National Acupuncture Detoxification Assocation (NADA)

As an acupuncturist, I have used the NADA protocol for controlling nicotine addiction, drug and alcohol dependency and sexual addiction on hundreds of patients, all with reasonable to great results. Not to mention great results with stress reduction.

The NADA protocol is simple, yet quite effective. Drug, alcohol and tobacco addictions are major problems that affect tens of millions of people in America. This is not just a problem in America, but is occurring worldwide.

The addition of acupuncture into the treatment for addiction seems to be very beneficial, and almost the single ingredient that helps the protocol succeed. There are numerous benefits for patients by using this protocol:

1. The protocol is calming.

2. The patients are more receptive to leaning.

3. It seems to clear the mind. It centers one's attention and allows patients to complete tasks.

4. It helps to reduces cravings.

5. It diminishes symptoms of withdrawal.

6. It helps to retain people in the treatment process.

7. Sleep is improved.

8. A person changes and becomes more comfortable with himself (or herself).

9. It improves the internal space of a person.

10. This treatment supports the recovery process.

A Brief History of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Addiction

Understanding the principles of both Chinese medicine and chemical dependency can lead to significant benefit in recovery from all forms of drug addiction as well as alcoholism and a variety of mental disorders. NADA protocols, especially designed for this type of treatment, have been carefully developed and extensively tested. More than 500 clinical sites in the US, Europe, Australia and the Caribbean currently utilize these protocols, even in settings where threats of violence had previously made it difficult to serve clients. While adapted to Western attitudes and conditions, the NADA method derives directly from Chinese medicine theory of detoxification.

In 1972 a neurosurgeon in Hong Kong, H.L. Wen, discovered that acupuncture could relieve symptoms and cravings associated with drug withdrawal. Because of its effectiveness in relieving symptoms as well as preventing relapses, his discovery gained more and more popularity and was used in hospitals and detox centers throughout the US. 1985 an official protocol was developed and the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) was formed. The protocol involved using five specific acupuncture points on the ear. In August of 2000, Yale University School of Internal Medicine conducted research further demonstrating the effectiveness of the NADA protocol for cocaine, heroin and methadone addiction.

It is my highest recommendation, that you seek out an acupuncturist to perform this protocol.

I have included the NADA protocol points on the ear that are used in the session and are done with tiny little needles that are inserted into these points. I also recommend that patients can certainly use some light massage on these points to stimulate these areas.

National Acupuncture Detoxification Assocation (NADA) Treatment Protocol

Lung 2 - addiction related lung issues

Shen Men - stress, anxiety, excessive sensitivity

Autonomic Point - balance symphathetic and parasymphathetic nervous systems, blood circulation

Liver - hepatitis, cirrhosis

Kidney - kidney disorders, urination issues

In our Alternative Answers health community, PHOTO section, you will find a picture of the ear and where these points are located. Go here.

Learn more about The NADA protocol for addiction, detoxing or in Chinese Medicine.

Native American Healing, Symbols and Legends

by Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac.

It is within the Native American belief system that everything has a spirit. Not just animals and humans but rocks, trees and wind as well. Illness occurs when these spirits feel angered or insulted. Fighting illness is more than treating the physical symptoms, but addressing the spiritual cause as well.

Crystals have been used for healing and spiritual purposes for centuries. They have proven to be very special tools, treasures from our earth. Science has utilized the technical properties of crystals for quite a while. We have eternally sought inspiration, understanding and healing from stones and circles. Native Americans honor stones as "the oldest living relatives," while Jews and Christians alike have gathered near stone tabernacles or stone temples for centuries to worship and seek guidance. The ancient Western European cultures believed that stones in a circle had magical, spiritual and healing properties. The Hindu religion uses a mandala, or sacred circle, for meditation, life direction, and healing. From the statues of Stone Age matriarchal cultures to the ancient pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge in England, people have turned to stones, circles, and rings of stone for assistance in the timeless human struggles with life, growth, and healing.

The Native American system is based on this ancient and compelling attraction to the circle and to stones. The circle is a symbol present across time in all religions and cultures, for the circle is endless and timeless. The circle suggests an unbroken wholeness in time and space, repeating over and over without end. The cycle of our lives moves in repeated and interwoven circles. Our day moves in a circle, as does our months (moon cycle),and years. The journeys we take in our lives begin at our home base, move away, and circle back. Plato wrote that the soul is a circle.

Native Americans use a circle of stones as a process designed to help us stop and think about the circle of our individual life, within the circle of universal life. This growth process can help us see our kinship with all people across time, cultures, and religions. For the human search for life, healing, and growth is timeless and ageless like the circle. So healing is a universal process for every man or woman who begins it. Paradoxically, healing is a process that is uniquely different for each man or woman who begins it, in whatever culture and time. For healing is also deeply personal. It is more a gradually ascending circular process, like a spiral gradually moving upwards, than a linear process like climbing a mountain slope. There are levels and stages of healing, and each person may have different needs at these levels and stages.

The healing process is a natural part of all of our lives. It occurs as a recovery process from behaviors, beliefs, values, attitudes and/or events that have been painful or dissatisfying to self and others. The process happens in many ways: the body (physical), the mind (psychological), the soul (spiritual), the heart (emotional), and the environment (ecological).

Healing occurs in respectful and authentic connections with ourselves and with other human beings. Healing requires intimacy. Intimacy develops as connections between people, based on trust, communication, and shared experiences. This development requires a time, a space, a tempo and rhythm unique to each individual. So healing occurs in relationships, and healing is a lifelong process. The knowledge of knowing thyself is very significant. For only you can understand what you are experiencing in that particular moment. Only you can discover how the healing process can work specifically for you, because each one of us are different. Each one of us has our own unique energy and must master how it is we can understand it, deal with it.

All of us have experienced some hurt or dissatisfaction in our lives . Sometimes the hurt has been imposed by our families, sometimes by our communities, and other times by our cultures. At times the hurt or dissatisfaction has been imposed by ourselves. And so, our life's work includes the healing process. This is the reality of being human, and always has been. We can struggle alone or together.

I was recently talking with a Native American friend of mine Chiaz, who is from the Dineh tribe. He told me this great story... When the miners where mining for ore in the West they basically came in and ravaged the land. Ripping it up and destroying every living thing around. Trees and animals died in the process. When they left, they took every bit of ore from the ground, leaving only the "green stone" behind. What they left behind, to the Native Americans, was the most valuable of all material. This "green stone" helped to stimulate physical and psychic vision and concentration. This "green stone" assisted with stomach, liver, kidney stones, lungs, immune system, and circulation problems. Releases and draws out pain, inflammation, depression, anger, heals blocks. Protects well by powerfully cleaning the auric field, rapidly absorbing undesirable energies. This "green stone" they left behind was Malachite. Its steady pulsing electromagnetic energy is worth more than its weight in gold, on a healing level.

I have included a resource from my friend Chiaz who is an American Indian Native of the Intertribal Foundation:

Native American Intertribal Foundation
505 Post Road, Wells Maine 04090
(207) 646-1206

The Native American Intertribal Foundation was founded for the sole purpose of assisting Native Americans in the state of Maine. NAIT serves the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Nations, the Houlton band of the Malisseet Nation, and the Arroostook band of the Micmac Nation. NAIT has created a Holiday Fund, a Bicycle Program, a New Baby program, and more. NAIT is a nonprofit corporation.

Wabanaki Nations Cultural Resource Center is a nonprofit, self-determining, grassroots/community level action to support the Life and restoration of Wabanaki Peoples and Nations. The Wabanaki Nations Cultural Resource Center was established to restore the natural Way of Life of Wabanaki, creating community projects and programs in such areas as Original Spiritual Practice, Social Health, Education, Law, Traditions, and Customs. For further information, phone during regular business hours, fax, or write to:

WAP'QTOTIMOINOAG-OETJGEOAPENEOAG
Wabanaki Nations Cultural Resource Center
via Burnt Church Reserve
P.O.Box 127, Lagaceville
New Brunswick, EOC 1KO, Canada
Tel. (506) 776-1800 Fax: (506) 776-3392

Nerve Damage Pain And How To Reduce It

submitted by Ellen DeWise from painmanagement.org

Damaged nerves continue to be a difficult condition for medical practitioners to treat. Severely damaged nerves often have a slower and longer success rate in healing back into working form. Mildly damaged nerves can result in pain, tingling and/or itching. This can be annoying or even debilitating.

Nutritional supplements should have a place in your effort against damaged nerves. Mild nerve damage can result in tingling, burning, itching, numbness or pain. Many times the damage is the result of trauma and will repair itself with time and proper nutrition. If this type of damage is the result of an internal imbalance, such as diabetes, it will have a chance to improve if this balance is addressed first.

If you are experiencing nerve damage complications such as neuropathy, itching, numbness or tingling L-Carnitine, Borage Oil (for Gamma Linolenic Acid content), and Alpha Lipoic Acid have each been shown to help reduce symptoms in studies on humans.

Other substances that have shown promise in human studies include Inositol, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. Inositol is a particular form of Vitamin B3. Vitamin B6 can cause neuropathy if you are deficient or are taking too much. Doses of 150 mg of B6 have helped people with neuropathy. Doses over 500 mg per day have caused sensory neuropathy. Vitamin B12 is used at the 1000 mcg dose for neuropathy. We have looked for combinations that will suite these needs but did not find any.

Traditional Chinese Medicine balances different kinds of weakness in the body. The body is weak inside if you regularly experience discomfort or pain from feeling too hot or too cold. This is a key indicator. Once your body becomes weak, any kind of change--including outside temperature, exposure to toxins or bacteria or physical injury, can affect you much worse than it would have if your body had been in balance.

Many people experience chronic pain after surgery, even if the surgery was aimed at reducing pain. Many people also find post- surgery physical therapy painful. This does not mean that the surgery was not successful nor that the physical therapy is not working. Rather, it is evidence that an additional, interim therapy such as Acupuncture and Herbs is needed to restore balance so the body can truly recover from surgery and heal properly.

Acupuncture has been used in the treatment of various pain problems, including different regional myofascial pain disorders, tendonitis, joint pain and pain from nerve damage. Acupuncture has also been used for improving problems related to some internal organ functions, such as nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, sinus congestion, and diarrhea. In addition, acupuncture has been used to aid in the management of some emotional disorders. Acupuncture also has been used to help individuals maintain a sense of well-being and "balance".

Acupuncture and/or movement therapies can be combined with chiropractic manipulation for an amplified effect.

Animal studies showed that Spinal Manipulation by a chiropractor can produce a number of physical responses, such as decreased blood pressure and renal and adrenal nerve activity. It may also enhance immune function by increasing metabolic rates of certain white blood cells and increasing other substances that play a role in immune regulation and inflammation. These studies also show that spinal adjustment can reduce levels of inflammatory Prostaglandins and possibly increase levels of beta-endorphins, the natural painkillers in the body.

Chiropractic care is a cost-effective alternative to the management of neuromusculoskeletal conditions. It is also safer, increasingly accepted by the public as reflected in the growing utilization and high patient retention rates and there is much and repeated evidence that patients prefer chiropractic over other forms of care for the more common musculoskeletal conditions. The integration of chiropractic into the health care system should serve to reduce health care costs, improve accessibility to needed care, and improve health outcomes. There is an extensive body of literature demonstrating that chiropractic care for NMS disorders is effective.

Making and Keeping New Year's Resolutions

by Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac.

The New Year brings the opportunity for a new beginning. Although, we are lucky enough to be able to start a new, each day, some people need the turn of a New Year to find the motivation to do so.

The Top 10 Most Common New Year Resolutions include:

1. Lose weight
2. Stop smoking
3. Stick to a budget
4. Save or earn more money
5. Find a better job
6. Become more organized
7. Exercise more
8. Be more patient at work/with others
9. Eat better
10. Become a better person

Choosing a New Year's resolution is usually the easy part. Committing to your choice is another story. By the end of the second or third week, some of us even forget what our goal was! Here are ten ways to see your resolution through and achieve your goal:

1. Choose a resolution that is realistic.
2. Take your choice and follow it through on a day to day basis.
3. Reward yourself in two week or one month increments.
4. Keep a journal of your progress.
5. Get others involved or find like people working toward the same goal.
6. Keep motivated with a calendar, friends, diary, partner.
7. Be patient!
8. Be grateful that you have the opportunity to do this.
9. Find the fine line between motivation and obsession.
10. Make your goal a lifestyle change, not just a means to an end.