Jessica Shaw Acupuncture

03/30/2016

Every day I am able to work with incredible people who have stories of adversity that I can only vaguely understand. This woman is one of them. I am so proud of her for putting her suffering into words that might help other people who also suffer from trigeminal neuralgia.

I sadly know from experience that it is aptly named.

03/16/2016

I saw my primary care doctor for my yearly physical yesterday and one of the things we talked about at length were the connections between different types of cancer and sugar. She was adamant about it.

The husband was drinking a glass of orange juice a few days ago when he turned to me and asked “Is juice bad for you?” I said, “Yeah, it is – because it’s basically fu…

03/14/2016

This study shows that people who regularly get tattoos report incidentally fewer colds than people who do not, suggesting that tattoos offer a kind of "heavy lifting" for the immune system. In Chinese medicine, Wei Qi travels around the surface of the skin, acting as a "protector" against external pathogens trying to get in. Using this metaphor, tattoos can be thought of as a breach in the wall of Wei Qi that unlitmatly tests the boundary and makes it stronger in the long run!

The more ink you get, the more your ability to fight off the common cold improves, according to a new study.

11/04/2015

Sometimes we just need to get out of our pajamas and have something to eat. I have used the instructions on this sheet more than once in my life. Please feel free to print it out and use at it as needed!

10/30/2015

There are so many different ways that our conscious awareness of our physical body interacts with the physical reality of our body. All of them have relevance to healing.

"Everything that is masks for us something that might be."

10/27/2015

I see a lot of people in my practice who are just plain over worked. Sometimes the only way we feel better is to slow down.

More and more workplaces are turning to the wellness industry to try and solve the problem of overwork.

10/22/2015

***CAUTION***
This is a good example of how Western medicine may be mis-interpreting study results. Chinese Medicine diagnoses some women who have trouble conceiving with "thin" blood and some with "thick," or "stagnant" blood, depending on their presentation.

This study suggests that low doses of aspirin could increase pregnancy chances for ALL women trying to get pregnant. It is well documented that aspirin is a blood thinner, so perhaps it only helps those women with "thick" blood and actually makes it harder for women with already "thin" blood to conceive.

Taking just an 81-mg dose of aspirin daily may increase a woman's chance of getting pregnant, particularly if they have miscarried previously, suggests new research.

06/16/2015

The results of a new study show that over the counter anti-inflammatories significantly inhibit ovulation in women with mild musculoskeletal pain. Of the women receiving NSAIDs, only 6.3 percent (diclofenac), 25 percent (naproxen) and 27.3 percent (etoricoxib) ovulated, compared with 100 percent of the control group.

The results of a new study show that diclofenac, naproxen and etoricoxib significantly inhibit ovulation in women with mild musculoskeletal pain. Of the women receiving NSAIDs, only 6.3 percent (diclofenac), 25 percent (naproxen) and 27.3 percent (etoricoxib) ovulated, compared with 100 percent of t…

06/09/2015

There is some great information about back pain and posture in this story.

There are a few populations in the world where back pain hardly exists. One woman thinks she has figured out why, and she's sharing their secrets. Have Americans forgotten how to stand properly?

05/05/2015

Taste is very important in Chinese medicine, and many herbs and foods recommended for heart issues are bitter. The correlation is so strong that classical Chinese medical texts suggest that the bitter taste "enters" the heart.

Studying the human body never ceases to be fascinating.

A team of University of Queensland researchers is investigating the surprising discovery that smell and taste receptors normally found in the nose and mouth can also be present on the human heart.

04/16/2015

This is a great article describing the paradox of chronic pain

04/08/2015

"Researchers find that brain networks accessed by specific acupuncture points relate to specific medical disorders & suggest 'acupoint-brain-organ' pathway."

There is much more work to be done, but this is a very cool study.

Acupuncture regulates the brain to improve human health according to research published in Autonomic Neuroscience.

04/01/2015

An Australian study has shown that paracetamol (acetaminophen or Tylenol) is no better than a placebo for back pain and osteoarthritis, and can even cause harm in over doses.

Paracetamol is ineffective at treating back pain and osteoarthritis despite being a recommended treatment, a group of Australian researchers warns.