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Acupuncture

What Five Star Restaurants Teach You about Healthy Snacks for Kids

ants-on-a-log4A fine meal at a good restaurant has many details. It uses fresh ingredients and interesting recipes. There is a variety of foods and the presentation is pleasing.

When food is prepared thoughtfully and beautifully, even the most basic meal becomes an experience. You can’t wait to try it. Once you start eating, you want to savor it.

But getting your kids to eat healthy snacks can feel like the opposite. Your child may balk at anything he thinks is healthy. She may be picky or prefer sweet or fatty foods.

You probably wouldn’t say that your child loves the snacks so much they can’t wait to eat them. And savoring them? Not likely.

But sometimes, the solution is easier than it seems.

Think about your snacks like a fine chef. Find ways to prepare your food beautifully. Make common foods seem unusual. Add interesting flavors or combinations.

Sometimes just changing the food a little bit can make your child dig in.

continue reading »

How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy with Acupuncture

smilingWhen you think of taking care of your teeth, do you think of acupuncture?

You probably don’t and that’s not unusual. Most people believe that brushing, flossing and a trip to the dentist for a cleaning twice a year is a good dental routine. And for most, it is.

But for some people, that routine doesn’t keep their teeth in good shape. Despite good dental hygiene, they continue to have dental issues.

And for others, just going to the dentist is stressful and difficult. It’s hard to get good dental care when you dread your trip to the dentist.

Fortunately, acupuncture can support dental health and make your trip to the dentist easier. continue reading »

Sticking to your New Year’s Resolution: The Trick is Not What You Think

new-years-resolution-1_lIt’s New Year’s again.  It’s time to make a resolution.

And you know the drill. You set goals.  You work on them for a couple of weeks.  You begin to flag.

Many times you give up by February.

Your New Year’s resolution becomes a distant memory until the next New Year’s when you feel slightly guilty and begin the whole process again.

If each year you make a resolution and each year you break it, something has to change.  The only way this year can be different is if you do something different.

The trick is not changing your resolution.  The trick to achieving your resolution is to use an entirely new plan to reach it. continue reading »

How to Unhook Your Logical Brain and Gain New Insights on Last Year

You’ve probably heard of right-brained vs. left-brained activities.

Right-brained activities are creative, intuitive and subjective.  Left-brained activities are linear, analytical and logical.

It has been a popular myth that people prefer right-brained or left-brained activities because they have a dominant side of the brain.  It turns out that while certain activities are wired on one side of the brain (for example language tends to be on the left), people use each side of the brain equally.

So if the brain is wired for both activities, why is creative thinking so hard? continue reading »

6 Facts to Know When Using Acupuncture to Quit Smoking

No_SmokingSmoking is a strong, complicated addiction.  Quitting smoking is no small task and you will need lots of support to be successful.  You need the best tools to help with the physical and emotional symptoms, and acupuncture is a great resource to help you succeed.

Here are the 6 things you should know about using acupuncture to quit smoking.  continue reading »

Laser Acupuncture

At East Side Acupuncture we try to incorporate modern knowledge with ancient wisdom. One way that we are doing that is through the addition of laser acupuncture to the services we offer.

Laser acupuncture
Lasers we use at East Side Acupuncture

What is laser acupuncture?

Laser acupuncture is a needle-less technique that uses low level lasers (aka “cold lasers”) to stimulate the acupuncture points. They are called low level lasers because they have a relatively low output, and are sometimes called cold lasers because the output is not strong enough to create any heat.

Laser acupuncture is a great option for anyone who is afraid of needles and unwilling to try traditional acupuncture and for children. If you have been trying to get a friend or family member to try acupuncture but they have been resistant encourage them to try laser acupuncture.

Another great advantage is as an alternative to needling in sensitive areas such as the foot for treating plantar fasciitis, neuropathy, or foot pain.

Laser acupuncture will be available to patients at both our Syracuse office and our Oneida office. Rates are the same as traditional acupuncture.

Honest Answers to Your Top Acupuncture Questions

meridian-man-headA few weeks ago, I asked for your most pressing acupuncture questions.  I’ve compiled the most common questions and I noticed one distinct trend—there are a lot of questions about the needles.  Some of you must be nervous about getting needled!

If these acupuncture answers don’t put your fears to rest, call me for more information.  Acupuncture brings good health, relaxation and vitality.  I don’t want fear to stop you from getting treatment. continue reading »

The Best Home Gym Equipment for Less than $50

jumpropeDon’t you love how great you feel when you work out regularly?

You’re alert, you sleep better, and it’s easier to stay calm and optimistic.  Once you get in the routine of working out and keeping a healthy routine, it’s fun.

But there’s always something that stops you.  For most of us, it’s either time or money.  We don’t have time, and gym memberships are too expensive.

Let’s imagine a dream solution.  You want the fitness tools you find in a gym but you want to do it at home so it’s convenient.  You want aerobics, strength and stretching so you have a good holistic workout.

And most importantly, you don’t want to spend more than $50 on any piece of equipment.

Can you build a home gym with that budget?

continue reading »

What Are Your Acupuncture Questions?

hand-acuQuestions?  Comments?  Concerns?

Normally I use this blog to tell you a little about my favorite topics, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture and natural health.  But today I want to do something different.

I want to learn more about you.

Today I want to know what your concerns and questions are.

Ask me anything, basic or complicated.  Ask about TCM, acupuncture or general health.  Ask about injuries, illness or disease.  Whatever is on your mind, ask the question.

Contact me here, and I’ll reply to your questions as soon as I can.

When The Treatment Is Scarier Than The Illness

Recently a patient was asking me why some people need knee replacements even though they are not physically active and had no injury. “Do they just ignore the problem?” Not being an orthopedic surgeon I can’t definitively answer that, but certainly in many cases our health problems are made worse by not being proactive about treating them. Remember the old adage “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure”?

As we continued to discuss the idea of being proactive my patient brought up a very good point. Maybe it is not that people are purposefully ignoring their health issues, but they are more afraid of the treatment than they are of the problem. I think he may be onto something.

The mindset in our country is that there is a “pill for every ill”. That’s all well and good but we’ve all heard the disclaimers on drug commercials. Certainly itchy eyes and runny nose is better than having a stroke. If it is a musculoskeletal issue then there is always the fear of needing surgery. For many people it is better to ignore a minor complaint than to deal with it and have to deal with possible risks or side effects. The problem with that strategy is not knowing when to stop ignoring the problem and deal with it. The longer it is ignored the bigger the problem may become and the scarier the treatments will get.

This may not seem like a big issue at first glance. Either people take care of their health or deal with it later and maybe have bigger problems. For myself and my fellow acupuncturists the problem is bigger. We know we can help these patients and we do our best work when the problem is still minor. However, our medical system still does not do a great job of offering alternative solutions. Doctors do not recommend them enough and insurance companies often do not cover them. We need everyone’s cooperation to help bring acupuncture out of the fringe and make it an option for patients.

For the patients and their family and friends – don’t ignore your health. Sometimes little issues do go away on their own and that’s great. Ignoring a problem, however, doesn’t make it go away. Those little aches and pains are a signal that something is wrong and needs to be fixed or something needs to be changed. Rather than ignore the issue see your doctors and other health care professionals and if they are recommending a treatment that might have some scary side effects ask them for more information about the risks. Seek out alternative methods. It might not be covered by insurance but treating an issue early with acupuncture might require two or three visits. Waiting and creating a bigger problem will make it more expensive to treat (regardless of how you treat it), more time consuming, and decrease the chance of a complete recovery. Speak up and let your healthcare providers know you want more options for treatment, write or call your HR department (or whoever determines your insurance options) and let them know you want policies with alternative treatments covered.

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