FitSugar

An Unlikely Pair: The Army and Acupuncture

FitSugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:00:41 PDT

Listening to NPR this morning, I almost choked on my toothbrush: the US military is using acupuncture to treat chronic pain.

Not known for its liberal leanings, the defense department is deploying alternative medicine as a weapon against chronic pain. Well, not all wings of the military; just the Air Force has an acupuncture clinic, which it opened in 2002. While the army used to rely solely on medication to treat chronic pain, they have found acupuncture to have minimal to no side affects, no complications, and no interactions with pharmaceuticals. One soldier, experiencing phantom leg pain post-amputation, explained that in the short term acupuncture treated the pain more effectively and more quickly than medication, but admitted that needling might not have a long lasting effect on the pain. He said the acupuncture left him euphoric, where pain meds leave him loopy.

The military advises that acupuncture is by no means a replacement for western medicine, but a great complement to existing techniques to ease the pain of injured soldiers. Have you ever been needled? What is your take on acupuncture?

Exercise and Acupuncture Help PCOS

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:00 PDT

One in 10 American women suffer from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and according to a new study it looks like modrerate exercise and acupuncture can really help.

PCOS is complicated and affects a woman’s menstrual cycle, fertility, hormones, insulin production, circulatory system, and appearance. In a small study involving 20 women, the groups that participated in moderate exercise three times a week or who received low-frequency electro-acupuncture fare better over a 16-week period than the control group that did neither. In electro-acupuncture, the needles are attached to a device that send gentle electronic pulses through them, stimulating the body points associated with ovaries even more. The two groups receiving treatment, those exercising and those who received acupuncture, had lower levels of muscle sympathetic nerve activity, which common means of monitoring the syndrome. The women who received acupuncture treatments had regular menstrual cycles as well, which is a good sign that hormonal element of the syndrome is improving.

If you're interested, please read the abstract of the study to learn more.

Mandy Moore Goes Deep to Find Balance

FitSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:00:06 PDT

Mandy Moore appears to accept herself gracefully, brushing off Hollywood ideals and expectations and replacing them with her own. While dealing with a relatable love-hate relationship with her hips, the singer is working to achieve a deeper sense of balance in her life. She told Women's Health, "I'm into having balance in my life and trying to treat myself well." To find out how Mandy nourishes her body and mind,

Mandy exercises her body by going on hikes and doing Pilates three or four times a week, and she achieves mental health and happiness by receiving regular acupuncture sessions and going to therapy. She loves acupuncture and says, "It's so restorative. It brings me back to myself." The therapy sessions are "freeing" for Mandy because she gets an unbiased view and doesn't feel like she's being judged. It's clear that Mandy is doing everything she can to take care of herself, and her efforts are paying off.

Mandy Moore Loves Peanut Butter, But Ambivalent About Her Hips

FitSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:00:00 PDT

Newly married Mandy Moore knows that she is no longer 14 because she has the womanly hips to prove it. Although the maturing pop princess appreciates being a role model for women by representing a different, curvier look often under-represented in the media, Mandy admits she has a "love-hate relationship" with her hips.

Rather than focusing so much on her appearance - she has professionals to help her with all that - Moore works at living a healthy lifestyle. She eats a colorful array of foods, gets acupuncture, and avoids the Hollywood diet obsession.

She recently told People magazine:

"I appreciate when there are other women out there who are beautiful and aren't, you know, a pound. I feel lucky that I don't feel pressure . . . to have my whole life be controlled by whether I fit into a certain size."

To see how she deals with french fries,

Mandy doesn't deprive herself of foods she enjoys believing that it is just not worth it. Her food weaknesses include french fries, cookies, and anything containing peanut butter. When it comes to food and dieting she says, "To me it's about feeling good, feeling healthy." Amen to that!

Do you have a love-hate relationship with a part of your body? Share the details in the comments section below.

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Needle Your Tension Away

FitSugar — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:00:00 PDT

Once considered a form of quackery, acupuncture is slowly gaining respect in the world of Western medicine. This alternative therapy has been shown to reduce pain associated with menstrual cramps, and a review of 11 studies found acupuncture to be useful for relieving tension headaches. Caused by tense muscles in the neck, head, or scalp, tension headaches chronically affect about 45 million Americans. Tension headaches are commonly treated with over-the-counter pain medication, but researchers believe that acupuncture could be a "valuable option" for folks suffering from chronic tension headaches. Have you ever been needled to relieve pain? If so, do you think it worked?

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Infertility: Acupuncture

babysugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:00:20 PDT

For those desperate to have a babe of their own flesh and blood, intercourse alone doesn't always do the trick.

And when that happens, couples explore other avenues. To learn more about one non–traditional method,

Many doctors prescribe Clomid to women in an effort to enhance their ovulation. If that doesn't work, insemination or IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) are often next steps. While these procedures often help couples reproduce, others look to acupuncture as another fertility tool.

Acupuncture is "a Chinese medical practice or procedure that treats illness or provides local anesthesia by the insertion of needles at specified sites of the body." While it sounds a little harrowing, many who receive the treatment say the needles don't hurt at all.

Some attribute the success of acupuncture to the lowering of stress and increasing the blood flow to the reproductive system. And although it doesn't guarantee a baby, it gives couples another option.

Have you tried acupuncture? Did it work?
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Got Cramps? Try Acupuncture

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:30:00 PST

Menstrual cramps are no fun, but for some women, the pain can be so unbearable that it prevents them from going to work, or even getting out of bed. Instead of popping pain meds, new research from Germany shows that acupuncture treatments may be beneficial in helping to ease menstrual pain.

The study tested 201 women with dysmenorrhea, a condition that causes achy and throbbing cramps. The women were randomly assigned acupuncture treatments or no treatment. After three months, 63 percent of the women who received treatment (about 10 sessions) had at least a 33 percent improvement in their pain. This sounds like a pretty good treatment option, as long as you aren't freaked out by needles.

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Acupuncture Your Way to Pregnancy

LilSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:00:47 PST

There's some good news for women wishing to be with child according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Research showed that acupuncture might increase the chances of infertility treatments working since for every ten IVF cycles done with the healing method, there was an extra pregnancy. To learn more about the study,

A BBC article about the recent findings said:

Acupuncture has been used for centuries in China to regulate female fertility, and in recent years, scientists have been looking at whether it could boost IVF chances.

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10 Ways to Never Get Sick Again

FitSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:05:00 PDT

Sick of getting sick? Join the club. I will do anything and everything it takes to avoid getting sick this winter, and so I was thrilled to find this list of 10 practices that will help you stay away from hospitals, feel healthier, and live longer.

See a Chiropractor
Laugh hard
Scatter your workouts
Sleep at least seven hours a night
See an acupuncturist
Meditate
Perform cardiovascular exercise at least four times a week
Stretch
Eat organic food
Be wary of medications

I regularly do almost everything on the list aside from meditate and see an acupuncturist. What about you guys - how many things on the list do you do?

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A Little Bit About The Benefits of Facial Acupuncture

BellaSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:00:22 PDT

Facial acupuncture is not usually considered a typical beauty therapy, but your face is ridden with emotion and hormonal issues that can be treated with those painless mini needles. According to Shellie Goldstein, acupuncturist to the stars, Acufacials-a term coined by Goldstein-can really help improve the overall appearance of your skin.

For example, acupuncture treatments can clear up persistent pimples and acne, give skin a dewy hydrated glow, brighten your eyes and improve weakened vision. It evens out your skin tone by reducing redness, it tones sagging muscles, lessens the look of fine lines as well as minimizes deeper laugh lines and forehead furrows.

In addition, since the experience is so calming, it relaxes your mind and body which helps reduce your stress level. If you've never tried facial acupuncture but are suffering from any of these symptoms, I just wanted to be sure you knew about this type of alternative treatment. I have yet to try it, but I did have acupuncture in my foot after toe surgery and it worked wonders to reduce swelling, manage pain and improve mobility.

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