Recently while scrolling on Facebook, I came across the status of one of my college professors who I deeply admire and who is one of the most intelligent people I know, academically and emotionally. Her status struck me, as did the comment below. Without revealing the specifics, her status basically said that a change in circumstances, "lightened my malaise but creativity is still beyond my reach." It's worth noting that she's a professor of theater and has been for several decades. Her past students include Aaron Sorkin, Vanessa Williams and Taye Diggs and frequently her former students are awarded Tonys, Oscars, Emmys and Grammys, so her world is all about creativity. For that to be beyond her reach is tremendously meaningful to her, and those who commented, many of whom are former students, noted the same feeling.
This made me think of a few of my patients I've recently treated who have shared that they don't really have any one thing bothering them but they are feeling run down, have little motivation, or are generally not feeling like themselves. They've all reported that their most recent blood work was normal and they're up to date with their medical doctor visits. When I've suggested that what they're feeling is malaise, often they reply that malaise is the perfect word to describe what they're experiencing.
A recent Harvard Health article delved into malaise, described by Dr. Robert Shmerling, Senior Faculty Editor at Harvard Health Publishing and former Clinical Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, as, "a sense of feeling generally unwell. People with malaise often find it hard to put into words. They may describe a vague sick feeling, or a sense that they're 'coming down with something.' It's often accompanied by feeling tired, but not always." The article states that exercise, eating well, sleep, hydration and stress management can all improve the symptoms of malaise, but in my experience acupuncture is also very helpful.
In East Asian Medicine malaise is generally thought of as a Qi deficient condition, which presents as low energy, dizziness, blurry vision and spontaneous sweating. When Qi is deficient it can become stagnant, which can lead to symptoms including pain, insomnia, negative emotions and distention. All of these symptoms can result from chronic illness or recent infection, but in the recent cases I've seen neither of these things presents. It's not until I ask about their stress level that it then becomes clear that stress may be the culprit.
Acupuncture is excellent at resetting the nervous system's automatic response to stress, which affects the digestive, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. When the response to stressful events is minimal, these systems function well. When stress is high and/or chronic, these systems adapt to be able to respond to the stress, and the consequence may be an increased heart rate and respiratory rate as well as indigestion, bloating and constipation.
So how often should you get acupuncture to help resolve malaise? It depends on the exposure to the stress in terms of length of time and intensity, but generally I recommend patients seek treatment 2-3 times per week for the first week or two. As symptoms are improving the frequency of treatment is scaled back. My patients who have resolved their malaise now come in for acupuncture once a month to help maintain how they're feeling.
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