I use both massage and acupuncture as treatment in my clinic.

 

There are three purposes for massage.

 

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 1. To find out the cause of pain by examining the patient directly by hand,.

 

​2. To relieve the stiffness of the muscles and joints, encourage blood circulation in the area, and regain the original ability of the muscles.

 

3. To restore the original movement that you have lost by peeling off the connected fascias between muscle groups. (Myofascial Release)

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However, because the massage is done by hand, a considerable force is needed to reach the deep muscle. For that reason, there is a slight possibility of hurting surrounding muscles. Your body must repair all the connected extra muscle tissue. That is why acupuncture is very useful. It makes it possible to reach the deep muscles without any needless strain or damage for your body,

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Acupuncture has 4 therapeutic effects.

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1. On the shallow layers, To open small holes in the fascia and tear off adhesions!

The fascia is like a thin skin that wraps muscles.

If you are overworked or have inflammation, or do not move your muscle, the facias connect each other and restrict  your range of motion.

When this happens, the body becomes stiff.

By acupuncture treatment to the shallow layers, it is possible to remove these adhesions.

　

2. In the deep layers, you can get better blood circulation and soften any knots in the muscle!

When the acupuncture needles are placed anywhere in your body, even if it is not a deep layer, your body reacts as it recognizes the needles as foreign objects.

The pain is often caused due to the lack of oxygenand and nutrients in the damaged tissue or muscles.

Through acupuncture, blood circulation gets better as a reaction to the needles.

Because blood cells carry oxygen, these cells become more active sending oxygen where it is needed.

In addition, the action of white blood cells begins to repair the damaged area.

And the cells  return to how they were before your felt pain.

In my clinic, I leave the needles in your skin for a while (about 30 mins) to let the blood flow more to the stiff or damaged muscle.

The blood circulation comes back to the damaged area and  enables the tight muscle to relax and regain elasticity.

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3．Nerves become more active!

By placing acupuncture near the nerves, the circulation of the blood vessels that nourish the nerves also improves, and the nerve cells can be active.

If this is an autonomic nerve (the nerve that is moving internal organs without you being aware), improved condition of the internal organs can be regained, and the symptoms coming from stress issues can be relieved.

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If this is a somatic nerve (sensory nerves and motor nerves), you can expect stiff muscles to loosen.

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* Warning

When the blood circulation becomes too good, sometime the pressure of the cell and the tissue increases temporarily, and the nerve around the area is squeezed and the pain may also temporarily increase, this is natural and you should not worry.

　

4．A temporary pain relief effect!

The brain or in the spinal cord, chemicals such as endorphins that block pain are released when the acupuncture needle is inserted.

I personally think this is a temporary pain relief, And is not a permanent cure.

This is the reason why you sometimes feel that acupuncture works immediately but the pain comes back to how it was in the next day.

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The theories that I believe

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1．My own experience in the hands of TARO at Ichigo Clinic

It is actually through my own experience that I think "deep needling (acupuncture to reach the deep layer of the muscles)” is absolutely the most effective method.

Ever since I was pregnant with my daughter nine years ago, I have been suffered from the chronic lower back pain.

At that time, I was running a lot and competed in many marathons in a year. I was always feeling a dull pain in my lower back, when I ran any higher mileage.

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At that time, I was in the first grade of acupuncture college. I went to a variety of acupuncture clinics and tried many methods of acupuncture but they were ineffective (the pain relief didn’t last long), but with Ichigo Clinic’s treatment, the chronic pain cleared immediately and permanently. I was convinced this is the way to go.

 

I believe, acupuncture to reach the deep tissues is the way to go.

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2．Experience of Beijing Clinic by Shu Asano

When I was in the third grade in acupuncture college, I discovered the Beijing Clinic while I was practicing the deep needling technique (acupuncture to the reach the deep layers of the muscles). Mr. Shu Asano, the founder of Beijing Clinic, has 40 years of acupuncture experience, treating 10-20 people every day, a total of 100,000 people (!) .

 

There are a lot of disciples in his clinic learning his technique.

 I too visit him and have learnt a lot from his treatments. When I talked to his patients, they nearly all say, "the pain that didn’t go away from other doctors’ treatments went away so quickly.”

Having met a lot of patients and hearing their testimonials convinced me that the Beijng Deep Needling is the most beneficial kind of treatment.

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3．Trigger Point Theory

Trigger point theory is the idea that a small contraction knot in muscle tissue restricts circulation, resulting in deprivation of oxygen and nutrients needed for metabolism, and causing pain.

 

There is a term called "referred pain", the complication caused from the stiffness of a muscle can cause pain in nearby joints, or even in different places (including internal organs) not the actual area where the knot is located.

 

Sometimes the spinal cord (which collects all the nerves) gets the stimulation of pain from the trigger point (the knot), it gets confused and releases the signal of pain to a point or place that has no problem.

 Confusion occurs because the nerves all come to the spinal cord from different areas and are transmitted to the whole body again.

 

If you have tried acupuncture or massage and didn’t work, no matter how many times you tried, it may be because the pain there is referred from somewhere else.

In my clinic, I will do my best to find the trigger point, i.e. the root cause of the pain.

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4．Anatomy Trains

As a student at acupuncture college Deep Needling techniques were not usually learnt.

 

However, even “Shallow Needling” can make the body feel refreshed, and pain relief can be achieved. I always wondered why it is.?

 I have learned that "meridians" are flowing through the body, and "Qi" is passing in them. But this traditional Chinese Medical theory hasn’t been proven by modern science.

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I base most of my treatment on “Anatomy Trains”, and `myofascia` which are based in western science

The term "Myofascial release" is becoming more widely known. There is subcutaneous tissue just below the skin. And underneath it is the myofascia that is wrapped around the muscles.

 

This subcutaneous tissue and myofascia are in various layers (but essentially in a relatively shallow layer of the body) and wrap the entire body.

 

It is a theory that the subcutaneous tissue or the myofascia become adhesions, and it hardens in the body due to overuse or inactivity and reduce range of motion.

 

As an example, after cats sleep for a while, they stretch out. What they are actually doing is peeling off the tissue of the fascia and subcutaneous tissues around the muscles.

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Stiffness of the body caused by the adherence of the facia will reduce the range of motion, and burden other muscles in the body, leading more stiffness.

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I use massage and acupuncture technique to loosen fascia adhesions.

 

 

​This forms the basis of my treatment.