Tuina and Patient Self-Care for Comfort in the Menopausal Transition

Factors from geopolitical trends to yesterday’s research in acupuncture mechanisms can impact patient contact in large and small ways. After decades of studying and teaching classically oriented practice within the ‘extreme integration’ of hospital care, Dr. Citkovitz will translate what is news, based on meaningful practical clinical experience, into clinically relevant precepts students can put into practice. Recent research and issues of current interest in the news will include systems thinking, cultural appropriation, long COVID, facets of informed consent, and elucidation of acupuncture’s relationship with fascia, opioid receptors, and inflammation, as well as brain-to-brain concordance (related to co-regulation, a key concept in trauma-informed care). These can usefully inform needle technique as well as point selection within modern and classical Chinese medicine frameworks. The ability to utilize new developments and discuss them articulately with patients and other healthcare providers is increasingly important in today’s integrative medicine world.

As we learn more about how acupuncture points, channels, and function relate to fascia, the connections between Chinese medicine, fascia, and the lymphatic system gain relevance in developing diagnoses and treatment strategies. This class will explore the Chinese medicine implications of fascia and the lymphatic system, as well as how they can influence diagnosis and treatment.

Yin Fire is not just yin deficiency heat, but its own diagnosis, with its own specific treatment strategies. Yin Fire is implicated in many modern-day autoimmune, inflammation-related and difficult-to-treat cases. Treating the Earth first is critical in Yin Fire cases: in the traditional Five Elements diagram, earth is in the center. When earth isn’t holding the ground, e.g. when spleen qi direction is reversed down instead of up, the entire circle collapses. Earth, when it’s the first domino to fall, leads the rest into disarray. If the practitioner does not begin with Earth in treating these complex cases, they can resort to perpetually chasing symptoms perpetually instead of addressing the situation as a whole.

While it can be easy to diagnose “deficient blood” or “stuck blood” in a patient, the clinical capacity to efficiently and effectively build or move blood can be elusive, even using points and herbs that are known to tonify or move blood. Blood is a counterpoint to qi, and has a similarly vast amount of material and facets. This course will offer insights into how to achieve appropriate change in a person who has a blood syndrome in their diagnosis. Menses is a limited indication of the state of blood, as the majority of people do not menstruate because they are born male, a child, or born female but aged or not cycling for other reasons, and not every blood issue expresses in relation to the womb so practitioners must consider other factors. Trauma, ying and wei disharmony, memory, bleeding disorders, and stuck blood caused by COVID will be discussed and addressed with clinical experience for practical success.

This class will introduce the philosophy and practical applications of the Balance Method in commonly seen conditions, provide insight on use of Holographic Imaging Projection to enhance point prescriptions, demonstrate treatment strategies and needling techniques, and examine diagnosis and treatment of difficult cases with the 12 Meridians acupuncture approach. With more and more people turning to acupuncture, and the increasing abundance of opportunities to treat patients, it only makes sense to optimize the acupuncturist's treatment toolbox for the benefit of both practice and patients. The Balance Method is a highly effective way of using acupuncture needles to treat commonly seen concerns, based on the science of meridians. It is NOT a rote method of acupuncture touting generic “best points for” various conditions, as often depicted on websites and in media which can be misleading. Balance Method Acupuncture is a logical, systemic approach that can produce quick results for nearly any condition or concern. The methodology is based upon a centuries-old platform of knowledge in Chinese medicine that uses an overlay grid system on the body to diagnose and treat the coordinates of any pathology, based on meridians and holographic projection imaging.

Join Dr. Heidi Lovie, leader of the Hashi Posse, in exploring diagnostics, treatment options, and patient communication for success with Hashimoto's low thyroid, the world's most common auto-immune condition, with over fourteen million cases in the U.S. and incidence increasing in recent decades. Dr. Heidi has treated thousands of patients with this condition for over a decade and is happy to share her wisdom, experience, and clinical pearls, including treatment with acupuncture, additional hands-on modalities, herbs, diet shifts, reading bloodwork, empowering patients, and connecting to the metaphysical.

This class will provide tips and strategies for how to restore the health and appearance of the face by improving connective tissue function and stimulating lymphatic drainage using manual techniques such as massage, facial gua sha, face cupping, and microcurrent. These techniques will also be demonstrated.

While tui na is commonly used to treat musculoskeletal pain, its other superpowers are frequently overlooked--as well as the related treatments of self-administered acupressure and qigong/daoyin. These techniques can be transformative in addressing and maintaining the health of born female patients as they move through cycles of blood loss and rebuilding, as well as surgeries, pregnancies, urinary difficulties, and change/cessation of cycles over time. This hands-on workshop will include techniques of self-massage and acupressure, along with tui na and daoyin for treatment of syndomes and symptoms related to menopause, including pain, fatigue, sexual, urinary and pelvic changes, digestive complaints, sleep difficulties, mental health concerns, and more.