Tuesday 29 December 2015

open today and tomorrow (New Year's eve) for Osteopathy and Acupuncture

Seasons Greetings and Happy holidays to all.  Just to let everyone know that the clinic here is open today and tomorrow (New Year's Eve) for Osteopathy and Acupuncture.  Then some family time over new year, and I'm open again on Monday 4th January, until Saturday 9th January.  Kaori will be here to take bookings (03 980 2425) but I'm away on retreat from 9th to 24th January.  Then fully open again from Monday 25th January.  So hopefully you and your family will avoid any mishaps over the holidays (if you need a new ACC claim lodged) but if you do want to come for treatment and stay in top form, then best book online in the usual way: www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz

Tuesday 1 December 2015

Patients will sometimes ask you 'what kind of acupuncture do you do?' It's still OK to practice both osteopathy and traditional acupuncture

Thanks everyone (acupuncturists) for your support - and reading my bogs last month.

You'll understand my reasons.  Seems that Osteopathic Council NZ have forced us to register for the Western Medical Acupuncture scope of practice.  But then, this was never really intended for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) trained people (just the dry-needling course trained people, who never used to use the word acupuncture a few years ago, but now do).

Patients will sometimes ask you 'what kind of acupuncture do you do?'
But I know at least one person who hasn't yet registered for the Western Medical Acupuncture scope of practice, and it's still legal to practice both osteopathy and acupuncture - but probably necessary to have 2 consent forms: and maybe two sets of notes: one for acupuncture, and one for osteopathy.

I might write again to Osteopathic Council NZ for clear guidelines about this.
We'll see.  I think it's only fair for them to tell us how we CAN practice TCM acupuncture, not just how we CAN"T practice it.

For more on this you can see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/traditionalDry.html

Sunday 29 November 2015

Just to let everyone know that I'm now back from the UK, and the clinic is fully open again, for Osteopathy and Acupuncture treatment.  You can either phone 03 980 2425 for an appointment, or book online at: www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz

Thursday 12 November 2015

already registered for the so-called western medical acupuncture scope of practice. No worries. Conversations like this perhaps can also help safeguard both the Osteopathic and Acupuncture professions


Don't worry, I myself have now successfully registered in the so called Western Medical Acupuncture scope of practice (essentially to cover myself) and so have most of the other TCM trained acupucturist-osteopaths, or so I believe.

It's just that we osteopath-TCM acupuncturists have almost been coerced into doing so.  Not something that rests lightly with my egalitarian-liberal sentiments, and perhaps not something that the osteopathic profession (and the osteopathic council) should be proud of.

If we allowed this to happen to a relatively powerless minority of just a few of us - just think what might be in store for many more of you, my dear osteopath colleagues.

There are wheels slowly turning, if you haven't noticed  (I better not say the vice slightly closing - to strong a metaphor, I agree).  And as all of us osteopaths are only to keenly aware, there is still a lot in the pipeline with the pending paediatric specialism registration issue, if you haven't noticed.  Read the writing on the wall.  I hope its good, and I hope you like what it's going to say before it get's carved in stone.

I don't care, I don't treat children.  I and some of my TCM acupuncture-osteopath friends and colleagues have already been burned. A baptism of fire that we didn't necessarily want, and didn't see coming.

So what is the pebble pad professional osteopathic CPD portfolio forum for, or indeed any social networking including this Facebook page for - if not for exactly this kind of discussion?

Be grateful for this, as both S and our beloved osteopathic council have graced us with the wonderful social networking medium by forcing us to do our CPD online as a portfolio that can also create and share conversations like this.  Lucky us.  I hope we learn to use it wisely.  Perhaps the osteopathic pepple pad portfolio might after all be the saving grace of the osteopathic profession.  Let's hope so.

Any reflections, comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks for very helpful reply from the Osteopathic registrar.

Today, I received a reply to may earlier post from the Registrar of the Osteopathic NZ,  which was actually very helpful. 

Reflecting on this - networking and exchange of views and information like this, is a powerful and effective method to protect ourselves, our osteopathic profession here in NZ, and also the Acupuncture profession, which deserves our respect also.

Forgive me if I was being a little excessive or melodramatic in my earlier post - but only saying things that I felt needed to be said.

Without realising osteopath-Traditional Chinese Medicine trained (TCM) trained acupucturists have allowed themselves to be backed into a corner.  And this is where they find themselves.  I think a worthy area for discussion.

Both the registrar and chairperson of the Osteopathic Council NZ seem very nice people to deal with. Genuinely helpful. The former chair of the osteopathic council as some of you might remember was an altogether different character - and it is his legacy that we osteopaths and acupuncturists now all have to live with. 

Yes, he may have made some contribution to the osteopathic profession here in NZ,  but almost certainly at the expense of the acupuncture profession here in NZ.  Don't worry, S and I are old friends, and still talking to each other (well. I hope so anyway) as well as being paradigm rivals.  We both went to the London School of Osteopathy together, and go back a long way together. S will probably find this all quite stimulating.  Well done, mate.

Unfortunately, I cannot forward the contents of the osteopathic registrar's email to me to anyone, or divulge it's contents here in any detail - without his permission. But I can interpret the gist of his response and share it here:


What the osteopathic registrar pointed out in his email is that TCM acupuncture is not, and cannot be within the osteopathic scope of practice.  Fair enough.  

Western medical acupuncture (WMA) can be, of course within the scope (and that was always the intention), but Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) acupuncture can never be.

So the best, or most liberal possible interpretation of the osteopathic registrar's comments is that this does not necessarily mean that one cannot necessarily include any TCM during an osteopathic treatment (as it's not in the osteopathic scope)  -  it just that practically speaking one would have a hard time explaining to most patients the above distinction, and were one to do some TCM acupuncture at the same time, within (or just before or just after) an osteopathic treatment, this theoretical distinction would get very messy.

One would have to stop during a treatment (perhaps several times) then asking if the patient wanted any TCM acupuncture, say to them something like: ''Well, now I'm not doing Osteopathy anymore, and we can do some Acupuncture now. Is that OK with you?'

And many patients might get a bit confused perhaps at that point - as perhaps some of you are trying to follow this rather slippery distinction.


So essentially what the Osteopathic Council have now done is place severe practical restrictions on how osteopath-TCM trained acupuncturists can work on a day to day basis.

In effect, what they are almost doing in a draconian way is forcing us to register in the Western Medical Acupuncture scope, as osteopaths. Or risk messy infringement if we mix and match our treatments, as most of us do most of the time.

Thanks for a very helpful reply from the osteopathic registrar. Perhaps the pebble pad osteopathic CDP portfolio discussions and social networking might be a saving grace for both the Osteopathic and Acupuncture professions here in NZ

Today, I received a reply to may earlier post from the Registrar of the Osteopathic NZ,  which was actually very helpful. 

Reflecting on this - networking and exchange of views and information like this, is a powerful and effective method to protect ourselves, our osteopathic profession here in NZ, and also the Acupuncture profession, which deserves our respect also.

Forgive me if I was being a little excessive or melodramatic in my earlier post - but only saying things that I felt needed to be said.

Without realising osteopath-Traditional Chinese Medicine trained (TCM) trained acupucturists have allowed themselves to be backed into a corner.  And this is where they find themselves.  I think a worthy area for discussion.

Both the registrar and chairperson of the Osteopathic Council NZ seem very nice people to deal with. Genuinely helpful. The former chair of the osteopathic council as some of you might remember was an altogether different character - and it is his legacy that we osteopaths and acupuncturists now all have to live with. 

Yes, he may have made some contribution to the osteopathic profession here in NZ,  but almost certainly at the expense of the acupuncture profession here in NZ.  Don't worry, S and I are old friends, and still talking to each other (well. I hope so anyway) as well as being paradigm rivals.  We both went to the London School of Osteopathy together, and go back a long way together. S will probably find this all quite stimulating.  Well done, mate.

Unfortunately, I cannot forward the contents of the osteopathic registrar's email to me to anyone, or divulge it's contents here in any detail - without his permission. But I can interpret the gist of his response and share it here:


What the osteopathic registrar pointed out in his email is that TCM acupuncture is not, and cannot be within the osteopathic scope of practice.  Fair enough.  

Western medical acupuncture (WMA) can be, of course within the scope (and that was always the intention), but Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) acupuncture can never be.

So the best, or most liberal possible interpretation of the osteopathic registrar's comments is that this does not necessarily mean that one cannot necessarily include any TCM during an osteopathic treatment (as it's not in the osteopathic scope)  -  it just that practically speaking one would have a hard time explaining to most patients the above distinction, and were one to do some TCM acupuncture at the same time, within (or just before or just after) an osteopathic treatment, this theoretical distinction would get very messy.

One would have to stop during a treatment (perhaps several times) then asking if the patient wanted any TCM acupuncture, say to them something like: ''Well, now I'm not doing Osteopathy anymore, and we can do some Acupuncture now. Is that OK with you?'

And many patients might get a bit confused perhaps at that point - as perhaps some of you are trying to follow this rather slippery distinction.


So essentially what the Osteopathic Council have now done is place severe practical restrictions on how osteopath-TCM trained acupuncturists can work on a day to day basis.

In effect, what they are almost doing in a draconian way is forcing us to register in the Western Medical Acupuncture scope, as osteopaths. Or risk messy infringement if we mix and match our treatments, as most of us do most of the time.

Don't worry, I myself have now successfully registered in the so called Western Medical Acupuncture scope of practice (essentially to cover myself) and so have most of the other TCM trained acupucturist-osteopaths, or so I believe.

It's just that we osteopath-TCM acupuncturists have almost been coerced into doing so.  Not something that rests lightly with my egalitarian-liberal sentiments, and perhaps not something that the osteopathic profession (and the osteopathic council) should be proud of.

If we allowed this to happen to a relatively powerless minority of just a few of us - just think what might be in store for many more of you, my dear osteopath colleagues.

There are wheels slowly turning, if you haven't noticed  (I better not say the vice slightly closing - to strong a metaphor, I agree).  And as all of us osteopaths are only to keenly aware, there is still a lot in the pipeline with the pending paediatric specialism registration issue, if you haven't noticed.  Read the writing on the wall.  I hope its good, and I hope you like what it's going to say before it get's carved in stone.

I don't care, I don't treat children.  I and some of my TCM acupuncture-osteopath friends and colleagues have already been burned. A baptism of fire that we didn't necessarily want, and didn't see coming.

So what is the pebble pad professional osteopathic CPD portfolio forum for - if not for exactly this kind of discussion?

Be grateful for this, as both S and our beloved osteopathic council have graced us with this wonderful social networking medium.  Lucky us.  I hope we learn to use it wisely.  Perhaps the pepple pad portfolio might after all be the saving grace of the osteopathic profession.

Any reflections, comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks for a very helpful response from the Osteopathic registrar. Perhaps discussions like this might be the saving grace of both the osteopathy and acupuncture professions here in NZ

Today, I received a reply to may earlier post from the Registrar of the Osteopathic NZ,  which was actually very helpful. 

Reflecting on this - networking and exchange of views and information like this, is a powerful and effective method to protect ourselves, our osteopathic profession here in NZ, and also the Acupuncture profession, which deserves our respect also.

Forgive me if I was being a little excessive or melodramatic in my earlier post - but only saying things that I felt needed to be said.

Without realising osteopath-Traditional Chinese Medicine trained (TCM) trained acupucturists have allowed themselves to be backed into a corner.  And this is where they find themselves.  I think a worthy area for discussion.

Both the registrar and chairperson of the Osteopathic Council NZ seem very nice people to deal with. Genuinely helpful. The former chair of the osteopathic council as some of you might remember was an altogether different character - and it is his legacy that we osteopaths and acupuncturists now all have to live with. 

Yes, he may have made some contribution to the osteopathic profession here in NZ,  but almost certainly at the expense of the acupuncture profession here in NZ.  Don't worry, S and I are old friends, and still talking to each other (well. I hope so anyway) as well as being paradigm rivals.  We both went to the London School of Osteopathy together, and go back a long way together. S will probably find this all quite stimulating.  Well done, mate.

Unfortunately, I cannot forward the contents of the osteopathic registrar's email to me to anyone, or divulge it's contents here in any detail - without his permission. But I can interpret the gist of his response and share it here:


What the osteopathic registrar pointed out in his email is that TCM acupuncture is not, and cannot be within the osteopathic scope of practice.  Fair enough.  

Western medical acupuncture (WMA) can be, of course within the scope (and that was always the intention), but Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) acupuncture can never be.

So the best, or most liberal possible interpretation of the osteopathic registrar's comments is that this does not necessarily mean that one cannot necessarily include any TCM during an osteopathic treatment (as it's not in the osteopathic scope)  -  it just that practically speaking one would have a hard time explaining to most patients the above distinction, and were one to do some TCM acupuncture at the same time, within (or just before or just after) an osteopathic treatment, this theoretical distinction would get very messy.

One would have to stop during a treatment (perhaps several times) then asking if the patient wanted any TCM acupuncture, say to them something like: ''Well, now I'm not doing Osteopathy anymore, and we can do some Acupuncture now. Is that OK with you?'

And many patients might get a bit confused perhaps at that point - as perhaps some of you are trying to follow this rather slippery distinction.


So essentially what the Osteopathic Council have now done is place severe practical restrictions on how osteopath-TCM trained acupuncturists can work on a day to day basis.

In effect, what they are almost doing in a draconian way is forcing us to register in the Western Medical Acupuncture scope, as osteopaths. Or risk messy infringement if we mix and match our treatments, as most of us do most of the time.

Don't worry, I myself have now successfully registered in the so called Western Medical Acupuncture scope of practice (essentially to cover myself) and so have most of the other TCM trained acupucturist-osteopaths, or so I believe.

It's just that we osteopath-TCM acupuncturists have almost been coerced into doing so.  Not something that rests lightly with my egalitarian-liberal sentiments, and perhaps not something that the osteopathic profession (and the osteopathic council) should be proud of.

If we allowed this to happen to a relatively powerless minority of just a few of us - just think what might be in store for many more of you, my dear osteopath colleagues.

There are wheels slowly turning, if you haven't noticed  (I better not say the vice slightly closing - to strong a metaphor, I agree).  And as all of us osteopaths are only to keenly aware, there is still a lot in the pipeline with the pending paediatric specialism registration issue, if you haven't noticed.  Read the writing on the wall.  I hope its good, and I hope you like what it's going to say before it get's carved in stone.

I don't care, I don't treat children.  I and some of my TCM acupuncture-osteopath friends and colleagues have already been burned. A baptism of fire that we didn't necessarily want, and didn't see coming.

So what is the pebble pad professional osteopathic CPD portfolio forum for - if not for exactly this kind of discussion?

Be grateful for this, as both S and our beloved osteopathic council have graced us with this wonderful social networking medium.  Lucky us.  I hope we learn to use it wisely.  Perhaps the pepple pad portfolio might after all be the saving grace of the osteopathic profession.

Any reflections, comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

to mix and match treatments: both osteopathy and acupuncture. For the most effective treatment, just techniques: Osteopathy is 'what works'.

Some time ago I received an email from the Osteopathic Council NZ stating:

If you are an osteopath who also practices traditional based acupuncture systems, you must not seek to combine these techniques with your osteopathic practice. You must be careful to ensure that you maintain clear boundaries between your osteopathic practice and these techniques and ensure patients are clear that you are not utilising those techniques within the practice of osteopathy.

So, I can understand what they might be getting at here, and there are definitely issues perhaps of 'informed consent' and is any given patient coming for osteopathy or coming for acupuncture.  And of course, I document this in my notes.  My consent form asks for consent for both osteopathy and acupuncture (although - to be honest - how many patients really know the difference between Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and the so called 'Western Medical Acupuncture' - when even I sometimes are uncertain, as there can be overlap. So I just say 'acupuncture'.

Some patients don't like osteopathic manipulation, even gentle manipulation (or worse, Chiropractic manipulation which might be rougher), some patients don't like acupuncture - and every clinician deals with this customer preference and their consent (or lack of it  -   for any given treatment technique they prefer or do not want ) every day, with every individual patient. So no problem here.  And I guessing that informed consent is a key issue here. 

The other question is  - is the above direction and instruction from the Osteopathic Council NZ only intended for Osteopaths NOT registered in their so called Western Medical Acupuncture scope, but who practice Traditional Chinese Medical acupuncture? Or for all osteopaths? 

However  -  the real issue that I am wrestling with is an Ethical one:

Would it not be highly unethical to withold treatment (or a part of a treatment that one had expertise in) for a given patient, who had consented fully to both acupuncture and osteopathy, or to have to tell the patient that they would have to rebook for another treatment, on another occasion?  Especially if they were in a lot of pain that day?

From a practical point of view this seems a bit ridiculous, highly unethical, and just wrong.  So how would one approach this dilemma?

I am very careful in my notes to write up a treatment as an Osteopathy one, or an Acupuncture one.  And yes - I still maintain my Acupuncture NZ registration, and ACC provider acupuncture registration.  The reason I do so, is that besides having a lot of friends in my Acupuncture peer-group, and wanting to support Acupuncture NZ, some new patients DO know the difference between Traditional acupuncture and the more reductionist Western medical acupuncture and ask me on the phone 'what kind of acupuncture I do'.  And this is on my website.  
for this see:  

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/traditionalDry.html


To be honest, I've never yet met a good Fertility or Women's health specialist  Western Medical Acupuncture trained practitioner - yet there are many excellent Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) trained acupuncturists out there.

maybe see: 

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/fertilityIVF.html

So in conclusion, the above instruction from the Osteopathic Council from August tells us that Osteopaths cannot mix and match treatments.  Is this correct?  Or is it only telling us that we have to fully explain to each patient what kind of treatment we would offer them. It seems to me that the former one is more correct (not the latter).

However, how do we create such definitive boundaries?  In a solely Osteopathy treatment can I not take a patient's pulse ?

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncture pulse diagnosis can be highly skilled and informative, and there are many pulses and qualities, not just rate, rhythm and strength in one pulse position as in Western medicine) or make a tongue diagnosis, or think a bit laterally in a TCM paradigm - even if I do no acupuncture an use no needles in that osteopathy treatment?

And I can, of course, do a bit of Western Medical Acupuncture in an Osteopathy treatment  - but not Traditional TCM acupuncture it seems - as this Osteopathic Council NZ direction dictates.

But let's get real here  -  and be honest.

Many patients don't know the difference.  Yes, I can explain it to them, and they are happy that I have expertise and training in both paradigms, and understand both conceptual frameworks.

But do I always know the difference between Western Medical Acupuncture and TCM traditional acupuncture when I'm actually doing it, with a patient there on the table?  Well, it's all a matter of interpretation and underpinning theory.  For practical purposes (for any given patient) it's usually a false construct, a fabrication.

If it's essential to maintain this facade for registration purposes, and play the game, and write my notes accordingly - then I can understand the politics and regulation process behind this.

But always the most effective, and ethical thing is to give any patient the best treatment one is capable of as a practitioner.   Any regulation that compromises this cannot be ethical, and seems ridiculous and just wrong.

I would be interested to hear anyone's view about this.

Don't worry, I've already written to the Osteopathic Council NZ to point all this out, and ask for their feedback.

Meanwhile, I do my best for all my patients, and good acupuncture and good osteopathy, and document clearly with good notes.  Everyone seems happy with this.

Andrew Still the founder of Osteopathy, once described osteopathy as 'what works'.  150 years ago acupuncture was unknown to him. But acupuncture is definitely something that works (and very well) so why not use it.

I'm on retreat next week, but back on November 30th.  If you want to book an appointment, best do so online:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/default.html

Thursday 3 September 2015

Osteopathy and Acupuncture clinic still open at weekend (Saturdays) and After-hours (evenings)

Just a reminder that the Osteopathy and Acupuncture clinic here is still open at weekends (Saturdays), and also after- hours,  although it is a good idea to book ahead, as evening appointments (especially 4.30 to 7.30 pm) seem to be popular with many people.

So, if you (or someone you know) can't get in during the week, or you live some distance away from the central Christchurch, then a Saturday might work for you.  You can, as always, easily book your own Osteopathy and/or Acupuncture online, from the website:  www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz

And you can still phone for an appointment on 03 980 2425   (or 021 043 6282)

Wednesday 19 August 2015

more on Western medical acupuncture - versus traditional acupunctre


Recently I commented on the different types of Acupuncture:
I have made reference in earlier blogs to the reduced form of acupuncture that some health professionals  (GPs, physiotherapists, even osteopaths) train in   -  even though this is often little more than a weekend course!

This reductionist type of acupuncture is sometimes called 'dry-needling', or 'Western medical acupuncture'.  Apparently acupuncture has now become 'westernised'.  I think it has always been 'medical', for what else could it be?  Acupuncture is not shamanism, and there is a great deal of modern research validating the mechanisms and effectiveness of acupuncture.  (Perhaps this is what they mean by 'medical' and 'western'.)

Actually most acupuncturists in China and Taiwan, and many in Korea are medical doctors, trained in Western (pharmaceutical) medicine, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, etc.  And of course, there is also a great deal of research in acupuncture coming from universities in Taiwan, Korean, China and Japan, as well as Europe and the USA.  (Perhaps a bit confusing to call acupuncture Western.  OK it's also Western)

It's only really in Western countries that many acupuncturists are not medical doctors.  Actually, it is these (traditional) acupuncturists in Europe, NZ, Australia, etc, who are not medical doctors, that are far more extensively trained, in traditional acupuncture, than their 'medical' colleagues (and this often includes GPs and physiotherapists).

Quite the reverse of the extensive training the medical acupuncturists (who are doctors) get in Asian countries.  In Western countries, training might be little more than a weekend course, perhaps, for a so called 'Western medical' trained acupuncturist, who is a GP, physiotherapist or osteopath  -  versus a 3 year degree for a traditionally trained, so-called non-medical traditional acupuncturist.  Who would you rather visit?  Who do you think is most likely to get better results?  You decide.  (Well, you do  - for it is up to you, as a patient, who you choose to visit)

Anyway,  if you want to see more on this, please read  (hope the links work) :

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/traditionalDry.html



https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christchurch-Osteopathy-Acupuncture-Ltd/138554599651599?ref=hl


http://www.traditional-acupuncture.today/different-types-of-acupuncture.html?fb_action_ids=10203725691381685&fb_action_types=og.likes



Wednesday 22 July 2015

NZ Register of Acupuncturists meeting (21 st July)

Just to say that at the NZ Register of Acupuncturists meeting last Tuesday 21 st July everything went well.  We had a good discussion of what needs to go into a case history, and essential questions that should be asked.  We also discussed a few interesting cases of patients coming for acupuncture treatment.  We also looked at some osteopathy, tui na, and acupuncture cases.
Hope this went well for everyone.
If you want to see more about how I treat a new patient, please see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/firstVisit.html
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/firstVisit.html

Monday 20 July 2015

for my NZRA acupuncture colleagues here in Christchurch

Just a reminder for NZRA acupuncturists that tonight, for the Christchurch group peer-group meeting, I will be presenting a session on case-history taking, professional standards and medical ethics.

So if you are an acupuncturist then it would be good to see you there.  We will look at this important topic, and also perhaps discuss some recent cases concerning acupuncturists and osteopaths. If you do come, then please bring your case-history form, and any information you give to new patients - as we shall discuss this.  Some of the things that new patients coming to my clinic can expect is summarised on my web-page:  http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/firstVisit.html

If you can't get to Christchurch this evening, I'll try to summarise our discussion in a future blog in a few days time.

Sunday 19 July 2015

Sufi the Labradoodle puppy. And why the name 'Sufi . . . .'

Just to let people know, who love dogs, and come here for Osteopathy and Acupuncture, that we now have a new labradoodle pupply called 'Sufi'.  The word 'Sufi' in Arabic apparently means 'wool', which is also appropriate considering his woolly fleece-like white fur.  However, the Sufis were
mystics, perhaps one of the most famous being Rumi, well known for his poetry.  Rumi wrote many poems during his life, and there are so many to choose from, but one of my favorites is the Guest House:

This being human is a guest house
Every morning, a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
Empty of it's furniture.
Still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
For some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the
malice
Meet them at the door laughing
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes.
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.


OK, anything for some poetry.  But you can see why Rumi was such a mystic.  The 'guest' house implies impermanence, transience, change - and each 'guest' signifies a mental (emotional) state, a multiplicity of being (many guests).  Everything changes, yet honor each 'guest'.  As Rumi says: 'treat each guest honorably . . .  Be grateful for whoever comes, because each (metal-emotional state) has been sent as a guide . . .'  The nature of mind (perhaps also mind- wandering), self, and also of meditation.

Anyway, I have mentioned this poem before, and others (other Sufi poets) in a blog earlier this year:
http://mikeinmanosteopath.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/only-heart-can-know-rightly-healing-and.html?spref=fb


Well, this is all getting away from a new puppy - but, as for his name, maybe just explaining perhaps a little of Sufism, and who the Sufis were.

Anyway, there are even more pictures and videos of this labradoodle puppy, on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/michael.inman.796/posts/10203573545618136?pnref=story

Sufi - at home, settling in well.

And if you were thinking about booking into the clinic soon for some Acupuncture and/or Osteopathy treatment (and you'll probably also get to meet Sufi when you are here), then of course just book in the usual way: by internet:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/default.html

or you can always phone 03 980 2425
And yes, the After-Hours clinic is still running.



Wednesday 1 July 2015

Osteopathy (and Acupuncture) appointments available on Saturdays. No additional fee for After-Hours appointments

Just to let everyone know that the clinic here is open most Saturdays, so if you need any Osteopathy (or Acupuncture) and can't get in during the week (or have to travel some distance in from outside of Christchurch) then generally there are Osteopathy (and Acupuncture) appointments available on most Saturdays.  There is no additional fee for After-Hours osteopathy appointments (and this applies to evenings also).

Many people have an Osteopathy appointment which may include some Acupuncture also.  So you can decide to receive both.   There is, of course, no additional fee for this.  But if you want to have Osteopathy alone, with no Acupuncture, then this is fine.

You can easily book your own Osteopathy appointment online from the website:
www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz

Or you can phone:  03 980 2425

If you want to know more about the clinic and Osteopathy, you might want to look at:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/firstVisit.html

And, if you want to know a little more about Acupuncture, please look at
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/firstVisit.html

Monday 22 June 2015

after hours Osteopathy and Acupuncture appointments also available - www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz

Just a reminder that there are after hours Osteopathy and Acupuncture appointments also available this week.  (It is always a good idea to book your Osteopathy a few days ahead however, to get the time that suits you best.)

The best way to book is from the website:  www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz.
You can, of course, still phone on 03 980 2425 for your appointment.

It is very common to feel more aches and pains during the cold weather.  And this is mid-winter.  The good news is that the days get longer from now onwards.

If you want to know more about Osteopathy and what to expect,  please see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/firstVisit.html

And for Acupuncture,  please visit:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/firstVisit.html


Monday 8 June 2015

The ability to see the 'bigger picture', the 'whole' person, seems to be the strength of both Osteopathy and Acupuncture.

How perverse the compartmentalization and analytic western scientific (reductionist) paradigm seems, when it comes to healthcare.  As the old saying goes 'the whole is always greater than the sum of it's parts.'  But to truly understand this, in the patient standing before you, and still, in addition to this right-brain overview, have a rigorous left-brain logic, and in depth knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology and clear clinical reasoning process.
Yes, of course, there has to be specialism and expertise in a limited field.  Medicine and Healthcare is to vast an arena not to do this.  However, for practical benefits, we must not loose sight of the 'whole' person standing before us, body, mind and spirit.  The ability to see the 'bigger picture' in this way, the 'whole' person, seems to be the strength of traditional medicine, and here I am thinking of both Osteopathy and Acupuncture.  This is borne out by research, as patients identify Osteopathy and/or Acupuncture as helpful in improving quality of life issues, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and so on.  For more on this please see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/osteopathy.html
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/acupuncture.html

We are after all practicing clinicians, not magicians (even though some patients hope that we might be, and these two professions may have blurred at times historically).  Words like shamanism are probably best avoided, as it may be counterproductive, and go against the kind of integration and skill in the practice of healthcare that I am advocating, and may not endear us 'marginal' professionals (osteopaths, acupuncturists, naturopaths, herbalists, homeopaths, etc) to the medical mainstream.

However, I have always thought that true genius is an integrated approach, a person capable of right-brain intuition and left-brain analysis. True genius, e.g. Carl Jung (who originally trained as a medical doctor, before training with Freud) certainly exhibits this.  Something to aspire to perhaps.  (I have mentioned other names in earlier blogs).  How lucky we are that our kind of medicine and healthcare (osteopathy and acupuncture) is limitless in it's depth and application, and lifelong learning.

When John Littlejohn, was asked the question:  What are the limits of Osteopathy?  He replied 'nobody knows.' Probably the mark of a genius, yet a modest and humble one.

Wednesday 20 May 2015

overview of global bio-mechanics - yet with a precise muscluo-skeletal diagnosis and tissues causing symptoms

A precise diagnosis, in musculo-skeletal terms, of the tissues causing symptoms is essential in good Osteopathy and good physical therapy, and musculo-skeletal medicine.

Further to my last blog, and emphasis on the importance of whole-body bio-mechanics (which is essential for good Osteopathy), and an understanding of the whole of the person, body mind and spirit, as Andrew Still, the founder of Osteopathy put it  -  I should also like to point out, that we also need a good musculo-skeletal diagnosis, good anatomical knowledge, logical clinical reasoning skills, and a precise diagnosis, in terms of the tissues causing symptoms.

These tissues causing the symptoms may not be only local (as physiotherapists often seem to think) but may sometimes (especially in a chronic case) also be (part of) a complex pattern of altered global bio-mechanics.  If this is the case, then in good Osteopathic treatment, we must address the entire pattern of the altered bio-mechanics, i.e. Osteopathic treatment of the whole body, not just perhaps the part that hurts.

Of course, this is not always so, and sometimes things are relatively straightforward, e.g. in a younger person perhaps, or a simple sports injury (but even here, sometime the entire body pattern, and the way a person uses their body has a significant influence).

For example, sometimes a medial collateral ligament strain of the knee, is just that - a medial collateral ligament strain.  Of course, there may be also other factors:  e.g. any muscle imbalance of the legs or pelvis, and/ or pelvic, sacral, or spinal torsion, as these factors can certainly influence the mechanical loading to the knee.

An understanding of, and a treatment plan aimed at also addressing the 'big picture', i.e. these global bio-mechanical influences, if present, can certainly lead to better treatment outcomes and faster recovery time from injury.  They may also even predict an area that might predispose to injury, and in treating this broader imbalance in global bio-mechanics help prevent injury.

For more on this, you might want to see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/principles.html

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/howManyTreatments.html


And as for Acupuncture, sure an understanding of the whole person is important, and we can give a constitutional treatment, and this can give better results, and promote general health and faster tissue healing.  Yet, even with acupuncture, it is also important sometimes to give specific treatment.  If there is knee pain, for example, then needling around the knee, perhaps both above and below also, is probably important.  Ans if it is, for example, a medial collateral ligament strain, then needling over the medial collateral ligament directly can help promote tissue healing, and collagen regeneration.

For more on this, you might want to see:

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/scientificBasis.html

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/acupuncture.html

Saturday 9 May 2015

modern osteopathy, acupuncture and integrated healthcare: towards an global understanding of health, not just a analytical reductionist understanding of dis-ease.


There is a Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture pattern of disharmony described as 'deficiency below and excess above', and any experienced clinician or acupuncturist may recognize this in many chronic diseases (e.g. chronic fatigue, hypertension, diabetes, heart-disease, etc) and in the older person.

There is the concept 'zang-fu' of paired organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, and after all, in physiology, this also makes perfect sense: e.g. the relationship of the heart and kidneys in haemodynamics, and regulating blood pressure (as well as rate and force of the heart's contractions and suction) through the kidney's control of water and electrolyte balance.  

The traditional acupuncture concept of the heart-kidney shao-yin axis does of course go way beyond the mechanical and haemodynamic action of these organs, and suggests neuroendocrine effects, altering mood, emotion, and mental states.  For in the traditional acupuncture paradigm, emotions are 'visceral' and organic, and have a physiological basis.  None would argue with this perhaps. 

Even modern osteopathy (e.g. John Pierre Barral) sees the visceral component as highly significant, and the 'tissue memory' (as John Upledger put it) storing 'emotional charge' locked away in the body.  Or as John Littlejohn (who studied with Andew Still, the founder of Osteopathy) said: 'The body is the graveyard of emotion'.  Any experienced clinician has an intuitive grasp of these truths, I would hope.  The early Chinese acupuncturists wrote of this in pre-Christian times, when Aristotle and Hippocrates were leaving some the early written European records.  In traditional acupuncture the specific emotions relating to each organ system were identified, in their integrated body-mind continuum world view. 


For more on this, see:

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/acupuncture.html

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/visceralOsteopathy.html


http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/principles.html

Friday 17 April 2015

Acupuncture: Traditional and Modern: Reflections on Acupuncture, Osteopathy, and the history of medical science

Acupuncture:  Traditional and Modern:  Reflections on Acupuncture, Osteopathy, and the history of medical science.

Traditional Acupuncture has long used the inner and outer bladder lines, and also the Huatuo Jiaji points, 0.5 cun from the mid-line of the spine.   Very useful from a practical point of view for back pain, but also pertaining to the spinal nerves, and therefore able to influence the whole body and nervous system. 

No doubt the famous Chinese physician and acupuncturist Huatuo realized their importance, even though he didn't know the anatomical terms, as the ancient Chinese physicians didn't dissect cadavers, and were not anatomists, like their early European counterparts we beginning to become.  

Early recorded European records show that it was the ancient Greeks that began dissection and the study of anatomy, later followed by Romans such as Galen.  However the only cadavers they had access to were from convicted felons, and it the thought of being permanently crippled and maimed (as ghosts) in the underworld and the afterlife was a gruesome punishment for such criminals. Perhaps all serving as an additional deterrent, to help maintain law and order, and social harmony.

OK there might also have been a bit of grave-robbing  going on, as not doubt also happened in later centuries once medical schools were more widely established and bodies were in demand for dissection.  All together a gruesome subject  - and perhaps why a more civilized culture like ancient China did not resort to such barbarities.  After all, they knew how energy circulated in meridians the body  (from qigong practice and meditation) and were far more advanced in their own understanding of physiology in terms of qi and blood, yin and yang, excess and deficiency and so on.

To return to the Acupuncture points (and Chinese physicians such as Huatuo) the mechanism and action and underpinning neuroanatomy and physiology of these back points is now well understood.  Acupuncture here stimulates paraspinal muscle (spinalis, semi-spinalis, etc.) and their segmental spinal nerves, and feedback into the dorsal horns and associated spinal reflexes. 

One of the mechanisms of acupuncture is likely to be via alpha-delta fibres that inhibit the nocieceptive pathway in the dorsal horn of each vertebrae, and this segmental effect can influence visceral conditions, both for pain and disturbed autonomic reflexes.  The intermediate cells in the dorsal horns, by way of collateral terminals, also release the neurotransmitter enkephalin (which blocks pain transmission).


The somato-visceral reflexes involved here, pertain to underlying viscera (via the sympathetics and segmental vasomotor reflexes) and again these effects seemed to be well known to the ancient Chinese physicians and acupuncturists, as they noticed that acupuncture had benefits well beyond musculo-skeletal medicine.  They were effecting the nervous system itself, not just treating muscle and joint pain.  

Integration of modern and and ancient medicine can give a much better understanding.  Both world-views have a great deal to contribute.

For more on this see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/scientificBasis.html

Tuesday 7 April 2015

different theoretical models underpinning these (apparently) two different types of acupuncture. Osteopathic principals and modern biomedical science



Reflections on integration of Traditional Chinese Acupuncture and Western Medical Acupuncture models

The obvious thing anyone notices here is the quite different theoretical models underpinning these (apparently) two different types of acupuncture.  Are they really different?  Well, that is the question.

So called Western Medical Acupuncture justifies its efficacy according to modern bioscience, and neurology and physiology.   I must admit this does make it easier for me personally, as an osteopath to integrate this acupuncture according to Osteopathic principles. 

However, this also generates food for thought and much reflection, about the type of (osteopathy or acupuncture) treatment given: specific, symptomatic and reductionist  -  versus a more global, integrative, whole-body, whole-person, mind-body-spirit approach.  These principles were those of Andrew Still and the early osteopaths.  The global model is also the principle of traditional acupuncture.

So the differences, as I see it, between the Traditional acupuncture and modern reductionist so called Western Medical Acupuncture models, have a close parallel between the classical osteopathic paradigm (e.g. Andrew Still, Littlejohn, John Wernham) and the more reductionist, orthopaedic, quick-fix kind of osteopathy  (or chiropractic or physiotherapy) as a simplification, a symptomatic treatment, 'only treat where it hurts' type of approach.

I would like to hope that perhaps the Western Medical Acupuncture model might have some scope for the richness and sophistication that we find in Traditional acupuncture.   OK, all beginners have to start somewhere. As beginners in acupuncture (as all clinicians were, once upon a time) we all started with basics, and gradually developed our clinical skills.  But why medics cannot go beyond this primitive cut-down western medical acupuncture model is beyond me.  Perhaps it is a lack of time, or commitment to further study. 

And also the Traditional acupuncture model has to be open to scrutiny, and rigorous evaluation of evidence base.  Indeed it already is, with vast amount of research, and universities in Korea, China, and Japan generating a lot also).  And also admittedly, I'm sometimes a little disappointed with my Traditional acupuncture colleagues, and there being not quite enough modern western biomedical science (a thorough grounding in anatomy, physiology, neurology, pharmacology, rheumatology, orthopaedics, etc) in their training courses.  Although I would like to hope that this is getting better.

So good to try to help integrate these tow models:  the historical richness and sophistication of traditional acupuncture, and modern western biomedical science.  Surely this is a win-win scenario for all.  Let the debate (and friction) continue.

For more on this, see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/traditionalDry.html