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Immune System

 Weaknesses in the immune system can set a person up for recurrent colds and flus, infections, and more serious conditions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lupus, Mononucleosis (Mono), and host of other conditions.
 
Immune System issues can also manifest with unusual neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling in the limbs, loss of sensation, and muscles weakness. Patients who have seen a battery of Western physicians including, internists, neurologists, rheumatologists, and orthopedic surgeons are confounded by a lack of clear diagnosis. These patients often benefit from intervention with Chinese Medicine.
 

Signs of a Depleted Immune System:

  • Recurrent colds and flus
  • Allergies year-around
  • Severe fatigue including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Sinusitis
  • Unexplained neurological symptoms
  • Recurrent infections

How Chinese Medicine Can Help You

Where you are in your cycle of illness will determine the immediate course of treatment necessary. If you are currently sick, the symptoms of your illness will need to be sufficiently addressed before you can begin to address the underlying immune system issues. In the beginning stages, when people are not yet strong, acupuncture and herbal treatment will often cycle between addressing symptoms and building (tonifying) the immune system. Later on, the focus of treatment can be shifted towards building the immune system

 

Antibiotics: The Never-Ending Cycle

While antibiotics are very effective at treating a host of infections, they do have significant drawbacks. First, they deplete the “good” bacteria in the intestines the assist in digestion and absorption of nutrients. For this issue, we recommend our patients take “probiotics” which consist of Acidophilus, Bifidus, and many others.

A more difficult problem associated with antibiotics is that they can make a person more susceptible to becoming sick again 2-3 weeks after a course of antibiotics is completed. If nothing has been done to address the underlying immune system weakness, one may be extremely vulnerable to repeated colds, flus, and sinus infections.
 

What You can Do

Take control of your own health. Make important choices to exercise, eat well (avoid soda, caffeine, fast food, highly processed foods), get enough sleep, and be well emotionally. Your emotional and psychological health will have a direct impact on your immune system. Another factor affecting your immune system is over-work. If you are working excessively without addressing the above issues, you set yourself up for immune weakness and emotional states like depression and anxiety. Acupuncture and herbs can assist you in the process of restoring and revitalizing your body while you make other lifestyle changes.

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