I love the Olympics!  Every two years, we get to watch the best of the best compete for the ultimate prize in the sporting world—Olympic Gold.  I am in awe of these athletes, who have devoted their lives to their sport, and who have trained for years just to be competing at this level. Olympic athletes in any sport are finely tuned machines, trained to perform at their peak during the Games.  Most of us who will never stand at the top of a bobsled run or take to the ice don’t realize is that there is a fine line between peak condition and breaking down.  This breakdown is the stuff of overuse...

People from all around the world (three billion, I heard this morning) will be turning their attention to the Olympic Games in Vancouver during the next couple of weeks. One of the top stories surrounding these games is about Lindsey Vonn, the darling of the US Ski Team, from right here in Minnesota. Earlier this month, Lindsey injured her shin, resulting in a painful bruise, right where her shin comes in contact with her ski boot. Lindsey, while being model-gorgeous and gracing the pages of the current Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, is also hot on the slopes. She is a legitimate contender for...

Many acupuncturists accept health insurance reimbursement for their services.  Many don’t.  I come down on the side of those who don’t.  I’d like to lay out my reasons for not accepting health insurance, because in the long run, I feel that it actually benefits my patients. First of all, let’s talk about…me.  The reality is that health insurance companies do not pay me or any other acupuncturist adequately for their time.  They typically will determine what they think is “appropriate and reasonable” and only reimburse that amount, which is often about half of my usual fee.  (My fees...

Anxiety is a tricky thing.  For some people it seems to come out of nowhere and creep up at unexpected moments.  For others, anxiety is predictable and associated with certain events, fears, or situations.  Things like driving on the highway, eating in restaurants, and spiders all have the potential to create anxiety.  If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you’re familiar with the symptoms—a racing heart or heart palpitations, chest tightness, numbness and tingling in your hands and feet, feeling light headed, shortness of breath, and the general feeling of fear, or that you might die...

It seems that healing aches and pains, poor digestion, and menstrual cramps are not the only ills being treated with acupuncture needles.  The hair thin staple of acupuncturists worldwide is also playing a role in art restoration.  According to the NY Times, last week a woman fell at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and instead of breaking her wrist, she broke a painting, and an expensive one at that.  When the woman fell, she put a 6” tear into “The Actor”, a rare Picasso painted during the artist’s early rose Period around 1904-05. The painting now lives in the Met’s conservation...

Claire is a patient who came to see me for acupuncture a couple of years ago.  She was deeply unhappy and stressed out in her present job, and was struggling with mild depression.  She also complained that she was gaining weight around her waist, and it was hard for her to eat healthfully because she had such strong cravings for sweets. This trio of symptoms—emotional upset, sugar cravings, and belly fat—is a pattern that I see in many of my patients. They come to me because they want to feel better emotionally, but also don’t like the fact that they’re gaining all this weight, especially...