Tag Archives: pain

How to Make Epsom Salt Spray

I’m a big advocate for epsom salt baths. Many people don’t have a tub, don’t fit in a tub or just don’t enjoy a good soak. My alternative recommendation is usually an epsom salt foot soak because its pretty easy to find a container to fill with warm water and salts to soak your feet. Your feet are the most porous part of your body making the salts readily available to your body so you can get the benefits of the salts. Sometimes there is just an area that is sore or tight that needs a little extra TLC and an Epsom salt spray is perfect for that.

I like to use Epsom salt sprays for menstrual cramps, shoulder pain, sciatica etc. This is also an awesome options to help with afterbirth pains. Its super simple to do too.

spray

What you need:

a spray bottle (got one at the dollar store)

1 cups water

1 cup Epsom salts

essential oils (optional)

This picture is of epsom salt, dead sea salt and pink Himalayan salt with peace and calming essential oil, great for nervous tension

This picture is of epsom salt, dead sea salt and pink Himalayan salt with peace and calming essential oil, great for nervous tension

What you do:

I have a water cooler that has a hot water option so I simply pour hot water into a bowl and mix in the salts, stirring until dissolved. You could also warm water on the stove and mix in salts this way.

As the salts dissolve it will become thick and almost gel like in consistency.

If you’d like to incorporate essential oils for added benefit you can either place 10 drops of essential oil into Epsom salts before mixing into water or apply essential oil to the affected area first before applying spray.

Spray Epsom salt mixture over the affected area and cover with a warm or cool compress. (a damp washcloth works great)

If using the Epsom salt spray for relaxation I like to use peace and calming essential oil blend or lavender. For tight, sore muscles I love aroma seiz. A combo of wintergreen (cooling), lemongrass (warming) and cypress (great for circulation) is awesome for all sorts of aches and pains as well. You can order essential oils here. If you need help I’d be happy to get you set up! If you love Epsom salts as much as I do this is an awesome place to order salts in bulk. 

Let me know what you use Salt Sprays for. 🙂

Acupuncture for the Post partum Mother

I spoke this past weekend at the Chicago Birth Professional Conference. Many of you expressed interest in what I spoke about so I am sharing my notes here. Let me know if you have questions 😉

Chinese Medicine for Post Partum Care

The 3 days following child birth are considered a time of purging. Because the body is open it can be susceptible to depletion especially of energy (qi) and blood. Rest is paramount, ideally for 30-90 days. Staying warm regardless of climate or time of year is also important and is very protective of the body. (talk about back of neck and abdomen covered) A warming nourishing diet and avoiding cold and damp foods is also important during this time.

Foods to tonify qi:

Oats, rice, potato, sweet potato, mushroom, yam, basil, cinnamon, clove, dill, fennel, fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, rosemary, thyme and jasmine tea

Foods to build blood:

Corn, sweet rice, beetroot, all dark leafy greens, apricot, avocado, date, kidney bean, sesame seeds, egg, red meat and spinach

Wheat and barley grass, green vegetables are important during nursing and are a Japanese folk remedy to support healthy milk supply.

Cooked foods are especially nourhishing at this time. Soups, stews, porridge etc are ideal

Foods to avoid: raw foods, dairy products especially milk and ice cream, greasy fried foods, foods cool in nature like cucumbers, peppermint etc

Moxa or Artemisia Vulgaris is a species of chrysanthemum and can be used for a variety of conditions. In Chinese Medicine there are several ways to use moxa and all involve burning this herb over or on acupuncture points.

One major benefit of Moxa is that it benefits circulation. It can be used to regulate the energy and blood of the body, expel cold and dampness especially if pain is worse in these kind of environments, warm the uterus, stop bleeding, regulate digestion as well as menstruation, and ease the fetus or turn a breech baby.

Moxa can be used preventatively as well. Burning moxa over the acu-point Zu San Li St36 on a regular basis is a great way to stay healthy. In Notes on Bian Que’s Moxibustion, it says, “when a healthy man often has moxabustion to the points of CV4, CV6 and CV12 he would live a very long life, at least one hundred years.”

Currently in Africa moxabustion is being used as a treatment for tuberculosis through the organization Moxafrica. There is research evidence from Japan in the 1930s and 40s where moxabustion was used effectively and cheaply to treat and in many cases cure TB.

Mother warming is a technique  used to gently nourish the body helping to tone the uterus and aid recovery after birth at a time when a woman needs to regain her strength to care for her newborn and establish breast feeding.

Benefits include strengthening the center, promoting lactation, preventing post partum depression, and boosting energy.

The properties of moxa help to build energy and blood and it is a warming herb.

Mother warming is usually preformed between day 4-6 post partum. This treatment can energize the mother and aid in recovery.

Moxa is applied to the midline of the abdomen to the acu-points cv2-8 (apprx the top of the pubic bone to the navel on the midline of the body)

 

photo credit http://www.compassionatedragon.com/images/acupuncture/ac_points/ac_ren3.png

 

Moxa is done in an upward motion until the mother feels a pleasant warming sensation appx 5-10 minutes.

Moxa can then be applied in the same way to the du channel of the back, midline of the body from appx the sacrum to the top of the iliac crests.

 

photo credit http://www.compassionatedragon.com/images/acupuncture/ac_points/ac_du4-14.png

 

UB23 the shu point of the kd is also a beneficial point to moxa at this time. It is in the same line as du4

photo credit http://www.itmonline.org/image/cystitis2.jpg

Contraindications: fever, night sweats or over a c section scar that has any suspicious redness or pus like discharge.

Other postpartum concerns Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can help:

  • After pains (abstain from cold, raw foods especially, protect against wind and cold environmentally) LV3 acupressure also great for menstrual cramps
  • Insufficient lactation
  • Mastitis/plugged duct (if treated right away can usually stop in its tracks and recover faster)
  • Termination of lactation (acupuncture and moxa 3-5 treatments)
  • Post partum depression
  • Night sweats
  • Dizziness
  • Complications from Excessive post partum blood loss
  • Palpitations/anxiety
  • PTSD (when working with other health care providers)

 

 

Acupressure for Getting Rid of Cold

Winter is a rough season for many people that suffer from chronic pain, especially pain that is worse in the cold. In Chinese Medicine we call pain an obstruction or blockage and classify the pain based on environmental factors: heat, cold, dampness, dryness and wind. Whatever environmental factors make the pain worse are usually the culprits behind the pain and sometimes its more then one like wind, cold and dampness, for example.

Luckily, there are acu-points that work at removing the factor causing the pain. If you are waking up with sore, stiff,  joints and they seem to be worse now that we’ve settled into winter try doing a little acupressure.

The point to remove cold is poetically named ‘clear cold abyss’ and is located on the san jiao or triple warmer meridian.

To find this point bend your elbow and slide your finger from the tip of your elbow up towards your shoulder just an inch of so. When you extend your elbow their will be a tiny hollow your finger will fall into if you are on the right spot and it might feel achy or tender to the touch if you’ve been really sore or stiff.

Once you’ve found the spot gently massage tiny circles for about a minute on both elbows. You can do this as often as you need to.

Natural Medicine Cabinet Essential: Moxa

Moxa might not be something you are familiar with but it is a great thing to have in your medicine cabinet in the winter time for its warming and prevention properties. Read on.

What is Moxabustion?

Moxa or Artemisia Vulgaris is a species of chrysanthemum and can be used for a variety of conditions. In Chinese Medicine there are several ways to use moxa and all involve burning this herb over or on acupuncture points. If you are afraid of needles using moxa in place of needles is one way to receive the same benefits as moxa and needles can be used interchangeably or together.
smokeless moxa over UB67 can help with turning a breech baby

smokeless moxa over UB67 can help with turning a breech baby

One major benefit of Moxa is that it benefits circulation. It can be used to regulate the energy and blood of the body, expel cold and dampness especially if pain is worse in these kind of environments, warm the uterus, stop bleeding, regulate digestion as well as menstruation, and ease the fetus or turn a breech baby. This is a great post that talks about using moxa specifically for menstrual irregularities and insomnia.

Moxa can be used preventively as well. Burning moxa over the acu-point Zu San Li St36 on a regular basis is a great way to stay healthy. In Notes on Bian Que’s Moxibustion, it says, “when a healthy man often has moxabustion to the points of CV4, CV6 and CV12 he would live a very long life, at least one hundred years.”

Currently in Africa moxabustion is being used as a treatment for tuberculosis through the organization Moxafrica. There is research evidence from Japan in the 1930s and 40s where moxabustion was used effectively and cheaply to treat and in many cases cure TB.

Moxa is available for purchase at Neighborhood Acupuncture Place and is also available as a treatment. It is also a great therapy to use for post partum recovery.

Natural Medicine Cabinet Essential: Postpartum Support

Yesterday we talked about how the body is depleted after childbirth and susceptible to cold and eating nourishing and warming foods. Today I’d like to talk about placentas. Consuming the placenta after birth is not a new fad, it is something that has been going on in various cultures around the world for quite some time. In the U.S. it became more fashionable to utilize the placenta in the 70s and is often associated with the homebirth movement. According to recent studies women who choose to use consume their placenta for postpartum support in the US are educated, middle class, and have both hospital births and home births. You might be asking yourself why on earth would someone want to do that?!

It is believed that eating the placenta offers support for lactation, prevention of or relief from baby blues, replenishes iron supply from blood loss during birth, stabilizes hormones, reduces after-birth pains, reduces bleeding time after birth and as a way to fight fatigue. Some mothers also use the placenta as a way to transition smoothly when menses returns and when weening. In some cultures the mothers themselves do not use the placenta but instead give it to their own mothers to fight symptoms of menopause.

Traditional Chinese Medicine considers human placenta an herb and is known as Zi He Che and is a warming herb. As a Chinese herb placenta holds the benefits above but has also been historically used to treat infertility, impotence, decreased libido, low back pain, light-headedness, insufficient lactation, chronic wheezing and cough and night sweats to name a few. Because of Zi He Che’s super tonifying nature it is an herb that is not recommended to be taken long term and especially not if you have a fever, inflammation, mastitis etc.

The TCM method of preparing placenta includes steaming it with lemon and fresh ginger and then dehydrating it in strips which are then pulverized and put into capsules and taken for a short period of time.

I am a proponent of utilizing the placenta for postpartum support because it helped me tremendously after having my child. I was at risk for postpartum depression and that was my main reason for seeking a placenta encapsulationist. I was a little leery about taking it from the Eck factor and the first couple of times I would swallow a pill my mind would make me feel like gagging but I felt a difference pretty quickly after I started taking them. In a pill form they look like any other supplement and did not taste like anything. I experienced pretty much all of the benefits of taking my placenta as described above. I found it particularly helpful at calming my emotions when I went back to work and had to leave my daughter.

This past weekend I received a certification of completion from Tranquil Transitions Placenta Training and would be happy to answer any questions you may have about placenta encapsulation, tinctures or salves. I am available to prepare your placenta as well.

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TERMS OF USE:
Medical & Health Information

Any information on this blog is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, cure, or treat any illness or disease: it has not been evaluated by the FDA. Neither are the products mentioned on this website meant to do the same: they have been evaluated by the FDA. Information here is strictly for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please seek a qualified health professional of your choice when making health choices for yourself or any member of your family – pets included. By proceeding to read articles / posts, look at pictures, watch videos, contact Sarah Canga, and listen to audios you agree and accept these terms.

Natural Remedy for Dry Skin

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This week we have been focusing on the skin which is controlled by the lung/large intestine system in Chinese Medicine and is associated with Fall. The pathogen of fall is also dryness and you might have noticed your skin getting dry as well. Our natural remedy for the week is Epsom Salts. It seems I’ve been recommending Epsom salts quite a bit lately so I wanted you to know why and how to use them.

Epsom salt baths have many benefits including:
* Easing stress and relaxing the body (massage in a tub)
* Relieving pain and muscle cramping
* Assisting proper muscle and nerve functions
* Helping prevent hardening of arteries and blood clots
* Improving insulin function to prevent diabetes
* Relieving constipation
* Eliminating toxins from the body
* Reliving dry skin
* Volumizing hair
Baths are a great way to receive the benefits of these salts. Many people do not enjoy baths, don’t have a tub or don’t fit comfortably in a tub. Your skin is a porous organ and absorbs what is put on it into the body. Epsom salts contain magnesium sulfate which is a natural muscle relaxant. Because of the skin’s ability to absorb you don’t have to immerse your entire body into a tub of water to receive the benefits. A foot soak is just as effective. Grab a basin or dish tub and fill with water and pour your salts in with the water. This is also a great way to improve circulation if you have cold feet or numbness in the feet.
An epsom salt bath weekly has many preventative benefits as well especially for insomnia, period cramps, cysts, and after workout soreness.
How to use:
Pour 1 cup (or more depending on your preference) to bath water and soak for 10-20 minutes.
There are several types of salts i.e. dead sea salts, Himalayan sea salts, grey clay etc. Each of these salts contains additional minerals that are beneficial to the body. Depending on the effect you desire.
Detox bath (great for tired, sore or crampy muscles)
1/2 cup epsom salts
1/2 cup sea salt
1/2 cup baking soda
For dry skin take a hand full of epsom salts and massage into skin first before entering bath or shower
I have made a custom bath salt blend for the fall available in the office or I can ship them to you. This blend contains Epsom salts, dead sea salts and Himalayan sea salts with therapeutic grade essential oils of lavender, roman chamomile, and geranium for a perfect fall treat to keep your skin soft and the body relaxed and warm! Leave me a message and I will reserve a Fall Blend just for you!

 

 

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TERMS OF USE:
Medical & Health Information

Any information on this website is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, cure, or treat any illness or disease: it has not been evaluated by the FDA. Neither are the products mentioned on this website meant to do the same: they have been evaluated by the FDA. Information here is strictly for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please seek a qualified health professional of your choice when making health choices for yourself or any member of your family – pets included. By proceeding to read articles / posts, look at pictures, watch videos, contact Sarah Canga, and listen to audios you agree and accept these terms.