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Tess Lugos - Acupuncture
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Staying healthy while staying in

25/3/2020

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Day 2 in Locked-down London. I hope you're keeping safe and remembering your epidemiologically approved 2m distance. (Try saying that word three times in a row!)

Our professional body, the British Acupuncture Council, has advised members to stop practising acupuncture. How frustrating because in China, Chinese medicine doctors are very much in the frontline of the war against this novel coronavirus. But if we can't give acupuncture treatments, there are other ways to help.

We all know the importance of eating well and in moderation, doing enough exercise (Boris Johnson has given us all a pass to go out once a day!), and getting enough physical and mental rest. Those are all key to keeping your immune system strong. But because the coronavirus attacks the lungs, we can all do with specific exercises to strengthen the lungs.

Qi gong and tai chi are so-called internal exercises that were developed by the ancient Chinese and are very much part of the Chinese medicine universe, along with acupuncture, herbs, massage (tui na) and diet. Tai chi is a system of movement, meditation, and self-defence; the tai chi form consists of a sequence of postures, strung together in smooth, slow, continuous movement. In contrast, qi gong is co-ordinated body-posture and movement, breathing and meditation, and done standing or sitting.

You don't need to know the tai chi form to do qi gong. Both exercises are fabulous ways of circulating qi (translated as vital energy) around the body, which is essential to health. If you are interested in doing some qi gong exercises for strengthening the lungs, watch this lovely video of Peter Deadman, one of the pioneers of Chinese medicine in the UK. We all seem to have a lot of time nowadays!

Photo credit: Edward Johnson

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Acupuncture and cancer care

24/2/2020

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​The 4th of February was World Cancer Day, and it's a stark reminder of how prevalent cancer has become. In 2015 the British Journal of Cancer reported that one in two men and women in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.  

Cancer survival is improving and has doubled in the past 40 years in the UK. However one major problem is that the side effects from conventional treatment make it hard for many patients to continue with their therapy.

Acupuncture is a very useful adjunct to conventional therapies as there is a wealth of evidence that shows the benefits of Chinese medicine for cancer care. Fatigue and pain are some of the most common conditions we help with, as well as nausea and vomiting, hot flushes, and peripheral neuropathy (pain, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs). I certainly wish my father had access to acupuncture when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1981.

Watch this British Acupuncture Council video marking World Cancer Day 2020 to see what oncologists have to say about acupuncture.

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Beauty that is more than skin-deep

16/1/2020

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Earlier in the week, I heard a news item about a cosmetic surgeon being sued by former patients because of a botched nose job, eye tuck and other cosmetic work. It turned out that the cosmetic surgeon was not even insured to work in the UK. We often hear about these cases of cosmetic procedures gone wrong.

What does this have to do with acupuncture? 

The ancient Chinese figured out pretty early on how to use acupuncture for cosmetic purposes. The practice of facial rejuvenation acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty in China (960 - 1270 AD), when cosmetic acupuncture was used by the empress and the imperial family. This type of acupuncture involves the use of micro needles on areas of the face where you want to reduce wrinkles or smoothen out fine lines, especially around the eyes, on the forehead, or in between the eyebrows. It works by increasing blood circulation to the face and activating collagen production.

Nowadays it’s a popular way of rejuvenating and revitalising the face. Celebrities like Jeniffer Anniston, Kim Kadarshian and Gwyneth Paltrow use this safe, non-surgical way of enhancing their appearance.

However, what I like about this practice is that it’s not just about the face. I also use acupuncture points on the body to address any underlying issues such as dark circles around the eyes, puffy skin, or rough skin. It is always about the person’s health above anything else.

​To be clear, this is not about erasing wrinkles. It’s for people who want to look fresher and healthier without the risks of surgery or Botox.

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Want to quit smoking?

12/1/2020

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Ah, new year, new resolutions. Whether it's dry January or Veganuary, lots of us want to start the year right by starting a healthy habit or kicking old ones.

I like supporting patients who want to stop smoking, or indeed any addictive substance. I use points on the ears as well as on the body. Why the ears? In the mid-1970s an auricular (ear) acupuncture protocol was developed in New York to treat many common drug addictions. The protocol is now referred to as the NADA protocol (NADA stands for the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association), which involves the insertion of small, stainless steel and disposable acupuncture needles into five points on the outer surface of the ears.
 
When the auricular points are combined with acupuncture points on the body, the treatment aims to relax the patient, relieve anxiety, regulate the autonomic nervous system, and strengthen the lungs and immune system, among other things. There is even a point on the wrist that makes cigarettes taste bad. 

As with all these things, acupuncture is not the one magic bullet that replaces all the hard work. It is one tool at your disposal, along with having a strategy in place, getting a buddy to help you, or getting behavioural counselling.

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

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How can acupuncture help with fertility?

3/11/2019

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This is the question I heard the most at the Fertility Show last weekend. I was volunteering to answer questions at the stand of the British Acupuncture Council, which is the UK’s largest professional body for the practice of traditional acupuncture.


Problems with fertility are common, affecting one in six couples in the UK. Many couples came to enquire, but mostly they were individual women who wanted more information. Some have been through numerous (unsuccessful) cycles of IVF (in vitro fertilisation), and wanted to see how they can improve their chances of success. A few are just starting their journey and are very confused at the options available. Do they go down the route of IVF, ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), use donor eggs, or opt for a surrogate?  
 
My message was simple – acupuncture can help boost natural fertility, and if you do decide to go down the IVF route, acupuncture significantly improves the live birth rate of sub-fertile patients undergoing IVF or ICSI. My job is to support the ovaries to optimise their response to the drugs (e.g. ripen more ovarian follicles), reduce stress and anxiety, and manage the side effects of the drugs.



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A safer alternative to opioids

14/10/2019

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I recently wrote about my friend Maria, who came to visit and stayed for two weeks while I gave her intensive acupuncture treatment for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. One of the things that struck me was how for years, she was prescribed very strong opioids like OxyContin. Opioids are a class of drugs that are prescribed to relieve persistent or severe pain, and include morphine and codeine. We know now that opioids are addictive and side effects are numerous, including increased pain. The US is in the grip of an opioid crisis, and abuse of these drugs has caused tens of thousands of deaths a year.

Part of the response in the US has been to push non-pharmaceutical options for pain control. This is when Chinese medicine can be invaluable. For example, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) recommend acupuncture as a first-line therapy for coping with the opioid crisis because it is found to be effective, safe and cost-effective for numerous types of acute and chronic pain.

In the UK, there is no official support for acupuncture or other unconventional treatment options to opioids. Acupuncture primarily sits outside the National Health Service, so people usually pay privately for treatment. But people come for treatment because they hear about it from friends and family. The evidence is also clear about the effectiveness of acupuncture for 117 conditions.

In my day-to-day practice, about a third of patients come for pain, usually for musculoskeletal or neurological reasons. It is wonderful seeing someone walk out of clinic a different person, one in less pain, more relaxed, and with a smile on their face. Because this is what I do every day I sometimes take acupuncture for granted, but it is a truly remarkable system of medicine.

​Photo by Dima Vishnevetsky from FreeImages

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Hope for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia

4/10/2019

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When an old friend from Manila - let's call her Maria - got in touch six weeks ago to ask if I can help with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, I said yes of course. But when that friend said she will stay in London for two weeks to have acupuncture treatment, I was bowled over by her trust and commitment.

So over these past two weeks, I saw Maria roughly every other day to give her acupuncture. She has suffered from a debilitating constellation of low-grade fevers, muscle/joint aches and pains, sweating, and fatigue for the past 15 years. But it had worsened significantly in the past two years so she could barely walk a few minutes without getting wiped out. All that conventional medicine doctors could offer were painkillers, steroids and antidepressants - at one point Maria was told there was nothing they could do for her any more.

When I told my friend that of course Chinese medicine can help, it's because it sees auto-immune conditions as difficult but not impossible to treat. The incidence of auto-immune diseases such as fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis has been on the rise, and there is universal agreement among scientists that industrial toxins and chemicals in the environment are interfering with the functioning of our immune systems. According to the UK's National Health Service, fibromyalgia (a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body) is estimated to affect one in 20 people.

I focused on releasing the fever, lowering her temperature, removing toxins, and easing the aches and pains in her body. And over the past two weeks, Maria has got stronger as the sweats and fever abated and pain reduced. Chinese medicine focuses on lifestyle choices as well - part of Maria's work is making changes to the food she eats (her daily medicine!) and learning Qi Gong (Chinese internal exercises that focuses on breathing and simple movements) to circulate and generate energy, allowing her to get stronger and manage her condition.

It was wonderful to see the shift in Maria's energy levels in a short space of time. She was grateful because she hasn't felt this well in 10 years. But I was also grateful to have had an opportunity to see how intensive treatment can work with someone so committed to getting better.

Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash

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A halt to hiccups

19/9/2019

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I love Chinese medicine for many reasons, but over the past weekend I discovered another one. I was spending the weekend with some dear friends in the beautiful medieval town of Rye, in East Sussex. My host, Brian, who is in his late 80s, had just had a procedure done to alleviate knee pain. All of a sudden, he started to have bouts of hiccups, which no amount of water-drinking or being given a fright could alleviate.

I scoured my memory for some acupuncture point that might help. Hiccups are sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscles, so I thought of using one of the lung points (the diaphragm being involved in breathing) on the arm. So while chatting away at friends across the dinner table, I pressed Lung 6 on one of Brian's forearm for a few minutes. Lung 6 (Kong zui or Maximum opening) is an acupuncture point used for acute respiratory conditions such as asthma, wheezing or severe cough.

Sure enough, after a few moments, Brian's hiccups stopped. A nice way to end the evening.


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The two professors

14/8/2019

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I have never met two of the most important men in my life. Professor Cheng Man-ching, one of the greatest tai chi masters of modern times, died in 1975, while Dr Wang Ju-yi, a giant in the global Chinese medicine community, passed away in 2017. Both men excelled in their fields and both taught far and wide from their native China. Which is why, living in London as I do, I feel their influence every day, from the moment I start my day with rounds of t’ai chi, to the hours in clinic applying classical Chinese medicine to modern ailments.

What Professor Chang and Dr Wang had in common was the desire to spread their knowledge to as many people as possible. National borders did not constrain them. They had many senior students inside and outside China, who in turn made it their goal to transmit this knowledge faithfully and with precision.

The other day I read a notice from Jason Robertson, one of Dr Wang's senior students, to mark the second anniversary of the doctor's passing. On that day I was attending a tai chi training in Sardinia, facilitated by four senior students of Patrick Watson, who studied with Professor Cheng. I felt so fortunate to be a recipient of such ‘transmission’ of knowledge. In my own way I am passing this on to future generations. Long may that continue.

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Blackbird sings with the piano

24/6/2019

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I am always on the lookout for good music to play in the treatment room. When I first started learning tai chi in Hong Kong many years ago, my teacher Alex used to play opera and reggae to accompany our rounds of t'ai chi. So before long I started associating these genres with relaxation and Chinese medicine (tai chi being one modality of Chinese medicine, along with acupuncture, herbs, food and tuina massage). So when I started my acupuncture practice some years ago, I automatically played classical music or reggae in the treatment room.

These days I tend to favour playing "non-music" in the treatment room so  patients have something to listen to while I leave the needles to do their work. Tibetan singing bowls or the sound of water are my favourites. Not everyone likes opera, but most people  appreciate the soothing sound of chimes being gently caressed by the breeze.

Imagine my delight when a patient gave us a CD recording of her playing the piano while being accompanied by a blackbird in her garden. This patient is a piano teacher and said she first noticed the blackbird singing in her garden two years ago, especially while she played the piano. So one day she recorded the blackbird while she was playing. Later on when she was playing back the recording, she realised that the blackbird seemed to be accompanying her piano-playing. And this magical CD is often what I play when I'm treating these days because the sound of nature is deeply relaxing. 

This isn't the first time I've heard of birds accompanying musicians playing. A famous recording from 1924 captured cellist Beatrice Harrison dueting with nightingales at her home near the  woods in Surrey, England. She received 50,000 fan letters from this time!


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    Tess' blog

    ... or a record of a Filipina's adventures in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). 

    I am a practitioner of traditional acupuncture based  at Violet Hill Studios in St. John's Wood and in Hampstead Garden Suburb, both located in north London.

    ​I am registered and fully insured with the British Acupuncture Council. I studied Chinese Medicine at the Confucius Institute of TCM (within the London South Bank University) and at the First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin, China.

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