And by checking the pulses in 3 different positions on each wrist, I can get information about how the internal organs of the body are working. I can detect sleep problems, heart problems, digestive disorders, adrenal burnout, even if you are getting a cold! That's a lot of information to get just from a pulse.

All of this information helps me decide which acupuncture points are most appropriate to give you the best treatment possible. Since an acupuncturist, unlike many physicians, is responsible for the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of a patient, it's important to get it right!

If  you want to learn more about pulse examination, or have a problem you want to know if acupuncture can help, visit www.FourPillarsAcupuncture.com or call 951-694-9200 for Temecula, and 657-464-4228 for the Orange County Clinic in Santa Ana.

At my Acupuncture practice in Temecula, I often get questions about the different types of points people have heard of. What's the difference between an Acupuncture point, a Trigger point, and a Motor point? They are quite similar in many ways, but there are important differences that should be noted.

"When the Righteous Qi is strong, no evils will enter." is the classic line in Chinese Medical texts that is fundamental to the explanation of the immune system. The scenario that leads to this statement is when 10 people are put in a room with another actively contagious person, not all of them will get sick. Is this because the germs didn't travel far enough to get all of them? No. It is because some of those people's immune systems were strong enough to resist infection by the pathogen. The Chinese Medical idea of the immune system is what's called "wei qi" (there were no microscopes in ancient China to identify T-Cells). Wei qi is basically a force field that protects the body from invading organisms or elements.

Now one of a few things can happen based on this scenario. Either the pathogen is strong enough to penetrate a person's defenses (immune system) or it isn't. If the immune system is strong and the pathogen is weak, no infection will take place. In a western medical model this basically means that the body has antibodies to this specific bacteria or virus. Or if the immune system is weak, the pathogen will prevail, and the person will become infected. Now some pathogens are especially virulent, or strong, and only the healthiest and hardiest of people will avoid infection. These are the people who are NEVER sick, or if they are, only for a short while, with little to no symptoms.

So how does a person reduce their risk of infection and strengthen their "Wei Qi"? Since the Wei Qi is generated by the lungs and the digestion, keeping these systems strong is paramount. We all know that there are intestinal flora and beneficial bacteria that help us resist illness from food and other oral routes. These beneficial bacteria are destroyed along with pathogenic bacteria when antibiotics are taken. So maintaining a healthy digestion, eating easy to digest, nutrient rich, well cooked foods is key. Also to maintain the health of the lungs, regular breathing exercises like those taught in Qi Gong, Meditation, and Yoga are recommended.

And almost equally important, reducing stress levels will help maintain the Wei Qi. Stress will weaken the lungs, and the digestion, both necessary for building the immune system as discussed above. We all are familiar with the involuntary sighs that are generated when we are under stress. This is an effort by the lungs to keep the stress in check, because if it becomes too strong, it will overwhelm the lungs and deplete the immune system.

So, to wrap it up, as with most health recommendations, to maintain a healthy immune system, or Wei Qi, eat right, exercise, and manage your stress levels, and  "No evil will enter."

To learn more about Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, visit www.fourpillarsacupuncture.com or come in to one of  the Four Pillars Acupuncture offices in Temecula or Lake Elsinore, to speak with me, Michael Padilla, L.Ac. personally.

The basic idea is that by treating areas and correlating channels, and not directly treating the diseased area, the body is allowed to balance itself. So for example, if the patient has pain in their left ankle, I will treat the right wrist. And if the pain is along the Stomach channel in the ankle, I will treat the Large Intestine Channel of the wrist, since these two channels are paired in Acupuncture Theory. Without getting too technical about it, my typical clinical experience is that the patient feels immediate pain relief from the first insertion of a needle. And the benefit to this treatment method is that the patient can move their ankle, or back, or neck, or whatever area is painful, during the treatment both to increase the range of motion, and to gauge the pain level as the area is being used.

I can't tell you how delightful it is to have a patient smile and say, "There isn't any pain!" so quickly that somewhere in the back of their heads they believe this is some kind of magic.

To learn more about acupuncture and the Four Pillars Acupuncture Clinics, visit www.fourpillarsacupuncture.com.

Now when I say difficult this in no way reflects their personality, or even the complexity of their condition. What it mostly represents is the idea that the state of their health does not change without frequent and consistent treatment. And this makes for a difficult case because many times patients are not educated properly about the various influences that can contribute to and prevent disease, like diet, exercise, stress, and sleep. And they are not educated about idea that just because a person has a symptom or doesn't have a symptom doesn't mean that they are healthy or unhealthy. Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine have complex and subtle ways of detecting imbalances in the body that signify both impending illness and the progressive recovery from illness that isn't necessarily reflected in symptoms.

And so I will often tell a story of the two men who happened upon a water pump on the side of the road on a hot day. Zig Ziglar tells this story often, and I don't do it the justice he does. If you want to hear this story click here for the video. But the short of it is that as you move the handle of a water pump up and down, there is not indication that any water will come out. The pump goes hundreds of feet into the earth down the well, and often it will take hundreds of pumps before the water manifests. And if you gave up after 25 pumps, or 50 pumps, you would have to start all over to get that water out. But if you stuck with it, and pumped that 100 or 200 times, eventually that pump would start spouting the water. the consistent and frequent effort would pay off. And once that water starts to come out, it really only takes very little effort to keep that water coming.

And so the point it, in order to get anything worthwhile in this world, and to overcome years and years of a chronic condition, it will take consistent effort even in the face of no discernible result. Some people call this faith, some people call this doing the right thing for the sake of doing it. But the bottom line is, if you eat right, exercise, manage your stress, and get proper treatment, consistently, even the most difficult cases can be resolved.

Michael Padilla, L.Ac.

Michael Padilla, L.Ac.

Michael has already helped hundreds of people in Lake Elsinore and Santa Ana with Acupuncture, and is excited to expand his services to Temecula.

Visit www.fourpillarsacupuncture.com/temecula.html to learn more, or call 951-694-9200.

There are many gifts that come about during this season. Some are more obvious than others, like the stocking stuffer's and cookies and Starbuck's giftcards and the like. Others are more subtle, but in many ways more rewarding and profound.

For the month of December, and for the last year at Four Pillars Acupuncture my patients have given me many gifts, in the form of new insights about certain diseases. Most importantly I have been given the gift of insight into the patient process, whereby a person comes to me with extreme pain and suffering, and over a matter of weeks, leaves with little to no pain. The insight I have into this process is that many people are in a way defined by this pain and suffering. Their identity is slowly replaced over time with the identity of the person who is in constant pain, or who has to take 10 or more prescribed pharmaceuticals. They go from being a person who has an illness to an ill person, where the illness is now the predominant part of their identity.

I have found that there is at times in this patient process an unspoken bit of confusion and loss as their pain is diminished, even amongst the elation and satisfaction of its absence. And I hypothesize this is because people no longer know how to act or be when not acting in relation to their disease process.

And so, while I am happy to continue to help people lead lives with less pain and more function, to return this gift of insight in the new year, I will bring to the fore of my consciousness an intention as a healer to help people redefine themselves in the wake of the resolution of their pain, not to exist as John Doe minus their pain, or even as John Doe before the pain. But as a new person, who has emerged from adversity, and is now an entirely new person with new possibilities and power.

Here's to a Healthy and Happy Holiday and New Year,

Michael Padilla, L.Ac.

Stress is not just an abstract term for the stuff in our lives we don't like. It is literally something that pressures our systems, our immune system, our nervous system, and our circulatory system, compromising their effectiveness, and ultimately your effectiveness in whatever areas are most important to you.

Exercise does not have to be sweaty, painful, vomit inducing triathalons, but rather something that gets you moving, or rather, something that MOVES you. By having fun at whatever exercise you do, you are more likely to keep doing it, and more likely to enjoy more benefits that just getting your heart rate up and burning calories.

The food we eat is the basis of the creation and recreation of our bodies and minds. If you are unhappy with either of these, then changing the food you eat, and your attitude towards food is the first step to making a change in your life.

Sometimes all it takes is a consult with your health professional to get you on the right track, and point you in the right direction.

To learn more about how to make positive changes to the mind, body, and spirit, visit www.fourpillarsacupuncture.com

Here's to your health,

Michael Padilla, L.Ac.