Blog Reflection

After finishing all my hours with Dr. Song, I've come to realize how much I've grown during the process. This project has pushed me to use and sharpen skills that I wouldn't normally use on a daily basis.

May 6th, 2013 #3

So the last hour I spent at Dr. Song’s office was talking with her in general. We talked about the project itself, my dad’s situation and health overall. She asked about any last minute details that she needed to do for the project, such as paperwork, so I gave her the evaluation sheet to fill out. Before she left to fill out the paper, she talked about how I felt about the project and that it was ok for me to be confused, which I was at times. So just for last minute lesson we both looked over the acupuncture chart she had on her wall. She said that even if I don’t quite understand the concept of acupuncture I just had to know a few key points on the body that pretty much help with EVERYTHING, such as stress, stomach pains, back pains, eye strain, relaxation, etc. Once we cleared the air about the project we had a little language exchange, since her English wasn’t the best, I helped her translate some of the things she had to say in Mandarin to English and she taught me a few Mandarin words (even though I’m pretty sure I’ll forget them). Once everything was finished I pretty much had nothing left to do, but to go home, since I learned as much as I could from Dr. Song and her giant book of acupuncture and moxibustion. 

May 6th, 2013 #2

The next practice that relates to acupuncture is cupping, now this is a practice that I find really interesting and believable. Basically cupping is creating a vacuum within the cup as it attaches to the skin. By using the cupping method it warms and promotes chi and blood in the meridians, gets rid of cold dampness and reduces swelling and pain. For me this is a more believable practice because I've had it done on me on my back and when I finished the treatment the pain in back was significantly reduced. The only downside to cupping was the ugly looking bruises that were left behind, but it was worth it because it’s something that really works. 

May 6th, 2013 #1

Today I arrived at Dr. Song’s office to finish off the rest of my hours. I started learning about Moxibustion a similar practice to acupuncture, but with moxi sticks, which are herbs, that are burned and placed over points of the body. I have to say this one of the practices of acupuncture that I’m more skeptical about because as I see it you’re potentially burning the body and not necessarily moving body chi. I guess that’s why I had such a hard time grasping the concept of it. There are several ways to administer moxibustion; using a moxi stick, using moxi wool or placing the wool on a needle and puncturing the needle into the necessary point. To me this is a little puzzling because how can holding smoke over a point make someone feel better. I guess its one of those things that you can’t question much if you’ve never experienced it. Nevertheless it’s a practice that is close to acupuncture. At this point of my project I’ve learned so much, but it’s not everything I can learn. Over the past few months I’ve only been learning the bare minimum of acupuncture and its sub practices. 

May 4th, 2013 #3

I noticed I never really blogged about the patients before, so I thought I should. Every time I come into Dr. Song’s office she has at least one patient she’s working with. What I find really interesting about eh patients is that they are literally people from all walks of life. The patients here are majority of the time, though Asian, but of course once in a while there are people are different races/ethnicities. I really admire Dr. Song when she works because she really is careful and conscious of all her patients. She wants to make sure that each of her patients get all the attention and care that they need. For example she has a regular patient that comes in on Fridays and she always reserves that spot for him because she knows his sleeping habits and wants to make sure that she gives him enough time to rest. Another patient of hers always comes in with information about food, water and health in general and she shares them with me, which I always enjoy. Today the 5 patients were really diverse. There was a girl probably my age to a senior citizen male. He had brought his daughters who were probably in their 30s to be treated.

            I love that Dr. Song has really taken the time to make sure that each of her patients are comfortable and treated well. She makes sure that when they are waiting they have something to read and always makes sure that every patient and I mean every patient gets tea when they finish their treatment. It’s nice to know that doctors like Dr. Song are still taking their time to give the best care and don’t treat them like another number.  

May 4th, 2013 #2

Acupuncture points fall under 3 categories: points of the 14 meridians, extra points and ashi points. The “meridian points,” are found along the 12 main meridians and are the more common points and are distributed symmetrically in pairs, one on the left and another on the right of the body. The extra points are experiential points that have specific names and definite locations, but are still relative to the meridian channels. They are particularly effective in treating certain diseases. And the ashi points are typically used for pain syndromes. These points are the earliest stages of acupuncture that don’t have specific names or locations are referred to as “reflexing points,” “unifixed points” or “tender spots.”

            The interesting thing about acupuncture is the names of the points. There groups of points that are analogous to certain aspects of nature. To be honest, this is where I get skeptical of Eastern medicine sometimes, but I just listen and decide for myself if I want to believe it or not. So about these names, There are names that are analogous to water flow, mountains, valleys, animals, plants, utensils (like ancient utensils, like bamboo), architectural structures, astronomy, meteorological phenomena, anatomical terms and therapeutic properties. The names are a little out there for me, but the practices of acupuncture I can 100% agree with.

            Though I’ll never really get the chance to do acupuncture because I’m not a licensed practitioner, I can still use acupressure on points that I learned about and I think for me that’s enough. 

May 4, 2013 #1

Essentially these are the pathways that the qi and blood of the body move through, they are what form a network that connects tissues and organs together. The meridians are the bases of these channels and run longitudinally in the body, while the collaterals represent the branches. Collectively they are known as Jingluo in Chinese medicine. This whole system is comprised of 12 main meridians, 8 extra meridians, 15 collaterals, 12 divergent meridians, 12 muscle regions and 12 cutaneous regions.

            The purposes of these channels are to move the qi and blood to the zang-fu organs, skin, muscle, tendons and bones to ensure normal functions of these organs and maintain a relative equilibrium in the body. Since there are some many channels and sub channels to cover within the body, Dr. Song figured it’d be best to just cover the basics of the 12 main meridians, then move onto some of the acupuncture points in the body that would be commonly used and easy to access. What makes up these 12 channels are the 6 yin and yang (3 yin and 3 yang) channels of the hand and the 6 yin and yang channels of the foot (3 yin and 3 yang).

            The meridians and collaterals serve 4 main functions: transport qi and blood and regulate yin and yang; resist pathogens and reflecting symptoms and signs and lastly transmit needle sensations while regulating deficiencies and excess conditions.

            The first function is pretty self-explanatory. What it means when the meridians can resist pathogens and reflect symptoms and signs is that anytime there are any disorders of the organs, it can reflect in the face, basically what I explained in my previous blogs. These two tend to have a concurrent relationship as any disorders to the meridians affect the internal organs and any disorders to the organs can cause damage to meridians.

            Luckily it can be repaired with acupuncture and acumoxibustion. These two treatments stimulate the qi in the body to travel to the zang fu organs thereby restoring the their regular functions and curing diseases. Therefore the major objective of acupuncture is to regulate yin and yang and the flow of qi. Once that is achieved the body and organs are in their best shape.

            This is the second time I’ve on a Saturday since I started working with Dr. Song, the rest of the times were usually on a weekday afternoon, and it’s really weird yet exciting to really see Dr. Song in action. Saturdays are usually her busiest day and today is no exception, she currently has 5 patients in her small office at 1pm and she’s been able to keep her cool while catering to every need of each her patients. Of course I’m not allowed in the rooms because of the confidentiality agreement Dr. Song has with her patients, but it’s kind of funny to hear the sounds the patients make during treatment. For example, just right now one of the patients is groaning in pain, but she’s laughing, I don’t know what to make of that, but whatever. Another patient that is waiting out front just talked to me about patience and the younger generation. He told me that when he was younger he was taught patience was gold and how that lesson has helped him every day and even while being in treatment. I think that it’s really cool that all the patients Dr. Song works with are from different walks of life, some are doctors themselves while others are retired or working. It’s amazing as well because Dr. Song builds these relationships and in return she is able to get all these valuable lessons, information, insider tips and such. 

April 25th, 2013

I got home after school and the first thing that my mom asked me to do was help her find a painting to hang in the house, so naturally I agreed to it. So I started to sort through all the pictures we had downstairs in our house (this is relevant I promise) and as I got further into sorting through the paintings, my dad comes downstairs and asks my mom to do moxibustion. The reason my dad asked is because he has stomach cancer and Dr. Song recommend using moxibustion to stimulate his qi. Moxibustion is another treatment in conjuction with acupuncture, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to work more on my hours.  So I immediately asked my parents if I could watch while sorting through the paintings.

There were no objections, so I carried on while paying attention to what my mom was going to do. First thing my mom did was set up the room, so basically she opened the window, covered the massage table, and got the herbs, gloves and a lighter. Next my dad got the table and rolled up his pant legs, since my mom is no doctor there were red dots placed on specific points on his legs that Dr. Song marked. Once settled in, my mom proceeded to burn the herbs, which smelled… interesting the least to say, and placed them over the indicated points. Basically this is what happened for the next hour, my mom would move to different points on the body and when the spot was warm enough my dad would tell her and she’d move on. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but it was still cool in mind to watch and see how moxibustion works. 

April 24th, 2013 #2

Dr. Song came in the next hour to give me a massage or acupressure rub, however you choose to see it. Acupressure essentially is focusing in a specific point or area and using the practitioner’s hands to “rub” it. Before Dr. Song began she removed all the needles and disinfected each point with rubbing alcohol. She first started with the point between my eyebrows; she used both her thumbs to massage the point. She basically used her hands and arms to massage all the points that she placed needles in. As she massaged she would discuss the names and functions of each point. It was hard to focus, but I had a general idea of what each of the points did. Once she finished I felt so much better; I was relaxed, yet full of energy. It was about 6 when we finished, so I bid her goodbye and left for home. 

April 24th, 2013 #1

I arrived at Dr. Song’s ready to start my hours, but feeling tired. After I settled down I proceeded to crack open the book Dr. Song gave me when I started my hours and started to read. I was reading Chapter 4: Qi, Blood and Body fluid. I started out pretty well, I was able to get through the first eight pages, but I started to fall asleep. Dr. Song noticed so she told me to go lie down in one of the rooms, so she could treat me. I couldn’t pass it up, so I got myself ready. Dr. Song started with me facing up and focusing on the area around my eyes. First she placed two needles at the top of my nose just about where my eyebrows begin. Next she placed needles directly above my pupils above my eyebrows on both sides of my face. Following those, Dr. Song placed two more needles on both sides of my face directly below my pupils on my cheekbones. These points are great for eyesight problems, stress and moving the qi in the bladder and liver organs.

            Once she got done with the points on my face she placed various needles on my head. Some are for centering my qi, others are used to relieve stress, improve memory, help eyesight problems and other internal functions of the zang fu organs. Last she moved onto my arms. The most important point she emphasizes every time she does acupuncture for me, the yang lo point. This is an especially important point because this point aids in eyesight problems, stress relieving, stomach problems, memory aid, moving qi through the liver (one the most important organs in the body) and so much more, that I’m forgetting now. After she fixed all the needles to make sure they were properly in place and secured she left me to sleep. 

April 3, 2013 #4

This next hour is brought to you by the Kidney!

The Kidney:

1.) Stores essence and dominates development and reproduction

2.) Dominates water metabolism

3.) Receives chi

4.) Dominates bone
5.) Opening to the ear

April 3rd, 2013 #3

The next hour consisted of me learning about the lung. 

The lung is responsible for:

1.) Dominating chi and controlling respiration

2.) Dominating dispersing, skin and hair

3.) Dominating descending and regulating water passages

4.) Opening into the nose

April 3, 2013 #2

My next hour consists of learning about the spleen.

The spleen is responsible for:
1.) Transportation and transformation
2.) Controlling Blood
3.) Domination of the muscles and four limbs
4.) Opening to the mouth and manifesting on the lips

April 3, 2013 #1

Greetings from the office of Dr. Song! I am here again to learn from the wealth of knowledge that is Dr. Song and the textbook she gave me. To start off the hour I started reading about the liver.

The liver plays an important role in the health of our body. The four major functions it performs are: 

1. Storing blood

2. Maintaining the free flow of qi/chi.

3. Controlling the tendons and manifesting in the nails.

4. Opening to the eye

March 29, 2013 (#3)

The last and final hour with Dr. Song was back to studying from the textbook. I read onto Chapter three which focused on the five organs and they're connection to the five elements (fire, water, wood, earth and metal). The five major organs that doctors are keen on keeping in harmony are the kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and spleen, which are referred to as the zang organs and under these organs they govern other organs within the body. The first organ of the five I read was the heart. 

March 29, 2013 (#2)

The second hour was different from the first in that I got to talk to Dr. Song. She had some time because she was letting her patient rest. Dr. Song talked about what we do at the age, since it's our prime age, can affect how our bodies will be in the future.

March 29, 2013 (#1)

Today I drove over to Dr. Song's office to work more on my hours. I got there at 3 when she had another patient, so I was kind of on my own for 3 hours. I started off the hour by cracking open "Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion." I read chapter 2 of the large textbook, which focused on the theory of Yin Yang.

Surprise! March 5th, 2013

The next day I got a surprise (even though it wasn't a surprise for my dad) from Dr. Song. She was there to give my dad a treatment to boost his immune system while he's on his chemo treatment for stomach cancer. So Dr. Song this would be the perfect time to actually watch her insert the needles. So for an hour I actually stood next to Dr. Song and watched her perform acupuncture on my dad. The first thing we did was feel his pulse on both hands. The reason why was to see which organs in the body is low in chi. If the pulse felt weak, then it meant that the chi in that area was low. After feeling his pulse Dr. Song proceeded to insert two needles in my dad's stomach in the region below his belly button, the purpose of this was to bring his chi to his  dan tian ( I forgot the points, hopefully I'll be able to actually remember this Chinese names). Once she inserted the needles there she put needles in his legs and feet. The reason why she did this was to target the stomach through points that were linked to the stomach and bring the chi to his stomach. On top of this each of these points help with other aspects in life such as stress, weight loss and much more. I had to leave, so i ended up staying with Dr. Song and my dad for an hour. 

Acupuncture March 4, 2013 #2

The second hour Dr. Song had a patient so I was on my own to study more from the book. This hour was a bit more boring and long (or seemed long). There really isn't much to talk about here because I would just bore whoever reads this and probably confuse them because there are a lot of Chinese names and hers that I wrote down. As I took notes I was paying attention to how many points are in the body and how each one actually functions in the acupuncture world. I didn't go to in depth because I needed a lot of guidance from Dr. Song. So I ended my two hours with Dr. Song by finishing up chapter 1. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but the book she gave was thick and loaded with tons of information about acupuncture and it should be since it's the official book of acupuncture and is used by students in the medical field all over the world. 

Acupuncture Study March 4, 2013

I met with Dr. Song on Monday march 4th, 2013 and surprisingly she gave me a choice of being treated like I usually am or study. Naturally I wanted to say study, but I felt I needed some book study time, so I ended up spending two hours studying from a book she gave me. The first hour only consisted of me reading the introduction the history of acupuncture and how it has evolved over time. So this hour wasn't extremely exciting. 

Treatment for the Sick #3_Cupping (Feb. 20th, 2013)

To end our 3 hours together I asked Dr. Song if she would do the cupping treatment, since it's a great treatment to use when someone is sick. For those who don't know what cupping is, it's basically a medicinal treatment in which suction cups are placed on the body to draw stagnated  or "stuck" blood to the surface of the skin. The bruises that result usually last a few days. The are a few ways cupping is applied it can be used with bamboo or glass cups and fire and most recently plastic cups and a mechanism that extracts air. During the treatment Dr. Song first started with the plastic cups which were first placed on my back and the mechanism was used to suck the air out and basically suction my skin. Since I'm more of a traditionalist I asked Dr. Song if she could use glass cups and fire. She agreed to it and started the fire cupping process. She lit the glass cup and on fire, which extinguished and she attached them to my back after a few mins she started to move the cups up and down my back and as she moved the cups she immediately saw red forming on my back. Of course it was a little painful because the glass cup was sucking my skin and she pushed the cup up and down my back, but after the treatment I noticed a tremendous difference in my breathing. So to finish off my hour I left the Doctor's office with bruises on my back (still deciding whether or not to post the pictures), relaxed and more informed on acupuncture and the sub practices of it. 

Treatment for the Sick (Feb. 20th, 2013)

The second hour was focused more on the acupressure part of the medical practice. There isn't much to talk about here, but Dr. Song told about 5 points on the body that would help people who are to get sick or are sick that would help with body temperature. The points are the chest, the palms of both hands and the bottom of both feet. She talked about how using alcohol and rubbing each of these specific parts to create heat would be best for people about to become sick because they help bring up body temperature, which would ideal for fighting sickness. She further talked about different foods and the the consequences (good and bad) of eating them. Such as drinking soda daily or acidic foods with then taking in tons of vitamin C after that would increase chances of getting gout (arthritis in a specific joint). She also talked about how certain meats should be avoided if that individual has certain skin problems, an example would be avoiding lamb and beef if the individual has psoriasis. The end of the acupressure marked the end of my second hour and our last hour together for the day was about cupping. 

Treatment for the Sick (Feb. 20, 2013)

Hello! So I met with my mentor today and again I was given the treatment  which I feel is a recurring theme as each time I visit Dr. Song I'm the one being practiced on, but nevertheless I am learning more and more about acupuncture each and every time. The first hour that we met was focused more on the actual acupuncture itself. Since I was sick last Thursday (Feb. 14) Dr. Song decided to focus more on helping me recover from being sick. She introduced me to new points on my back that would help speed the recovery process. There is one the is great for fighting sickness, headaches, stress, for older folks hypertension and much more. That point is called the GB 20 (part of the gallbladder channel) and located just at the base of the back of the head. Another point that Dr. Song pointed out was the PC 6 (? the names escape me because  they were in Chinese) located on the inside of the forearm, which again held many benefits for someone when they're sick  or need the benefits it yields when chi moves through that specific point. There are many other points that Dr. Song told me about and introduced me to, but for intents and purposes I'll spare the names since they're in Mandarin and the fact that most of you guys reading will most likely skip over them. 

Treament Hour #2

The second part of my treatment and hour consisted of working on the front part of my body. This part of my treatment may make some people squeamish  so fair warning.This time she focused on my feet, arms and my head. She inserted needles around my eyes and just below my nostrils. She did this because she knows that I have eyesight problems, so she put the needles there specifically to improve my eyesight. As for the nostril points she wanted to drain my nose from the build up that accumulated while I was facing down. As for the points on my feet and arms they were again to move the chi throughout my body and help with the functions of my body parts. After she left the needles in for a ample amount of time she proceeded to give me acupressure which was to stimulate each meridian point and keep the chi flowing throughout my body. When I finished I did not only feel relaxed, but I noticed a significant difference in how I felt as well as more knowledge about each of the points she targeted during this hour. 

Treatment Hour #1 (Feb. 2nd, 2013)

On February 2nd I met again with my mentor, Dr. Song. I got to her office around noon and had quick lunch with her. The first hour consisted of Dr. Song actually giving my the treatment while explaining and showing me different points on the body. She kept pointing out specific points (the names are in Chinese, so I'll spare the names for now) on the body that served different purposes. One of the points she pointed out to me was L14 which is a critical point for the lumbar. Once she finished with my back she inserted needles into different parts of my head that would keep my body's chi moving. Then to finish off the back part of my body she inserted needles on certain points that helped with the digestive system, eyesight and various other functions of the body parts. 

Intro to the Anatomy of Acupuncture

On Monday January 21, 2013 I met with my mentor Dr. Song. 

Dr. Song runs an acupuncture clinic in Burlingame. She specializes in acupuncture, acupressure and Chinese Herbs. When I got into her office we started off talking about what I wanted accomplish with her and for my Senior project. I ultimately wanted to learn the basics of acupuncture and how different it is the typical Western practices. After a discussion about what I wanted to accomplish Dr. Song proceeded to talk about the various channels within the body that moves chi (body energy). She told me that the body has a total of 14 channels that link external body parts to internal organs. She didn't go too in depth about the subject solely because this meeting was more about what I wanted to do for the 25 hours and a brief introduction to the anatomy of acupuncture. 

After meeting with Dr. Song I'm extremely excited to finish the rest of mu hours and learn about the practice of acupuncture.