair or dislocation reduction, it is still important to actively treat pain, numbness, and swelling because it produces long-term benefit.  The body has a tendency to “remember” pain if it persists. 

 
Dyspepsia, commonly referred to as upset stomach, or “indigestion” affects a large segment of the US population.  Stomach pain, a bloated sensation, a burning sensation, nausea, or regurgitation of food (the medical term is GERD the abbreviation for gastroesopheal reflux disease) is often described.  Medications, both prescribed and over-the-counter, can be used to soften the symptoms but rarely totally effective.  An excellent treatment alternative is acupuncture and herbal therapy for some patients that have already gone through extensive diagnostic testing such as endoscopy to rule out more serious conditions.   The alternative therapeutic approach using acupuncture and herbal treatments are non-invasive and effective, offering prolonged relief of symptoms. 

 
Symptoms relating to menopause (i.e. change of life), menstruations that are too heavy, too light, or absent; or symptom complexes appearing prior to menstruation such as emotional lability, depression, and menstrual cramps have been well described in the ancient texts of traditional Chinese medicine and are amenable to its treatment modalities.  According to traditional Chinese medicine, many of these conditions are related to the abnormal functioning of the gallbladder-liver meridian and while there are treatments available with modern gynecology in western tradition, the treatment can be easily supplemented by an eastern approach that can often achieve outstanding results.