Poke-Man: Gettin' My Chi Together With "Handy Andy"
Andrew Hill, Acupuncturist to the stars..er..or well at least to me.
HANDY ANDY: I love to get poked by Andrew Hill. Now, it's not via Facebook or some freaky-deeky social network. No, Andrew is my acupuncturist. And, truthfully, he is really helping me get my "chi" together. In traditional Chinese medicine, chi, refers to the balance of negative and positive forms in the body is believed to be essential for good health. And anything that gives me a bit more balance in this unbalanced life of mine I am all for—even if it means getting pricked by tiny needles. Hill is also a massage therapist and a very funny guy. I thought it might be fun to ask a him a few questions about what he does and here is what he had to say.
What are the advantages of acupuncture?
The largest advantage that acupuncture has, in terms of providing the most relief to the patient, is that it's based on treating the individual as a whole, not the condition. Most modern medical treatments are focused on either treating or relieving individual symptoms, which leads to the all-too-common situation of a patient taking one medication for one problem, a second medication for another problem, and a third medication to deal with the negative interactions of the first two medications. And for a lot of people, even with all of these medications, they are still suffering.
In comparison, an acupuncturist will look at the main complaint that a patient comes in with as part of an overall diagnosis. A typical intake of a patient may also include questions about emotional state, other chronic aches and pains, energy level, environment and diet. The answers to those questions will then be combined with objective observations made by the practitioner which can include the patient's appearance (is the patient flushed or pale?), presentation (energetic or lethargic?), and movement (are they any limitations to movement or does the patient show signs of pain with movements that should be within the standard range of motion?) All of this information, combined with what the practitioner feels in the pulses, is then used to come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan.This is then used as a basis for future treatments, with adjustments being made as various symptoms become more or less prominent over the course of the sessions.
One of the benefits of acupuncture is the price - no matter what your economic status, you will be able to find an acupuncturist you can afford, especially in Portland.
Want to hear more about Hill's poking practice, click "read more" below:
Finally, one of the biggest advantages to acupuncture and most manual therapies is that they can be used in conjunction with other Western treatments without much complication. It can speed recovery from surgery, reduce medication side effects, help maintain the immune system, and maintain the patient's ability to live their lives while undergoing potentially debilitating treatments. For example, I interned at the Quest Center during my final year in school treating cancer patients in a group setting. The goal of these treatments was to help this group deal with the side effects of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments they were receiving. Some of the most common complaints involved nausea, inability to sleep, and nerve-based pain. By minimizing their symptoms, the patients were less distracted by the side-effects they were suffering and were better able to focus on dealing with their disease.
If you are squeamish around needles is acupuncture going to freak you out?
To be honest, on your first visit, you might be a little jumpy around the needles. Our culture has an almost reflexive fear of needles, but it's important to point out that the needles that we use in acupuncture are very different than the needles that are used in more contemporary medicine. First, when most people think of needles in a medical setting, they are thinking of hypodermic needles. These are the hollow needles are used for injections, drawing blood, etc. They work by tearing a hole in the skin and the tissue below it, which can be traumatic for the body and which can take some time to heal. In contrast, acupuncture needles are solid and, in most cases, much thinner (thicker needles may be used by certain practitioners, but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule). This means that don't so much break through the skin and tissue as much as they "push" it out of the way. This means there is less pain on the insertion of the needle as well as less trauma to the body. Some areas are more tender than others, but overall, after a few treatments, most patients won't notice the needles at all.
There are also techniques the practitioner can use to help a patient deal with any jumpiness or fear. Doing some light massage over the insertion point will make it much less reactive. Also, for many people, if they can't see the needle, it's not as scary, so using points on the back can be very helpful. One of the coolest things about acupuncture is that there are several ways you can approach the treatment depending on the patients limitations, which means that if a patient is having issues that would normally require points on the front of the body, but they absolutely can stand seeing the needles, there are points on the back that can be used instead. This can be very handy when treating patients who are in a cast or who can't lay on their stomach.
Is it recommended for anyone/everyone?
Acupuncture works great on both chronic and acute situations, but it's never going to take the place of the emergency room. If you have appendicitis or a broken bone, get to the ER. Having said that, acupuncture is an amazingly flexible form of medicine, with there being a practitioner style for just about anyone. Most acupuncturists are also have some form of cross-training involving massage, herbal therapy, movement therapy, or lifestyle analysis, so even if your condition is not one that acupuncture can directly help, an acupuncturist should be able to point you in the right direction.
Some acupuncturists also develop specialities depending on their own interests and passions. My personal focus is the treatment of chronic pain and musculo-skeletal conditions in a one-on-one environment, but one of my instructors used a group-treatment approach to deal with these conditions. My mentor works with autistic children using an approach based on Shiatsu massage and Qi Gong (a form of exercise that focuses on the body's energy, or qi), while another practitioner I know uses flower essences on the acupoints instead of needles. So, depending on your location, you may not only be able to find a practitioner with experience in your condition, but one who can work with any limitations - physical, mental, or emotional - that may have made it difficult to get adequate treatment in the past.
How many treatments should someone expect to do before receiving benefits from treatments?
One of the ways that acupuncture works is through the manipulation of channels. For a moment, I want you to picture these channels as water hoses, like you would use on a lawn. If you have never had acupuncture before and you have been suffering from a chronic condition, those hoses will be full of gunk, and the first few treatments will be primarily be getting that stuff moving. This means that the first or second treatment may not feel particularly effective, and depending how much stagnation is in the channels, you may even feel a little loopy as it floods your system (One of the reasons we always to tell patients to drink more water is because the better hydrated you are, the more easily your body can dispose of any stagnation that is released.) On average, we usually like to have 6 to 8 treatments to deal with chronic conditions and around 4 to 6 treatments for acute situations. The more time that passes between treatments will increase the recovery time, as will the amount of time between the injury and seeking treatment. Our bodies are wonderful at adapting to injuries, but when a situation exists for a long time, we have to reverse those adaptations as we deal with the cause.
Is acupuncture the only thing you do?
I am also a trained and licensed massage therapist, and I have had great luck in combining acupuncture with massage in my treatments. I also use a lot of cupping in my practice. This type of therapy involves using flame to create a vacuum inside a glass cup that looks like a very small fishbowl. This is therapy can often release stuck tissues and muscles as effectively as a deep tissue massage with less soreness afterwards. It also makes you look like you attacked by an octopus, which can be fun to show people (I have yet to have a patient not use the suction marks to mess with friends and family).
Before opening my own practice, I worked as an aide in a physical therapy office, where I learned several take home exercises that can not only speed recovery but also reduce patient discomfort between visits. I also have a strong personal interest in fitness, supplements, and diet with several years of background in weight training and the martial arts, so I am comfortable discussing workout habits, offering diet change suggestions, or looking at supplement and prescription drug use. Finally, while I have a lot of herbal knowledge, I prefer to use only one or two herbs at time, so while I do understand chinese herbal formulas, I rarely use them myself.
What else should people know about you?
Probably the biggest thing is that I love what I do - I enjoy my work and I enjoy helping people. That was probably the biggest draw for me when it came to choosing the type of medicine I wanted to practice. Using acupuncture and massage, a person can come to me in pain, and by the time they leave, I can almost always bring them some relief. Also, because of the respect I have for our medicine, if I feel that it's not the right approach, I will let you know.
GOOD TO KNOW: Contact Andrew Hill LAc, LMT at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (I love his email address) for more information about his practice.
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Last Updated (Wednesday, 23 June 2010 11:47)
