Although the Coronavirus Australia is a new virus hitting our streets, it certainly isn’t the only virus that affects the respiratory system. Viruses have been around since the beginning of time and the best way to stop yourself from being affected is keeping yourself healthy. In the unlikely event you do contract it, you are more likely to beat it and resolve the symptoms of the Coronavirus in a short period of time.

We have all heard the coronavirus mostly affecting the more vulnerable members of our community; the elderly, but it has reached a state of mania with fear inciting unnecessary behaviour leading to limited resources on our supermarket shelves.

Keeping ourselves healthy in an epidemic.

Before I delve into this, it is important to note as with any viruses, the coronavirus appears to be impacting the elderly more so who we know are the more vulnerable members of our community. The reason being, as we age we are more susceptible to becoming ill and this is due to many factors. These include previous or current illness(es) affecting our wellbeing, poor nutritional intake, lack of mobility or exercise, lack of fresh air, poor sleeping habits and the list goes on. The important factor in all these stories we have heard where the Coronavirus has taken a life is the lack of facts. You have no idea what state of health that person was in at their time of death.

So to manage this panic with a little common sense I’d like to share with you how acupuncture can help you stay healthy in this ‘epidemic’.

Now acupuncture has many way in helping the immune system so I will need to break this down for you:

1. Defensive Qi: this is the ‘qi’ that circulates on the exterior of our body. It will protect us from invading pathogens/viruses. When we are susceptible to frequent colds/flus/viruses our defensive qi is low and we need to strengthen it. Acupuncture has ‘defensive qi’ specific points that can improve a person’s resilience to pathogens circulating in our atmosphere.
2. Immunity: Our blood carries immune specific cells that are signalled when a foreign object enters our body. Acupuncture works to improve the body’s natural process of manufacturing blood (from the food we eat and water we drink) to ensure our immune system is ready at all times.
3. Lung Qi: When the respiratory system is invaded and the lines of defence are challenged our lung qi is fighting to restore optimal health. This process causes our lung qi to move erratically causing coughing to present. Acupuncture can encourage the lung qi to disperse and descend the qi which resolves the cough. This process is of course coupled with other methods we use to supplement and support the body to completely resolve the issue. 

If you have never experienced acupuncture I should mention a few things:

1. Needles are made from surgical stainless steel in a lab to ensure sterility and quality needles.
2. Acu-points chosen for this type of treatment are located on the lower legs and hands.
3. Needles are retained for 20-25 minutes as this is the required time it takes to move qi throughout the entire body.
4. Needles are discarded in a sharps container after single use. Run like the wind if anyone pulls needles out of a jar as they are packed in sealed plastic packaging to ensure the sterility from the lab is delivered to our clinic.

Additionally, eating nutritious rich foods that will allow essential nutrients to enter your body and improve immune health is paramount. Health is a multi faceted approach and being healthy requires us to tick all the boxes.

We live in a time of instant gratification with technology delivering everything we need instantly to our phones and other devices. Health doesn’t work this way and we need to understand that our body will be healthiest with continued long term love and support so that every aspect of our health (mind and body) is nurtured and healthy.