Can Acupuncture Help to Prevent Dementia?

  Whether you are a student trying to maximize your cognitive function while learning at university or a middle-aged person noticing how your memory isn’t as good as it used to be, this research on acupuncture and dementia may apply to you too! Dementia is not a necessary consequence of aging alone. A report released this month by the Alzheimer Society of Canada highlights that one of the greatest health…

Read more »

Low Back Pain: Why Our Edmonton Acupuncture Clinic Creates Lasting Improvement

Our Edmonton clinic uses acupuncture with an integrated approach to treat low back pain that creates lasting improvement and not just short-term relief.  Here’s why: The way we do acupuncture focuses first on resetting and improving the function of the core muscles and sinews. During the first treatment, our main work is to reduce the sensitivity to pain. This creates the opportunity for the back to start healing in the…

Read more »

Acupuncture for menopause – an alternative to estrogen

Acupuncture works to relieve symptoms of menopause Two recent research trials highlighted below have shown that acupuncture works for menopause.  It can produce fast and clinically relevant and sustained reduction of hotflashes and night sweats.  A series of treatments over a few months can result in effects lasting several more months. Menopause symptoms Hot flashes and night sweats are the most common and troublesome symptoms associated with menopause.  A hot flash…

Read more »

Acupuncture for headaches and migraines

facial acupuncture

Acupuncture works for headaches and migraines Acupuncture for headaches and migraines has gained significant credibility in modern times.  Many Edmontonians come to us seeking relief for headache or migraine because their medications are no longer working well or are giving them unacceptable side effects. A previous blog I wrote talks about a very rigorous scientific examination of clinical research.  In a 2016 Cochrane Review the authors summarized twenty-two clinical acupuncture trials…

Read more »

Acupuncture for back pain : a turning point in “bad” posture

We use acupuncture to strategically your back pain in 3 steps: 1. first, we use acupuncture to relieve back pain by relaxing the painful/tight muscles (the main reason most come to see us!). 2. Second, we use acupuncture to activate the unresponsive, “sleepy” muscles not being engaged as you sit all day. For many you walk out of our clinic with a more responsive back, “reset” and “balanced” for functional…

Read more »

Acupuncture and the Amygdala Connection

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc In traditional practices, acupuncture has been used to effectively treat anxiety problems, with or without depression. Now, modern research has shown that acupuncture can be as clinically significant as psychological counselling in the treatment of depression. Recent studies have linked psychological depression with activation of the amygdalae, an important little pair of almond-shaped structures located behind the eyes and about as far back as the…

Read more »

Acupuncture for Treatment of Insomnia

Acupuncture is commonly used to treat insomnia and other stress-related conditions By Gord Grant, PhD, RAc Acupuncture is commonly used to treat insomnia and many other stress-related conditions. I have helped many clients break the vicious cycle of insomnia through a few acupuncture sessions.  Mechanistically, it make sense that acupuncture could help with insomnia, since it works in part by quietening down (deactivating) the “stress-reaction” part of the brain (the amygdala)….

Read more »

Dos and Don’ts of Stretching

    As a former university team athlete, current martial artist and yoga teacher trainer (with a masters degree in exercise physiology) I am NOT surprised to hear from so many people how many misinterpretations they hold about stretching. From my personal experience teaching Yoga teachers I have come to know that yoga/stretching done well is great and done incorrectly can be injurious. More recently, from my clinical experience working…

Read more »