- Art of Wellness Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)11704 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 295, Los Angeles, CA, 90025
myartofwellness@gmail.com310-451-5522 Office Hours
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Recent Posts
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Exercise
How to Treat Shin Splints With Acupuncture and TCM
By Qineng Tan, L.Ac., Ph.D. and Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
Shin pain, especially during or after exercise? Tenderness and swelling around the shin bone? These may be signs of shin splints, or a shin strain. Acupuncture and TCM can provide shin splints treatment.
Shin splints, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), are a common condition characterized by pain along the inner edge of the shinbone (tibia). This discomfort typically occurs during or after exercise, particularly activities that involve running, jumping, or repetitive stress on the legs.
Shin splints are often attributed to overuse or excessive strain on the muscles, tendons, and bone tissue of the lower leg. This condition involves stress to the soft tissues that causes them to become swollen and hard.
Shin splints pain can be similar to compartment syndrome symptoms, but these are two distinctly different conditions. Compartment syndrome occurs when swelling in the calf area causes a blockage of blood flow to the lower leg. This usually happens due to an injury (acute compartment syndrome) or extreme exertion (chronic exertional compartment syndrome) and causes a severe lack of oxygen in the area. Compartment syndrome usually causes severe pain, sometimes with a tingling or burning sensation, and requires medical attention.
What Causes Shin Splints?
Several factors can contribute to the development of shin splints. One of the primary causes is repetitive stress or overloading of the leg muscles, particularly those responsible for dorsiflexion (lifting the foot upwards) and supporting the arch of the foot. This can occur due to sudden increases in activity level, such as starting a new exercise regimen or intensifying training too quickly, without allowing adequate time for the body to adapt and recover.
Some people may be more prone to developing shin splints because of issues like flat feet, overpronation (excessive inward rolling of the foot), and muscle imbalances in the lower limbs can place additional strain on the shinbone and surrounding soft tissues, increasing the risk of injury.
Wearing footwear with insufficient cushioning or support, running on hard or uneven surfaces, and running downhill or on inclined terrain can all exacerbate the stress on the lower legs and contribute to the development of shin splints. Additionally, factors such as tight calf muscles, weak shin muscles, and not warming up or stretching before exercise can further increase susceptibility to this condition.
Taking care to stretch and warm up before working out, wearing shoes with enough support, and gradually increasing intensity of training can help prevent shin splints.
However, runners and athletes who play basketball or soccer are likely to experience shin splints when they are training and competing.
Shin splints treatment generally requires time and patience. Acupuncture can provide pain relief and help speed recovery from shin splints.
Top 10 Signs and Symptoms of Shin Splints
These signs and symptoms may vary in severity and duration depending on the individual and the underlying causes of shin splints.
- Pain along the inner edge of the shinbone (tibia), typically felt during or after physical activity.
- Tenderness and soreness along the shinbone, especially upon palpation or pressure.
- Swelling or inflammation of the lower leg, often localized to the area of pain.
- Dull, aching pain that may worsen with activity and subside with rest.
- Discomfort that initially occurs at the beginning of exercise but may progress to persist throughout the activity.
- Pain that gradually increases in intensity or becomes more widespread over time.
- Pain that may be accompanied by a feeling of tightness or stiffness in the muscles of the lower leg.
- Pain that persists even after cessation of activity and may interfere with daily activities.
- Possible development of small lumps or bumps along the inner border of the shinbone due to inflammation or irritation of the surrounding tissues.
- Pain that improves with rest but recurs upon resuming physical activity, especially activities that involve impact or weight-bearing on the legs.
Shin Splints Treatment
Conventional treatment of shin splints usually involves rest and over the counter pain relief. Typically, a doctor will recommend that a person with shin splints limits their exercise to low-impact activities. Icing the area several times per day is advised.
Acupuncture treatment for medial tibial stress syndrome can help relieve shin pain quickly.
One case study showed that a patient who had been suffering from shin splints for six weeks got pain relief after one session of acupuncture treatment, and at a four week follow, was still pain-free.
Can Acupuncture Help Shin Splints?
Acupuncture treatment helps with the healing of soft tissue injuries by increasing circulation to the area, relieving inflammation, and aiding in the release of endorphins for pain relief. It does this by activating Qi to move blood and energy more efficiently through the body.
One study of three groups of athletes with shin splints looked at patients who received conventional sports medicine, patients who received acupuncture, and patients who received both. The groups who received acupuncture treatment reported significantly lower pain levels and used less NSAIDs than those who did not receive acupuncture.
Acupuncture Near Me for Shin Splints in West Los Angeles
Acupuncture is an effective modality for treating many kinds of repetitive stress injuries and nerve pain conditions, including sprained ankles, Baker’s cyst, tendinitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Dr. Tan has over 35 years of experience helping patients find pain relief and improved mobility through treating all kinds of orthopedic and musculoskeletal conditions. While each case is unique, it is possible to get pain relief quickly with TCM treatment, including acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, therapeutic massage like Tui Na, topical herbal patches, and herbal ointments. If you are in pain and need to heal quickly to get back to your regular activities, acupuncture can help.
*This article is for education from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine only. The education provided by this article is not approved by FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat and cure human diseases. It should not stop you from consulting with your physician for your medical conditions. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on Qi, which is an invisible force that usually cannot be observed by modern science. Because science focuses on testing ideas about the natural world with evidence obtained through observation, these aspects of acupuncture can’t be studied by science. Therefore acupuncture and Chinese herbs are often not supported by double-blind, randomized trials, and they are considered alternative medicine therapies in the United States.
How To Treat Baker’s Cyst With Acupuncture and TCM
By Qineng Tan, L.Ac., Ph.D. and Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
Swelling behind knee, lump behind knee, pain and swelling behind knee, knee stiffness? These can be Baker’s cyst symptoms. A Baker’s cyst in knee joint occurs when swelling in the knee forms a fluid-filled sac. Acupuncture treatment can help relieve Bakers cyst knee symptoms like knee pain and stiffness.
A Baker cyst, also known as a popliteal cyst, or synovial cyst, is a fluid-filled growth that develops in the back of the knee joint. In some cases, a Baker’s cyst causes knee pain, stiffness, and swelling; in other cases, there may be no Baker’s cyst signs and symptoms at all.
What causes Baker’s cyst? Usually, it is due to a knee injury, such as a cartilage tear, or arthritis in the knee joint. These types of problems cause inflammation in the knee, which can lead to the production of more synovial fluid than usual.
Synovial fluid is a thick, clear substance, similar to egg whites in consistency, that is present in the joints of the body to help lubricate their movements. It is produced by the synovium, a sort of bubble that surrounds joints like the knees, elbows, shoulders, and hips.
When the synovium becomes swollen and inflamed, due to injury or overuse of the joint, it may produce excess synovial fluid. In the case of a Baker’s cyst, the synovial fluid can build up in the knee joint, and form a bump, lump, or growth in the back of the knee.
People who have a history of knee injury, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis may be more prone to developing Baker’s cysts.
Bakers cyst treatment is usually only indicated if a person is experiencing significant pain or limitation of movement. Acupuncture treatment can provide an adjunct or alternative Baker’s cyst therapy to help promote healing and relieve Baker’s knee symptoms.
Top 5 Baker’s Cyst Symptoms
Many people have a baker’s cyst knee without realizing it. If there is no pain, a person may not notice the lump behind knee.
Baker’s cyst signs and symptoms include:
- Knee pain, pain in the back of the knee
- Knee stiffness, stiff knee joint, especially when straightening the leg
- Swollen knee, swelling in knee joint
- Swelling goes away when knee is bent
- Pain and stiffness are worse after standing for a long time
More severe baker’s cyst symptoms could include redness and swelling, as the cyst gets larger.
In some cases, a baker’s cyst can rupture. If this happens, there may be swelling, redness, and a warm sensation in the calf area. Rupture of a baker’s cyst could cause pain or numbness in the calf, lack of blood flow to the lower leg, as the ruptured cyst could trap a nerve or artery in the knee or lower leg.
In extreme cases, a ruptured Baker’s cyst could lead to compartment syndrome, which could cause intense pain, foot drop, edema in the lower leg, and possibly, even an inability to move the foot or toes. If you believe your Baker’s cyst has ruptured, you should seek emergency care.
While, in most cases, a Baker’s cyst will eventually go on on its own, it is best to get a diagnosis and discuss your options. Acupuncture and TCM offer treatment of Baker’s cysts that is non-invasive and can help improve healing and prevent regrowth of the cyst.
Baker’s Cyst Treatment
Baker’s cyst signs and symptoms can be similar to those of a blood clot, or even a tumor. So, while a doctor can often diagnose a Baker’s cyst simply by palpating the area, they may also order imaging tests to be sure.
In many cases, doctors will prescribe over the counter pain medications and allow time for the cyst to go away on its own. You may be advised to limit activities that might aggravate the knee inflammation. Resting and elevating the knee for a few weeks might be recommended.
In some cases, a doctor may give cortisone injections to reduce knee swelling, or perform needle aspiration to drain the fluid from the cyst.
Surgery is generally only suggested in situations in which the knee pain has become chronic and inflammation does not seem to be going away.
Unfortunately, these medical treatments for Baker’s cyst may help bring relief, but it is quite common for the Baker’s cyst to come back again. Acupuncture treatment is not only a good way to bring symptomatic relief, but can help prevent the recurrence of Baker’s cysts.
Acupuncture has long been considered an excellent modality for treating knee pain due to all types of conditions. TCM offers an adjunct or alternative treatment for knee pain, without side effects that can come with pain medications or steroids.
Can Acupuncture Help Baker’s Cyst?
Acupuncture and TCM treatments with Chinese herb formulas have been used for centuries to treat knee injuries of all kinds.
According to TCM theory, arthritis in the knee that causes pain and stiffness is caused by stagnation that blocks the smooth flow of blood and Qi (life force energy). Acupuncture and herbs are used to address the underlying causes of blockages.
Injuries like a torn meniscus in the knee, or damage to the cartilage of the knee are very common, and it is also common for a person who has suffered such an injury to develop a Baker’s cyst later on. Full healing of cartilage can be helped with specific herbs that bring more nutrients to the damaged tissues.
Once a pattern of inflammation has begun, it can be difficult to get the swelling to go away. Small movements can trigger the inflammatory response if the area is not fully healed, and if other lifestyle habits are also causing a person to be prone to inflammation.
Chinese medicine looks at the situation holistically, treating the situation with acupuncture treatment, cupping, herbs, and nutrition, so that overall inflammation is reduced, and swelling and pressure is reduced, as well.
Herbal patches that are applied topically may be used in addition to herbal teas taken internally, to help relieve knee pain and swelling.
Cupping can also be helpful for healing and prevention of Baker’s cysts. One study compared patients with a popliteal cysts who were treated with acupuncture and cupping to patients who were given injections of prednisone. Both groups had high rates of effectiveness in terms of relief from the cysts, but recurrence of Baker’s cyst was significantly lower in the group that received TCM treatment as opposed to steroids.
Acupuncture Near Me for Baker’s Cyst, Los Angeles, CA
If you or someone you know has been suffering from knee pain and stiffness, due to a knee injury, arthritis, or diagnosed with Baker’s cysts on knee, it is worth seeking help from an acupuncturist experienced in working with orthopedic injuries, like Dr. Tan at Art of Wellness in West Los Angeles. TCM treatment for Baker’s cyst and other problems with the knee joint can not only help to relieve pain and increase range of movement; it can help prevent knee pain from coming back in the future.
*This article is for education from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine only. The education provided by this article is not approved by FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat and cure human diseases. It should not stop you from consulting with your physician for your medical conditions. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on Qi, which is an invisible force that usually cannot be observed by modern science. Because science focuses on testing ideas about the natural world with evidence obtained through observation, these aspects of acupuncture can’t be studied by science. Therefore acupuncture and Chinese herbs are often not supported by double-blind, randomized trials, and they are considered alternative medicine therapies in the United States.
How to Treat POTS With Acupuncture and TCM
By Qineng Tan, L.Ac., Ph.D. and Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
Do you often feel shaky, like you’re fainting, or experience dizziness, especially when you’re getting up from sitting down or lying down? Do you feel like you have a rapid heartbeat, or shortness of breath? Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, known as PoTS syndrome, or POTS, is a condition that causes unstable blood pressure when changing positions. Acupuncture and TCM can help relieve dizziness and other symptoms of POTS.
Postural tachycardia syndrome (or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) is a chronic disorder related to the autonomic nervous system that causes people to experience dizziness and increased heart rate when they move into an upright position; this is known as orthostatic intolerance, which is a type of dysautonomia.
POTS syndrome is fairly common, affecting up to 3 million people in the U.S. POTS occurs more often in people assigned female at birth, and often first shows up during the teenage years.
The most common symptom of POTS is feeling light-headed when changing your position from sitting to standing, or when getting up from lying down.
Whenever we have been sitting or lying down for a while, blood pools in the lower parts of the body. When we get up, the autonomic nervous system starts a series of actions to move blood back up into the top half of the body. This involves squeezing blood vessels, and releasing adrenaline and norepinephrine, to make the heart beat faster.
When a person has POTS, more blood tends to pool in the legs, and the nervous system process doesn’t cause the normal, quick response from the blood vessels, so more hormones are released, which can cause the person’s heart rate to increase, and a dizzy, faint feeling.
Medical science has not yet discovered exactly what causes POTS, but there are different characteristics that allow for categorizing these different types of POTS syndrome:
- Neuropathic POTS – damage to small fiber nerves that control blood vessel constriction in the abdomen and limbs
- Hyperadrenergic POTS – when a person has elevated levels of norepinephrine
- Hypovolemic POTS – when a person has unusually low blood levels
- Secondary POTS – when POTS symptoms are related to another condition that causes neuropathy, such as Lyme disease, diabetes, or autoimmune disorders like Lupus or celiac disease.
While POTS is not rare, it can be difficult to get a diagnosis, because the criteria can be vague, and the symptoms can so often be related to other conditions, or just seem “normal.”
For many people, POTS is truly debilitating and can have a serious, negative impact on daily life. It can also contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression. Acupuncture and TCM offer an adjunct or alternative treatment for POTS that can help with dizziness, irregular heartbeat, digestive problems, muscle weakness, migraines, trouble sleeping, and other symptoms, all at the same time.
Top 10 POTS Symptoms
The primary symptoms of POTS are related to the cardiovascular system: rapid heartbeat, and dizziness. However, there can be many other POTS symptoms.
- Irregular heart rate, rapid heart rate, fast heartbeat, chest pain, heart palpitations
- Dizziness, especially when standing up or getting up from lying down, feeling faint
- Breathing problems: hyperventilating, bronchial asthma, shortness of breath
- Constipation, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain
- Muscle weakness, muscle pain, tremor
- Skin rash, flushed face, flushing, sweating
- Migraine headaches
- Cognitive issues, brain fog, difficulty concentrating
- Trouble sleeping
- Frequent urination, nocturia
Other symptoms of POTS may include: tinnitus (ringing in the ears), blurred vision, red or purple appearance of the legs when standing up, and a “jittery” feeling or general nervousness.
As with many syndromes, different people will experience different combinations of symptoms. While dizziness and rapid heartbeat are the signs most commonly associated with POTS, many people with POTS will also suffer from abdominal pain and gastrointestinal problems, perhaps without realizing there is a correlation.
POTS symptoms may resemble many other conditions, such as:
- Chronic fatigue syndrome, ME/CFS
- Graves disease
- Other heart conditions that involve tachycardia
- Anemia
- Stroke
- Epilepsy
- Adrenal fatigue
- Drug use
- Eating disorders
- Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
- Ménière’s disease
Because POTS is often misunderstood or misdiagnosed, many patients will be offered medications to manage headaches, vertigo, or depression, which may not offer much relief.
Medical Treatment for POTS
As there is no definitive cure for POTS, Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome treatments typically aim to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
Dietary modifications are a fundamental component of POTS management. Adequate daily fluid intake is crucial. A diet that includes plenty of salt helps maintain blood volume, aiding blood flow to vital organs. Patients are typically advised to avoid alcohol and carefully monitor caffeine intake, as these substances can exacerbate symptoms.
Exercise is gradually introduced, often starting in reclined or horizontal positions, with the goal of increasing exercise tolerance over time. Physical therapy helps retrain the autonomic nervous system, enhancing blood circulation.
Compression garments can help reduce blood pooling, and specific postures while sitting or sleeping may alleviate symptoms. Identifying triggers such as prolonged sitting, heat, or certain drugs allows for better symptom control. Regular monitoring of blood pressure and pulse, along with adequate sleep hygiene, aids overall well-being.
While no single pharmacological solution is universally effective, some medications may be prescribed based on individual symptoms. These may help to improve blood volume, aid sodium retention, reduce heart rate, and enhance blood vessel constriction.
While POTS symptoms may intermittently improve with medications and lifestyle modifications, the underlying cause of POTS may persist. Acupuncture and TCM treatment can provide a holistic solution for individuals living with POTS, which may help to address the root causes of this syndrome.
Can Acupuncture Help POTS?
POTS is a kind of Dysautonomia; this is a general term that describes conditions that involve malfunctioning of the autonomic nervous system. This causes people’s bodies to have problems with regulating the sorts of functions that are typically automatic, like the beating of the heart, circulation of blood, breathing, and temperature control.
Western medicine offers some treatments that can help address individual symptoms of dysautonomia, but it does not have a way of treating the root of the problem. It can be difficult to get proper treatment, because people who suffer from POTS and other kinds of dysautonomia often seem reasonably healthy, and their complaints—dizziness, headaches, mental health problems—seem vague.
Acupuncture and TCM have been used to treat these kinds of problems for centuries. Acupuncture treatment can help provide positive effects on the subtle communications of the nervous system, as well as the heart rate, and physiological symptoms of anxiety. According to TCM theory, several organ systems may be involved and need support: not only the heart, but also the kidneys or spleen.
Studies have shown that acupuncture for dysautonomia can help relieve symptoms like heart palpitations, insomnia, and digestive problems.
A qualified acupuncturist is also well-versed in nutrition and can offer more detailed information regarding dietary and lifestyle changes that can help each individual patient. Your TCM provider will spend time learning more about you, so that they can offer personalized advice.
Acupuncture Near Me for POTS in West Los Angeles
TCM and acupuncture can help people with all types of autoimmune disorders, nerve disorders, and conditions involving fatigue and dizziness that may be difficult to solve with conventional methods. Acupuncture works on a deeper, more subtle level to help address complex syndromes. If you are regularly experiencing trouble with feeling light-headed, having unexplained headaches and sleep problems, it may be time to seek a more holistic alternative treatment.
*This article is for education from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine only. The education provided by this article is not approved by FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat and cure human diseases. It should not stop you from consulting with your physician for your medical conditions. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on Qi, which is an invisible force that usually cannot be observed by modern science. Because science focuses on testing ideas about the natural world with evidence obtained through observation, these aspects of acupuncture can’t be studied by science. Therefore acupuncture and Chinese herbs are often not supported by double-blind, randomized trials, and they are considered alternative medicine therapies in the United States.