Portland Acupuncture Tips of the Month April

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What do allergies, gardening and working out all have in common?

They generally will direct patients to come in for acupuncture.   This time of year, I start to see more patients as a result of symptoms that arise from these three activities.  It really boils down to;  They all require the body to be strong.   Here are some Tips and Recommendations on how to get and keep your body strong.

1.       Allergies:

For anyone that suffers with allergies, if you’ve spent the winter  kind of tired and run down, when allergy season comes along, it hits you with much more impact, than if you’ve had a really healthy winter, with little sickness, you’ve got plenty of rest, you’ve eaten well and in general stayed strong over the winter.

 I recommend:

• Coming in and getting acupuncture to align the body to make it strong so that it can do what it does really well when it’s balanced, and that is to heal itself.
• Chinese Herbs are also extremely helpful in alleviating allergy symptoms as well as helping to strengthen the body.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Stay away from Dairy and Sugar as they create inflammation.

2.       Gardening:

For all you gardeners, this is the time of year that I start to see you because you have either been more sedentary during the winter, then we FINALLY get a nice day and you spend the day bending, kneeling, pulling, digging, hauling, dragging, etc. etc. etc.  Your back hurts, your legs hurt, your neck hurts and a few other parts hurt.

I recommend:

• Warm up before starting your gardening.  Particularly, your low back, your hamstrings (the back of your legs) and your neck and shoulders.
• Stretch these same areas out, which will also help warm them out.
• Don’t sit, bend, or kneel in any position for a long time.  Take frequent breaks and stretch those key areas.
• Drink plenty of water.  First it irrigates the body, and it forces breaks both when you drink and then you have to go use the rest room.

3.      Runners and Training:

This is the time of year that the seasonal runners start to come out of the woodwork, so to speak.  It’s time to start training for all the races that Portland has during the next 8 months or so culminating in the Portland marathon.    There are a lot of organizations in the Portland area that offer support in training.  Some of them are fee based, and some are free.  They should have great advice around training schedules, eating, stretching, and strength training.

I recommend:

• Take the time to stretch properly.  I know there are varying opinions on whether to stretch before, or after or both.   I am a person that struggles to stretch, AND I know when I stretch before and after, it works best for me.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Get plenty of rest.  Rest is so important for the body to heal.
• Start gently and build up both in distance and speed.
• Acupuncture treatments can help keep the body aligned and prevent injury.