acupuncture

Five Ways Runners Can Benefit from Acupuncture

August 19, 2022 by Michelle 15 Comments

I’m happy to say that my quest to find a new acupuncturist is finally over and I cannot wait for my appointment! I’ve been a big believer in acupuncture since I was first introduced to acupuncture over 20 years ago as a solution for my once debilitating migraines.

When I became a runner, acupuncture became a go-to solution when dealing with an injury and was a key staple when I was training for the Chicago Marathon. Thanks to COVID, my practitioner paused her practice and then eventually closed shop for good. So, it’s been almost 3 years, and I can’t wait to get back to it!

Why am I so excited? Let me share just a few ways runners can benefit from acupuncture.

Five Ways Runners Can Benefit from Acupuncture

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Accelerates Recovery — Acupuncture improves blood circulation, which helps with muscle recovery and healing.

Improves Mobility — The insertion of acupuncture needles in key points can aid in releasing tightness in myofascial tissue providing greater mobility and decreasing muscle imbalance.

Strengthens Immunity — Research shows that acupuncture can help regulate the immune system which can be especially helpful to runners who are taxing their systems with intense training. Seriously, who wants to miss runs or a race because of illness?

Improves Sleep — Runner or not, we all know important sleep is to give the body time to rest and repair.

Relieves Pain without Side Effects — The World Health Organization has actually endorsed acupuncture for pain relief. Acupuncture aids the nervous system to produce painkilling chemicals and, because it works naturally with the body, there are none of the side effects of traditional pain medication.

Have you ever tried acupuncture?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Please share the link-up love by visiting and commenting on your hosts and at least two other Fit Five Friday bloggers!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, acupuncture

Alternative treatments help keep me running

July 21, 2015 by Michelle 19 Comments

I’m linking up once again with Erika, April & Patty for Tuesdays on the Run. This week’s topic is one that I have always found really interesting – alternative treatments for running injury/injury prevention.

Over the past couple of years, I have turned to both acupuncture and chiropractic treatment at various times to deal with different nagging issues. Long before I started running, I’d been a big fan of acupuncture ever since it helped me deal with what were once debilitating migraines. So when I first encountered some knee/ITB issues I quickly turned to acupuncture and had great success with it. Which, of course, begs the question, why stop? Sadly, my talented acupuncturist moved his practice out of state and I just haven’t found a replacement.

I’m also a huge fan of massage, especially when I’m actively training for a race and my mileage is high (for me). I find sport massage helps to both keep my legs feeling good and aids my recovery. I would love to go on a regular basis….hmmm maybe I need to buy some lottery tickets 😉

Obviously, I’m not a doctor nor do I have a medical background – I can only say what works for me.

Have you tried any alternative treatments? What works for you?

Filed Under: acupuncture, chiropractor, massage

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

January 12, 2012 by Michelle 4 Comments

I love all of the different challenges going on right now on either blogs or Daily Mile. I joined Christine’s 100x Challenge over at Dream Big Runner. The Challenge goes all year with different targets of 100 each month – for January the goal’s to run 100k (or 62.2 miles) and next month it’s 100 push-ups per week (ouch!). I recently discovered Christine’s blog and really enjoy it so if you haven’t checked it out you should. Also, there’s still time to join the Challenge!

I went back to see “Dr. Needles” again on Tuesday, where both my left knee and lower back were once again given the human pin cushion treatment. He peppered me with a bunch of questions about my last couple of runs and seems happy with the progress. I’m going again next Tuesday and then will take a break for a couple of weeks and see how the leg responds.

Looks like I’ll be playing race director for my boys’ school fun run! I’ve volunteered at this event for the past couple of years – it’s one of our family’s favorite school events – and in a moment of insanity I agreed to chair the committee for this year’s race. The run includes 1/2 mile and 1 mile races for the kids plus a 5k for anyone who’s game. Should be fun to see what all goes into coordinating a local race – I’ve got until May to figure it out!

Filed Under: 100x Challenge, 3 things, acupuncture, playing race director

Bring on the Needles – Back to the Acupuncturist

January 4, 2012 by Michelle 16 Comments

Soucre: Google images

I headed back to my acupuncturist yesterday to begin treatment on my left ITB issues.

You may remember that weeks before the Philly half marathon, my left leg decided to not play nice and to stave off my panic I started pulling out all the stops to keep the ITB and knee happy. One of the things I tried was acupuncture — I have used acupuncture in the past with great success in relieving migraines, helping to lower my blood pressure and, even for relief from bad bouts of hay fever. I figured why not see if a few carefully placed needles could help…and I believe it did. Was it the sole reason I got to the starting line feeling as good as I did? That’s hard to say, but I know in those final days leading up to the race, my leg felt much better after the treatments.

So fast forward to now – one of my goals for this year is to get through the year injury-free. To do that I believe there are a few things I need to do a better job of:

strength training
improving my range of motion/flexibility, and
something I’m calling proactive self-care — doing a better job of taking care of my body, especially my legs in a proactive manner, instead of waiting until something goes wrong.

Acupuncture fall into that 3rd category. When I talked to my acupuncturist leading up to Philly, we discussed the on and off problems I’d been having all year. He explained that beyond pain management, acupuncture can be used to help decrease swelling and inflammation, as well as to increase range of motion. We discussed taking a proactive course of treatment to help treat the underlying conditions that may lead to my left leg flare-ups. Made sense to me – so once a week for 6 weeks I’ll be playing the part of human pincushion and then we’ll take a break so we can get a better sense of the lasting affects.

Have you ever tried acupuncture? What do you do to take care of your body?

Filed Under: acupuncture, ITB

November Rewind

December 1, 2011 by Michelle 7 Comments

Good things for the month:

While I logged just 60 miles – one of my lowest months of the year – this still goes in the “good things” category because they were quality miles that helped lead to 2 PRs this month!

I was selected to be a FitFluential Ambassador! I’m really looking forward to connecting with other bloggers and the opportunity to test, review, and hopefully giveaway various brands of fitness gear/equipment/books/food.

Things I could do without:

My left ITB/knee saga – Yeah…enough already!

On the decks for December:

The Jingle Bell 5k – my last race of the year!
Returning to acupuncture for my ITB — it really made a difference in the days leading up to Philly.
A little 2012 planning — trying to figure out my training plan for my next half marathon…and maybe a little race shopping 🙂
Diving full force into the holiday season!!

How was your November? What do you have planned for this month?