Runners, mountain bikers, skiers—leg sport people—listen up. That constant, nagging pain on the outside of your knee is not uncommon, but it’s also not normal. Pain on the outside of the knee can be caused by a few different things, one of which is issues with the IT (illiotibial) band.

As we move out of winter and into the glorious warm days of spring, many athletes are transitioning from treadmills and indoor tracks to the winding, mountainous trails as they melt out from being covered in winter’s snow. With this change in venue, elevation and surface can come shin splints, knee pain, hip pain, among other aches and pains.

Acupuncture treatments will often focus on clearing dampness (the fluids filled cysts) in the body as well as regulating blood flow to the ovaries and uterus, and is some cases clearing blood stasis. In addition, an acupuncturist will work with Kidney Yang energy to address metabolism.

In addition, the study suggested acupuncture and moxibustion improved hormones which triggers ovulation and the development of follicles, insulin levels and body mass index. The treatments were administered for at least three months to see the effects.

ACL injuries are some of the most common knee injuries. But what does an injury to the ACL entail and how can acupuncture help the healing?

Knee injuries are some of the most common sports injuries for a variety of athletes, but especially those involved in sports that heavily rely on the lower body like skiing, snowboarding, hiking, running, mountain biking. But not all knee injuries are the same.

Climbers, snowboarders, soccer players, runners—I have seen hamstring strains in a variety of different sports. So how does you get a hamstring strain and what can you do about it?

A quick look at how acupuncture works and how it can help with pre- and post-surgery pain and stress during orthopedic procedures.

We live in a skier’s paradise, and Glenwood Springs is perfectly situated to dawn patrol up Williams Peak or jet up to Aspen and blow cold smoke. And like so many other outdoor sports, when the season is in, it’s nonstop. But how is your body holding up to all that use and abuse trying to squeeze out every little ounce of the goods during the season?

Pain is complex, and while pain often accompanies tissue damage, sometimes there is pain with no such damage, which is the case when there is a trigger point. But what is a trigger point? 

Stress management has gained its foothold in today’s everyday language that we use as frequently as where’s my cellphone and I need a drink. But it wasn’t until 1936 that Hans Selye coined the word “stress”, not because stress didn’t exist before but because it wasn’t until then that research began to link chronic stress with modern day illnesses.

Tension headaches are the most common headache in the world, and when a headache strikes, sufferers often reach for the ibuprofen or other drugs first to keep the symptoms at bay. But what if you don’t want to take any medications, or those medications aren’t helping? 

Many times pain may indicate actual tissue damage (like a sprained ankle, broken toe, ruptured tendon), but there are other times it is a multi-faucets sensation from the body that might not be linked to any damage of the tissue at all.

Remember the marks on the back and shoulders of swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Alexander Naddour in the 2016 Rio Olympics that sparked great debate? Those marks are from cupping. While the Olympics made those little suction marks famous, Chinese Medicine has been utilizing this technique for thousands of years. But what is cupping and how does it work?

Because of acupuncture’s affect on the nervous system and thus the cascade of stress hormones, acupuncture can reduce cortisol levels (caused by both physical and mental stress) and thus help set up an athlete’s body for optimal functioning.

In addition to internal changes, stress also affects out musculoskeletal system by breaking down muscles or causing muscular tightness that can develop into a chronic pattern of holding.

As an acupuncturist, I’m compelled to tell you that acupuncture’s ability to reduce stress is a great byproduct even if it isn’t the initial reason you are coming in for treatments.

Acupuncture’s ability to nudge the body’s natural healing responses is one way in which acupuncture can help heal sports injuries.

“If there is free flow, there is no pain; if there is pain, there is lack of free flow.” ~ Huang Di Nei Jing.

Can acupuncture help your anxiety?