Get your Body Bikini-Ready with Acupuncture!!

I am a 45-year-old female who needs to lose about 35-40 pounds. I have tried every diet under the sun but none have worked for me. I lose some weight, but I gain it all back. I want to try acupuncture as my last resort. How does it work and what other things do I have to do to keep the weight off? I also am borderline diabetic and have blood pressure problems that I want to try to manage without taking medication.

It is a staggering fact that 65-70 percent of Americans are overweight. Studies have shown that 50 percent of our children are overweight and many of them classified as obese. As a nation, for more than 15 years, our government monitored obesity index has risen consistently at an alarming rate.

Everyone is looking for the secret to weight loss, without falling victim to the latest gimmicks. Fortunately, there is a technique for weight loss that has been tested for centuries: acupuncture.

First of all, acupuncture helps balance your hormones and increase the body's ability to increase endorphins, which is a "feel good" hormone that reduces cravings and generally just makes you feel better with more energy. The more energy you burn the more calories you burn. It is really quiet simple.

Studies have shown that acupuncture helps reduce leptin and blood sugar levels. Leptin regulates fat storage and metabolism and stimulates and tricks your body into feeling full, a term called satiety. Insulin regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism and the absorption of glucose from the blood. This finding suggests that acupuncture may actually reduce the hormones that lead to overeating.

If leptin stimulates the feeling of being full, why is it important to have reduced levels? Like insulin-resistance, cells can become immune to the effects of leptin when the levels are too high. Many obese people have high levels of leptin. When your leptin levels are high you do not know when to stop eating. Restoring balance to leptin levels helps reduce overeating.

The third way acupuncture helps the body lose weight is by reducing cortisol production, the stress hormone. Cortisol can affect weight in several ways. It disrupts digestion and contributes to depression and escalates your "fight or flight response," which can make you feel overwhelmed, which can make you overeat.

My suggestion to you is to get you a weight loss coach. Start an aggressive cardiovascular exercise program. Simple brisk walking for 30 minutes a day is a start. Start a one week detoxification program like Nu-lean and do a fasting three day lemon-aid only diet for three days. Then start eating a lot of fruits and vegetables staying away from sweets and simple carbohydrates like breads and tortillas.

Acupuncture treatments are performed two times a week for four to six weeks. Most treatments run around $50 and some insurances will pay for treatments. If you have any questions you can contact me through my website atDrTowery.com or just call my office to schedule a free phone consultation. I will be starting some free weight loss seminars in the near future so watch for details in the Victoria Advocate.

Source: World Health Organization -American obesity statistics/children/Director General

Cancer Patients Finds Relief with Acupuncture

When a doctor first recommended it, Beth Dowhen of Wisconsin had her doubts. Could acupuncture really help with her cancer symptoms?

You can often find Dowhen in her garden. Her daffodils are always the first to bloom.“I had one bloom on Easter Sunday. All the rest came two weeks later. It was like one just couldn’t wait!” Dowhen said.

Dowhen understands impatience. She was cooped up inside by more than a long winter.

Beth Dowhen

“Last year I didn’t do anything in the yard. I feel so blessed to be normal again,” Dowhen said.

“They decided to do chemo and radiation,” Dowhen said. Dowhen has been cancer free for more than six months. She’s back to feeling like she did three years ago — before doctors found cancer at the base of her tongue.

To reign in the symptoms caused by her treatment, she found herself laying on a table for something she’d never considered.

“I thought, you know, acupuncture? Is it going to be some old hippie somewhere doing it?” Dowhen said.

The Pavlic Center on the Wheaton Franciscan Elmbrook Memorial campus feels more like a spa than a clinic. During procedures, Acupuncturist Christine Warrix carefully navigated needles the size of a hair onto Dowhen’s arms, legs and feet.

Pavlic Center Wheaton Franciscan Elmbrook Memorial campus

The one on Dowhen’s chin was meant to help with the dry mouth caused by radiation.

“About five minutes after that first treatment, I felt saliva come into my mouth and that just amazed me,” Dowhen said.

Beth Dowhen

Other needles in other spots were meant to help with stress and relaxation.

“If they’re nauseous or have a lack of appetite, acupuncture can help with that,” Warrix said.

Dowhen credits the needles with stopping a sore throat she’d had for months on end.

Pavlic Center supervisor Kara Wilde says some cancer patients need a little convincing in order to undergo the acupuncture treatments.

“Baby steps is sometimes where you have to begin with some people. It is something that is able to alleviate some pain. It can sometimes alleviate some of the discomforts they have. Just in well-being, as far as not being able to sleep at night, or being achy first thing in the morning,” Wilde said.

Dowhen has gone from hesitant to an acupuncture advocate.

“I really do credit acupuncture with helping me feel better,” Dowhen said.

And now that spring is finally here, Dowhen is back to doing the things she loves — like working with her neglected garden that turned out to be just a resilient as she is.  

A Remote for Stress and Sleep?

Feeling stressed? Not sleeping through the night? Wish you had a remote to shut off your mind like you turn off your TV?

A needle or two may be your answer.

A needle or two may be your answer. Our daily lives are filled with environmental stresses and physical demands. Examples include family life, household responsibilities, financial burdens, work schedules and social events. Time literally feels like it escapes our grasp.

“I am so busy” is the understatement of the year for many of us. This is where the imbalance begins to take its toll on our sleep. Our quiet time, as we lay our head down on that soft pillow, is now filled with to-do lists and memories of the day we just finished.

Worry sets in as we recall the day and realize the “list” did not get done and our “to do” just got longer for tomorrow. The mind races as we glance over at the clock that once read 9 p.m. and now says 11:30. At least, that is the last time you dared to give the clock a look.

The night feels half-way over and you finally get to sleep, only to wake in that ever-dreadful 1 to 3 a.m. range night after night. You are positive the road-rage bandit is sure to make an appearance during that morning traffic.

Any of this ringing true for you?

There is an answer. Acupuncture provides the balance needed to put everything back in order to calm the mind and settle the irritability associated with stress and lack of sleep. Stress affects everyone differently, but the imbalance it triggers leads to a series of symptoms that will give rise over time if not addressed.

So though you may not have all of the above, you may have associated with a few and even have a few different events occurring such as anxiety, headaches or digestive upset.

With acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, a state of balance can be obtained naturally. Treat the body as a whole versus individual symptoms, and this will allow the imbalances to realign and homeostasis to settle in. Balance can occur when TCM can focus on treating the excess, or deficiency, in the body with acupuncture.

What are the results you ask? The mind will rest, the irritability subsides, anxiety becomes a thing of the past, mental focus increases, headaches cease, digestion is balanced and your old friend sleep is once again a guest in your home.

Acupuncture is a wonderful alternative to adding yet another medicine to your cabinet. With the proper TCM diagnosis and the right protocol of acupuncture points, you could be well on your way to a great night of sleep and a calm, restful mind.