Still Celebrating 17 Years in Business!!!

On September 2, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who have ever paid our office a visit. My family and I thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. I feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of so many of your lives and I want you to know that I do not take that honor lightly.

When I first graduated from the acupuncture program at Northwestern, many skeptics thought I was crazy for thinking that I could make a living in Austin doing acupuncture. “Good luck with that” was one snarky comment I especially remember. Well, after 17 years, I think it is safe to say that we proved them wrong. J

There is a statistic in business that 90% of new businesses close up shop within 5 years. Of those that survive those initial 5 years, 90% of those will also close within the next 5 years. Business is tough stuff! Not for the faint of heart when only a handful of businesses can survive 10 years. While I would like to believe that our success was because of my keen business savvy and intellect, I think we all know better than that. 😉

I lay most of the success of Austin Acupuncture at the feet of the patients… our customers. You. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Sure, some people would make the argument that “I had to come, I was in so much pain…”, but the truth is that we all have so many options for healthcare here in Austin, nobody really “neeeeeds” to go for acupuncture (even if it is the most effective approach). It was a choice and I do appreciate the fact that you chose us.

Some of you had come once or twice and decided it wasn’t for you… that is fine. Some of you have literally been coming off and on since we first opened up 17 years ago. An especially big Thank You to all of you. Another group of you came in for a short series… got the relief you were looking for… and then disappeared forever. To those of you in that category, I say…

“Helloooo…. over here… Remember us???… did you forget about us???…

Acupuncture does more than just that one thing you came in for; its good for literally hundreds of problems… If it worked for you that one time, its likely that it would help you with that other problem of yours that just sprang up… you know the one; the one you’ve been going to the doctor for the past year without any success…” 😉

…I digress…

Because of all of you, I’ve been able to provide for my wife and children a safe and stable life. As you know, acupuncture hasn’t made me rich (I’ve done the math; and it’s pretty much impossible). But it has allowed me to offer my children a somewhat verdant future. I’ve very proud of my kids, and have not lost sight of the fact that each of YOU has also played an important role in helping provide for them. Thank you so very much for that.

I am so thankful that you had made that decision to choose acupuncture, for whatever reason. I only pray that it has given you some relief and that I may continue to help you and your family in the future, should the need ever arise. So, these next 17 years to come, my thoughts will undoubtedly often drift to all of you and just how important each of you has been in my life and my family’s. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to serve you over the years, and I look forward to seeing you soon. If there is ever anything I can ever do for you, please don’t hesitate to call.

Pain Free Knees

On August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn Conditions We Treat, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s natural. After years of carrying you around, your knees start getting creaky, achy and stiff. Osteoarthritis is considered by many in the medial community as a “natural part of aging” just like wrinkles, graying of hair and other “age related” changes. It isn’t that everyone is bound to get arthritis, but many do. Modern research is showing that there are many things that we all can do to prevent knee pain before it becomes a problem.

Lose some weight; One thing to reduce the strain on the knees is to loose some weight. Studies show that as little as a 15 lbs. reduction in body weight reduces knee pain by 50%.

Exercise Your Knees; A very effective remedy and preventative for arthritis is to exercise your knees, as long as you avoid excessive strain on the joints. Walking, dancing, yoga, tai chi and other and light weight-bearing exercises all benefit.

Have your feet checked; Some knee problems stem from walking with a off kilter gait. If your shoes soles are wearing down unevenly, it may mean that your knee discomfort could be solved with an orthotic prescribed by a podiatrist.

Medications; Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, celebrex and acetaminophen will temporarily relieve the pain, but they do not cure it. But there are many supplements on the market which have been shown to effectively prevent the degeneration caused by osteoarthritis in the knee. Supplements such as glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM and others. There are also many acupuncturists who also specialize in traditional Chinese herbal medicine who can prescribe a medicinal formula of herbs to treat knee pain of all sorts.

Acupuncture; There have been more studies investigating the effectiveness of acupuncture on knee pain than there have been investigating Ibuprofen’s effect on the same condition. Acupuncture for knee pain has a strong body of research proving it to be one of the more effective long term relievers of knee pain. Unlike pain killers which need to be taken every few hours, the effects of acupuncture, after finishing a course of treatment, lasts several months. Acupuncture has proven to be an efficient, cost effective treatment for knee pain.

And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your, questions. We’re here to help, and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in your lifelong good health.

Thirteen (Plus) Ways to Improve Sleep

On August 26, 2018August 26, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

A fact which I have always found interesting is that “insomnia” is considered one of the most commonly diagnosed and medically treated ailments in the America today. In many cases, people try for years to find a way to get a good night’s sleep. Many Americans even depend on powerful prescription medications every night to force them to sleep and stay asleep.

Initially, the majority of people may reach for over the counter remedies such as melatonin or Benadryl or Tylenol PM. Some find themselves even using alcohol or pot to help get them to sleep.

If the sleeplessness gets out of hand, many people then turn to the many powerful prescription medications on the market which they can get from their doctor. Unfortunately, most of those have unpleasant side effects which many patients find intolerable; such as grogginess or the feeling of drunkenness throughout the next day. Not good.

Here at my office, I would say that about 25% of my patients mention sleep as a major concern of theirs. And with good reason; not only is chronic insomnia annoying, but the lack of sleep is linked to many serious issues including increased accidents, higher divorce rates, clinical anxiety and depression, difficulties with work and family life, etc. There is also the myriad of medical issues from heart disease to diabetes, chronic pain and even cancer.

Of course Acupuncture is very good for chronic insomnia, but whenever someone brings up insomnia, I also tell them about these other “free” therapies that they can use at home. Sometimes these 13+ tips are all that they need. If you want more info on any of these, just let me know.

1. “8 hours of solid sleep” is just a myth. The idea of falling asleep and waking up 8 hours later is simply that; a myth. In several ways. Humans are simply not designed to sleep 8 solid hours. We naturally slip in and out of deep sleep throughout the night and occasionally “wake up” to look around and check on the overall safety of our environment. This is an evolutionary thing. Imagine if our cave man ancestors were to “check out” for 8 straight hours, they might wake up the next morning surrounded by a family of lions. Research shows that bubbling up and down throughout the night and briefly waking up from time to time throughout the night is considered a completely natural and healthy thing. So I think that it is important to start with the right expectation for what a “good night sleep” actually is. Some people have a misconception of what a good night sleep actually is. If you occasionally rouse a few times each night and then fall straight back to sleep, this is in all likelihood, completely normal and not a sign of insomnia.

Lights. Many of you have heard of “light hygiene”. This is where you snuff out all of the lights in your bed room and have thick curtains to create a pitch black environment. For some people, this is more important than others. For example, I remember years ago when I was in the Air Force working nights, I would come home in the morning and sleep all day laying in the sun by my large picture window which was wide open. I slept like a baby. Today, things are a bit different. Now, I am much more sensitive to lights in my bed room. Even the dim light from the alarm clock or that dim street light from 3 blocks away can annoy and disrupt my sleep as I lay in bed and it shines right in my eye when the shade is open an inch or two. So if you have noticed getting annoyed by tiny light sources (no matter how small), cover them up so they don’t bother you. On a related topic, keep tvs and cell phones and tablets out of the bed room. The bright lights (no matter how low you turn down the screen) agitates and excites the nervous system, leading to more insomnia in many people. Also, statistically, having a TV in your bedroom leads to having only half as much sex. If that is something you are interested in, then just know that (good) sex is one of the best sleep aids for both men and women. So get rid of the TV.

Sleep with Other People or in Groups. Humans are social animals. That is how we evolved. Our direct ancestors only survived because of their ability to group together for strength and safety. If your great great, great, great grandfather was a loner who slept outside the camp, he probably would have eventually gotten himself eaten by a predator and you would not be here right now. Being social is necessary for survival. It’s a great example of how our social behaviors are also part of our evolution. Think of this; who would survive longer? A person living by himself on the savannah or a group of people sleeping in a tight group? Correct. The group. This is especially important at night time when many predators are out and about. Us humans have been shown to naturally sleep more soundly when in a group than when alone. It’s hardwired into our nervous system after hundreds of thousand of years of survival and evolution. Even today, researchers see this. In a recent article looking at the sleeping habits of Tanzanian nomadic tribes, researchers found that over any given night, there is only a total of 18 minutes where all 33 members of the tribe are asleep. At any given moment one of the tribe members has stirred from slumber and is being aware of their groups surroundings and its safety. We depend on each other to ensure our safety and we sleep better knowing that someone is there to help protect us from dangers while we sleep. This is majorly important in dangerous times. Of course, your modern brain cannot differentiate between lions and tigers and the scariness of things like personal money problems or personal family concerns. So keep in mind that you will actually sleep better when you have other people nearby.

Sleep With A Dog. A similar study showed that sleeping with dogs also improves the depth and quality of sleep…. with the obvious caveat. For the same reasons mentioned above, if you have a dog nearby sleeping with you, they are a natural “sentry” who will alert you of any potential danger at night. We have evolved along side dogs for millennia and even modern studies have shown that people sleep more sound when sleeping with dogs. The caveat is that you have to have the “right” dog. If you have the “wrong” dog, he will be yippy, snoring, barky and hog the blankets, this will obviously disrupt your sleep more than help it. It is just as easy that a dog will disrupt sleep, so make sure you have the “right” dog to sleep with.

Protein. Eat some protein before bed. This will help stabilize your blood sugar levels throughout the night. Many people eat their carbohydrate rich dinner at 5 or 6 pm and then not again until when they wake up 12+ hours later. Or they eat a carbohydrate high snack just before going to bed. Both of these habits are a recipe for insomnia. When we eat a typical meal, our blood sugar goes up….and then goes down… leaving us hungry. Well, what happens if your blood sugar drops to too low levels at 1 am? You naturally wake up feeling a bit nervous and shaky… and during the middle of the night, the brain isn’t often thinking straight enough to realize that its just hungry. Often times the person wakes up feeling nervous and doesn’t even feel hungry… even though that is the root issue. The way to prevent this is to get off of this “blood sugar roller coaster” and eat some hearty protein before bed (and avoid sweet carbohydrates such as breads, cereals, cookies, juice, etc; those things will aggravate your sleep). Instead, choose things such as meat, hard cheese or a protein shake as a bedtime snack. This will keep your blood sugar levels at a much more even keel throughout the night. I cannot tell you how many people have told me this works.

Wear socks to bed. No one can quite explain this odd phenomenon, but research has shown that wearing socks to bed results in a deeper, more restful sleep. While other research shows that sleeping in a cooler environment is helpful, it seems that the feet prefer the cuddling and cozy feel that socks provide. So keep your bed room on the cooler side, avoid any drafts (such as from fans or air conditioners) and wear socks.

Mediation will help you sleep. Many studies suggest that a daily routine of meditation leads to better sleep. This may be due to meditation’s ability to mitigate all of our stress hormones such as cortisol which keep us feeling a bit “fight or flighty” at night. Try getting in the routine of meditating as soon as you get up in the morning. Just 15 minutes will do. There are innumerable free apps on your phone to help with guided meditation. If you want a quick tutorial, just let me know.

Exercise in the morning to get better sleep at night. When you are done mediating in the morning, its time for exercise! Get to it! While exercising at any time of the day is good, a quick exercise “kick start” will refresh the mind and body and set the internal clock (and metabolism) for the day. Many studies show that exercising is the key to improved hormonal balance, improved mood, heightened energy and better sleep. Just 15 minutes of light exercise is often enough. Try it… you might like it.

“Don’t go to bed when you’re tired”. This is part of the old Chinese saying that goes “Never go to bed when you are tired and never eat when you are hungry”. What an odd saying. What it means is that if you stay up until you are exhausted, you have stayed up too long. It’s as if you are driving a car on nothing but fumes. What you want to do is go to bed at a reasonable hour BEFORE you feel exhausted. What you want to do is “leave some energy left in the tank”. This point abides by the understanding in Chinese medicine that it takes some energy for the mind to settle at night (“qi and blood”, in acupuncturists terms). You ever hear of the saying “too tired to sleep”. Yeah, this actually happens. If we have squeezed every last drop of energy out of us and only go to sleep when we are exhausted, the mind has nothing to anchor onto and “floats” away; causing restlessness, anxiety and insomnia. The best thing to do is figure out how many hours you want to sleep and what time you must wake up for work… then calculate backwards. If you need to be awake at 6am, consider going to bed with lights out before 9 pm (even if you are not that tired). And NO TV screens!

You might just be trying too hard. A while back I read the book “Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey. It was about the daily habits of various successful people throughout history. People like artists and thinkers and business people and kings and leaders, etc. One of the things that I noticed was just how often some of the most creative and influential people throughout history did NOT follow the old 9-5 work schedule. Many of the most famous and powerful people throughout history didn’t get out of bed until 10 or noon or 3pm or even until dusk. One famous artist from Paris would sleep all day and made his living by painting portraits all night for patrons at the local brothel. I’ll let you read the book to find out who that was. Some people simply have different biological rhythms which their body operates best by (“chrono-types” is the technical term for this). Perhaps working “first shift” and waking up at 6 am simply isn’t how your body is wired. Do you prefer staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning and then waking up at noon? Then maybe try that for a while (yes, yes, I know society frowns on that sort of thing, but try to manage it somehow). Our preferred internal circadian rhythm is biological; not sociological. So if you can rearrange your schedule and your life, you might find out that you simply have been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole regarding sleep. So stop trying so hard. Another aspect of this is shifting your sleep schedule along with the seasons. For me, the summer season is a killer; the sun goes down at 9:30 so we are busy up until then, stay up a few hours after dark and then go to bed. It’s hard waking up in the morning in the summer time because we simply did not get enough quality sleep hours. But in the winter time, its dark at 4:30 and by 7:30 its already been dark for hours. I am ready for bed! 7:30 is a perfect time to go to bed! For me, I love winters because I get to go to bed early and wake up early. Perfect!

Get a new bed, or new pillow. For some patients, their biggest problem is their pillow or their bed. Consider shopping for a new bed and pillow. I have seen this make a world of difference in sleep quality and pain reduction the next day.

Breath! I was surprised at just how common breathing difficulties are preventing a good nights sleep for many people. Whether its sleep apnea, snoring or nasal congestion. So if you (or your spouse tells you) have breathing issues while you are asleep, take care of it. This may mean wearing a nasal strip at night, using a saline wash to manage the inflammation with a neti pot, or even going for a sleep study at the doctor and getting fitted for a CPAP machine. Keep in mind that snoring isn’t just a burden to your spouse; its dangerous. They have found that snoring (closely related to sleep apnea) leads to increased heart disease and cancer. Basically, you are suffocating half of the night, so that’s not too good. Breathe!

Quit your job, get a divorce, disown your kids and move to a different part of the world. Ok, I saved this one for last because it is the most extreme, but if you really do believe that you are kept up at night because of worries or other domestic issues, you can and should consider visiting a mental health professional to have them help you navigate a path forward to accept or correct these underlying issues of stress and worry in your life. We have several great mental health providers downtown such as Kevin Anderson and his wife. So if you aren’t ready to pack up and move to Sri Lanka or become a hut dwelling bartender at some southeast Asian beach resort, then give someone local a call to help you get your head on straight. I can point you in the right direction of some good local ones if you would like. And don’t worry, getting professional mental health help is completely normal and accepted now. Nobody needs to know and those that do will congratulate you for taking these brave steps forward.

So there you have it. Maybe you might try one or two of these things and see how much they help. Everybody is different and its unlikely that you need to do all of these. Often, our problems do not require a major overhaul as much as they only need a minor nudge in the right direction. I f you have any questions about any of these things, just let me know… Jason Richard, L. Ac.

Austin Acupuncture Celebrating 17 Years

On August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It was official. 17 years ago on August 15^th 2001 I got my acupuncture license delivered by the US post office from the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.

So I wanted to take a moment to thank each one of you who has visited and supported what we do here at the clinic (and those of you still just considering it. 🙂 ).

Many people were doubtful in the beginning that Austin would support something as crazy as an acupuncture clinic. Maybe they thought that Austin was too “conservative” for something as far out as acupuncture or “alternative” medicine. But I’m sure most have them have stopped laughing by now because it turns out that we have had a great run for the past 17 years.

Surprisingly enough, it was exactly those “conservative” types that have come for acupuncture; the retirees and farmers and the teachers and policemen and factory workers and immigrants, corporate execs, lawyers, doctors, daycare providers… and everyone in between. And each one of them has been a wonderful patient and learning experience for me.

Back them, 17 years ago, acupuncture was still pretty new to the area. So it was quite a social and financial gamble for these early patients who dared to come. For all they knew it could have been the quackery that many people told them it was. Not so much any more.

Since then, many highly respected institutions have thrown their support behind acupuncture and encourage its use. Organizations such as the VA and the US military, U of M, the Mayo Clinic and all of the major hospitals across the country. And they support it because they know it works.

Acupuncture is definitely mainstream now.

And why do people come? They come for a whole spectrum of health issues, for sure. Of course the most common reason is pain of some sort; back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, carpel tunnel… but also many people come for things such as digestive issues, allergies, hot flashes, anxiety and stress relief, infertility and the whole list of gynecological issues. People also come for cancer support and even cosmetic acupuncture or even just for the sense of overall well being that acupuncture provides. Heck, some people just come in for their occasional “tune-up” because they like how acupuncture makes them feel. One gentleman who comes in once a month after getting out of work calls it his “acupuncture happy hour”.

Acupuncture is so versatile; it can be used as a rehab, a quick course of treatment to fix a nagging health issue, or even just for prevention to improve health. Because isn’t it better to prevent a problem than to try fixing it after it has become a huge issue?

I have been truly blessed for these past 17 years for the amazing people who have supported this crazy acupuncture idea of mine. People often think that this acupuncture thing is about me, but I know that it is actually about them; the patients. Some people think that this is “my” clinic, but I know better. I know that it is “your” clinic. I am just here to serve each one of those patients that come looking for help. Without the fantastic people who have been brave enough and supportive enough of what we do here, we would not have lasted all of these 17 years.

So to all of you who have ever came for acupuncture, Thank you! From the bottom of my heart I want to thank each of you for trusting that acupuncture would be helpful and valuable to you and your family. I honor and value that trust.

And now… on to the next 17 years!

Are You More Yin or More Yang?

On July 30, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Yin; Night Below Interior Feminine Stillness Contraction Receiving Silence Water Cold

Yang; Day Above Exterior Masculine Action Expansion Giving Speech Fire Hot

The concept of yin & yang goes back to its earliest reference in 700 b.c. in the Yellow Emperor’s Book of Changes known as the “Yi Ching”. They are not, in themselves physical substances. Yin and yang represent opposing but complimentary forces. They flow into each other and contain seeds of the other. We only understand something when compared to its opposite. This is the root of yin & yang theory. It is often illustrated in the famous yin & yang symbol which illustrates the concept quite clearly; it is one figure composed of two halves, each housing a small part of the other. Nothing is totally yin and nothing is totally yang, each eventually shifts, and changes and becomes the other. The concept of yin and yang is an important fundamental concept in Chinese medicine.

As a practitioner of Chinese medicine, the philosophy is to restore a balance within the body; including to harmonize the proper yin and yang balance and function of the patients body. A healthy body is one that maintains the great harmony of balanced yin & yang.

So are you more yin or more yang? It’s a trick question because we are always shifting and changing in an effort to maintain balance between the two. When we are sound asleep, we are more yin; when we are working out, we are doing something more yang. If we are 6 years old, we are definitely more yang; when we are 86, we are definitely more yin.

This can also be seen in our personalities. Both men and women have aspects of both yin and yang and our own unique balance of the two. Often times if we find ourselves having a problem within our selves, we might be able to identify it in terms of yin and yang and then begin to go about addressing it in an effort to re- harmonize this proper balance.

Hope that helped.

Jason…

Declare Your Independence!

On July 4, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Happy 4^th of July Everyone!!!

…Now Let the Revolution Begin !!!

“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing… as important and natural to a society as storms are to nature.” – Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison 1786

Dear Countrymen and Brethren,

I wish you a most festive 4^th of July this year!

It marks that day 242 years ago that 56 brave family men signed their names to the Declaration of Independence from England and began an outright revolt against the crown.

The Declaration of Independence, of course, documents the United States’ reasons for declaring freedom from Britain. It states that all men have certain rights…and that should the government become destructive of these rights, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. All these men knew that making such a declaration meant treason and may assuredly mean their deaths at the hands of the British Empire.

Here in America, we celebrate that bravery and struggle for independence from Britain with one of the most festive ‘goings on’ of the year!

And it is times like this that I think about the true meaning of what “independence” means… and what the true nature of freedom really represents.

Many patients who first come to our clinic are at a certain time in their lives which could be described as a “turning point”. You see, up until that moment, they accepted the notion that their doctors, their insurance company and even the government was responsible for their health! If they were told to take a pill, they took a pill. If they were told to pay $1200 a month for insurance but still have thousands in co pays, they just accepted it as the way it was. If their insurance company said “NO”, then they simply had to go without. They come to our office looking for something different.

With the new healthcare laws, things have gotten bad and are expected to get worse still; premiums & deductibles are on the rise, wait times to see a new doctor is 4-6 months or 9 months to see a pain specialist. Just yesterday a patient who recently developed a frightening tremor in her hand showed me a letter from the neurology department in Rochester stating, in effect, that they are just too busy and she needs to find a neurology department elsewhere. (We, on the other hand, got her in that day)

“Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of Men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of the Republic should make a Special privilege for medical freedoms as well as religious freedom.”

Benjamin Rush; Colonial Army General, personal surgeon to George Washington and signer of Declaration of Independence.

It is as if we Americans have allowed the modern medical-industrial-insurance complex to direct and dictate our health “from cradle to grave”… is that freedom?

As I said, many patients who seek out acupuncture at my office have come to the point in their lives where they see cracks in the crystal palace of modern medicine. Many of the patients that come to see me are fed up, disillusioned and disgruntled by the big international healthcare conglomerates (I won’t mention any names;-). They lament the “way it used to be”.

By seeking out acupuncture or other ‘less-than-conventional’ treatments, these brave souls have, in effect “Declared Their Independence”; Stating with true conviction that they believe that it is THEMSELVES who are ultimately in control of their own good health and not in the hands of some insurance pencil pusher a 1000 miles away deciding what treatments you are “allowed”…

“I have not yet begun to fight.” – John Paul Jones 1777

So NOW I welcome you to stand up – RISE UP – REVOLT– SHAKE LOOSE THE SHACKLES OF YOUR MEDICAL INSURANCE COMPANIES and take back what is yours… And declare for all to hear, your unwavering & unalienable right to self determination…Your right to good health & freedom! Just as Benjamin Rush envisioned.

But like all revolutions, my brethren, this revolution will not be easy. It will not be won quickly. There may be opposition. There will be opposition to be sure…

Opposition from friends & family… “Just do whatever your doctor says. They know what is the absolute best for you and they are always right”…

Opposition from the insurance regime… “That $500 of acupuncture you want is not covered by your insurance policy, but we will help pay for that $40,000 surgery. You’d have to pay for that acupuncture yourself…”

Opposition from yourself in the form of self doubt… “I’ve had this problem for 10 years but since acupuncture did not eliminate every last sign of it in 3 treatments or less, so I guess it didn’t work for me… and besides… its sooooo expensive.”

Bull, bull and more bull! Bull I say!

“Stay Strong My Compatriots! Hold Firm! Keep The Faith!”

This revolution of good health will not be easy. It will take great effort on all of our parts. We must indeed “walk the talk” by showing all of those naysayers the truth about this self determination in regards to our health. We all must live lives of commendable health… by getting the best advice from knowledgably people (and yes, your friendly neighborhood physician should always be one of the first people you seek advice from). Not just a single acupuncturist, chiropractor, TV personality or vitamin store clerk. I challenge us all to read, watch and learn as much as possible about our own health. So that we can be educated, take control and become our own strongest advocate.

“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
Thomas Paine, 1776

It may be scary at times. Sometimes there is no good answer to a particular health issue. Yet you are not alone (although it may feel that way sometimes). You literally have dozens… hundreds… even thousands of people here for you, fighting along side of you. We are truly all in this together and will be there for each other.

My only hope is that this letter, friends and countrymen, motivates and entertains you enough to consider becoming the number one person in charge of your own good health and no longer relinquish it over to an evil insurance empire.

Don’t be mislead by the evil insurance propaganda. You KNOW acupuncture works for you. You KNOW is works for others. Otherwise I would have personally been out of business years ago. But yet, here I still stand… I stand strong offering patients hope and providing real assistance for the thousands who have already come seeking relief at our clinic.

I welcome you to continue your journey toward greater health. And I welcome you to consider the Austin Acupuncture Clinic now and into the future. Whether you currently have an issue we can help with or whether you are simply looking to stay in good health… there is always a good reason to return.

Remember Benjamin Franklins old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, meaning that it is best to keep healthy as opposed to picking up the pieces after. Routine treatments of acupuncture fits that bill. Many come see us once a year, once a quarter, once a month or sometimes even once a week. Preventatively. Get healthy. Stay healthy. Don’t wait. Begin today.

Whether it’s an old ache or pain, a digestive problem, allergies, long, stubborn illnesses or depression related situation, call today and we can get you in to start eliminating your problem, safely, quickly and affordably. Acupuncture can treat such a wide range of health issues (too many to list here) you might be surprised to hear that we may be able to help you too. Study after study show acupuncture to be one of the safest, fastest, most effective and cheapest medical treatments available in America.

I wish you the best on this journey and I’ll see you along the way…

Jason “Hancock” Richard

“Acupuncture… The Calmest Revolution Ever Staged”

Austin Acupuncture Clinic

Acupuncture · Oriental Medicine · Herbal Pharmacy

Jason Richard L.Ac.

115 4^th Ave NE Austin, MN 55912

(507) 434-8700

How to Improve Your Qi.

On June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

One of the things that some of my colleagues are surprised to learn is that I rarely talk about “qi” with my patients. This surprises them because the idea of qi is one of the most basic fundamentals of acupuncture and on which every treatment we do is based. When an acupuncturist does acupuncture, he is doing so to “manipulate the qi”, “harmonize” and restore balance to the qi flow within the patients body.

I’ll get into more details about what exactly qi is in another post, but for now lets just say that it is the “bio-electric energy” within your body. It is the energy that makes you alive versus dead and it flows along certain pathways in your body (similarly to blood flows along certain pathways called veins). A dead body does not have any qi flowing, but a live body does.

According to the old Chinese physicians that invented acupuncture, whenever someone is sick, it is because the qi is not flowing correctly; its either blocked, its deficient or its vacuous (cool word); in other words, its stagnant. Acupuncture “disinhibits the qi”, and reestablishes correct qi flow. When qi flow is circulating properly, you have good health.

So if someone is sick, it is up to the acupuncturist to figure out in what way the qi is stuck or stagnant. They unblock the qi flow, stagnation is relived and proper health is restored. I often compare it to un-kinking a water hose or breaking a hole in a beaver dam; all we need to do is reestablish proper qi flow to restore good health.

So how can you improve your own qi flow at home? What are some things that you can do to build qi, prevent stagnations and improve your own qi circulation. There are many things, but here are some basics.

Stay hydrated. One of the most important things you can do to improve your qi flow is stay hydrated. I often use the metaphor of patients being “swampy”, meaning that their qi flow is stagnant; like a swamp. Things are slow and really not circulating well at all; they are just stuck because there is not enough “back pressure” to move things forward. How do you clear a swamp? Not by draining it, but by flooding it with more water. There is a statistic that 75% of Americans are chronically, clinically dehydrated. So if you are feeling “swampy” and stagnant, be sure that you are drinking enough water. I’m sure you have heard that you should drink 64 ounces of water every day (8 glasses), but if you aren’t into drinking that much water, don’t sweat it; you can “eat” your water by getting that amount of fluid from juicy fruits and vegetables as well. For instance, a medium size apple has about 5.5 oz. of water in it. In a perfect world, you’d want to have your drinking and bathing water un-chlorinated and un-fluoridated. City water has both of those chemical halides added. Maybe consider spring or well water. Either way, drink water and stay hydrated.
Get some sun. In Chinese “5 element theory”, we need fire to warm, dry and invigorate the body. We get that from the sun. From a modern perspective, you need vitamin D for survival, and we can only get vitamin D from the sun (unless it is in a pill or eat organs meats like liver). The majority of Americans are chronically short on vitamin D. It turns out that the average American gets less than 20 minutes of direct sunlight every day. We are indoors 95% of our day. It was such a health emergency that the government mandated that it be put in milk. Milk does not naturally have vitamin D, but it was a common food, so the USDA decided that a good way to add it into our diet was to sneak it into our diet by adding it to something most people drank every day. But today, many people have cut back on milk. Incidentally, calling D a “vitamin” is a bit misleading, because it is actually a hormone. A fat. It is needed for a healthy immune system, the production of testosterone and warding off cancer. There are many studies connecting the shortage of vitamin D to cancer. So make it a priority to get at least 20 minutes of very direct sunlight every day on your face, chest and arms. If you can’t then take a vitamin D pill. So whether you look at it from a traditional viewpoint where you need the sun to charge you up with fire, or a modern point of view where it is necessary for proper hormone function, get some sun.
Breathe Deeply. One of the older english translations of qi was “breath”. Most people now agree that that isn’t the full picture; just part of it. Qi is breath, but it is so much more. We will get into the nuance of this topic in another post, but for now let’s just agree that you need air to live and be healthy. If you are not getting adequate air, you smother like a smoldering fire. Every function in your body needs fresh oxygen on a continual basis. And although breathing is pretty much on auto pilot, you can still intentionally improve your oxygen consumption by breathing with purpose. There are many techniques for breathing with intention, but the one I want to mention here is the Wim Hof method (that is the name of a Norwegian guy). Try this; start taking deep breaths for 30 breaths, and with each breath really expand your belly; as if you are filling your belly with that air that you are breathing in. On the last breath draw in a big one and hold it for 20 seconds. Then exhale. That is one cycle. Do 2 more. If you do this every day, you will quickly find that you can hold your breath for longer and longer periods of times. This hyper oxygenates the blood and you will definitely feel something going on. This deep diaphragmatic breathing is one of the most direct ways to improve your qi flow in your body.
Take a cold shower. There has been a growing amount of research looking at how taking a cold shower kick-starts testosterone levels in the body (testosterone is like the spark plugs for the body). If you are feeling sluggish or underwhelming, try this simple trick. Just take a quick cold shower every morning. It is like a quick shock to the system and the body apparently responds very positively. It has been linked to improved circulation, heart function, hormone production, weight loss, decreased anxiety and depression and improved mental clarity throughout the day. If you aren’t too keen on cold showers, then try this; at the end of your morning shower, crank the dial to cold just for the last 30 seconds. Studies have shown that most of the benefit comes from those first 30-60 seconds of a cold shower.
Move. What is stagnation? Correct; the absence of movement. So one of the best ways to promote healthy qi circulation is to move your body. Make it a priority every day to move. Whether it is going for walk, playing some pickle ball, doing some yoga or calisthenics, playing at the playground with your kids or anything else that gets your heart pumping just a little bit. To get your qi moving, you need to move your blood, so doing anything that gets your heart going (even just a little bit) is good. I’m not asking you to commit to going to the gym for an hour every day or running on the treadmill; just do something… anything for 20 minutes every day to get those juices flowing.

“It Was Just The Straw That Broke The Camels Back!”

On May 17, 2018January 1, 2019 By austinacupuncturejasonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Greetings!

For 17 years, I’ve spent my days connecting and listening to my patients.

I hear one phrase repeated daily, over and over and over, almost like a Tibetan Mantra.

Last Wednesday I heard it 5 times! I counted.

Any guess what the phrase is?

……Close, but no. Heck, who has time to guess. I’ll tell you. The phrase is…

“All I did was”…

“All I did was… bend over to pick up the baby.”

“All I did was… get out of the car”.

“All I did was… rake leaves”.

“All I did was… put my clubs in the trunk of the car”.

Maybe, sometime in your life you’ve said something like this yourself when you first noticed your back hurt.

Truth is, when you say to me, “All I did was…” you’re telling me what was “the straw that broke the camels back”.

Whatever you were doing when your back went out wasn’t “really” what put you in agonizing pain. If it was, then every loose piece of paper lying on the floor should come with a caution sign.

Whatever it was that you were doing at the time was probably a minor activity which shouldn’t have caused any pain what so ever. But it did.

Your back doesn’t care whether you’re young or old, athletic or a couch potato, heavy or light, the straw doesn’t care either.

“So, how do you fix it?”

Here’s some free medical advice…

Find the tight area and gently stretch it, use ice for only the first 24 hours if the area is inflamed or swollen. But after that, use warm heat only. No more ice!!! Call me if that doesn’t work so we can do some quick acupuncture to fix you up and prevent it from happening again. The important thing is… do something!

What I’ve learned from back pain patients is that it sometimes takes weeks or even months to fully go away on its own. I’ve read studies estimating that a wretched back takes about 16 weeks to fully recuperate if you do nothing to treat it. That same study also pointed out that prescription muscle relaxants and pain relievers do not shorten the length of time it takes for the back to heal itself; It just muffles the pain until you take the next pill; you still have 16 weeks if you go the prescription drug route.

There is no reason to wait… it’s a quick & easy fix with acupuncture, but if you wait for it to simply “go away on its own”… it may be a while.

Acupuncture, on the other hand, has been proven time and time again to shorten the whole thing. In many cases, offering instant relief. It’s usually not an instant miracle cure for most people (what is?), but with a couple sessions of acupuncture you can see significant improvement from even the most severe chronic pain.

Plan on needing a few treatments; some people come just a couple of times and some people come about a dozen… it just depends on the person. Either way, we’ll know pretty quickly how well you are responding.

So next time you hear someone say those words… “All I did was”…

Have them call us at 434-8700 any time between now and the end of the month. Their first acupuncture treatment will be completely free thanks to you. (New patients only)

Try Acupuncture Before More Invasive Care; It’s The Best Value In Healthcare

On May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn Conditions We Treat, UncategorizedLeave a comment

In many communities acupuncture is becoming a first line treatment for pain. Especially with today’s epidemic of opioid addiction, acupuncture offers a real alternative for pain relief. Acupuncture has also been shown to reduce costs, improve outcomes and increases patient satisfaction with their overall healthcare experience.

Even from a public health viewpoint, acupuncture should be a major component to our healthcare system. Recent studies have shown that acupuncture lowers patient expenditures, lowers overall patient “out of pocket” spending, decreases the need for higher cost procedures and saves insurance companies money.

So not only has acupuncture been clinically proven to effectively reduce pain in the majority of cases, but it also saves patients, providers and payers money. For example, individuals with back pain cost the healthcare system 60% more (overall) than patients without back pain. This is largely due to expensive and largely ineffectual diagnostics and surgical procedures. Acupuncture has been shown in many studies to reduce the need for these more costly procedures.

One recent study showed that lack of complimentary services, such as acupuncture, cost insurance companies $355 per enrollee per year. If we were to conduct a “thought experiment’ and multiply that by every patient in America, we find that making acupuncture a routine part of the healthcare system would save $115 billion dollars per year.

So if you or anyone you love is dealing with unresolved chronic pain, suggest acupuncture. It is painless, it is effective and it will save them some serious money.

Unusual Treatment for Kidney Stone

On March 8, 2018March 8, 2018 By austinacupuncturejasonIn Conditions We Treat, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Do you have a history of Kidney Stones? Did you know that researchers have found that there is a 84% chance that your body will naturally pass them after having sex? This beats the standard medical treatment which is only 48% effective. Researchers surmise that sex stimulates the nerve endings in the lower abdomen which relax the ureter muscles and allow the kidney stones to pass. Doctors suggest 3-4 romps per week for two weeks to pass most stones without the need for more invasive medical intervention.