Can Acupuncture Help Your High Blood Pressure?

Can Acupuncture Help Your High Blood Pressure?

by | Nov 3, 2016 | Acupuncture

You know I’ve done acupuncture now for over twenty years now, and few people come in saying, “Hey can acupuncture help my high blood pressure?”High blood pressure

Hypertension Meets Acupuncture

It’s more the other problems you think about when you step into acupuncture. You try it for things like knee pain or a migraine, right?  So have you ever thought about the fact it might work for other things? Guess what pain can raise your blood pressure leading to chronic high blood pressure.

While research is important, I want my blog to be fun and light. Health can get so serious and complicated. I think it’s smart to love your body and care for your health.

You probably want a little science and a recent study which appears in the presents the first evidence of the molecular activity behind  the use of electroacupuncture’s  high blood pressure lowering benefits. Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine[1] in California did the study.

Their research is pretty impressive too! When they treated patients with certain acupuncture wrist points their patients’ high blood pressure decreased.  It’s more exciting when the patients had repeated treatments weekly their hypertension lowered long term. The client was able to reduce their western medicine with their doctor’s approval.

Choosing Acupuncture To Treat High Blood Pressure

hypertensionAll I know is that when you reduce pain or stress, blood pressure goes down too. It’s good news for you.

Our bodies are amazing, and it does this thing called inflammation when we’re in pain. The purpose of inflammation is to eliminate cell injury and allow your body to repair itself.

Inflammation can cause migraines, and it can raise the pressure in our veins. The simple act of reducing pain helps the physical stress of discomfort.

Blood Pressure and Your Body’s Chemistry

So what did the study tell you in real people language? If you try acupuncture for high blood pressure is can reduce blood pressure for about two days. The electroacupuncture boosts these genes in your body called enkephalins. It’s really cool because these peptides are one of three major opioids produced by the body. What the heck are peptides you’re asking? In super simple terms, they’re a compound of amino acids, and your brain needs these things to be healthy.

Your body creates Opioid Peptides[2], and the opioid system controls pain, reward and addictive behaviors. Electroacupuncture lowers your blood pressure stimulates your body to make more enkephalins one of these Opioid Peptides! Kind of neat huh.

There’s more to chemistry, though. How tired are you?  Do you sleep and dream at night?  What kind of stress are you experiencing?Electroacupuncture

All these things can affect or indicate a vitamin deficiency. Just being borderline in vitamin D[3] can increase your risk. Again more studies for you in case you love research suggest you need to have higher vitamin D than once thought if you’re hoping to protect your heart and brain.

Wondering what to do when it comes to hypertension?  I was too. Mine was a combination of a D deficiency, stress, and pain. Who knew! Yes, healers have health problems too.

I couldn’t fix it by eliminating my pain. That helped but didn’t get me in the range of healthy heart. I take my health very seriously. High blood pressure is a sign of something, and I like to investigate do you?

Meditation And ElectroAcupuncture Effects Blood Pressure

acupuncture and meditationAdding daily meditation and checking my vitamins did the trick for me. Really I didn’t think I had stress in my life so maybe it’s just starting my day in a better way that worked. When my blood work [lab tests] came back, it was a simple tune-up of my vitamins and nutrition.

The idea of taking drugs with all their fillers and chemicals was scary to me; it is scary to you?  I mean many prescriptions contain Aluminum[4], and that’s bad for your brain so why risk it?

Yes, it’s exciting acupuncture does lower hypertension. The better news is that most times it’s not a genetic thing and a few easy changes can help you keep your blood pressure in good shape.

 

[1] https://news.uci.edu/health/uci-study-finds-acupuncture-lowers-hypertension-by-activating-opioids/

[2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071014163647.htm

[3] Ullah, M. et al. Does Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Hypertension? Current Evidence from Clinical Studies and Potential Mechanisms. International Journal of Endocrinology 2010;579640;1-11.

[4] http://www.naturalnews.com/033431_aluminum_personal_care_products.html

Relieving Pain with Wintergreen Essential Oil and Acupuncture

Relieving Pain with Wintergreen Essential Oil and Acupuncture

by | Mar 16, 2015 | Acupuncture

Wintergreen Essential OilI love the smell of Wintergreen. It’s so fresh and invigorating. Like most plants, it has a medicinal use and a fragrant influence. It’s a mainstay in my Denver Acupuncture practice because so many patients like the aroma and the pain relief. It’s something I recommend to my coaching clients for problems like arthritis, muscle and nerve pain, even hypertension.

Aromatherapy And Wintergreen Essential Oil

In aromatherapy it helps people sleep, lose weight, relax, even lessen pain; it’s no wonder that Wintergreen essential oil is popular. When I would eat mints, wintergreen was my favorite flavor. I miss not chewing gum or eating mints but my stomach and weight love me for giving both up.

I like it because it stimulates and increases awareness. Maybe that’s why I feel clearer when using it on patients with arthritis. Those same clients tell me they like the effects of this oil because it feels cool on the skin along with relieving pain.

Jacob, who had shoulder pain from swinging his daughter in the air, felt it helped with his hypertension[1] too so he took some home to ‘test’ it. Not sure if it was the acupuncture or the oil. He used Wintergreen daily. Guess what his blood pressure decreased slightly maybe Jacob was on to something. On the days, he had acupuncture for his shoulder pain his pressure went down further. For my personal care, I think this oil helps my elbow pain and if the side-benefit is it helps blood pressure I like it.

Aromatherapy Wintergreen Essential Oil by **Young Living
Price: $23.36
[wp_cart_button name=”Wintergreen Essential Oil ” price=”23.36″]**we do not require membership in YL to purchase products.

There’s a lot of research that acupuncture lowers hypertension and along with herbs some people can avoid western drugs. Jacob was so impressed with Wintergreen essential oil he keeps it at home.

What is Wintergreen essential oil good for and what is the research?

AromatherapyIt’s great for arthritis or rheumatism. There’s no question it’s marvelous for muscle aches and nerve pain. It’s my favorite for pinched nerves. There is research suggesting it’s potent for lowering blood pressure as mentioned above.

Surprisingly it has merit for arteriosclerosis and helpful with hepatitis or fatty liver.

It’s so useful that its main ingredient, Methyl Salicylate is synthetically made and put in numerous rub-on western drugs. In my opinion though synthetically made anything isn’t as good as the real stuff. I don’t like all the hidden stuff found in these over-the-counter products.

The Many Uses Of Wintergreen Essential Oil

One other thing I love about Wintergreen essential oil is that you can use it many ways including making your own mouthwash or purchasing a safe, natural one that doesn’t contain cancer-causing ingredients. For best use Dilute 1 part, essential oil with two parts of another oil and apply to your skin. I use Grapeseed oil in the office. Use it in a diffuser, inhale it or take a drop if you aren’t finding my full strength oil too potent and use as a dietary supplement. I apply it to the Chakras for increasing my awareness and help with overall health.

1  Grieve M. A Modern Herbal. Volume II. New York: Dover Publications, 1981.

2  Wintergreen. Purdue University Center for New Crops and Plant Products website. December 6, 1997. Available at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/med-aro/factsheets/WINTERGREEN.html. Accessed October 6, 2004.

3  Guenther E. The Essential Oils. Volume VI. Huntington, NY: Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, 1952.

4  DerMarderosian A, Beutler JA (editors). The Review of Natural Products: The Most Complete Source of Natural Product Information. 3rd edition. St. Louis, Mo: Facts and Comparisons, 2002.

5  Plants for a Future: Database Search Results: Gaultheria procumbens. ibiblio website. Available at http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Gaultheria+procumbens. Accessed October 6, 2004.

6  Williamson EM. Potter’s Herbal Cyclopaedia. Saffron Walden, UK: C.W. Daniel Company, 2003.

7  Lobo SL, Mehta N, Forgione AG, et al. Use of Theraflex-TMJ topical cream for the treatment of temporomandibular joint and muscle pain. Cranio. April 2004;22(2):137-144.

8  Charles CH, Vincent JW, Borycheski L, et al. Effect of an essential oil-containing dentifrice on dental plaque microbial composition. Am J Dent. September 2000;13:26C-30C.

9  Wolowich WR, Hadley CM, Kelley MT, Walson PD, and Casavant MJ. Plasma salicylate from methyl salicylate cream compared to oil of wintergreen. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 2003;41(4):355-358.

10  Arctander S. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. Carol Stream , IL: Allured Publishing Corporation, 1994.

11  Tisserand R, Balacs T. Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1995.

 [1] MILLICHAP, J. GORDON. “Benign intracranial hypertension and otitic hydrocephalus.” Pediatrics 23.2 (1959): 257-259.

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