We treat a lot of teenagers at the YinOva Center and it makes me so happy that they feel comfortable coming in to see us and are able to use Chinese medicine as a way of taking care of themselves. As a mother I know, first hand, that teenage girls can be sensitive and vulnerable and that their busy schedules and complex social lives can weigh heavily upon their shoulders, making them feel depleted and imbalanced.  Our YinOva teenagers seek our help for a wide range of problems from anxiety to eating disorders and sports injuries to acne.

I remember only too well how self-conscious I was as a teenager and so it’s easy to understand why acne causes such misery. Fortunately help is at hand and we get very good results treating acne with Chinese herbs and acupuncture.

In Chinese medicine acne and other inflammatory skin conditions are seen as being caused by a combination of too much heat and dampness. People are said to need heat or yang for movement and to make transformations in the body but too much heat can lead to a variety of problems including acne.

So how do people get too hot? The cause can be internal or external.

An internal cause can be emotional pressure leading to constraint which in turn can lead to heat (a bit like a pressure cooker that gets tighter and tighter until steam comes out of the top). Teenagers are particularly prone to bottling up their emotions and becoming tight and stressed. Another internal cause can be an excess of some hormones which can be yang and therefore lead to expressions of heat. Another cause, unique to Chinese medicine, is a diagnosis of blood deficiency. This correlates to substandard nutrition in conventional medicine.  Many of the teenagers we see are not eating enough or are eating the wrong foods making them blood deficient. In Chinese medicine the blood is said to transport normal body waste and if it is deficient and thus not able to it’s job, swellings can appear on the skin.

External causes of heat include irritating chemicals on the skin, eating overstimulating foods and too much physical exertion.

So how do people get too damp? Again the cause can be internal or external.

Everybody needs moisture or yin in order to function. Dampness in Chinese medicine is a condition where the body does not metabolize fluids well leading to excessive fluids in the body’s tissues. Microorganisms such as bacteria thrive in these damp conditions leading to pustules and cystic acne. An internal cause would be a weak digestive system that is stressed by irregular eating habits and an external cause of damp may be fatty or greasy foods.

At the YinOva Center we help our patients with acne by using acupuncture to clear inflammation and using Chinese herbs to treat the dampness and heat. Job’s Tears Seeds (Yi Yi Ren), Poria Mushroom (Fu Ling) and Phellodendrin Bark (Huang Bai) clear dampness and Tree Peony Root Bark (Mu Dan Pi), Red Peony Root (Chi Shao), Goldenthread Root (Huang Lian) clear heat. Some of these herbs such as Phellodendrin Bark and Goldenthread root are also known for their anti-bacterial properties. Our acupuncturists combine these herbs with a formula to treat each patient’s specific underlying condition in order to treat their skin.

Results usually take 3 – 6 weeks and are quicker if the patient also makes dietary adjustments.

Today’s blog is written by Naomi Cohn, YinOva’s new yoga teacher. Naomi is just about to complete her doctorate in child psycholgy and has a particular interest in using yoga to help children with behavioral issues. Naomi is available for to work one on one with adults or to work with you and your child.

Naomi Writes: -

When I first discovered yoga 8 years ago, I was shocked and humbled by the strength and concentration it required. Somewhat sore, but not defeated, I came back for more…and now I am grateful to be able to share the gift of yoga with others.

The more I teach, the more uses I find for this ancient practice. Many individuals practice yoga solely for the physical/exercise benefits, while others crave the sense of complete relaxation that accompanies and follows a session. Most of my clients are busy Manhattanites who appreciate yoga for its ability to strengthen, stretch, calm and restore… all within one hour.
Recently, I have experienced the incredible potential of yoga for children as well. My training as a child psychologist ultimately led me to apply techniques of yoga to helping children increase their ability to concentrate, relax, increase self-esteem, and have fun. I find that NYC kids are often busier than their hard-working parents…with long school days, hours of homework, extra-curricular activities, and the pressures of keeping up socially. There is added difficulty when anxiety, developmental delays, attention problems, or stressful family situations are present. A consistent yoga practice can alleviate these challenging situations for both parents and their children, whether it is through a group yoga class, individual sessions, or parent-child sessions.

Speaking of yoga…

What is Yoga?

Yoga means union in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India. The poses serve to strengthen and stretch both body and mind. In ancient times, yoga was primarily practiced in order to prepare the body both physically and mentally for extended meditation. The most commonly practiced yoga today is a variation of Hatha Yoga which involves a series of poses, focused breathing and concentration.

Yoga has been applied therapeutically as a physical intervention for diseases spanning the spectrum from scoliosis to hypertension, and more recently, has been applied therapeutically in overcoming addictions, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and childhood disorders, such as autism and ADHD.

Yoga as a complementary treatment for ADHD:

One of the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorders, ADHD symptoms include impulsivity, excessive motor activity, difficulties sustaining attention, and difficulty concentrating. Typical treatments include stimulant medications and cognitive behavioral therapy. Medication is not always enough or adequate in treating children with ADHD. In many cases there are unwanted side effects including insomnia, appetite loss, stomach aches, dizziness and daytime drowsiness. It is also unclear as to what the long-term affects of stimulant medications are on young bodies and minds. Additionally, there are those who argue that an emphasis on medical therapy alone draws attention to the control of symptoms, rather than attending to the need for children to acquire important behavioral and social skills.

How can Yoga help?

*increases ability to concentrate, increases body awareness, increases relaxation, reduces stress, increases balance.
*several studies have found yoga to be beneficial in improving mood, reducing emotional highs and lows, reducing resting heart rate and stress levels, as well as reducing aggression.
*specifically regarding the symptom of hyperactivity, yoga has been shown to alleviate muscular tension which can exacerbate the symptoms of hyperactivity.

For those who are interested, read on for a brief review of empirical studies on the therapeutic effects of yoga:

1.The effects of yoga on the attention and behavior of boys with ADHD,by Pauline Jensen and Dianna Kenny (2004)

The authors divided boys with ADHD into two groups. In one group they receive weekly yoga sessions, and in the other group they played games and other activities. The results: The yoga group showed significant improvement on mood swings, temper outbursts and crying fits, as well as restlessness, impulsivity and inattentiveness. Based on parent report, their children’s behavior became more controllable and their ability to remain engaged in activities improved.
Additionally, there were dose response effects such that boys who attended the most sessions showed greater symptom reduction. Further positive effects were associated with those who practiced more at home in addition to the weekly groups. This finding supports a previous finding that yoga practice needs to be frequent and of long duration in order to reap the benefits sought.

The second article I want to describe discusses the importance of alternative ADHD treatment that involves the family, not just the identified patient.

2.Sahaja Yoga Meditation as a Family Treatment Program for Children with ADHD, Harrison, Manocha, and Rubia (2004)

In their article, the authors assert that the most promising interventions are
those that work with the whole family system and use medication in association with non-medical interventions (Rice and Richmond (1997) including cognitive-behavioral therapy, as well as complementary and alternative treatments, such as dietary modification, biofeedback, relaxation training and meditation.
In addition to the physiological or biochemical underpinnings of ADHD, the authors discuss the wider context of family dynamics and parent child relationships as contributing to the “poor self-regulatory behaviors” of ADHD children.
Their study involved both children with ADHD and their parents. They attended twice weekly yoga sessions that included brief meditations. The results: children showed a marked improvement in ADHD symptoms. The authors also noted that several parents stated that they had been able to reduce their child’s medication during the course of the yoga program. Furthermore, there was an improvement in parent child relationships.