Overtraining Syndrome

ACUPUNCTURE AND OVERTRAINING SYNDROME

Over the past 10 years, it has been my pleasure to treat many, many patients and in particular many people engaged in athletic endeavors. In some cases, acupuncture alone has provided excellent results. In other cases, acupuncture has proven to be a good complement to other modalities including chiropractic and physical therapy.

Every athlete, professional or not, will inevitably encounter injury. Most sports injuries are to the soft tissue (e.g. tendons, ligaments, muscles). Many athletes never completely recover, and in some cases these injuries become the basis for future problems.

Besides soft tissue injury, another common situation encountered by highly motivated athletes is overtraining syndrome. Exercise and sports performed properly promotes health and reduces physiologic and psychological stress. Improperly performed, these activities may increase stress and reduce health. If the intensity of training is increased beyond the body's ability to adapt, and if a full revery is not made, training actually becomes a long-term cause of stress. Some of the symptoms encountered include:

General fatigue that does not improve
Loss of motivation
Feelings of depression, anxiety, irritability
Loss of Strength

These symptoms are beyond that felt after normal training and do not diminish after a few days of rest or reduced training.

Physiological Effects

Excessive musculoskeletal stress, coupled with insufficient rest and recovery, leads to local acute inflammation, which can evolve into systemic chronic inflammation.

Studies have also shown that excessive training can actually compromise normal immune function. The immune system, in addition to providing defense against bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells also participates in tissue regeneration after injury. Overtraining leads to reduced lymphocytes and antibodies, making the body vulnerable to illness.

The endocrine system is also affected. Athletes who have overtrained may show increases in cortisol and decreases in testosterone. A change in this ratio may result in more protein catabolism (breakdown) than anabolism (buildup) in cells.

Acupuncture Treatment

Acupuncture is a soft tissue therapy which has 3 effects to reduce systemic stress. It reduces pain, promotes tissue healing, and helps restore homeostasis. The needle induces a local response which causes the body to attempt to heal both the point where the needle is inserted and the surrounding area. The nerve signal from the point is is transmitted to and processed at the spinal cord and within the brain. These activate control systems which both relieve pain and restore homeostasis.

Most people are treated twice per week for 3 weeks. Within this period of time, people consistently report less pain, better sleep, and improved energy. In addition, at our clinic, we use specialized techniques to increase range of motion, strength and balance. As competitive people in every field know, it is not the fact that problems arise but how you deal with them that determines your success.

What is INMAS?

INMAS stands for Integrative Neuromuscular Acupoint System. The INMAS was created by Dr Yun-Tao Ma to be an upgraded understanding of the use of acupuncture treatment. Classical acupuncture was developed between 500 and 200 BC. It grew to encompass an intricate system of 14 meridians with 361 points, each having a fixed location and function. This is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine and is still learned today.

The basic idea of the meridian system is that the acupuncture points are connected by flows of energy or qi. Stimulation of one point can produce effect elsewhere in the body based on these connections. However, intensive research in China and elsewhere has yet to produce concrete evidence of the meridians as described in the classical texts. Classical Chinese acupuncture produced valuable clinical experience, but the theories of why it worked have become increasingly at odds with modern physiological understanding. Simply put, acupuncture works, but the reason it works is not the reason that was traditionally given.

This presents what Dr. Ma calls a "bottleneck;" an ancient and valuable therapy is having trouble moving into the modern age because it is still described in archaic terms. The INMAS was created to remedy this. This system is based on a neuroanatomical understanding of physiology, while preserving the classical impetus to treat the whole person, not only the disease. It is based on an understanding of the peripheral and central mechanisms of the nervous system. Pain and other problems can be treated not by an understanding of "qi" in the meridian, but by where they are relative to spinal nerve distribution. The action of the acupuncture needle is not considered to affect qi, but to have a neurochemical effect. This leads to a clear and reproducible treatment protocol, as well as facilitating communication with other health care professionals.

At Naperville Acupuncture Center, we use many acupuncture techniques, but our understanding of what and why we do what we do is guided largely by Dr. Ma's work. Our thanks and gratitude to him for advancing our profession and making it more accepted and of more benefit to the public.

On Acupuncture

Hi, this is the first blog post written for the Naperville Acupuncture Center. We will be using this blog to communicate information about acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine generally, as well as to cover stories of interest about health, our clinic, and local events. In the first few upcoming entries, I will be posting some answers to the question of how acupuncture "really works." Many people have heard of the theory of "Chi" or energy, but from a scientific perspective, these explanations may be unsatisfying. Stay tuned to find out some fascinating facts!