Revive Resolutions With Acupuncture

By Dr. Michael Kowalski, A.P.

Right around this time each year, many of us have abandoned our New Year’s resolutions, frustrated by the fact that achieving those goals seems to have already slipped through our fingers. Acupuncture is a useful method to help get our resolutions back on track by giving us the extra support we need to keep us moving forward.

Our most common goals tend to be losing weight, getting in shape, cutting out stress and improving our overall quality of life. As always, life, pain and injury can get in the way of keeping these personal commitments. Acupuncture treatments are able to restore balance and wellness in body, mind and spirit and serves as a vital tool on our path to wellness.

LOSING WEIGHT

Losing weight is the most common New Year’s resolution. Whether we suffer from imbalanced hormones, are not physically active, experience slow metabolism, or overeat or eat poorly, when we are overweight we can feel fatigued, suffer from illness and pain, improperly absorb nutrients and exhibit higher levels of anxiety.

Acupuncture treatments are able to target the body’s energy meridians and combat the host of illnesses that often accompany weight gain, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. By focusing on strategic acupuncture points on the body, “Dr. Michael” Kowalski can help your body control hunger, limit overeating, regulate obesity-related hormones and improve digestion. Additionally, research has found acupuncture to be effective in increasing the production of gherlin, a hormone that controls when you eat, and decreasing leptin, a hormone that regulates fat storage and the rate of metabolism.

GETTING IN SHAPE

It’s easy to lose your “get up and go” when it comes to staying on the treadmill of exercise. If your life has been too sedentary compared to how active you want to be, or if your renewed enthusiasm causes injury, stiffens muscles, or results in tissue inflammation, there are a lot of ways fitness resolutions can be derailed.

Acupuncture is especially effective for decreasing pain and helping muscles relax. By stimulating healing of the tissues surrounding an injury, acupuncture improves blood and oxygen flow to the area, speeding the body’s natural healing process. There is also a side benefit: it releases endorphins that relieve pain and generally make you feel good!

CUTTING OUT STRESS

Stress comes in many forms, and can be the root or source of aggravation for many diseases. Illness and pain are the body’s way of expressing a need to change – to take better care of ourselves, to eat better, to sleep more, to release self-critical thoughts and emotions caused by things out of our control and to release whatever is unhealthy for our well-being.

Dr. Michael spends time talking therapeutically with each patient, to understand what stresses you and how your stress affects you. He focuses on the main stressors in your life and how to manage them in a healthier way. His deeper understanding of your stress triggers allows him to provide acupuncture treatments that can relieve these tensions, making it easier for you to move forward.

IMPROVING YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE

Disease doesn’t just happen overnight. Long-term imbalances, left untreated, become chronic illnesses over time. Stress, emotions, poor nutrition, and lifestyle habits often wear down your health and quality of life. When someone becomes chronically sick, it rarely follows the textbook definitions of specific conditions. Rather than trying to label your illness, Dr. Michael will work to identify its complex mix of causes.

For treatment, Dr. Michael uses the latest research findings on supplements, diet and other natural tools for restoring balance in your body’s whole system. Typically, these simple yet highly effective nutritional suggestions can trigger significant recovery for people with chronic health conditions such as: chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, hormonal imbalance, migraines, brain fog, irritable bowel, recurrent infections and weak immunity; or auto-immune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, thyroiditis and many other conditions. Coupled with Dr. Michael’s personally customized acupuncture treatment plan that focuses on the root cause of your pain, you will notice a significant improvement in your overall quality of life.

Remember – falling off the treadmill doesn’t mean you can’t get back on. Sometimes we need help, and acupuncture can provide the extra support we need to stay on track with our resolutions and achieve our personal goals for the year. The overall improvement we experience and our enhanced sense of well-being will serve as strong reminders that staying on our path to wellness will lead to a happy and healthy life.