Edmonton Acupuncture Center  
Edmonton Acupuncture Center
Phone: 780-416-2828
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Acupuncture Benefits
  Detoxification

   Jump to:  Why?  |  What Are Toxins?  |  Ion Cleanse Therapy  |  Cupping Therapy  |  Considerations
                  Heal Detox Kit  |  Signs of Detoxification  |  References

Why Our Clinic Focuses on Detoxification Solutions

The World Health Organization estimates that 25 percent of all deaths in the developing world are directly attributable to environmental factor. Some researchers estimate that exposure to pollution causes 40 percent of deaths annually.

What Are Toxins?

A toxin is a substance that is harmful or noxious to the body and mind. External toxins originate from outside the body and internal toxins originate from inside the body and mind. Toxins frequently create interference, hindering proper functioning of the body and mind. Toxins create diseases themselves; and at the very least, toxins aggravate existing health problems.

Examples of External Toxins:

Radioactive waste, irradiation, x-rays, electro-magnetic field (EMF) radiation, pollution, noise, weather, household and industrial chemicals, heavy metals such as mercury, lead, copper, arsenic, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, chronic long term use of pharmaceutical drugs, food preservatives, chemicals, additives, refined sugar, refined flour, hydrogenated oil, trans fats, coffee, alcohol, chemical enriched tobacco smoke.

Examples of Internal Toxins:

Bacteria, yeast, fungal overgrowth, chronic parasitic infection, chronic viral infection, mercury dental amalgam fillings, food allergies & sensitivities , sluggish lymph & skin elimination, stress overload, psychosomatic diseases; repressed and chronic emotions of anger, resentment, fear, worry, sadness and shock.

The body's excretion pathways may be able to counteract these negative influences for a time, but become overwhelmed by long-term exposure. When not properly eliminated, toxins build-up and negatively affect the body's metabolism in a variety of ways such as: weakening the immune system, nervous system, hormonal system, vital organs, cellular respiration, antioxidant system and mucosal surfaces. Many diseases are directly related to the body's incapacity to rid itself of toxins.

Our Clinic Offers Heavy Metal Testing

Some heavy metals, in trace amounts, are beneficial to the body; these include iron, zinc, copper and manganese. Other heavy metals can be poisonous or toxic to the human body; these include arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, iron, and others. These metals manifest themselves within the soft tissues of the body & may cause gastrointestinal, neurological, and other serious illness if left untreated. Consult our clinic for your own Heavy Metal Detoxification Test.

How We Diagnose Toxicity.

Our clinic employs the heavy metal detoxification test using a urine sample to test for heavy metal toxicity in just a few minutes. The test is based on the dithizone reagent (known to chemical science for more than 60 years) which only measures the unbound or free metal ions. This means the metals in the body that have not been neutralized are being screened. In a healthy body with a functioning detoxification system, or in the absence of heavy metals, there should be no free heavy metal ions found in the urine.

A respected pioneer in the field of heavy metal detoxification, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, M.D., PhD has determined that there is a direct correlation between stored toxins and infectious pathogens. He states that "for each equivalent of stored toxins there is an equal amount of pathogenic microorganisms in the body." The presence of stored toxins causes immune system deficiency that supports the growth of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.

The term Toxic Body Burden (TBB) is now being used in reference to toxic heavy metals, synthetic chemicals, and pathogens that enter and accumulate in the body. Retaining and restoring vibrant health requires an effective two-pronged approach that can detoxify toxic substances while simultaneously eliminating infectious microorganisms.

Pollution Is Regarded as a Major Factor in Disease

People are exposed to noxious and harmful substances released into air, water sources, the earth and food. The body’s natural immunity and defensive systems can become compromised and life sustaining cellular enzymatic processes inhibited by heavy metals, radiation, repressed emotions and pollution problems, making the body and mind much more susceptible to contracting other diseases.

When taxed with too many demands, the body experiences more stress than it can manage, fatigue or even exhaustion can result. Down-regulated tired organ function causes lymphatic circulation to become sluggish and the interstitial fluid providing the cells of the body with nutrients and a means of waste removal becomes overburdened, and tissues inflamed. The removal of tissue fluid does not function correctly and there is a buildup. Due to gravity and poor lymph circulation, this can cause edema swelling, toxic build up around the feet, ankles and thighs.

These accumulative toxins can create interference and electrical resistance causing these areas to become inflamed, painful, pH acidic due to reduced oxygen levels and further reduces the cellular elimination of toxins out of cells and nutrition into cells. The immune, lymphatic and fluid metabolism systems can become congested and less effective due to the restricted circulation. This toxic interference can lead to: long term health problems, headaches, obesity, arthritic pain, fatigue, chronic infections, cancer, autoimmune disease, impaired neurological development, mood disorders, behaviour challenges (hyperactivity, autism, etc.), bowel disease, immune disease, cardiovascular disease and reproductive problems including infertility.

Why Is It Necessary to Detoxify Regularly

A regular and comprehensive cleansing and detoxification program in this day and age is crucial for both the treatment and the prevention of illness and disease. Eliminating harmful toxins, parasites, virus, bacteria, fungus, heavy metals, radiation and repressed emotions et cetera from body and mind enhances total body wellness. This includes your digestive tract, cardiovascular system, lung function, urinary system, brain and nervous system, bones, joints, skin, immune function, and hormone regulating system.

A detoxification program is vital to help you prevent disease, achieve and maintain optimal health and facilitate an incredible sense of well-being and happiness. When you eliminate anything; toxins, chemicals, excess, clutter, negativity, stress, worry, life threatening habits et cetera, what's left? Clarity, cleanliness, enhanced functionality, simplicity, lightness, positivity, peace, happiness and much more.

What happens when you eliminate excess buildup and clutter from your home, and personal spaces? Your stress level drops. If this is true inside your home, just imagine what happens when you de-clutter and cleanse your body! Cleaning and eliminating the toxic load from your body, mind, and environment will free up your energy to regain robust vigor and vibrancy in all aspects of life. What happens when we function at our best? We become stronger, more efficient, more productive and positive.

Most people find it easiest to eliminate toxins by completely removing unwanted, unhealthy items. Reducing to eliminating toxic habits and eliminating foods and drinks that carry negative impacts is critical to keeping your body clean and healthy. As we remove toxic foods, drinks and habits from our lives, we need to implement new outlets for our bodies to relinquish stress and emotions that weigh us down.

We Encourage Active Lifestyle Choices

Exercise stimulates the body to flush toxins via sweating. Muscle contraction improves lymph vessel circulation, reducing inflammation and promoting drainage. Physical activity stimulates the body to produce its own mood enhancing endorphins and hormones that promote robust well-being and feelings of euphoria.

Cardiovascular exercise is highly beneficial because the physical act stimulates circulation and metabolism; promoting weight loss, toning muscle, enhancing stamina, and endurance.

Strength and resistance training benefits joint health, muscle mass, supports bone mass density, prevents osteoporosis, encourages functional quality of life.

Stretching routines enhance full ranges of motion in all joints, injury prevention, enhanced circulation, balance and coordination et cetera. Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga are wonderful activities promoting ideal well-being.

The changes in health and overall wellness that many people experience following a detoxification program are simply amazing. Detoxification and cleansing is truly purging the garbage waste products out of the body and mind. This leaves space and room for the opportunity to experience renewed vitality, expansion and love for life. Our therapists and doctors offer detoxification options allowing a greater ease in the cessation of smoking addiction for those who have struggled for years to quit.

What Is Treated With Detoxification?

A complete and natural cleansing of the body through regular detoxification is literally life transforming; targeting, activating, supporting and strengthening the immune system, lymphatic system, gastrointestinal system, nervous system, hormonal system, vital organs, cellular respiration, antioxidant system, mucosal surfaces. The main organs in your body for ridding yourself of toxins are the major drainage and detoxification organs that eliminate waste products: the bowels, the liver, the gallbladder, the kidneys, urinary bladder, the lymphatic circulation, the skin and the lungs. Optimal wellness involves keeping these organs and systems well-tuned. Our detoxification programs emphasize and assist these organs of elimination to excrete wastes effectively and efficiently.

A detoxification program addresses imbalances at the cellular level. How quickly you respond to a detoxification program is relative to you and depends on many factors: your own beliefs regarding your body's ability to heal, your dietary and exercise lifestyle habits of past and present, the presence of existing illness in your body, to name but a few.

Staying healthy involves the awareness of toxins, the avoidance of toxins, the elimination of toxins, and the nutritional repair to the cellular damage created by these toxins in the body. To become and remain healthy, eliminating and excreting the presence of these illness-producing substances from your body is not only useful, but also vital for experiencing wonderful health.

Detoxification via Acupuncture

Any acupuncture treatment you receive will initiate a detoxification process. Needling the body signals the brain to send circulation to the area needled and investigate. The needles trigger an immune response that's often indicated by redness around the needle site. The redness of the skin around the needle is a good indicator of the amount of toxins trapped in the local tissues and organs corresponding to that specific needle location. Acupuncture promotes the up-regulation of down-regulated organ function through neurological stimulation which communicates with the mid-brain to improve total body electric, blood, lymph and body fluid circulation.
Needling the points activate energetic meridian pathways corresponding to organs, their function, body fluids, blood, lymph and Qi circulation. Increasing the circulation of oxygen and nutrient rich blood invigorates metabolism to cleanse the organs, balance their function, regulating hormone production and distribution. When the organs detoxify, the body as a whole performs more efficiently.

A healing reaction often occurs when receiving an acupuncture treatment; it can be uncomfortable when toxins are being flushed out of the organs and tissues. Moving toxins from the organ tissues to the lungs, skin, digestive tract, and urinary tract to be eliminated from the body. The degree of discomfort depends on the individual’s sensitivity, unique health circumstance and willingness to follow herbal and dietary guidelines, as well as lifestyle recommendations.

Ion Cleanse Therapy

Ion Cleanse Therapy process is an amazing cleansing method for detoxifying your entire body by bathing your feet in a warm water while using positive and negative ions from an ionic cellular generator.

What It Does

The Ion Cleanse Therapy is designed to detoxify and balance your body's overall energy while facilitating and aiding in your natural detoxification process. It removes unwanted toxins, neutralizes and eliminates harmful free radicals by creating an ionic energy field within your body. Clinical trials have shown that it improves and balances the body's energy channels or meridians. These meridians begin or end on the feet or hands and provide a pathway for energy to flow to or from a particular organ (i.e. liver, kidney, etc.). It has also been proven to increase range of motion as well as improve overall muscle strength. The clinical trials also have shown that the foot bath improves the acid/alkaline balance (pH) of your body. Balancing your pH is critical in aiding your body in dealing with day to day stress. Hyperacidity affects every biological function in your body, from digestion, elimination, sleep, fertility, pain management etc.

This is an external detoxification method, which removes toxins through your feet. The generally accepted mode of detoxification is the internal herbal cleanse. The internal cleanse can weaken your body, as your already polluted organs become even more strained to eliminate the toxins mobilized by the herbs. This leads to all kinds of health crisis, intestinal distress, aggravation of gall stones, etc. With this external system your body detoxifies while you are comfortably seated with your feet placed in a container of warm water. This is a very efficient and safe way to remove toxic accumulations regardless of where they are located in the body.
Ion generating technology has been around for several decades. This generates an alternating stream of positive and negative ions (charged atoms), which attract and attach themselves to oppositely charged toxic particles then draws them out of the body through the skin.

Cupping Therapy

Toxic, inflamed, tense muscles and connective tissues become areas of blockage, which build up pressure, stagnation and inhibit normal circulation. Vital energy becomes trapped because it is energy that is no longer flowing with ease. This occurrence is very similar to having a kink in a water hose; pressure is excessive on the supply side, and deficient on the demand side of the obstruction. After injury, the stagnant blood and body fluids heat up from lack of movement and naturally occurring warm body temperatures. This stagnation effect is similar to having the sun, shine on a still pool of water which builds up heat over time, unlike a running stream of water which releases the sun’s excess heat. As the pool accumulates more heat, the stagnant water evaporates causing the water to become highly concentrated; fostering contamination as well as a becoming a breeding ground for insects and an incubator for bacteria and other organisms. This stagnant pool may start fermenting to produce foul odours and gases. In the body, obstructed, inflamed vessels and poor circulation can promote toxin, virus, fungus, bacteria, and parasite accumulation. Blood clots can form producing swelling, pain or even serious blockages related to stroke and heart attack.

The body strives for balance and over time the body may be able to unblock the obstructed areas and return to optimal circulation. Some injury areas including surgery remain painful and do not completely feel the same as they did prior to the injury. The good news is: cupping therapy speeds up the rate at which the body heals, clears toxic burden and even increases the body’s ability to recovery completely. The interference must be removed so that blood, oxygen and nutrients can flow freely through the injured and congested areas to remove toxins, nourish and repair injured muscles, joints, tendons, bones and tissues. If the trauma area remains blocked, the body may not heal properly.

A good example of stagnant and obstructed blood and body fluids is a blood clot. Following a physical trauma, small blood vessels rupture causing blood to collect in muscles. Circulation is hindered and this blood is heated by the body’s internal temperature; which begins to congeal and act like glue. In response to the accident, the muscles tighten and the congealing blood holds the muscle fibers together even tighter. Joints accumulate fluids, blood, minerals and nutrients which congeal due to lack of circulation in the area; becoming stiff, swollen, painful, and toxic, inhibiting mobility.

How Does Cupping Therapy Remove Obstruction?

The obstruction needs to be removed prior to increasing the circulation of body fluids, which will assist the body’s natural healing process. This is where the cupping therapy is employed to pull and release the congested area muscle fascia, connective tissues, lymph, stagnant and congealed blood and body fluids thereby increasing circulation. Glass cups are placed on the skin and applied using vacuum suction, releasing the muscle fibers and fascia. This loosens the muscles and the obstructed blood within the muscles to the surface of the skin, relieving excess heat, fluids and pain. Cups are retained from three to five or more minutes according to the severity of the area being treated.

As a result of pulling blood and body fluids to the surface of the skin; each cup may produce a red or purple circle upon the skin that may take a few days to clear. These circles become dark coloured, when the area being cupped contains "obstructed" body fluids and blood. With muscle tension and blood stagnation, one should expect some circular discoloration or bruising following a cupping session. These circular cupping discolorations and bruising occur in the process of drawing out obstructed fluids, toxins and blood from injured areas as part of the healing process regaining normal circulation. The discoloration is directly proportion to the severity of congestion and muscle tension.

As body fluid, blood, nutrient and oxygen circulation improves with each cupping treatment, the circular discolorations become less and even cease when muscle tension is eliminated, toxins clear and circulation is optimal. Each person responds to cupping treatment differently, healing at their own pace; healing depends on physical activity, lifestyle (diet, posture, stress levels), and how frequent the therapy is administered.

Important Considerations

If you are pregnant, have a circulation disorder, hemophilia, lupus, or diabetes, cupping may not be appropriate for you. Although cupping does release tight muscles, increase blood circulation and move congealed body fluids, bruising and bleeding may occur.

Since cupping marks take several days to heal, please consider if you are going to the beach or to an event where you will be revealing the cupped area. If you are very concerned with bruising and discoloration, cupping therapy may not be the preferred therapy for you. Other complimenting therapies such as Tuina massage, foot reflexology and acupuncture promote the circulation of vital energy, blood and body fluids throughout the body.

Heal Detox-Kit

An easy to use detox kit contains 3 homeopathic preparations:

Berberis-Homaccord: Homeopathic preparation used to support the kidneys and urinary system to alleviate symptoms such as painful or burning sensations, as well as facilitate the elimination of urine.

Lyphosot: Homeopathic preparation used to support the lymphatic system in conditions such as tonsillitis, enlarged lymph glands, and light water retention, by increasing the amount of urination.

Nux vomica-Homaccord: Homeopathic preparation to support the liver and gastro-intestinal system, to alleviate symptoms such as indigestion, mild spasms and bloating due to abuse of foods, alcohol, nicotine or coffee.

Signs of Detoxification

Signs of bodily detoxification include fatigue, lack of mental clarity, poor appetite, and changes in bowel movements such as quality, quantity and frequency. The urine may become darker than usual and pass quickly. Detoxification symptoms will decrease with repeated acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, cupping, massage, foot reflexology, ion cleanse therapy treatments; provided the patient isn't being regularly exposed to toxins.

Your body is designed to detoxify and self-regenerate itself, and it's up to you to help it do so. We encourage our patients to detox, drink clean water, exercise regularly, reduce, as well as eliminate toxic foods, drinks and behaviours that threaten health. Our doctors and therapists are here to assist your detoxification process successfully. Massage, cupping therapy, foot reflexology, ion cleanse therapy, acupuncture, and herbal medicine solutions help reactivate your body's own drainage and detoxification systems for optimal vitality.

For further heavy metal testing and detoxification information, contact our clinic to schedule your next appointment.

References

1. “Environment and Health in Developing Countries.” World Health Organization Health and Environmental Linkages Initiative. Last accessed October 21, 2009. Available at http://www.who.int/heli/risks/en/.
2. Pimentel, D. et al. “Ecology of Increasing Diseases: Population Growth and Environmental Degradation.” Human Ecology. 35.6 [2007]: 653-668. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug07/moreDiseases.sl.html

 

 
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  "Poor health is not caused by something you don't have; it's caused by disturbing something that you already have. Health is not something you need to get, it's something you have already if you don't disturb it."
--Dean Ornish