Running on Empty.

Commonly the modern lifestyle looks like this, wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, eat something with carbs (cereal, bagel, toast), fly out the door, rush to work and land just in time to sit in front of a computer for 8-9 hours. For 40-50 hours a week people sit at a desk, working mostly independently of other humans, some phone calls, conference room meetings and the rare outdoor collaboration do exist. Then they move on, they work until 5 or 6 they get a drink with co-workers or go to the gym, or cook dinner for a family and then they have to address whatever outlying tasks may be at home or personal administration and then they crash into sleep, waking to do it all again the next day. Weekends sometimes consist of a little work, but are usually half full of social activities that include drinking or smoking or staying up late. With the regular weekday routine, it's now hard to sleep in to recover. Before you know it Friday night's freedom has melted into Sunday night's ominous nod that Monday will be there when you wake up. This life feels familiar right? If you don't have it, your spouse does, or 90% of your friends do, or your parents or...? This is what we call modern life.

If you are lucky you practice a job that you love, have supportive friends, family or partner. You have hobbies that feed your soul and you sleep enough to keep this cycle healthy for you. However, many of my patients come in, worn out. Looking like their wires are fraying, rough edges manifesting into irritability, insomnia, exhaustion, lack of appetite, poor digestion. All these symptoms naming themselves as "stress".  Caffeine keeps people going, which essentially keeps some sort of gas in the tank, but runs out the oil. Without enough food or sleep the body wears down and can rebel in various symptoms such as the ones previously listed. I call this "running on empty", it feels fine until your gas actually runs out, or your oil truly needs a change.

Since my practice is high volume, some days clearly shout a message. Three patients in a row with the same sort of pain, what sort of treatment protocol do I have for them? But it comes out and I notice the pattern and then that cycle seems to be over. On a larger scale there also is a trickle pattern. Patients scattered through the schedule, over days or weeks that seem to have the same thing. The most common is this lifestyle exhaustion which manifest physically. Usually a patient can recognize they have job stress, but do not want to change it, instead looking to me to melt their shoulder pain, aid their digestion help them in some way. Oftentimes I can, a simple treatment with needles, a little rest and their body scoots back towards equilibrium. However, with this modern life continuing, without some herbs and lifestyle adjustment it's a race against the clock.

However with some TLC, (especially rest and good food) it's easy to help the body back to equilibrium.

Get acupuncture. Rest enough. Eat filling food. Cut back or cut out caffeine. Learn to say no. Go to bed.