CONNECT WITH US!
In the United States acupuncture has grown in is popularity. Most people know that acupuncture is effective for pain conditions. Though at Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City we specialize in pain management. We also treat different types of addictions. One addiction that we help people with is smoking.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine has been shown to help people to stop smoking. How will acupuncture and Chinese medicine help you to stop smoking? According to Chinese medicine we look at balance in the body. When the body is out of balance, then disease may occur. Chinese medicine whether it is acupuncture, herbs, exercise, or nutrition will help you return back to balance and stimulate your body’s self-healing mechanisms.
When it comes to smoking, Chinese medicine will clear heat, detoxify your body, and calm your mind. There may be many different factors why you may smoke. Many people smoke because of stress, anxiety, depression, or just out of habit. Acupuncture will help you calm your mind and relieve stress. Most importantly it will help with the cravings for smoking. It will change the taste of the smoking and cause you not to have a desire to smoke.
Physiologically, acupuncture will act on the brain. It will allow your body to release different chemicals, neurotransmitters, endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. All of these endogenous substances will help your body to heal and overcome your smoking addiction.
There are many other things that you can do to help support your smoking cessation treatments. It does require a lifestyle change and a willingness to change. Here is a short list of some techniques you can do to help you while you are getting acupuncture treatments and taking Chinese herbs:
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine will help you to quit smoking. Start today to change your life and become more healthier, balanced, and full of abundance. Give us a call to schedule an appointment today at 801-463-1101.
Fibromyalgia is a complex pain disorder that is has symptoms of widespread pain, fatigue, depression, and sleep disorders. There have been several treatments that help with fibromyalgia such as acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and Tai Chi. Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City has been utilizing acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and exercise to help with fibromyalgia.
Recently there was a research study done that showed regular Tai Chi practice is effective for fibromyalgia, and showed better results than aerobic exercise. Tai Chi is a low to moderate aerobic exercise. The study showed that with regular Tai Chi practice pain levels will decrease and energy levels will increase. Most of the participants also cut down on their medications.
There are several health benefits with Tai Chi. Tai Chi combined with acupuncture and Chinese herbs will help with fibromyalgia, and help you feel better and more energized.
Come to Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City to try out a Tai Chi class or schedule an appointment for acupuncture.
Master Lu’s Health Center is the premier center for acupuncture and Chinese medicine in Salt Lake City. We treat many different pain conditions such as low back pain, neck pain, arthritis, knee, and shoulder pain. Acupuncture has shown to be effective to treat pain and improve your health and wellness.
Here is a short video clip about how acupuncture helps with pain, and how it works. If you have pain please contact us at Master Lu’s Health Center anytime to schedule an appointment.
Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art and exercise that has shown to improve health and wellness. Harvard medical school has said that “Tai Chi is not only meditation in motion, but medication in motion.” There have been several studies that Tai Chi has been effective to help with balance, heart conditions, immune system, and stress reduction. It is a fantastic exercise and martial art.
Master Lu at Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City has been teaching and practicing Tai Chi for over 40 years. Master Lu’s Health Center has classes throughout the week to help you learn and experience the health benefits of Tai Chi.
When practicing Tai Chi there are several essential elements to pay attention to when practicing. When you follow the essential principles to the best of your ability, your Tai Chi practice and skill will deepen. You will also feel better, energized, and balanced.
From the beginning to the end, be consistent and unchanging. Practice daily, in the morning and evening. Study and imitate a teacher’s style, contemplate his carriage. Gradually, the vitality will become excellent, and the energy doubles. This phrase of the process is incomprehensible, though natural, and exquisiteness of energy is the result of the process.
The qi sinks to the dan tian (the area below the stomach)
Come and learn Tai Chi to start your path better and increase health and wellness!
Here at Master Lu’s Health Center, we take sports injuries serious here in the Salt Lake valley, we use Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine to help aide in the recovery of Sports injuries.
Sports injuries are an incredibly common reason patients first seek out treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine. From a TCM perspective, there are numerous energetic imbalances that may have predisposed someone to a particular injury, or may now be affected by the injury. A trained practitioner will look at the location of the injury, the depth of the injury, and the pathology of the injury.
A sports injury anywhere on the body may have the following components:
Blood Stasis: Blood stasis is often caused by trauma to the local area, such as falling on the soccer field or getting hit with a hockey stick. Symptoms of blood stasis include sharp and stabbing pain that is worse with pressure, bruising and skin discoloration. When the stasis is severe it may affect sleep. Sports injuries such as bone breaks, contusions, fractures, tendon and ligament tears frequently have a blood stasis component.
Qi Stagnation: Qi stagnation can be caused by trauma but more frequently is caused by overuse, repetitive motion, poor posture or form while doing an exercise. Pain from a Qi stagnation injury tends to be dull, achy, throbbing and diffuse. Normally it is worse with pressure, but may be better with gentle movement. Common injuries that often involve Qi stagnation are tendonitis, muscle strains, chronically tight muscles and shin splints.
Heat: Both Qi stagnation and blood stagnation can generate heat, which is a TCM explanation for lots of kinds of inflammation. Any sports injury that presents as red, hot and swollen has a heat component to it.
Cold: Just as pathogenic heat can be a factor in sports injuries, so too can pathogenic cold. There is an idea in TCM that cold can “direct strike” an organ or energy system, leading to severe, acute, cramping pain. This often occurs after exposure to cold, such as running a race on a cold day, swimming in cold water or sitting in an ice bath after a workout. Cold can also be a factor in certain chronic areas of pain, particularly when bone is involved or when the injury is in a location that doesn’t get a lot of blood flow.
Blood deficiency: Any acute sports injury has a component of stagnation or stasis. However, there may be an underlying blood deficiency that allowed the tissues to be more susceptible to injury. The blood is said to nourish the tendons, so this is particularly true in tendon injuries such as tennis elbow or Achilles tendonitis. Blood deficiency may also be a result of a sports injury, such as a concussion, which means the body needs more resources to rebuild itself after the injury.
Thankfully, TCM has several ways of treating sports injuries and helping in the rehabilitation process:
Acupuncture: Acupuncture can help to increase blood flow to an area, reduce pain, inflammation and help tissues heal.
Chinese Herbal Medicine: TCM Herbal formulas can be applied topically in the form of liniments, plasters, poultices, creams and ointments. Certain herbal formulas are also appropriate to be taken internally to help with pain or associated symptoms during the recovery phase. Depending on the herbal formula, it may target pain, tension, inflammation, swelling, or circulation. Herbal formulas can be tailored to fit any of the diagnoses mentioned above. Clinically, we often use topical applications of herbs for soft tissue injuries such as tendonitis, muscle strains and sprains. Certain formulas are also appropriate for bone injuries such as fractures, breaks, and spurs.
Moxa: Burning moxa, or Moxibustion, can be a very effective therapy for many sports injuries. Moxa is burned over certain points or locations to reduce pain, increase range of motion, eliminate cold from the channels and reduce inflammation. Moxa is frequently used for injuries to the bone, injuries involving cold or any injury that heat seems to make feel better.
Cupping: Cupping is another technique from TCM that uses special sterilized cups to create suction over large muscle areas. This helps muscles to relax, pulls toxins out of the channels and helps to physically pull apart layers of fascia that get stuck together with injury.
If you have experienced a sports related injury, call or come in today so we can help you get back on your playing field.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (is a medical system that is thousands of years old and incorporates many different modalities such as acupuncture, Chinese herbs, Chinese medical massage, nutrition, and exercise. Food and nutrition is an important area in Chinese medicine. TCM theory emphasizes that Mother Nature provides the right kind of food for the right kind of environment. For instance, if the weather is cold, then warming, nutrient-dense foods are best for the body. Likewise, when summer rolls around, it is best to partake of cooling foods and foods that are abundant during this season. At Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City along with acupuncture treatments, we also will consult with you about food and nutrition to help you feel better and improve your health.
Summer is a time of great abundance, or as the Chinese refer to it, the time of utmost yang. The days are longer and warmer, and everything and everybody seems to be more active. The warmth of the summer sun encourages growth and maturation. In TCM, summer relates to the element of fire and the heart and small intestine energetic pathways or meridians. Because summer is a time of growth, many fruits and vegetables become abundant during the season. And because the season tends to be the warmest, it is important to stay cool and hydrated.
The body is thought to contain a substance the Chinese call Qi (pronounced “chee”). This Qi is frequently translated into the term energy in English. When a person’s Qi is low, then a deficiency develops. Conversely, when there is an excess of Qi, problems may arise indicative of this. Sweat is the fluid of the heart. When a person sweats excessively, the Qi of the heart becomes scattered and weak. This can weaken the mind and cause symptoms like depression, restlessness, insomnia and irritability. But this can be countered by eating foods salty and sour in nature. This includes foods such as miso, pickles, lemons, limes and sour plums.
The summer months are generally hot and therefore the body needs to be kept cool. This is the perfect time to eat more raw foods that clear heat. But as with anything, don’t overdo it. Too much cold or raw foods can wreak havoc on the digestive tract causing spasms, tightness and contractions. This will make the body work harder to warm the food being eaten, which can then deplete the Qi of the spleen and stomach meridians. Therefore cooked foods and even soups are still recommended during the warm summer months. They are usually made with seasonally-available foods or eaten at room temperature to avoid any digestive conflict.
It is best to avoid heavy, greasy and fried foods during the summer months, as they can clog up the digestive system. They can also create excess phlegm in the lungs leading to respiratory problems. And when cooking during the season of summer, it is best to create meals quickly and simply by grilling or stir frying.
Examples of foods beneficial for the summer months include peppers, eggplant, cabbage, kale, broccoli, spinach, melons of all kinds, beets, berries, pineapple, cucumbers, grapefruit and mushrooms. If you need more help understanding or designing a proper seasonal-eating plan, call us today or come in. We will definitely be able to help you identify what plan works best for you. To find out what foods grow locally according to their proper season check out this website: https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/
There are something medically everyone knows you should do. You should see your family physician at least once a year, your dentist at least twice a year and your 0ptometrist every couple of years. But not everybody knows about acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and the many benefits it can provide for you. When thinking out how you should care for your health, setting up a regular check up with your acupuncturist could help reduce how many times you have to go to your family doctor. Why should you set up regular appointments with an acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner? Let’s look at how getting regular acupuncture treatments can help you stay happy and healthy.
While many of you may have a needle phobia, don’t let that deter you. Acupuncture is part of an amazing medical system that has been around for nearly 3,000 years. In comparison, Western medicine has only been around for about 200 to 250 years. That puts things in perspective a little, especially when you consider most people in Asian countries live longer, happier, healthier lives than almost everybody in the United States. There’s no better time than the present to start a good habit. Just be sure to seek out a fully trained and licensed acupuncturist. Your whole life just might change for the better. If you are interested in trying acupuncture for the first time and have questions feel free to call us or come in and talk to one of our licensed acupuncturists at Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine has shown to help with acute and chronic pain. One of the reasons why people get addicted to opioids is because they have some sort of pain. Acupuncture will help with the pain and the opioid addiction. It has been recommended by the Joint Commission and the FDA as a first line of therapy to help with pain which in turn will help with the opioid epidemic.
Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City was featured in a news report about opioid addiction and how acupuncture can help.
Check out the news clip!
Who really thinks about their liver? Is it just a wedge-shaped spongy organ that absorbs alcohol and puts out blood and digestive biochemicals? Is it an imperfect champion of modern life, buffering us from the burden of late night snacks and booze, only to be appeased with fresh fruit juices and salads the next morning? What is this being with whom we have such a tumultuous relationship? It’s time to get to know the liver and the value it has according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Chinese medicine has a long history of placing the functions of the body into analogical frameworks that help bring to light the complex ideas of functional relationships between organ systems.
Physiologically, the liver demonstrates aspects of the decisive aspect of a military, in setting up the preconditions for the correct functioning of nearly every organ system. For example, the liver is related to blood pressure via its synthesis of albumin, the blood plasma protein that helps balance oncotic pressure, which ultimately influences systemic blood pressure. The liver stores and releases important vitamins, minerals and glucose; metabolizes hormones; synthesize proteins; detoxifies various metabolites; and secretes biochemicals vital to digestions such as bile.
These functions allow the entire body to function correctly, and in a broad Chinese medical sense this can be understood as a governing the directional movement of Qi through the organ systems – to allow Qi to enter and exit the organs, stop and start metabolic processes raise or lower pressure.
By helping the Qi move through the body naturally, allowing the liver to govern the movement of the blood, in a similar way to an army getting supplies and forces to the right people at the right time. The speed of the blood is controlled by the heart, but how the blood is used by any of the organs is controlled by the liver.
When you digest that heavy meal, blood gets rushed to the digestive organs; when you go for a run, blood is made available in the legs and lungs; when you sleep, blood retreats back into the liver for processing, allowing the liver to perform over 500 functions a day.
In Chinese Medicine Theory, strong emotions can cause Qi to become “blocked”, which makes the smooth function of the liver to become hard to do. Unfortunately, if the liver becomes physically injured or obstructed (with fatty liver or blockage of the diaphragm), this causes a tendency toward angry outbursts, in which the boy is attempting at removing any obstructions with forceful outpouring of energy.
This may sound like a bit of a stretch, but think of the act of sighing. The liver sits underneath the diaphragm. When the liver is obstructed by emotional tension, one begins to heave a heavy sigh to the move the diaphragm and hence for the liver to move as well. Knowing this it shouldn’t be surprising that a heavy sigh is an indication of a emotional stress being released. In this way we move our livers so our livers can “move” us, Move our Qi and move our blood.
Liver Qi Stagnation affects a large number of body processes, and it makes all of them less efficient. With the liver system being taxed and stressed, what follows are imbalances of digestion, blood pressure, hormonal expression, blood sugar regulation and mood. This can cause muscle tension and pain, anxiety and/or depression, accumulation of fat, insomnia, menstrual cramps, low libido and more.
The correct movement of the body based on the “planning” action of the liver ultimately create a harmony of action of the body that nourishes a positive sense of self that allows stressful situations to be dealt with and not “held on to.” When one holds onto stress after the moment as passed, the smooth coordination of the planning process is interrupted; but as we all know, when one part of a carefully organized plan goes awry, it throws off the timing of the rest of the plan.
There is a condition called “decision fatigue” this contributes directly to binding up the activity of the liver system in a similar way to the “decision paralysis” that occurs when we have too many options or cannot decide. We go into fight or flight mode, release a bunch of stress hormones, and then stew in them because the organ system responsible for clearing out and metabolizing these stress hormones, the liver, is the one being most strongly impacted by our emotional response.
Another catch-22 of the liver system is that thing like alcohol and fatty foods do tend to relax our minds and do technically ‘soothe’ the liver in small amounts. The prescription of medicinal wine are a perfect example of this; as is eating liver pate to support liver health. However, these same substances in too large of quantities will injure the liver itself, disallowing their further use as a liver-supporting substance.
In the end, a little liver Qi stagnation is to be expected in today’s lifestyle and we all do love a little challenge to keep things interesting.
The higher the stress level we have in our lives the more important it is to unwind and give the liver a chance to calm down. This can be done by staying physically active, including sports, dancing, hiking, Qi Gong and let’s not forget about Tai Chi. So if you have high levels of stress and need to find some way to handle it, come in and talk to us at Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City on how acupuncture and Tai Chi can help reduce your stress level and the amount of liver Qi stagnation.
Spring is a time for the animals and plants to awake from their long winter slumber. It is at this time of year that that spring is known as a time of renewal, regeneration, growth and energy. Vital Nutrients stored in the roots of plants start to come to the surface allowing life to become more vibrant and fluid.
We humans are no different. We stay indoors more during winter and generally pack on a little extra weight in the process. As the weather warms, we start to become more gregarious and start spending more time outside enjoying nature. This is a normal process.
It makes sense with what the ancient Chinese observed in nature would still be true today. Humans should be following nature’s example on how to live our lives. We should be more active during the warm months of spring. To do this we need proper nourishment. Qi (pronounced Chee) is sometimes thought of being a form of energy. This Qi is vital to keeping our bodies functioning until we die. To keep Qi plentiful, eating a proper diet at the proper time and practicing Tai Chi or Qi Gong will help.
During spring, we should eat food that has an upward energy such as green, sprouting vegetables. As our activities increase during spring our bodies will need extra nourishment. This is where sweeter foods are vitally important. Foods such as fruits, nuts, yams, carrots and potatoes can provide the extra energy needed during the spring. Just be careful not to over do it. Too much sweet can overload your body and make you feel sluggish.
Sweets should be countered with pungent foods. Pungent foods will aid in the movement of Qi upwards and outwards through perspiration. Pungent foods include Scallions, onion, ginger, radishes, garlic, leeks and chives.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, spring is the season for the liver and gallbladder. These organs regulate a smooth flow of energy through out the whole body. However, they are prone to stagnation because we don’t take proper care of ourselves. This will manifest as anger, irritability, depression, insomnia and even pain. Stagnation can occur when people eat too many poor quality foods that may be full of chemicals.
Foods that keep stagnation off include foods that are rich in chlorophyll, such as wheat grass, spirulina, chlorella, parsley, kale, Swiss chard and collard greens. All of these foods are abundant during the months of spring. Another good idea to start the day is have a class of warm water with a slice of lemon first thing in the morning. This will help detoxify the liver and gallbladder to start the day off fresh. Last, but not least, foods that have a slight bitter taste can help ward off heat in the liver. These include foods like asparagus, quinoa, romaine lettuce and dandelion tea.
If your are interested in learning how to eat according to the seasons, come talk to one of our licensed acupuncturists. We can help guide you along your journey to better health through Traditional Chinese Medicine and nutritional counseling. Call us at Master Lu’s Health Center in Salt Lake City anytime.
