Blog : Health Conditions
March Newsletter: Digestive Tune up
My teacher, Iwashina Sensei, would always teach his students: regulate the digestive system and 80% of the time 80% of the problems get better. Every treatment we give at Red Earth has a portion dedicated to improving, restoring, and optimizing your digestive system - that’s one of the reasons why the pain starts to go away so fast.
In December, we had several new patients begin treatment where the digestive system needed a complete “overhaul”. One patient was recovering from cancer treatments; another was diagnosed by their MD with Gastroparesis and another with severe gallstones. In each case, they needed to do more than just take the pressure off the digestive system, which we do by having patients avoid the “SCR” — sweet cold and raw. Check out our short e-book that delves into the how’s and why’s of “SCR” and the importance of a healthy, functioning digestive system. In the aforementioned cases, people have to go further than just drinking warm drinks, eating cooked foods, and cutting down on sweets.
So what is the next step and how do we take it to the next level?
Traditional Medicine in the Shadow of Modern Virology
Many of you who have been treated for acute conditions in the clinic know that in our tradition of Chinese Medicine — Classical Method — it is not necessary to identify the specific biological pathogen (virus, bacteria, or heebee jeebee) to effectively treat even serious conditions. Many people are surprised to see how we may prescribe the same treatment regardless of how modern medicine would identify it. The reason for this is that the Classical Method of Chinese Medicine focuses on the terrain, not the invader. This may seem strange, but, if we look at it from the perspective of military strategy, it makes a great deal of sense. Look at it this way:
Acupuncture Treats a Wide Variety of Health Concerns
The #1 question we are asked at the clinic comes from those who are wondering if acupuncture can help with a problem that they or someone they know has? Red Earth Acupuncture employs centuries old traditions that have proven to be effective for a broad range of conditions. 
Chinese Medicine views disease and pain as an imbalance in the body. Our bodies have a number of mechanisms that regulate balance in the body: these include the regulation of body temperature, pH, hormones, blood flow and concentrations of sodium, calcium and glucose. These mechanisms may get out of balance for a number of reasons such as long time poor dietary habits, traumatic events, medications, environmental toxins, or injuries. When the body gets out of balance, we begin to see it manifested physically as disease, intense pain, digestive problems, menstrual irregularities and other issues.
Sleep Problems? Whatever you do, don’t buy a yak!
“You snooze, you lose!” Sound familiar? For many, being able to function on little sleep has been something of a badge of honor, a sign of persistence and strength. Where sleep is concerned, this couldn't be further from the truth! Poor sleep quality can contribute to many health conditions such as obesity, heart disease, depression and anxiety. It can lead not only to irritability and exhaustion, but also to muscle stiffness, impaired cognitive function, and an impaired immune system. Drowsy driving accounts for more traffic accidents and deaths than drunk driving! It's time to change the phrase. You snooze, you win with better immunity, cognitive function and physical energy.
Eight hours of good sleep is recommended each night for adults. During this time the body goes through five stages of sleep: drowsy, light, deep, intense deep and REM (rapid eye movement). While the body is going through the cycles of sleep, it is also repairing itself. Activity in the part of the brain that controls emotions and decision-making reduce and rest, muscles relax, and necessary hormones are released.
Insomnia is defined as a difficulty or inability to fall asleep, waking during the night, restless sleep, or waking and not being able to fall back asleep. Sometimes this may be temporary, caused by short-term changes in your lifestyle or environment such as outside noise, weather changes, coffee and other stimulants, eating too late at night, or a recent emotional upset. Insomnia becomes chronic when it continues for more than a couple of months and is usually due to prolonged stress and emotional upset, poor diet, or an extended illness. Sleep disturbance cause by pain, breathing difficulties or itching is not considered insomnia and the underlying cause will need to be addressed.
Chinese Medicine categorizes sleep issues into a few different patterns that can be addressed with acupuncture and herbs.
Foods to help you sleep
Many times sleep issues can be attributed to an imbalance of the Shen of the body. As we've mentioned in other posts, the Shen is the mind, which is governed by the Heart organ system. Whether the imbalance causing your sleep problems comes from stress, worry, fright, illness, or digestive problems, here are some foods that you can add to your diet to help strengthen the Heart, thus calming the Shen, and help your body and mind be at rest.
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Support for Fertility, Pregnancy and Childbirth
Spring is a time of rebirth, sudden growth, and rapid expansion; an awakening of the life process. With that in mind, we thought this month might be a good time to talk about Fertility and Pregnancy.
So you want to have a baby?
Tending the Garden for Improved Fertility and Bonus Recipe
As we discussed in our previous blog post about Fertility, "tending the garden" to create the optimal environment for a healthy pregnancy is the key to improved fertility. Here are some dietary tips along with an easy recipe to start your day off right with good protein and leafy greens.
Here’s to a Healthy Heart
As you may be aware, February is National Heart Month. What you might not be aware of is that Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine can play a huge role in improving your heart health. In this article, we explain the Oriental Medicine perspective of the heart and share tips on incorporating time-tested therapies into your health improvement plan.
The Heart from an Oriental Medicine Perspective
In both Oriental Medicine and Western Medicine, the heart is known to have the function of pumping blood throughout the body to maintain life. However, in Oriental Medicine it is thought of as the ruler, or Emperor, 
of the other organs, and involved with mental and emotional processes.
There are 3 key characteristics of the heart system in Oriental Medicine:
5 Tips to Relieve Stress and Anxiety
Happy Holidays!
For many the holidays are a happy time where they look forward to reuniting with family and friends, but for some, it brings on a sense of anxiety and depression. Presents to wrap, meals to prepare, trying to keep crazy Aunt JoJo from stirring up too much trouble, and the list goes on. For some it’s just too much and they can easily become overwhelmed.