Years of pre-acupuncture physical toil, harvesting potatoes and picking fruit has taken it’s toll on my body, leaving me with a susceptible lower back.

For the last 5 years regular acupuncture treatment and heightened awareness of no can do activities has kept me relatively pain free n easy.

However whilst taking off my wetsuit on this fateful day, I casually used my foot rather than my hands to drag down the leg of said suit.
Big mistake!

I knew I was in trouble straight away but hoped that my severe lower back pain would resolve quickly.

Alas, days end saw me bent over like an old man and unable to straighten without significant pain and discomfort, severely compromising my ability to get in and out of my vehicle.

In addition I found it impossible to sit for more than a few minutes at a time, severely disrupting my ability to publish blog posts, write emails and update http://www.worldacupuncture.com product pages as promised.

Ugh, not a pretty site.

The following day was an unofficial public holiday in Australia for the running of a horse race, known as the ‘Melbourne Cup’.

Phew, no clinic enabled me to gingerly travel to the residence of my long time assistant and resident tonetskyu (rice grain moxibustion) expert Andrea.

She generously applied tonetskyu  and inserted some intra-dermal needles close to the most painful points.

I experienced some relief and was able to get a better nights sleep and travel to work the next day.

My colleague Nick then applied acupuncture as pictured below in conjunction with a Kidney root treatment.

Again I enjoyed sufficient relief to complete a very busy day in clinic.

The situation was complicated by the fact that my daughters and I were to  travel some 300 km on Friday to visit  old family friends on their property in the hills behind Coff’s Harbour on the mid North Coast of New South Wales.

Of more immediate concern was my ability to travel 200 km to and from my rooms in Brisbane not to mention being able to treat the many patients booked in for treatment on the Thursday as a result of the aforementioned unofficial public holiday on Tuesday.

Fortunately my assistant on the Thursday morning Andrew, an accomplished student who had been diligently practicing his traditional acupuncture skills throughout the year gave me another treatment.

Utilizing the marks that I had asked Nick to make on the previous day; Andrew skillfully administered an identical treatment.

Suffice to say that I made it through the day and got home in one piece, albeit slightly bent.

My daughters arrived that night and we awoke on Friday morning to the news that our destination, Coff’s Harbour had experienced a massive deluge of rain overnight and flooding was rampant.

To complicate matters the intense low pressure system that was contributing to such an extraordinary rainfall was going nowhere and the rain was forecast to continue for the next 24 to 48 hours making our planned journey more than a little perilous.

Add to that my extremely suspect lower back condition and we were experiencing some degree of trepidation, a situation not remedied by a phone call from my close friends in the eye of the storm strongly suggesting that we abandon our journey.

Our friends communicated some significant concerns about our safety, especially gaining access to their property.

This assessment was based on the fact that at the time of the phone call access to and from the property had been cut off by rising floodwater’s.

Nevertheless, my daughters and I rarely have exclusive time together and decided to cast caution to the wind and make the trip.

Thankfully all went well and we had a fabulous although extremely wet weekend.

The moral of the story is that fortune favors the bold and traditional acupuncture was incredibly effective, resolving my pain and discomfort sufficiently for me to travel such a distance and negotiate some hair-raising creek crossings, enjoy a wonderful party and arrive home in much better shape than when I departed.

To cap it off, I went for my first surf since injuring my back yesterday enjoying some pristine conditions at my local break at Rainbow Bay a little over a week after suffering from an extremely nasty dose of acute lower back pain, from my perspective as a patient a very good result indeed!

I hope all is well with you and yours.
Kind regards,
Alan
PS.
The following images should give you some idea of our adventurous weekend in addition to showing me on the treatment table for a change.

Thumbs up as I receive a Japanese Acupuncture treatment for severe acute lower back pain

Locals discussing strategies to re establish contact with the outside world. Note: The size of the rock the fellow in the background is moving

First car through post flooding

A safe haven high in the hills behind Coff's Harbour

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/japanese-acupuncture-relieves-my-acute-lower-back-pain/feed 0 http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-for-severe-acute-lower-back-pain-and-sciatica http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-for-severe-acute-lower-back-pain-and-sciatica#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:13:44 +0000 Alan http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/?p=1817 Using Japanese Acupuncture last night I had the privilege of treating my brand-new next-door neighbor for excruciating lower back pain and sciatica.

Although Keiron had only just moved in and would only be staying for a week his plight became known to me in general conversation.

He was already taking anti-inflammatory medication and had sought Traditional Chinese acupuncture treatment earlier in the day, all to little or no avail.

He had been suffering for almost 7 days and his condition was growing worse by the hour.

He was in excruciating pain and had extraordinary difficulty walking the few meters from his apartment to mine.
It took all of 10 minutes for him to get up on the treatment table.

Apart from the fact that within 15 minutes of the treatment finishing he was moving in a far less painful and inconvenient manner his comment that he could feel his entire being relax and unwind immediately I administered Liver Yin deficiency root treatment using the points LIv.8 – KI.10 stood out.

He continually remarked throughout the course of treatment that this was the most relaxed he had felt in days, once again confirming for me the validity and power of administering an appropriate treatment, especially in cases of acute lower back pain.

Below is a video of the Traditional Japanese Acupuncture treatment for lower back pain that was recorded last year.

Whilst each and every treatment is a highly individualized process this video will give you a good idea of my treatment for lower back pain.
I hope you enjoy and are able to pass on some of the benefits to your patients.
Kind regards,
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 in the vicinity of 30 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.Worldacupunctureblog.com

For more info, please visit: http://www.Worldacupuncture.com

In this post we have a video interview with Daniel and I have provided
a little of his successful history with Traditional Japanese
Acupuncture.

In late 1998 Daniel presented including suffering from a severely compromised immune system.

When competing in swimming meets where he would contest the 200 m,
400 m and 1500 m events Daniel was all too frequently suffering from chronic sinusitis, headaches, severe lethargy and malaise, definitely not the ideal state to successfully achieve his goal of competing in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

To cut a long story short, Daniel commenced a regular treatment regime of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture
that resulted in him regaining robust good health thus allowing him to
train and compete successfully at the level required to qualify.

Daniel was also suffering from severe wear and tear of both shoulders that eventually required surgical intervention to repair.

The bottom line is that in the three years  he attended clinic he did not suffer from any illness, a far cry from the repeated health dilemmas that he had suffered  previously.

A decade later and Daniel is once again competing albeit at the Masters games rather than at  Olympic level.

This year the Australian Masters swimming was held in Brisbane, Australia.

Daniel now resides in Melbourne and at my behest had been receiving
regular Traditional Japanese Acupuncture treatment from my erstwhile
colleague Katsuhiko Okuma.

With the help of Okuma sensei his preparation had been excellent and
when he presented in clinic last Thursday week he was in excellent
shape, apart from a painful lower back.

This made my job a lot easier.

Daniel requested Traditional Japanese Acupuncture treatment to optimize his energy levels and resolve his lower back discomfort thus providing him with sufficient fuel in the tank to once again compete successfully.

I performed a Spleen deficiency root treatment utilizing the points Pe 7 and Sp 3 to build his core energy reserves and shunted the gall bladder meridian utilizing the point GB 40 to enhance the distribution of this energy to his limbs.

I also utilized the relevant back shu points, rice grain moxibustion (Tonetskyu) on the lower back and performed scatter needling throughout his neck and shoulders

The following video is an interview that was conducted last Saturday week after he had broken the world record in the 800 m freestyle event for his age group in Masters swimming by a massive 8 seconds.

After this interview I performed a similar treatment to the one that
he had received on Thursday morning and that afternoon he went on to
break the 400 m freestyle world record for his age group in Masters swimming  by an unbelievable 7 seconds.

On the Sunday Daniel raced in the 200 m freestyle and you guessed it, he broke the world record in this event also.

His remarkable performance showed that his awesome competitive
spirit continued to burn brightly and his confidence in the ability of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture to enhance his sporting performance was most definitely reflected in his outstanding results.

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 in the vicinity of 30 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.Worldacupunctureblog.com

For more info, please visit: http://www.Worldacupuncture.com

After finishing clinic around 1.15 pm, we ‘chowed’ (ate) down our tucker (food) kicking off what was an extremely productive initial Traditional Japanese Acupuncture workshop for 2009.

Most of the students present spend time with me in clinic and regularly attend our Japanese Acupuncture workshops.

I am hard to impress when it comes to students, having taught for more than a decade.

However, the commitment and effort the current group puts into their study and work is inspirational.

They are setting the bar very high for the next generation of students of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture.

The  student’s total awareness of the patient’s comfort in clinic is vital.

In conjunction with this awareness, the leading student’s commitment to refining and developing their Acupuncture skills bodes well for their future.

Sunday afternoon/evening I attended/photographed the magical wedding, deep in the hills in the Byron Shire in Northern NSW.
It was a wonderful occasion full of joy and gratitude.

A Magical Place for a Wedding

In Da Bush over the Road

I was fortunate enough to be able to stay the night with friends in a magnificent timber home with extensive verandas overlooking ‘The Lost Valley’.

On Monday morning both of my hosts requested an Acupuncture treatment, one for what was becoming a chronic lower back issue involving a prolapsed upper lumbar disc, the other for knee and thumb pain as well as an extremely stubborn mouth abscess.

What a wonderful way to express my gratitude to mine hosts for Bed and Breakfast plus a timely session in the hot tub overlooking the magnificent vistas of the aforementioned ‘Lost Valley’.

Lost Valley is up there somewhere

A Letter Box from Yesteryear

Both patients felt immediate relief from their ailments.

Traditional Japanese Acupuncture, with its extraordinary portability, flexibility of application and on a majority of occasions’, immediate positive results provides a multitude of opportunities to be of service.

These are just a few of the reasons why I’m such a passionate purveyor this extraordinary traditional medical art.

The trust this post finds you well and happy.

Lotsa,
Alan

Footnote:

I attended the funeral of an inspirational friend and patient last Friday.

Over five years of treatment, Keith and I developed a deep mutual respect.

Keith fully appreciated the power of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture having overcome huge adversity with the assistance of this potent and durable healing art.

Without going into great detail Keith suffered a massive attack of Pancreatitis 5 years ago and when the medical diagnosis of his condition took days rather than hours his Spleen was destroyed and his Liver massively damaged.

He was written off by the medical fraternity and told he had weeks/months to live.

To cut a long story short, Keith sought my assistance at the behest of his youngest daughter and after two Japanese Acupuncture treatments he ‘miraculously’ regained his sense of smell and as a result of this phenomena his appetite returned.

A self confessed skeptic, Keith got a good sniff of the possibility of some sort of recovery from this life threatening condition and applied his amazingly resilient spirit to once again be able to walk unassisted, stand without feeling like he had just stepped off a ride at Disney World, see without feeling like he was looking into a mirror ball, enjoy his incredibly supportive family and relish his food.

Over the next 3/4 years Keith was permanently on the Liver Transplant list, his status required the constant use of anti rejection medication (Immune Suppressants) accompanied by some nasty side affects including diabetes.

During this time Keith received regular twice weekly Traditional Japanese Acupuncture treatment.

With many factors working in his favor,  Keith received the most unexpected and very rare news, after 3/4 years on the transplant list his Liver had recovered sufficiently for him to be removed from the list.

The medico’s were stunned by Keith’s unexpected recovery.

This wonderful news was followed by his life long ambition of traveling to ‘The Kimberley’s and the Great Australian Outback being fulfilled, for many months he and his amazing wife, Lyn savored their unexpected good fortune.

About a year ago, the medico’s decided that they needed to place a shunt in Keith’s Liver, unfortunately there were some unexpected difficulties and infection set in.

Keith was prescribed antibiotics to counteract the infection only to learn after 3 weeks of absolutely terrible health ‘I feel like I am dying’ that he was highly allergic to the prescribed drugs.

His health had been fatally affected and his decline was gradual but constant until his passing.

To me Keith was inspirational, not once in those years of treatment did he blame, condemn or criticize anyone or anything for his situation.
He always had time for others and constantly spread ‘Good Vibes’ to all and sundry.

I am extremely grateful to have met a person of such stature and will miss his smile, one liner’s, his compassion and empathy immeasurably.
Rest In Peace Keith and thank you for all that you gave to each and every person you met in my practice, none will forget you!

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 in the vicinity of 30 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.Worldacupunctureblog.com

For more info, please visit: http://www.Worldacupuncture.com

]]> http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/life-death-and-japanese-acupuncture/feed 2 http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-and-severe-pain http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-and-severe-pain#comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:44:30 +0000 Alan http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/?p=935 Greetings one and all,

A very happy patient recently reported that Japanese Acupuncture significantly relieved her severe lower back, hip & neck pain, resolved her diabolical sleep pattern and restored her sense of well-being in only 3 treatments !

Chris first attended Acupuncture clinic on October 11 suffering from chronic severe neck, shoulder and hip pain.

The pain was very severe at night and she hadn’t slept through the night in over six months.

The origin of this discomfort was a severe whiplash injury that she had suffered some 27 years ago.

Chris had tried numerous therapies including chiropractic, massage, physiotherapy, trigger point needling, cortisone injections, and various pain medications, experiencing no lasting relief.

Diagnosis, including questioning, palpation and pulse examination confirmed my suspicions that the underlying pattern of disharmony was Liver Yin deficiency.

Treatment.

October 11th.

I performed a Liver Yin deficiency root treatment and added back – shu and local points as required.

Liv.8-Ki.10 tonified and GB.34 shunted.

Bi-lateral local and back-shu points included; GB 20,21- GV9,10,11- SI.11- Bl.43,18,20,60 with Ondan Moxibustion applied to ( Bl.23,26,plus unilateral points on the left side  ½”  L4-5 and L5-S1,GB29,30.)

October 14th.

Chris felt much better for 24 hours after the previous treatment but was again feeling poorly , her neck locking up after several hours on the phone at work.

She was unable to sleep at all due to the neck and hip pain, however, her left shoulder was much better.

Again I performed a Liver Yin deficiency root treatment.

Liv.8-Ki.10 shunting GB.34 and SI.3

The rest of the treatment remained unchanged apart from the elimination of the L4-5  ½” point.

October 23rd.

Chris experienced significant improvement in her neck, lower back and hip pain.

The sleeping had improved remarkably and she felt a lot more at ease and comfortable with herself.

Treatment remained the same with the addition of Ondan moxibustion  applied to the left side Bl.53, 32 and special point Yaoyi located lateral to Bl.26.

I also performed some dispersive needling on her left shoulder and neck.

November 1st.

Chris was feeling excellent, travelling at 85% comfort level rather than the 40% she was experiencing prior to her acupuncture treatment.

We can hypothesize until the cows come home regarding the reason for her remarkable improvement.

For mine however improvement was a result of using the correct root treatment , connecting what most of the practitioners from our allied modalities had considered to be disjointed symptomology to a core energetic imbalance.

Following video is a 1 minute interview with Chris regarding the clinical outcome of her Japanese acupuncture treatment.

Hope you enjoy,

Lotsa,

Alan

Watch Japanese Acupuncture Resolves Severe Pain in How to Videos |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

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 in the vicinity of 30 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 WorldAcupunctureblog.com

For more info, please visit: WorldAcupuncture.com

Hope all is well in your world and prosperity in all it’s forms is your constant companion.

I received this email from our traveling colleague, Jenni and thought the sentiments expressed within well worth posting ?

Hope you enjoy, I sure did!

Kind regards,

Alan

Not the Himalayas, South Island, New Zealand

Heya Alan,

You just made my day!
I got your mail, went to your sight and started reading everything from chronic fatigue syndrome to pre and post natal care, getting all buzzed up on my chair at the internet cafe in the beautiful hill town called the McCloudganj, the present home of Dalai Lama by the foothills of the Himalayas.

As I was getting excited of everything I was reading and just feeling the Ki circulating in me by the mere thought of how different treatments work, I started feeling this familiar nervous tickle inside me which is caused by the understanding I always have while learning more about acupuncture, of how much more there is for me to learn and how every day at a clinic and with a patient is like a new day again (which makes the work all the more pleasurable to wake up to also).

As much as I enjoy the feeling and understand how I’m only at the beginning of my journey, I do get frustrated when I feel insecure with what I know so far when by the side of a client and only being able to do the ‘best’ i know and can how to, when at the same time within I know, believe and somehow instinctively understand (even though the topic is so much more vast then I am) the immense possibilities of traditional acupuncture.

So inspired by this frustrated tickle I clicked the link ‘from practitioners perspective’ on your site and found a familiar name with a familiar face and got a taste of my fifteen minutes of fame.

The post was cool and you inspired me yet again with a funniest way when a little kick was what I actually needed. What I didn’t mention before is how valuable your newsletters and site has turned out to be for me when travelling and working in the places I have been working and often being alone with what I do, missing the companionship and guidance of other acupuncturists.

So a big thanks to you again as well as the wonderful possibilities the world wide web provides us!

A freshly inspired mountain air hello from me again, Have a Great Day!

Jenni

G’day One and All,

Hope life is going swimmingly for you.

I sent a newsletter out to patient’s, students and practitioners yesterday entitled ‘Why I Do What I Do’, a brief insight into my motivation and an explanation as to why I am still practicing Acupuncture after 25 years at the coalface.

In response to this newsletter I received this reply from Peta whom I last saw in clinic sometime in January…

Her email says it all for me, there is little I can add.

Hi Alan, Thank you for the email. Often think about the trials and tribulations you must have being in the western world of medicine here.

Anyway, just to let you know I am very healthy with my back…absolutely NO PAIN or even a tingling of pain at all since that last treatment, so long ago that I have forgotten when it was.

Also, because my back is better I have been able to exercise again. Almost every morning at 5am doing 17 -20km on a bike and then walking 2-3 km and weights too.

You (Acupuncture) turned my life around. My right knee is better now too …guess that’s got a bit to do with getting the weight off it.

Sometimes I am careful with it because I know it still has those two screws in it!

I’ve lost a lot of weight and I am doing really well at being a student nurse now too.

You ( Acupuncture) really have turned my life around.

THANK YOU!!

Peta

Here is a short interview with Peta filmed back in January

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Meridian based acupuncture once again justified the faith that both he as a patient and myself as a practitioner place in it.

This clinical outcome is far from the exception to the rule and it is the main reason I continue to practice afters 25years in clinic.

Here is some feedback from Chris and the follow up treatment administered about a week after the initial treatment for debilitating back pain.

Hope all is good in your world,

Alan

Online Videos by Veoh.com

‘I will keep you posted on the patient‚Äôs progress.This scenario is going down now in Arizona and it is altogether possible that this lady is undergoing surgery as I write this post. ‘

Today, I can happily confirm that my learned colleague from these posts has undergone a successful surgical procedure and is making a rapid recovery with the aid of, you guessed it, Traditional Acupuncture.

Speaking by phone, my friend sounded relieved that at last there was light at the end of the tunnel and she reported that she has found an empathetic and capable Acupuncture practitioner to assist in her recovery.

I was surprised by the response that I got from various colleagues and students in regard how they would have handled this situation.

It is one thing to be full of bravado about ones capabilities, it is entirely another thing when someones health and well being for the rest of their lives is under threat.

I guess I am saying it is equally important to know our clinical limitations as well as our clinical potential, regardless, I urge you to ‘Keep It Real’.

I believe our responsibility is to inform the patient of their options to the best of our ability, provide quality treatment to assist them to improve or recover and follow up with maintenance treatments when possible.

The patients health and well being should be uppermost in our minds and I do not believe that includes using patients to prove how good a practitioner or how clinically potent we are.

In my opinion the risks associated by not undergoing a surgical procedure in this instance far outweighed any of the perceived benefits that might or might not be derived from a long and arduous Acupuncture treatment regime.

It is not a pretty sight seeing a patient lose bowel and bladder function!

As I said before, ‘You gotta know when to hold and know when to fold em’?

This blog and the forthcoming world acupuncture website (see ABOUT page) remain works in progress, any feedback or specific requests for info or insights are welcome.

I have to head off to clinic shortly so I shall take my leave, hope you have a good one,

Alan