One of my main teachers in acupuncture school is Japanese and taught us really interesting techniques for treating all kinds of conditions.  But I've never heard of the treatment that LA Dodger Hiroki Kuroda describes.  He went for acupuncture in Japan after suffering whiplash as the result of a line drive off his head last summer.  "Normally they use one needle in acupuncture, but he used a device with several needles in a cylindrical tube... He pressed it and many needles came through and it was really painful. But the treatment worked, it relieved the pain."  For now, one needle at a time works for me, but I'll keep this in mind!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100217&content_id=8085426&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I just can't seem to get enough of the feel-good stories in the media about acupuncture on animals.  Here's a news clip about Talyn the rescue dog, who received acupuncture successfully for the overuse injuries in his hip and back.  Now Talyn can go back to finding missing persons! 

http://www.kcci.com/news/22308928/detail.html

I have some thoughts about acupuncture as we close out the decade.  Apparently, so do some journalists who are including acupuncture in their lists of "Things that changed our lives in the past decade."  Acupuncture and alternative medicine are on those lists, right up there with reality TV, crocs and google.  I graduated acupuncture school in 2000, so I've been riding the growing wave of popularity for the past ten years.  I've definitely seen the surge and think that it's much easier for a new graduate to build a practice now than it was ten years ago.  I like to think that I've been a small part of the mainstreaming of acupuncture by getting some articles published in national magazines and creating the event Acupuncture Happy Hour.  I've introduced hundreds of people to acupuncture who hadn't experienced it before.  However, I think the popularity of acupuncture is mainly due to it's effectiveness in resolving or mitigating many medical conditions and the fact that it has no side effects.  I like the direction that medicine in our country is going, where alternatives like acupuncture are being utilized in combination with conventional medicine.  I'm sure that eventually, acupuncture will be commonplace in clinics and hospitals, but maybe not in our lifetimes.  Until then, I appreciate how many people support solo practitioners and I'm glad that the press has recognized the trend of more and more people seeking us out. 

http://life.globaltimes.cn/life/2009-12/494197.html

Had I known about Tiki the giraffe when I was in the Bay Area last month, I would have gone for a visit.  Apparently Tiki has arthritis, which the zookeepers are treating successfully with massage and acupuncture.  (Of course the pedicures help as well!)  The acupuncturist uses the same needles I do - the ones for humans!  Even though Tiki weighs 1,500 pounds, she feels the Qi and gets the benefit.  After five baby giraffes and a life of service to the Oakland Zoo, she deserves to be pampered.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Bay-Area-Zoo-Opens-Spa-for-Beloved-Animal-59651092.html

Acupuncture studies seem to be in the news just about every month now.  Some claim to prove acupuncture efficacy and some claim to disprove it.  The latest study in the press comes from the August Issue of "Neuroimage."  The study consists of 20 women with chronic pain who underwent brain scans at the University of Michigan.  The scans were performed during the women's first and eighth acupuncture treatments.  The result?  The brain's pain control centers showed increased receptivity to opioid substances.  These opioids are either pharmaceutical pain killers or the analgesic chemicals produced by the body such as endorphins.  Either way, acupuncture is increasing the effects of the body's pain control mechanism. 

My favorite thing about this article is the comment by Richard E Harris, the study's author.  He's a molecular biologist and a licensed acupuncturist.  He suggests that acupuncture's ability to increase the effects of natural pain killers as well as medications is complementary.  He doesn't see them as "mutually exclusive, and in some cases, they may work synergistically."  I think this is where medicine as a whole is heading.  I don't see why we can't combine the strengths of modern medicine with the strengths of alternative medicine and have one awesome system for everyone.  Also, one last thought.  If anyone out there doesn't think that acupuncture has a profound and immediate effect on the brain, just come and spend one day in my office.  You'll see the effects in each client who gets up off of the table!

http://organizedwisdom.com/helpbar/index.html?return=http://organizedwisdom.com/Acupuncture_Impacts_Pain_Effect_on_Brain&url=latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/08/acupuncture-boosts-effects-of-painkillers-whether-natural-or-prescription.html

It's one of my favorite times of year in NYC - US Open Tennis season!  I make the annual pilgrimage to Flushing Meadows and I'm looking forward to this year's trek.  In the news this week is an article about Sania Mirza, a 22 year old tennis pro from India.  Apparently, she had acupuncture recently on her right wrist injury in preparation for this year's Open.  She says she feels good going into the event, so we'll see how she fares.

http://sports.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/28/sania-mirza-nursing-wrist-trouble.htm

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/index.html

Acupuncture for... Rappers?  This week, the Canadian Rapper Drake fell down on stage during two separate shows.  He tore his ACL a few weeks ago and has been getting acupuncture for the swelling.  "For the last two weeks, I've been really going hard, getting all types of acupuncture, trying to bring the swelling down. I'm walking around -- no cane.  I'll put a brace on it tomorrow night. No one will probably even know I'm injured..."  (Hear that kids?  Your idol is getting acupuncture!)  None of my adolescent idols ever had acupuncture, as far as I knew.  So, I'm happy that a whole new generation is learning about it so early!

http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20090802/rapper-drake-injured-again-collapses-stage-id-1078662.html

I just read an article on acupuncture from the Northern Territory news website, which comes out of Australia.  The author quotes Dr. Robyn Parker, who uses acupuncture to treat patient's at North Melbourne Hospital.  Dr. Parker has proposed that acupuncture be offered at area emergency rooms, which is a notion that's catching on slowly but surely as integrated medicine becomes more popular.  However, what's newsworthy here in my opinion is that she also proposes that people be trained to give themselves acupuncture.  I love this idea!  And I haven't heard it before from any source, let alone a medical doctor.  Self-treatment could be really beneficial especially in acute pain.  I think we're a long way from this in the U.S., but tiny seeds eventually become flowers and I think it would be cool if I were around to see this idea blossom.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/06/29/62271_ntnews.html

I just came across an unusual blog, written by Amitabh Mitra, a physician poet who lives and works in South Africa but hails from central India.  In his recent entry "Ramblings of a Bone Setter," he talks about the history of bone setting and the different traditions which seem to come from all corners of the globe.  Among his varied travels, he studied acupuncture in Sri Lanka.  But what really interests me is his comment about traditional South African healers, the Sangomas, who treat "low back pain with blade pricks."  Wikipedia says, "Sangomas far outnumber western-style doctors in Southern Africa, and are consulted first (or exclusively) by approximately 80% of the indigenous population."  I'm curious about these Sangomas and their blade pricks and how they might correspond to acupuncture points! 

http://poetsprintery.book.co.za/blog/

http://www.amitabhmitra.com/

This may not help you very much, but the latest acupuncture news from the Guardian is good news for anyone with back pain in the UK.  The National Health Service (NHS), which is the publicly funded health care system, is expected to adopt new guidelines for treating low back pain this week.  Primary care doctors will be able to "recommend... up to nine sessions with an osteopath, chiropractor or physiotherapist who is trained in manipulation, or an acupuncturist."  How civilized!  Maybe it'll catch on and they'll recommend it for treating other common ailments too. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/24/back-pain-sufferers-acupuncture-nhs

Hot off the presses - Obama endorses the use of acupuncture as one of the alternative modalities in his new health care plan.  “We should do what works,” President Obama said. “I think it is pretty well documented through scientific studies that acupuncture, for example, can be very helpful in relieving certain things like migraines and other ailments – or at least as effective as more intrusive interventions.”  Wow - what a breath of fresh air!

http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.aspx?articleid=23910&zoneid=2

Acupuncture is in the news again as St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is trying it, to kick the chewing tobacco habit.  According to St. Louis Today, Carpenter has been using chewing tobacco since high school, which looks like it was over 20 years ago.  Since the patches and gum haven't worked, he's seeing if acupuncture can mitigate his cravings enough to finally kick the habit.  Acupuncture can't make you want to quit, but it can help to mitigate the symptoms of physical withdrawal from the nicotine, which takes two weeks to leave the system.  After these initial weeks, it's up to the client to maintain the willpower necessary to stay clean.  Acupuncture can continue to help with stress reduction during this time though, which is often necessary to consolidate the new behavior of not using.  Good luck, Chris!

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/A12A308460A2DA54862575A500026DC2?OpenDocument

I love the internet.  I stumbled across "The Stokes Family" blog today and saw pictures of 4 year old Owen getting acupuncture treatments, successfully, for his sinus problems.  Owen makes acupuncture look adorable.  And kudos the Stokes parents for thinking outside the medical establishment!

http://www.noahanddanika.com/2009/03/acupuncture-for-4-year-old.html

A new acupuncture study has just come out of Munich's Technical University in Germany.  Not surprisingly, the researchers concluded that acupuncture is effective in treating chronic pain - but doctors don't know why.  They state that "Much of the clinical benefit of acupuncture might be due to non-specific needling effects and powerful placebo effects, meaning selection of specific needle points may be less important than many practitioners have traditionally argued."  I argue that the reasons for acupuncture's efficacy can't be revealed by using the current modern methods of research.  Doctors don't understand why it works because they're only thinking inside of their own frameworks of research.  I don't have a better model in mind, but I also don't think that they're using the right tools for the job.  And i suspect that those tools have yet to be invented.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1460966.php/Acupuncture_effective_for_chronic_pain_-_but_doctors_dont_know_why_

I just came across this interview which was written up in the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana recently on 2/1/09.  Columnist Jeff Manes interviews Dr. Tieh Wang, an 82 year-old retired laboratory director, who grew up near Beijing.  Dr. Wang has interesting insights into pre- and post-Maoist China.  He says that "Acupuncture would be dead without Mao Tse-Tung" since Mao created two kinds of hospitals;  modern and traditional.  The traditional hospitals offer the traditional medicines of China including acupuncture.  According to Dr. Wang, Mao was a rebel from the countryside, where there were no doctors to treat the soldiers.  Therefore, acupuncture was a common modality.  Also, rural dwellers couldn't afford doctors, so they turned to the local healers.  The interview is a worth a quick read for his other life experiences from Taiwan to Rochester NY to the midwest. 

http://www.post-trib.com/news/manes/1405970,salt.article