I wanted to let everyone know about some more changes that have been going on at my practice. As promised, my office hours will be expanding starting Wednesday, June 23rd. This schedule may change at the end of the summer, depending on my wife’s employment opportunities.
We will still be open Wed-Sat. with these expanded hours:
* If you have a special situation where you cannot make these hours, please call us. Animal acupuncture will be available during the whole week, by appointment, please call to setup those treatments as well.
Also, you may here a female voice if you call during office hours. That is my new office assistant, Colleen. During these summer months she will be there during my busy times and come the fall will be there more regularly. Colleen will help keep me on track and allow me to focus on the most important aspects of my clinic, providing my patients with the best possible treatment.
Also, the summer is full of holidays that are uniquely American; Memorial Day, Flag Day, and the Fourth of July. I have been thinking about the men and women who have given so much for this country. As a thank you to them, I am offering a discounted treatment rate for any active military, veteran, retired military and family of military. It is the least I can do for them. Please have them call to discuss the details.
Thank you for your continued support of my clinic and remember to keep your regular appointments.
I wanted to let you know about some great things that will be happening in the next few weeks at my clinic.
First, this Saturday May 15th, I’ll be holding a seminar for massage therapists on cupping technique. While this is for massage therapists only, it will be a jumping off point for seminars geared toward my patients and the community in general. If you do know a massage therapist that may be interested, I have two spaces left so please have them contact me.
Also over the next two weeks I’ll be interviewing for a part time office assistant. If you know anyone looking for a part time job that has some front desk experience and/or experience with insurance billing please have them contact me. Here is more information about the job. This is largely due to the fact that all of you wonderful people have really been filling my schedule and I just need someone to help me get the front office area work together so I can continue to do my best in the treatment rooms.
As you know my wife will be on her summer break starting mid June, so I expect my office hours to expand during the summer as well (although there are too many variables in the air now to say for sure.) However, to accommodate more patients I have been able to open up a second room on Saturdays, which would traditionally be booked solid for a couple weeks in advance.
As always it has been a pleasure to serve, and thank you for the continued opportunity!
Google has named my little practice as a favorite place! The fancy QR code (black and white square) can be scanned with your smart phone (I’ve been using BeeTagg Pro on my iPhone) and you will get to see my detailed practice information on Google. I’d like to thank all my patients who have given me such nice reviews! Thank you all, so much.
This class will be taught by Tom Ingegno M.S.O.M., L.Ac., who has been practicing and teaching Oriental Medical Techniques for nearly 10 years. You will learn fire cupping techniques that are immediately useful in your clinical practice. Cupping has been part of the rich history of folk medicine for well over 2000 years. Cupping therapy can be applied safely and quickly to even stubborn conditions to allow you to quickly ease pain and symptoms of colds and flus. This will help you stand out from the crowd of other practitioners and save your hands, wrists and upper backs from being overworked. In this seminar you will learn: a brief history of cupping, the different types of therapeutic cups (suction vs. fire); the different methods of cupping (static vs. sliding); when to use cupping; and of course how to apply cupping therapy (there will be plenty of hands-on practice)
Space is limited to 12 people ensure each practitioner has plenty of practice.
Course: Cupping Therapy for Massage Therapists
Location: Ancient Arts Wellness, 715 Park Ave, Baltimore MD 21201
Time: Saturday, May 15, 2010 from 1pm to 4pm
Cost: $50 (this will include 4 glass cups & a hemostat)
Have you ever wonder why it is so easy for all of us to feel out of our element, out of control and far too often out of our minds. We have become a society which invents and invites new sources of stress. We log more hours at work than any other nation, yet are much less productive. When we do relax, many of us do so watching the news or dramas on TV. The newscasters trying to sensationalize even the most mundane of stories to have you fearing for your life or enraged at the world we live in, while the dramas try to top their last gruesome tale with more trauma, violence and criminal genius. Your mind doesn’t get a break. All this stress can leave you with your heart beating out of your chest worrying about things that you can’t control and if looked at rationally, probably won’t ever be an issue for you.
But it happens, to nearly everyone. We get burnt out and can’t calm ourselves. In severe cases people feel like they are having a heart attack and even faint. Not every case is this dramatic, but even mild cases where you worry constantly about family, friends, work, and every little detail takes it’s toll on you.
Every week I see at least half a dozen patients from all walks of life coming in for the treatment of anxiety, and they all say the same thing after acupuncture treatments, “I feel great after the treatment and the calmness stays with me even through stressful situations.” Today I’d like to talk about a few reasons why acupuncture can be so helpful with anxiety.
In previous posts I’ve talked a bit about acupuncture balancing out the mind and body, I’d like to talk about how acupuncture can help with issues of anxiety and depression from both an eastern and western perspective.
From an eastern point of view when we are experiencing any symptom whether psychospiritual or physical, the energy that flows through our acupuncture channels is disrupted. Patients can get symptoms that correspond to one or more of these channels and through questioning, palpation and observation we can diagnose which channels are being effected and treat them to restore normal flow of energy and help patients feel calmer and healthier in all aspects of their lives. Each of these channels corresponds to certain emotional qualities and aspects of your personality. For instance the Liver channel is associated with leadership skills, decision making and helping keep order. When out of balance people can be angry, hostile or develop a type of depression we see as anger turned inwards, sometimes described as self loathing. Each of us should have a balance of all emotions to be healthy, however even when in balance we do have tendencies towards certain emotions and behaviors, these problems only arise when one of these aspects becomes top weak or too over powering.
Western research has shown some amazing phenomena occur during an acupuncture treatment. For sake of keeping this brief, I’ll talk mostly about changes which benefit psycho-emotional problems like anxiety or depression. After about 15 minutes of treatment a myriad of changes occur mainly do to a shift in a persons autonomic nervous system. Your autonomic nervous system is somewhat of an autopilot when it comes to your bodies response to stress. It consists of two main functions a sympathetic response, often referred to as Fight or Flight and a parasympathetic response, aka Rest and Digest.
This response is in most cases considered a safety system, our bodies should kick into fight or flight when attacked and this response would have been very necessary during our early years as cave dwellers. Today, while still necessary, we tend to process all stresses as life or death situations, to the point that people often use the term “Paper Tigers” to describe this event when it happens at work.
So, back to that first 15 minutes of acupuncture; and the changes in the autonomic nervous system that start during that time. Patients will often describe a wave of relaxation that comes over them. On the inside of the body we see sweeping changes in blood flow, hormone levels, oxygen levels and even brain function and chemistry. This all occurs during the rest and digest period. Brain waves have been shown to switch from the mental chatter and focus waves to deep sleep and meditation waves. There is marked increase in hormones such a serotonin and dopamine which both play a role in mood regulation. Systemically capillaries dilate and bring fresh blood to all the organs helping you remove metabolic waste, (think a mini-detox). This increasing blood flow helps soften muscles, dropping shoulders, an area everyone holds stress. It has also been shown to regulate circadian rhythms (day/night) to help you get a better night sleep. All of these functions occur regardless of where the needles are place and help you feel better overall. When combined with acupuncture points specific to treating emotional problems and calming the spirit acupuncture can be a very powerful tool to help with anxiety and depression whatever the cause.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
As you may know my wife and I were given the best present this holiday season. Our daughter, Chloe Noelle Ingegno was born on 12/22/09. She has brought such joy to our lives and we truly feel blessed.
As you may also know a baby changes everything! My wife’s maternity leave ends at the start of April. We have decided to wait on putting our little girl in daycare at this time. That means while my wife is at work I need to be home with Chloe, an opportunity I will truly cherish. This does not mean I’m closing shop, merely modifying my schedule. Starting the first week of April my office hours will be Wednesday through Friday 5pm-9pm and Saturdays 9am-5pm. This will only slightly impact my available appointments, and if it makes it difficult for you to get in for treatment, please contact me and we can try and work something out.
We hope that this will be a temporary situation and plan on resuming normal hours starting mid-June. If things go as planned my wife will be getting a cyber teaching job which will allow her to work from home. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Just a quick note to say if you are going to be at the World of Pets Expo this Saturday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, come see my presentation on animal acupuncture in lecture hall 2 at noon.
I will be discussing the basics of acupuncture:
What it is
How it works
How it can benefit your pet
Also I will be doing a demo on a rabbit named Lance (Pictured Above) that I treat for the House Rabbit Society and I will be answering questions for pet owners.
The World of Pets is one of the biggest pet events in Maryland and there are tons of great pet products as well as many rescues and shelters there. So even if you don’t want to come see me please go and enjoy.
As promised here are some new YouTube clips from Baltimore 25′s “Men In Science” series filmed at city hall. I hope to be adding some patient education videos real soon. Follow my videos by clicking subscribe on my YouTube page. You can also catch quick updates from me on Twitter: @needles4health
I’d like to wish you safe and Happy New Year! I would like to also thank you all for your support over the last year at our new location. It’s been quite a busy year both in my practice and my family life. I would like to announce that my daughter Chloe Noelle Ingegno was born on 12/22/09! As you can imagine I’m extremely excited and feel blessed to have her in my life. I will have pictures at the office soon. I’m expecting 2010 to be an even busier year and much of it has to do with having great patients like you. Please be on the look out for new videos on youtube.com with some Oriental Medical techniques for home use. I am also hoping to have an iPhone acupressure app developed in the next few months as well as a book about home Oriental Medicine home remedies to help fight off the cold and flu (this should have been out months ago, but will probably be ready by next flu season). I am also looking into hosting small seminars at the office promoting some techniques like moxibustion and cupping for patients to do at home. All of these things are in line with the old adage, “If you teach a man to fish…” Also, I know that many people make New Year’s resolutions and are disappointed in themselves when they can’t follow through. I urge anyone who is planning on making a resolution to make it small, and attainable. This will help you move on to even bigger and better things. I will be running a discount on my “Stop Smoking Protocol” for anyone wishing to make that a resolution; so if you know anyone please pass that along. I’ll be emailing a coupon out the first full week of January.
Once again I’d like to say Happy New Year and thank you for allowing me to serve you. If you need anything feel free to contact me. Thank you.
Wishing you Abundance in the New Year,
Tom Ingegno M.S.O.M., L.Ac. www.ancientartsacupuncture.com acuguy.blogspot.com 410-842-7784 Twitter: needles4health
I’d like to wish you safe and Happy New Year! I would like to also thank you all for your support over the last year at our new location. It’s been quite a busy year both in my practice and my family life. I would like to announce that my daughter Chloe Noelle Ingegno was born on 12/22/09! As you can imagine I’m extremely excited and feel blessed to have her in my life. I will have pictures at the office soon. I’m expecting 2010 to be an even busier year and much of it has to do with having great patients like you. Please be on the look out for new videos on youtube.com with some Oriental Medical techniques for home use. I am also hoping to have an iPhone acupressure app developed in the next few months as well as a book about home Oriental Medicine home remedies to help fight off the cold and flu (this should have been out months ago, but will probably be ready by next flu season). I am also looking into hosting small seminars at the office promoting some techniques like moxibustion and cupping for patients to do at home. All of these things are in line with the old adage, “If you teach a man to fish…” Also, I know that many people make New Year’s resolutions and are disappointed in themselves when they can’t follow through. I urge anyone who is planning on making a resolution to make it small, and attainable. This will help you move on to even bigger and better things. I will be running a discount on my “Stop Smoking Protocol” for anyone wishing to make that a resolution; so if you know anyone please pass that along. I’ll be emailing a coupon out the first full week of January.
Once again I’d like to say Happy New Year and thank you for allowing me to serve you. If you need anything feel free to contact me. Thank you.
Wishing you Abundance in the New Year,
Tom Ingegno M.S.O.M., L.Ac. www.ancientartsacupuncture.com acuguy.blogspot.com 410-842-7784 Twitter: needles4health
