This weekend my wife and I enjoyed a nice get-away in Connecticut at a beautiful bed and breakfast (www.19rockhallroad.com). It was only two nights but it was just the kind of vacation we needed – simple and relaxing. This morning as I prepared to tackle another week “at the office” I started thinking about the importance of vacations in relation to our healthcare.

Regardless of the main reason a patient comes in to see me in the first place I find that a majority of my patients report high levels of stress. I don’t believe that stress is necessarily the cause of most diseases, but it certainly contributes. It can also be an obstacle in the healing process. Therefore managing stress is a great way to improve health and quality of life.

I think a great way to reduce stress is to take a vacation.  It can be a two week trip to Europe or a two night stay somewhere near by.  As long as you can remove yourself from those parts of life that cause you stress it doesn’t matter.  But here’s the catch: many of us bring our stress with us on vacation.  That could be literal if your kids cause you stress. Or maybe your boss calls you three times a day and you feel like you never left the office even if you are sitting on a sunny beach.  Sometimes it isn’t that obvious – maybe instead of relaxing you are thinking about some of the problems you will be facing when you get back home. Or maybe with every dollar you spend you stress out about your financial situation.

So maybe travel vacations are not a great way to manage stress. But let’s think of vacations in a broader sense.  The definition of vacation according to Merriam-Webster dictionary: “1: a respite or a time of respite from something : intermission. 2a:  a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended.”  In these definitions travel is not required. All that is needed is a break from the everyday hustle and bustle of life.

Instead of planning elaborate week-long adventures a vacation can be something you do every day. Great options are meditation, yoga, tai chi/qigong.  They don’t need to take up a lot of time and with the exception of taking classes are not expensive. Many people find exercise to be a great stress reliever too.  Hobbies are also a great way to take a daily “vacation”.  Regardless of what you do the important part is to give yourself 15-30 mins a day of “me time”. Turn off the cell phones and let your family know that you are not to be disturbed.

This strategy may seem counter-intuitive when a busy schedule is the cause of stress. But give it a try for a week or two. You may find that de-stressing for 15 minutes of the day earns you an extra productivity because you will be able to handle your busy schedule better without the stress.

And, of course, consider incorporating acupuncture into your stress management routine, maybe every few weeks or once a month. Most people wouldn’t think of acupuncture as being a relaxing activity, mainly because of the whole needle thing.  But the reality is that most of my patients find their treatments to be very relaxing.  The needles don’t hurt and the treatment stimulates the release of endorphins, the body’s own “feel good” chemicals. And being in a quiet room with soft music playing with no distractions just increases the sensation of tranquility.  It makes for a great vacation from day to day life.

When I treat patients with high stress (either their main complaint or secondary to other health issues) they often report within the first few sessions that they handle stress better. Those inescapable realities of life are still there but instead of creating stress and ruining a day, those issues can be dealt with (when possible) or just don’t impact them the same way anymore. They are happier, more productive, and also important – they are less quick to anger or snap at their loved ones so the whole household is happier.

So next time you find yourself getting stressed out ask yourself if it’s time for a vacation.

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is often called a preventative medicine because it can be effective at promoting health and preventing serious disease. While this is true the fact is that it’s role in today’s healthcare system is often interventionist. By that I mean that many people who seek acupuncture care do not usually do so until health issues are already present – whether it is pain or some other diagnosed disease. In fact, acupuncture is often a “last resort” treatment that is used because all other options have been exhausted without any results.

Luckily this mindset seems to be changing as our country is becoming more health conscious and dealing with the sky rocketing costs of conventional health care. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Most of us implicitly understand this concept and are willing to do those things considered “preventative” within the scope of our conventional care – yearly physicals including blood tests, mammograms, pap smears, prostate exams, colonoscopy, etc. However, these are not truly preventative in the sense that they prevent diseases from occurring.  Rather these are aimed at early detection of disease. The general idea is preventative, detect the disease early enough so that it can be treated before it is life threatening or harder to treat. Yet treatment is not rendered until disease is present (or in some cases enough pathological change has occurred).

True preventive medicine is about taking care of the body, through all stages of life, to lower the chance of developing disease. This is done by keeping the body in a state of good health and reversing the damaging effects of the environment, lifestyle, and other factors. The best ways are to avoid those things that damage the body –  such as pollution, physical strain, and stress – and do more of the things that keep us healthy – eat well, sleep well, exercise (appropriately), and relax. Interestingly, none of those things need to cost a dime and doing so can greatly reduce our need for medical care (and therefore reduce our medical costs overall).

However, in our current world being completely healthy is still a challenge.  There are some things that we cannot completely avoid and just the day to day living (even if it is healthy) causes wear and tear.  The best analogy I can give is with car maintenance. No matter how little we drive our car, no matter how good we are with doing our oil changes and other maintenance on time, our cars will still wear out.  (Oddly enough I find more people are better about taking care of their cars than they are about taking care of themselves). Likewise our bodies start to exhibit wear and tear, and when it is left to build up disease can/will arise.

Using the car maintenance analogy I think of myself as the mechanic and the therapies I use (acupuncture and herbs mainly) like the oil change, tire rotation, filter changes, etc. Some people do the simple maintenance tasks themselves and leave the bigger tasks to the mechanic, while other drivers maybe wash the car in a while and that’s about it.  Likewise some people are good about taking care of their health through diet, exercise, etc while others do not. Either way at some point the effects of life will build up and can create health problems. In many cases it takes years or decades for the damage to build up to the point that we have symptoms.  However, incorporating acupuncture and herbal medicine into your health maintenance at an early age before symptoms have started can help correct those damages to slow down the rate they build up. In a young healthy person this may be needed only a few times a year.  In an older individual it may need to be a little more often since we have more damage to correct but still can be as little as once every month or so.

So for all of you reading this, if you have not already done so, consider making acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine part of your health care and encourage your family and friends to do so as well.  And just as importantly learn more about ways to take care of yourself day-today. Check back here as I hope to include more information on self-care in coming posts.