Emma Snowsill, Olympic Gold Medalist

Just about everyone has heard that acupuncture is good for pain, headaches, lower back problems etc.

But few, including many of my colleagues in Acupuncture and Allied Modalities realize how potent skillfully applied acupuncture can be in promoting better health and in the case of Olympic Gold Medalist Emma Snowsill, a way of recapturing her competitive mojo.

I am a clinician, a teacher, student, a creator of networks and a representative of this ancient profession to which I am privileged to belong.

After 25 years in practice I retain a deep respect and passion for the art of acupuncture and enjoy nothing more than seeing clients benefit from treatment.

As a practitioner of this extraordinary healing art I am driven by the conviction of massive clinical experience and willingly acknowledge that the strength of this medicine lies in the sensitivity of our hands, our powers of observation, the awareness of our senses, each vital to our ability to assimilate and collate this information, translate it into a meaningful diagnosis and most importantly, perform the most effective treatment possible.

Emma Snowsill is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in triathlon, a short time ago she competed in her comeback race after an extended mystery illness that saw her incapacitated and bedridden for many months last year.

The story of her recovery is a little too long to recount here, however earlier this week Emma returned from Korea with a nasty tummy bug in tow that caused her to suffer from violent vomiting and diarrhea.

She was still suffering from strong diarrhea when she consulted me on Wednesday morning, she felt significantly better after treatment and woke up the following day diarrhea free and easy?

This Sunday morning after her follow-up treatment for the big daddy tummy bug I had the pleasure of interviewing Emma about how she rebuilt her health culminating in her comeback race in Korea last weekend.

No prizes for guessing the role Japanese Acupuncture played in her recovery.

After many months of being seriously unwell, barely able to walk, bedridden for much of the time, totally unable to train, she finished an extremely credible 6th in a field of the 50 best triathletes in the world!

Emma also discussed her recovery from that big daddy of tummy bugs and how she has managed to get back to full training less than a week after being what she described as, ‘the most violently sick ever!’

I video taped the interview and it should make for very interesting viewing and you will get to meet the real Emma, an extremely humble human being and an extraordinarily talented athlete.

We conducted this interview on my balcony overlooking the Coral Sea, here is the link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tv9z-ekNbY, hope you enjoy.
All the best,
Alan

Alan Jansson is an internationally recognized teacher and practitioner of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. For well over a decade, independent of and in conjunction with Masakazu Ikeda sensei and Edward Obaidey, Alan has presented, convened and hosted more than 40 Traditional Japanese Acupuncture workshops in Australia, New Zealand and USA. Driven by a strong desire to promote the consumer friendly nature, clinical efficacy and potency of Meridian Based Traditional Japanese Acupuncture, Alan is a staunch advocate of practically based workshops and draws upon his 25 years clinical experience and 14 years post and undergraduate teaching in a concerted effort to lift the bar globally in the clinical application of this most amazing medical art.

Join him in Exploring the Art of Acupuncture in the 21st century at http://www.Worldacupuncture.com

]]> http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/emma-snowsill-olympic-gold-medalist-talks-about-japanese-acupuncture-and-better-health/feed 1 http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-healing-potential http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-healing-potential#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:45:06 +0000 Alan http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/?p=2361 One of the greatest challenges facing me as a practitioner of Japanese acupuncture is effectively communicating it’s clinical diversity and power.

I believe the best way to do that is to inform you about some of the clinical case histories and challenges confronting those seeking treatment to rectify their specific disharmony, illness, pain or as often occurs in the case of elite sports people, optimize their performance potential.

Here are just a few examples of this potential, I trust these scenario’s will assist you in understanding some of the potential benefits of Japanese acupuncture.

Following is an excerpt from an e-mail kindly sent to me by a patient who has experienced significant health benefits from ongoing treatment.

This patient is a marine biologist who has recently traveled to San Francisco to spend a few months working with her colleagues stateside.

Hi Alan,
How are you? I hope you’ve been out in the water? I’m surfed out trying to get as many surf’s in as possible before heading to San Fran and hasn’t it been beautiful!

I just wanted to say thanks so much for your treatments, they have helped me enormously and I will miss coming in to see you over the next few months. The last treatment was fantastic – it seemed to clear away the nerve tingling and I felt a lot stronger. I wasn’t sleeping as well though but that’s probably to be expected with all the excitement around going overseas.

I’d love to continue acupuncture in San Francisco so if you do have some contacts for me I would really appreciate it. It has helped me beyond words so I’d love to keep it up and I will be sure to come see you again when I get back. I think half of the treatment is your presence and zest for life!

Hope you have a fantastic next couple of months and I’ll look forward to seeing you again when I get back!

As a practitioner this is a very satisfying and welcome communication indeed.

The correspondent works in a very demanding and results orientated field, often experiencing high levels of stress in an effort to meet externally imposed deadlines.

An entirely different perspective arises in discussing the clinical outcome for a patient who was diagnosed as suffering from a molar pregnancy, a condition whereby miscarriage is a 90% certainty.

Without going into details, after several treatments she is now very happily 23 weeks pregnant with an apparently healthy baby on the way according to her medical specialist.

In yet another case, the patient presented with an extremely painful and expansive episode of the shingles.

Whilst no miracle cure was at hand, there can be little doubt that regular Japanese acupuncture treatment aided in his full recovery from this debilitating condition in a relatively short amount of time.

A number of the physiotherapists with whom I practice at the Queensland Sports Medicine Center have sought treatment recently for difficulties in maintaining an extremely busy work schedule and focused fitness training as a result of impeded immune function.

Basically the more intense the training regime and the busier they were at work, the more often they were suffering from colds, flu’s and accompanying lethargy.

It is of no surprise to me that their condition appears to improve relative to the regularity of their treatment?

I often work in conjunction with the physiotherapists in an effort to bring about a more rapid and complete recovery of our patients.

One example of such cooperation is the work we have been doing to assist an ex-Australian cricketing legend prepare for the forthcoming IPL cricketing tournament in India.

Amongst other aspects of treatment, I believe Japanese acupuncture has been extremely beneficial in defusing much of the physical stress related to his increased training regime and the mental anguish associated with a making a decision regarding his involvement as a result of the security status of the tournament and concerns for his personal safety.

As well as recharging his energetic battery, Japanese acupuncture treatment also provided an extremely welcome refuge from the myriad of questions and potential outcomes that assuaged his mind during this most difficult of decision-making scenarios.

Last but not least, Emma Snowsill is the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist in the sport of Triathlon, an event that includes a 1500m swim, 40k bike ride and a 10k run.

Against the best female tri athletes on the planet, that implies insanely fit individuals with extra ordinary motors sharpened to a cutting edge by the hardness of competition and intense training, all striving to be at the absolute peak of their game for the ultimate reward for a competitive athlete, Emma won her gold medal in emphatic fashion at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

March 2010 and Emma has been struggling with persistent immune related problems for several months, including a diabolically compromised energetic status and repetitive breakdowns in her health resulting in continual colds and flu’s, a situation that saw her training regime severely compromised.

Over the last few months she has been receiving regular Japanese acupuncture treatment and her condition has improved markedly, to a point where she has recently been able to resume full training.

I believe regular weekly treatments have helped Emma  accelerate her training regime whilst maintaining a robust immune status.

By way of explanation, Emma missed a treatment a couple of weeks ago, whilst continuing to accelerate her training regime she flew to Melbourne where she was subjected to a radical climate change, the end result was that she attended clinic last Wednesday suffering from a sore throat, streaming sinuses, increased lethargy and she was justifiably concerned that her health was about to crash again.

In short, after three treatments Emma left for Abu Dhabi today to attend the http://www.laureus.com/awards/ in good health, no runny nose, sore throat greatly improved and energetically much stronger.

I’m sure you’ll agree this is a  preferable option when one is partaking in international travel and will see her able to enjoy this landmark event to the fullest.

As a practitioner of Japanese acupuncture the reality is that a majority of people through no fault of their own are totally ignorant of the diversity and power of this ancient healing modality.

Whilst most people are aware that acupuncture has the potential to help with neck, back, shoulder, knee, hip and ankle injuries and pain, headaches etc, most have little or no idea of its clinical diversity in the hands of an experienced and competent practitioner.

Alan

Alan Jansson is an internationally recognized teacher and practitioner of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture.  For well over a decade, independent of and in conjunction with Masakazu Ikeda sensei and Edward Obaidey, Alan has presented, convened and hosted more than 40 Traditional Japanese Acupuncture workshops in Australia, New Zealand and USA. Driven by a strong desire to promote the consumer friendly nature, clinical efficacy and potency of Meridian Based Traditional Japanese Acupuncture, Alan is a staunch advocate of practically based workshops and draws upon his 25 years clinical experience and 14 years post and undergraduate teaching in a concerted effort to lift the bar globally in the clinical application of this most amazing medical art.

Join him in Exploring the Art of Acupuncture in the 21st century at : http://www.Worldacupuncture.com

Your post ‚More On Acupuncture, Pregnancy and Childbirth‚ is interesting.

As you may recall, at Serono we were aware that Acupuncture was quite helpful for infertile couples in many cases. It seems to me that the pregnancy array - from not being pregnant all the way to giving birth is really the place for Acupuncture.

Would you say that many women would also benefit from Acupuncture for stress relief plus many other reasons past the birth event?

While raising a newborn, infant, child, and teenager ‚etcetera? Is Acupuncture a missed opportunity for women in general and part of the continuum of care for health and wellness?

Or is that saying too much at this point in time and too simplistic??

Thanks again, Alan!

Talk soon‚ Joel

Thanks heaps for your insightful reply and very relevant questions Joel.

25 years of clinical experience definitely confirms for me that judicious traditional acupuncture can provide huge impetus towards better health in people of all ages.

There are many examples and in some cases video on this blog of positive clinical outcomes for children of all ages and adults of all shapes and sizes.

http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/category/clinical/pre-and-post-natal

http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/category/infant-acupuncture

Your question regarding acupuncture and stress relief for new mothers using Japanese acupuncture is extremely tantalizing, however, I will do my level best to keep the answers relevant and concise.

According to Traditional East Asian medical physiology and philosophy, from conception to birth the child or children require an enormous amount of energy and nourishment from the mother to go from being a twinkle in the eye to a fully mature fetus.

In Traditional East Asian medicine the energetic impetus for this growth is provided by what we call the mothers kidney energyand in some instances, depending upon her constitution, lifestyle and general health this scenario can cause a significant energetic imbalances in new mums.

In Traditional East Asian medical physiology the kidneys provide the energetic basis upon which all metabolic and physiological functions depend.

In addition once the child is born a majority of mothers provide the sole nourishment, keeping production up to speed is the responsibility of spleen/pancreas meridian/organs.

Hence when there is an imbalance as a result of a combination of any of the above factors the affect can be extremely diverse and widespread.

Often appearing to be totally unrelated from an orthodox Western medical perspective, the symptoms are often intimately related when viewed from an Traditional East Asian medical perspective

Keeping in mind that I am doing my level best to keep the answers relevant and concise, I will not extrapolate to the enth degree regarding these functions, suffice to say. that in my experience most mums presenting with post natal health difficulties suffer from a significant imbalance in either or both of these functions, an imbalance reflected by various symptoms .

Including:

Post Natal Depression of varying degrees and severity.

Exhaustion.

Irrational fits of anger and an extremely short fuse.

Lactation difficulties, both quality and quantity.

And the list goes on‚

Regarding the suitability of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture for infants and children, my experience has shown that our medicine can provide an extremely effective adjunct to orthodox medical care, in many cases providing essential relief where orthodox medical applications are hamstrung in their ability to do so without the use of powerful and sometimes unsuitable medication.

I am not saying that acupuncture can replace pharmaceuticals only that in many instances there is huge potential to reduce dosage and dependence.

As always I believe all questions are most appropriately answered via clinical outcomes.

The ability to walk the talk not just talk the talk is of the utmost importance.

Certainly any modality that can reduce our culture’s dependence upon long-term medication for behavioral problems has to be a positive!

Sarica’s Story So Far.

Part.1 http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/debilitating-lower-back-dilemmawhat-would-you-suggest-to-this-patient

Part 2. http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/youve-gotta-know-when-to-hold-and-when-to-fold

Part 3. Japanese Acupuncture Treatment for Post Natal Depression and Spinal Surgery.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Many thanks to Tatiana Rubio who specializes in treatment for pregnancy, childbirth and infant acupuncture, for making her clinic space available for this treatment and some excellent camera work!

I recommended Sarica pursue a consistent and committed daily to thrice weekly treatment regime tonifying Ki.3 – Liv.3- GB.40 plus 7 – 9 cones of Tonetskyu or Rice Grain Moxa on ST.36 for the next 6 months.

Below is an email I recently received from Sarica.

I love her dedication and also the power of gentle traditional acupuncture to significantly help folk in her situation.

hi there, alan,
so good to hear from you…you’ve been big on my mind, as i’m deep
with appreciation for your help, care and guidance, so i appreciate
your checking in on me. i’ve been faithful with the self-treatment,
including the moxa, and the biggest thing i’ve noticed is that my
brain and spirit are returning. i’d really been struggling with
fighting negativity, and that has improved tremendously. also, my
energy is more sustained, though i’m not pushing too hard with
exercise–just doing about half of what i think i can, and that keeps
me from feeling shaky and overdrawn afterward. finally, i feel like
i have a lot more control over my frustration and anger–i’m not
owned by it as i was, and that is improving my relations with and for
the kids day by day. honestly, i can’t thank you enough .
how are you? so looking forward to seeing you again–that was too
short! and i do hope to practice with you next time around…
you take care, now!
love,
Sarica

Warning!!! Not every Post Natal Depression patient presents with Liver Yang Deficiency Syndrome in the same way that not every Liver Yang Deficiency Patient presents with Post Natal Depression.

Acupuncture for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be an notoriously awkward clinical scenario.

I have been treating Leroy for almost 4 years, starting initially with weekly treatments to the present day when Leroy presents in clinic every three weeks.

By continuing preventive and maintenance treatment, Leroy has been able to maintain a very busy and successful life with just the occasional cold and nil relapses into chronic fatigue.

With the exception of treatment for colds and flu’s (maybe once a year), I address the fundamental deficiency with a Spleen Root treatment;

Tonifying Pe.7 and Sp.3 and regulating GB.40.

At one stage during treatment I used GB.41 instead of GB.40, next treatment Leroy complained vigorously regarding the relative lack of efficacy of the previous treatment.

By tonifying the Spleen, we can increase the quantity and quality of qi and blood .

The Gallbladder meridian through the point GB.40 then stimulates the circulation of the qi and blood throughout the body.

It is hard to credit that Leroy could feel any difference between the effect of the points GB.40 and 41 but in reality he perceives even the most subtle variation in treatment.

I hope this video is of assistance in helping you to understand and apply effective treatment using gentle traditional acupuncture.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

I have also included this short video of Leroy commenting on the effect of acupuncture treatment, I hope you get some idea of what is possible when we get it right.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Yesterday was my first day back in clinic after an unusually sedentary break of almost 3 weeks.

Amongst my patients for the day was Leroy whom I treat every three weeks.

Leroy has been receiving treatment for a number of years.

He had previously suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for over a decade.

This short interview, recorded late last year tells the story far better than I can.

To hear what Leroy has to say about Gentle Traditional Acupuncture and its effect on his health;

Click on this link or cut and paste to the address bar in your Web browser.

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=1067142&t=1243

Over the next week or 2 I will discuss the treatment protocol that has seen Leroy move from energetic bankruptcy when he struggled every minute of every day, needing every ounce of his willpower to simply move, to a place where enjoys a prosperous and rewarding life.

Lotsa,

Alan

Michelle originally suffered from terrible sinusitis and overwhelming lethargy. Her first program of six or so appointments had seen her condition satisfactorily resolved. That was back in February, her current treatment regime commenced some time early October, the first two treatments spaced a week apart.

Her improvement was immediate and the grinding pain of the sinusitis resolved markedly within 24 hours of her first treatment, the lethargy and effort of getting through the day immediately began to lift and the second treatment boosted her a little more consolidating her rapid improvement.

The headaches had disappeared, her breathing was much easier, the lethargy and tiredness had lifted and Michelle was a happy camper.

Using only acupuncture and not needling deeper than 2 mm on any given point apparently stimulated a significant positive response in Michelle.

I have asked her to come back in three weeks time just before the Christmas Symphony really begins.

I’ll post the treatment I used tomorrow.

In the meantime I hope you have a good time.

Alan

PS. The swell has bumped up for the return of ASP World Surfing champion, Mick Fanning. As a ‘Coolie Boy’ ( Aussie speak for native of Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia) he will be welcomed back in style. Many, many high fives to Mick and Team!