Winter Newsletter

Low Back Pain

By Lamia Gibson

From a mild dull ache to flat out on your back, Low Back Pain comes in many forms. It can creep in over a few months of hard work or, with injury, can come quick and fast and strong. If you have ever experienced any degree of pain in the low back area you’ll know it can have a big impact on your day-to-day life.

Whether due to injury or overwork Low Back Pain is an example of Qi stagnation, Blood stasis or Qi deficiency. When Qi stagnates it causes pain that is dull (light or strong). The pain can seem to throb and is generally fixed in location (does not move around). When there is an injury (slipped disc or minor muscle tear) it creates a sharp strong pain that can be debilitating. This is the pain of blood stasis. When there is weakness, Qi deficiency, in the channels that run through the low back (Kidney and Bladder or Gall Bladder channels) you may experience a low dull ache along the course of the channel; often from the low back, through the buttock and down the back or side of the leg (a.k.a. sciatica).

Our low back area is integral to our structure, it is the central point from where we pivot as we move throughout the day, whether walking, bending, lifting or reaching, the central axis is our low back and lower abdomen.

So what can we do?

Acupuncture moves Stagnant Qi or Blood Stasis and nourishes deficient Qi in the channels. Our bodies contain an intricate weaving of channels of Qi, meaning we can needle the local painful area or we can needle points along the course of the channel to have effect on the affected area. So, yes, sitting in a recliner and receiving treatment for low back pain is possible. Depending on the degree of pain you are experiencing you may need a combination of bodywork and acupuncture, initially, to decrease the pain and increase healing. Once the strong pain has decreased you can then receive treatment once every two weeks or so, just to maintain your free moving back and prevent pain and stagnation in the future.

Tips for your day-to-day life….

Bend with your knees …. A piece of wisdom for all people who can bend over! When we bend with our knees we support the structure of the low back and use leg muscles instead of back muscles to lower ourselves to the ground. Humans are designed to squat to lower our bodies and every time we bend over we put undue pressure on the low back, if we are doing this over and over again we weaken the area and leave it vulnerable to injury.

Walk with the toes straight ahead……. When we walk with our toes out to each side the lower abdomen loses muscle tone and the pelvis tilts forward. This results in a tightening of the muscles of the low back. If this is how we walk day after day, it results in very tight muscles which, when we go to reach for something, can strain or tear resulting in pain and limited movement.


Winter is the season to retreat and reflect

By Susanda Yee, community acupuncturist

The cold, dry, grayness of winter can make us tired. Not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. I often ask clients who say, “I’m exhausted” whether they feel mind-tired, body-tired, or both? We’re not always aware of mental-emotional fatigue. Even when we catch up on sleep and rest we don’t bounce back. This may mean we need to rest our minds. The season of winter is a time to retreat and to reflect which helps to restore energy.

Kidney/Bladder energy balance

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, winter is the season of water and a time to balance the kidney/bladder energy system. We need warmth and moisture not only because winter is cold and drying but also because it is an opportunity for our bodies to build up our stores. Winter is the season of rest, reflection, and restoration. We do need to “hibernate”. This is the season where we direct our energies inward and consolidate it. Winter is the opportunity to build up and conserve energy. This conservation of moisture and development of internal stability helps us with ever changing spring, and the intensity of summer’s heat.

Some ways to keep the kidney/bladder system in balance:

- Strengthen the lower part of your body - feet, legs, pelvis, low back
- Eat highly nutritious foods: black & brown foods, root vegetables, tonifying meats (beef, mutton, bone marrow); soup & stews are good
- Avoid cold food: raw food, ice cold drinks
- Keep your feet warm: cold enters the body through the feet; stay away from drafty spaces; keep your low back & pelvis warm
- Connect with others by sharing food in small, intimate gatherings; be choosey: keep your dear ones close by
- Meditation: spend time with yourself, reflect, and solidify beliefs & philosophy of life
- Exercise: slow, repetitive movements with little exertion
- Build up your energy: choose activities with low physical exertion; conserve energy, not expend energy (no cleanses or detoxification programs).


The Experience of Receiving Acupuncture

By Matt Sedo

There's a lot of information on what conditions acupuncture helps, the traditional theories it's based on and how it works. One question I often get in my practice from people new to acupuncture is "what does it feel like?'' Because the answer differs for person to person I thought I'd ask some folks using it at six degrees.

"There's a little pain and then a tingly feeling moving up and down my arms and legs- it's very relaxing."

"I hardly feel them go in and then I'm out for half an hour."

"It's never really the same. Some days I fall asleep and others I feel a lot of energy moving around."

"It's like that awesome half –awake- half -dream-state you get in an afternoon power nap."

"Actually I didn't feel anything at first. Then after a few treatments I noticed I needed to consciously relax and breath........that's when it started to feel really good."

As people come for more acupuncture they start to feel more. They start to get a better sense of what they need in a treatment and feel the effects of the points. After a few treatments I even get requests. Acupuncture becomes less passive. The resources a client need come right from them


What do you want to hear?

We’d like to have a huge playlist of music for the centre and move beyond the six CD’s we have been using. They’re starting to kind of drive us crazy. What would you like to hear? Let us know or even better make us a CD! Please be nice to independent artist and chip in when downloading.