Why not Pop a Pill?  It’s Easy…right?

A recent study showed that patients over 60 who were given opiate painkillers after minor surgeries considered to be “low pain,” were 44% more likely to still be using the painkillers a year later when compared to patients who were not prescribed opiates right away.  There was also a strong trend in the opiate group to graduate from a drug like codeine, to stronger opiates like oxycodone within a year.  {Asim Alam, MD, et. al.  “Long-term Analgesic Use After Low-Risk Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study.” Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(5):425-430.}

Still, using painkillers a year after a procedure is not a good sign that the drugs effectively managed the pain. Changing to more potent opiates over time indicates that the drug has successfully created dependency, while failing to create lasting pain relief.  Beyond the obvious healthcare costs, opiate use is associated with multiple unpleasant side effects such as constipation and drowsiness, and poses a threat of dependency.  Perhaps most poignantly, overdosing on prescription painkillers is the cause of 15,000 deaths annually- more than heroine and cocaine combined.

Independence, not Dependence

Studies show that gentle and natural techniques like acupuncture, healing touch and reiki are effective at decreasing post-operative pain.  They can be performed before, after and sometimes even during surgical procedures.  And while some of us find them somewhat habit forming, they have none of the side-effects and dependency issues that surround opiate pain killers.

Studies have found the pain relief from acupuncture to continue 10 months and more after the acupuncture treatments have stopped. That’s the difference between focusing on healing versus just covering up the pain.

Physicians never want their patients to be in pain. Some providers are still in the dark when it comes to all the many, integrative therapies that exist that effectively manage pain. So the next time you are handed a prescription for a painkiller, consider first whether herbal anti-inflammatories, acupuncture, reiki, massage or healing touch might be a good fit for you.

I’m often asked by people who are moving, or who live too far away from the Center for regular visits, “what should I look for in an acupuncturist?”  My answer is usually along the lines of: you look for the same things that you would in a good mechanic, personal trainer, doctor and almost anything else.  A good practitioner is communicative, responsible and effective.  Sure, you have to make sure that they’re licensed, and hopefully they have some experience with the health conditions that you are dealing with, but that is the bare minimum.

It Is About the Relationship

I’ll always remember what our founder Dr. Ron Stram told me when I was a new practitioner many years ago.  “People expect us to be good at our job. That’s just the baseline. It’s about the relationship.” And what makes a good relationship?  Open and clear communication working in two directions, attentiveness to someone’s needs and the taking of steps to show that you are actively engaged in meeting those needs.  A good practitioner is responsive, actively listens to you and makes clear effort to help you achieve your goals.  Like any other relationship, it has to be a good match as well- find the provider that you “click” with.

Best of Both Worlds

Numerous times in my life I have heard people saying that if they had to make a choice, they would pick a doctor who was exceedingly skilled over one who was kind and pleasant to work with.  Especially in the field of Integrative Health, where practitioners must understand and address the entire person- there is no such distinction.  The care giver who is exceedingly skilled is the care giver that is attentive, comfortable to work with and reliable.  To understand a client well, an acupuncturist has to be more than just technically skilled.  They have to be actively interested in their client, who they are, what they are going through, and how, whether by well-placed needle, by herb or by compassionate gesture they can be supported and cared for.

Yes, But is it Covered by my Insurance?

Means, motive and opportunity.  The great majority of healthcare providers want to give the attentive and compassionate care that we all try to embody.  Clients want attentive and reliable care, and providers want to have the relationship and time spent with clients that help ensure the best and most appropriate care.  So why so much discontent, and why so many stories of sloppy care because an health concern wasn’t given it’s due time and consideration?

We find ourselves in this position because you are no longer the consumer for your own healthcare!  Your insurance company is the healthcare consumer.  The consumer demands to the healthcare industry are less time and less care (i.e. less money paid out).  Since no business survives without listening to its customers, healthcare providers must bend to the demands of their consumers- the insurance companies- in order to survive.

My practice exists outside of this system.  There is no mediator between myself, and my client.  The only demands, needs, wants and hopes I listen to are those of my client, and that allows me to be the responsive and active practitioner that I strive to be.  I bring this up just to suggest the fact that maybe “is it covered by my insurance” isn’t the first question to ask when seeking out the right practitioner for you.  Just food for thought.

These findings come to no surprise to us at the Center.  We often use acupuncture to successfully reduce nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy and during chemotherapy.  There is now a consistent record in modern medical literature to support this important use of acupuncture.

In a December 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), we saw that acupuncture used with drug therapy was three times as effective as drug therapy alone to reduce nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/284/21/2755.short.  And in a September 2004 issue of the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia, researchers at Duke University Medical Center also found acupuncture to be as effective as zofran for post-operative vomiting, with the added benefit of providing pain relief http://today.duke.edu/2001/10/acupunc1001.html.

What a great sense of satisfaction and purpose it gives to see modern clinical research validating ancient wisdom!  The more studies are released on acupuncture, the greater it’s acceptance and use becomes.

With recent tax increases, the average cost of a cigarette pack in NY is now $9.20!  In one week of smoking one pack per day, that’s $64.40.  The cost of the habit continued over a month is $276!  That’s a car payment.  The yearly cost is $3,358- that’s a trip overseas to stay in really nice hotels while you see the world!  So instead of paying for the privelege of inhaling carcinogenic and poisonous chemicals, people across New York are calling it quits.  Congratulations to all of you who have made the transition! 
 
To all of you who are still on the fence, remember what Ben Franklin said: “A penny saved is a penny earned.”  For every day you don’t smoke, add that up- that’s yours!  At the end of the week, take that $65 and treat yourself to a really nice dinner, a massage or an addition to your wardrobe.  That’s about a massage every week, something we could all really use!  Or make plans for that money, add it up every day and see how much closer you’re getting to that trip to Australia.
 
If that’s not enough, consider using hypnosis and acupuncture to help you through the withdrawal stages of quitting.  The choice to quit has to come from within, but now there are more reasons than ever to put them down and walk away with that change clinking in your pocket.  We’d love to hear of your success stories- or maybe you could send us a postcard!

Qi gong is roughly translated as “skill and understanding of qi through practice and work.”  Qi itself is difficult to define, but can be thought of as the movement of life: from the movement of breath, to kissing a child goodnight.  It is both esoteric and obvious. In the narrow understanding of the term, qi gong refers specifically to movements, breath and intent that move and cultivate our vitality.  In traditional qi gong, human beings are to follow the greater movements of nature, to keep in tune with the natural order of things and gain insight into the best way to live.  We are now moving into a time of expansion and upward growth, the Spring.  Our physical and emotional movement should reach up and out to meet the world around us to explore and make new connections.

Getting into the Spirit of Spring

Try the following simple exercise, and see if it helps get you get into the spirit of Spring.  Dressed appropriately for the weather, stand with feet shoulder width apart and knees bent in front of a tree that is beginning to blossom new leaves.  Hold your palms open and relaxed towards a few inches from the tree with your elbows bent at about 130 degrees (180 degrees would be a straight line).  Breathe by expanding and flattening your abdomen, and feel the breath moving between your feet and the earth, becoming aware of the openness between you and the deep earth.  Once you are grounded in this way, extend your awareness to the tree.  Become aware of the presence of life in and around the tree, and allow yourself to explore it from root to branch.  Let your mind’s eye travel through it.  Meditating with a tree is a very cleansing practice, and can go to great lengths to cleanse the smudges and tangles in our own vitality, but is also a way to learn from our environment how to be rooted, and how a natural life moves.  When you close the meditation, withdraw yourself slowly and respectfully, returning your focus to your own breath and abdomen until it is firmly fixed there. 

You may become a little more serious about conservation and recycling after this sort of experience.  As your awareness develops, take a walk through the ancient mountains of New York, and get ready for a whole new experience of nature!  Next, pat yourself on the back: you are now an official tree hugger!

Many of my clients have already been taught qi gong exercises to help in their own effort to be well.  If it’s an area you would like to explore, I’m happy to share what I know and work to develop exercises that would be of benefit to you.

The Winter Olympics of 2010 are over.  We the audience had the privelege and pleasure to observe as for hundreds of competitors, years of hard work and a lifetime of dreaming came down to a single event, movement or even a single hundredth of a second.  It was a chance to view life compressed and miniaturized right before our eyes into an intense and emotionally explosive period of days. 
 
We can all look back through our lives and see how a single event can leave an indelible mark on the path that our lives take for better or worse.  In a complete life, it’s harder to hash out who gets first place, and what decides whose “run” is the finest and most beautiful.  What defines a successful life?  Thomas Edison supposedly said, in reference to having tried 700 designs that did not work as light bulbs, “I have not failed 700 times.  I have not failed once.  I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work.”
Over the past year, I have seen friends and patients alike having to work creatively to get through some pretty tough times.  Despite numerous hurdles and hardships, these individuals have found many ways that do work, and have stayed committed to their families, themselves, and their healthcare.  In a time when resources are limited, and most integrative and complementary therapies are out of pocket, I just wanted to take the time to salute and thank the patients at the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine who have made their own Olympic efforts to maintain their health and improve their well-being.  We constantly try to achieve the “gold standard” in health care at the center, and if there are any ways that we can work to improve and meet your own standards for excellence, please feel free to let us know.  You are our most valuable coaches and judges.  Thank you for your support of our work.