by Dr. Daniel Rola, DTCM, LACMany of us remember seeing U.S. Olympic gold medalist, Michael Phelps, display some weird looking bruise-like marks on his body during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Many also recall that he went on to be come the most decorated Olympian in history at the Rio games. But what were those marks on his body and why did he have them? The answer involves a centuries old traditional medicine therapy still in practice all over the world today.
Cupping therapy involves creating a negative vacuum inside a cup (glass, plastic or bamboo) which is then applied to the skin drawing up the underlying tissues creating superficial ecchymosis (sub-dermal bleeding) and a mild hematoma (pooling of blood outside of blood vessels, aka- bruising). Traditional medicine has long recognized cupping as an effective way to treat pain by breaking up local congestion of blood and adhesion of tissues. While many traditional medicine practitioners use glass or bamboo cups with a small flame to create the vacuum in the cups, many modern practitioners (including physical therapists, athletic trainers, and chiropractors) use plastic cups with a hand pump to generate the negative pressure.
Glass and bamboo cups can be left stationary over the skin or repeatedly applied and removed. Some cupping therapy also involves applying oil or lotion to the skin prior to application of glass cups so that they may be moved in a sliding motion around a large area of the body (upper/lower back, upper legs, e.g.). Plastic cups, often significantly smaller than glass or bamboo cups, may be placed along or around any area to be treated. Cups may be left in place for 5-10 minutes. Integrative health practitioners may combine the application of cups to a specific area with range of motion exercises designed to improve movement and reduce inflammation. After the cups are removed, the marks may range from slightly red in color to a deep purple. If done properly, the bruising that results from cupping is only superficial and should fade within 3-5 days.
So why did Michael Phelps need cupping therapy? Phelps admits that he receives cupping therapy before almost every swim meet to address pain and soreness from his intense training, a kind of recovery modality. Phelps isn't the only Olympian or athlete to use cupping therapy as part of a training and recovery program. Chinese Olympians in the 2008 Beijing games were spotted (pun intended) with cupping marks, DeMarcus Ware of the Denver Broncos posted a post-cupping therapy photo on Instagram a few years ago, and fellow US Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin was using cupping while swimming for Cal-Berkeley. Popular celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Gwenyth Paltrow have been seen with post-cupping therapy marks.
Cupping works by drawing blood to the affected area, reducing soreness and speeding healing of overworked muscles. Mechanically, cupping increases blood circulation, whereas physiologically it activates the immune system and stimulates the mechanosensitive fibers, thus leading to a reduction in pain. Research is showing the local inflammation caused by cupping therapy triggers the immune system to produce cytokines, which are small proteins that improve communication between cells and modulate immune system response. This makes cupping effective at treating conditions such as chronic neck pain, chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia, cervical spondylosis, acne, herpes zoster, osteoarthritis, and many other pain conditions.
What are other benefits of cupping? Besides relieving pain, evidence also suggests cupping modulates autonomous nervous system (regulating stress response), restores sympathovagal imbalances in cardiac rhythm (cardio-protective), regulates oxidative stress and lowers blood sugar. Perhaps most important, cupping may be used instead of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and pain medications (opioids, muscle relaxants, etc). In the face of a national opioid epidemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions like cupping and acupuncture have little to no risk of overdose, addiction, allergic reaction, or damage to internal organs.
As a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, I am trained in various cupping modalities. I frequently use cupping therapy to treat neck and low back pain, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and other pain conditions. While it takes a little time to get used to the post-cupping therapy marks, most of my patients are more than satisfied with the pain relief they experience and have little complaints about their appearance. I've had several new patient referred to me because they saw cupping marks on another patient who told them how effective it was at treating their condition. If you'd like to know more about how cupping therapy can benefit your health and well-being, feel free to reach out and contact me.
Be well and thrive!
Daniel Rola, L.Ac.
danielrolalac@gmail.com
danielrolalac.com
by Dr. Daniel Rola, DTCM, LACThe five branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are: acupuncture and moxibustion, herbal therapy, diet and nutrition therapy, massage, and meditation/mindfulness therapy. As a practitioner of TCM, I work closely with patients to achieve their health and wellness goals using the five branches of TCM. In this article, I’d like to share a little information on why mindfulness is such a key component to health and well-being.
One the big buzzwords in 2017 is mindfulness, but what exactly are we talking about here? According to mindful.org, “mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” This intentional focus on the here and now is what allows us to work at our very best. While many spiritual and wisdom tradition practices use mindfulness training for relaxation, healing, and enlightened thinking, modern science confirms the mental and physiological benefits of practicing mindfulness such as increased feelings of psychological well-being, increased mental focus, mood elevation, decreased stress response, lower blood pressure, and pain reduction. There is mounting evidence that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a structured group program that employs mindfulness meditation, is effective in alleviating suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. Mindfulness helps improve our wellbeing, allowing us to cultivate peace of mind, which in the big picture of life is what we all really want.
To quote one of my favorite books, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig:
“So the thing to do when working on any task is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one’s self from one’s surroundings. When that is done, everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right action and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.”
Five to ten minutes of daily mindfulness training can bring the clarity of thought and calmness of mind to keep you on track and focused throughout your day. In fact, research shows that meditation and mindfulness can produce significant changes in both the function and structure of the brain of the practitioner. It sounds so simple to do, but often when we’re busy we neglect to take the time to focus on the present moment. Life easily gets hectic with balancing out work, clients, colleagues, family, and friends. It’s unreasonable to expect life to be stress-free, but learning to become aware of and control our response to stress can be the key to maintaining peace of mind in any circumstance. When there is peace of mind, happiness and contentment abound.
For how-to tips and more information on practicing mindfulness, visit: http://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
If you’d like to know more about how Traditional Chinese Medicine can benefit your health and wellbeing, or are interested a consultation and treatment email me at danielrolalac@gmail.com
Be well and thrive!
Daniel Rola, L.Ac.
by Dr. Daniel Rola, DTCM, LACAcupuncture, practiced for over 2,000 years, has the potential to improve one's health and well-being. Acupuncture along with other forms of traditional medicine are widely utilized around the world as standalone medicine where modern western medicine is unavailable as well as adjunctly with other modern western medical interventions.
Many American's first heard about acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in a 1971 article by New York Times columnist/editor, James Reston, detailing his experience with acupuncture following his emergency appendectomy in Bejing, China. On the second night after his surgery, Reston complained of intense abdominal pain. The doctor on duty, also an acupuncturist, treated Reston with 3 acupuncture needles in the elbow, 1 acupuncture point below the knee, and with moxa heat therapy around the abdomen. Within 20 minutes, the pain and spasms began to subside. After 1 hour, Reston said he was pain free and did not suffer any further recurrences.
Since the 1970s, acupuncture and traditional medicine have been slowly working their way into mainstream western medicine. Acupuncturists and TCM practitioners are seeing more demand for their services as traditional interventions for illness and disease shift due to emerging research. Thanks to an increase in acupuncture clinical trials and research, we are gaining a better understanding at the various mechanisms at work in a typical acupuncture treatment. We now know that during acupuncture the body releases endogenous opioids that help to alleviate pain and elevate mood. Acupuncture can regulate autonomic nervous system functions related to our stress response, digestion, sleep, cardiovascular health, and pain. Research has shown that auricular acupuncture can be a useful adjunct therapy for anxiety, PTSD, and withdrawal symptoms associated with substance abuse.
In fact, as recently as February 2017 a journal article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine by the American College of Physicians recommended acupuncture as a first-line intervention (treatment) for acute, subacute and chronic low back pain, while bumping NSAIDs (acetphetomin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.) to second-line intervention, and opiod pharmaceuticals to intervention of last resort.
Here are the ACP recommendations for Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain:
Recommendation 1:
Given that most patients with acute or subacute low back pain improve over time regardless of treatment, clinicians and patients should select nonpharmacologic treatment with superficial heat (moderate-quality evidence), massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation (low-quality evidence). If pharmacologic treatment is desired, clinicians and patients should select nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or skeletal muscle relaxants (moderate-quality evidence). (Grade: strong recommendation)
Recommendation 2:
For patients with chronic low back pain, clinicians and patients should initially select nonpharmacologic treatment with exercise, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction (moderate-quality evidence), tai chi, yoga, motor control exercise, progressive relaxation, electromyography biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, operant therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, or spinal manipulation (low-quality evidence). (Grade: strong recommendation)
Recommendation 3:
In patients with chronic low back pain who have had an inadequate response to nonpharmacologic therapy, clinicians and patients should consider pharmacologic treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as first-line therapy, or tramadol or duloxetine as second-line therapy. Clinicians should only consider opioids as an option in patients who have failed the aforementioned treatments and only if the potential benefits outweigh the risks for individual patients and after a discussion of known risks and realistic benefits with patients. (Grade: weak recommendation, moderate-quality evidence)
Back pain is one of the most frequents complains for any patient visiting an acupuncturist. With an array of non-pharmcuetical, non-surgical interventions for pain, the Chinese medicine practitioner can treat symptoms of back pain with acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, massage, cupping, moxa heat therapy, herbal NSAIDs, exercise (taiji or qigong) and nutrition. While back pain may seem like a simple enough condition to treat, the root of the problem is usually complex and multifactorial. The skill set of the TCM practitioner is such that he or she may address the problem from many angles and at many levels. How we feel about our pain affects our perception of pain and vice versa. By looking at and treating the patient holistically, the TCM practitioner treats both the root and branch of the problem.
The recommendations and guidelines above highlight the increasingly supportive role that acupuncture and TCM can play in mainstream western medicine. While TCM is a robust and complete system of medicine, it can be easily and seamlessly integrated into western medicine practice. The integration of eastern and western medicine gives patients access to healthcare that treats the whole person- body, mind and spirit.
If you'd like to learn more about how acupuncture and TCM can benefit your health and well-being or treat your condition, contact me via email at danielrolalac@gmail.com.
Be well and thrive!
Daniel Rola, L.Ac.
