Jeff Rippey

I do a lot of work with neuropathy. Assuming you're someone who responds to acupuncture, there is probably some level of improvement that can be made.

How much improvement you might reasonably expect is going to be dependent on how much damage has been done, how long the damage has been present, and what caused the damage in the first place.

I have a pretty good track record resolving seasonal allergy using acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Depending on the person and the severity of the allergy, it can be a long process.

Yes, it's possible that a case of bronchitis could leave lingering issues with breathing. You don't say how long it has been since you had bronchitis, but depending on the age of the patient and the severity of the initial issue it can sometimes take a few weeks to completely recover.

If you are more than 2 or 3 weeks out from your initial bout of bronchitis and you're still having problems, you should make an appointment with your primary care provider to get evaluated.

The risk with UTI is that the infection moves up the ureters into the kidneys. Left untreated this can result in kidney infection which can impair kidney function, cause sepsis, and result in death.

I've had patients try to catch UTIs early and treat with things like cranberry juice. Sometimes this will work and sometimes it won't. I strongly suggest if you have a UTI or think you may have a UTI that you go and have a urinary analysis done. If you're positive for bacteria in the urine, get on antibiotics. A short course usually clears things up.

Chronic pain is almost always more difficult to work with relative to acute pain. At lot is going to depend on why the pain exists and how long the pain has been present.

Assuming a good response to treatment, there's almost always a level of improvement that can be made. Whether the pain can be relieved permanently or managed would be an open question - I'd need a lot more information than this format provides to give an opinion.

Whether things can be healed and the degree of healing that might occur are going to be directly dependent on what, exactly, is causing the pain in the first place.

Assuming you're someone who responds to acupuncture, treatment will almost certainly result in a reduction or elimination of the pain. How much healing occurs on the back side of the pain relief is anyone's guess.

Having some sort of imaging (xray/MRI) that gives your provider some idea what's going on to cause the pain will do two things:

1. It helps practitioners figure out or refine their treatment approach.
2. It will help to level set how much healing might happen and what we can do to maximize that.

The problem with most types of hypertension is that they fall into a category labeled "idiopathic" which is just a fancy way of saying, "We don't have any idea why this happens". When you don't know what's causing the problem, it's difficult to apply a fix.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture are sometimes more successful with issues like hypertension because we have a diagnostic category that covers the cause of the problem - though that diagnostic category has no meaning to anyone outside of Chinese medicine. Even with that, I've had patients who still required a certain level of maintenance in order to keep their blood pressure in a desirable range.

Most patients still consider it a win if we end up in maintenance because it's typically one treatment every 4-6 weeks vs a daily pill.

There are a variety of options for managing allergy/allergic rhinitis.

1. Over the counter allergy medication
2. Prescription allergy medication
3. Allergy shots
4. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine

Which one you choose depends on your comfort level with that type of treatment and availability of properly trained, licensed providers in your area.

If you have an active infection, your best bet is a course of antibiotics.

If we're talking about a herniated disk, there are a few things that might help:

1. staying active/time. A lot of times a herniated disk will improve somewhat on its own. Stay active, use heat on the area (NO ICE), and eventually the pain may subside.

2. Acupuncture/PT/Chiropractic. Any of these could potentially help reduce the pain. Acupuncture in particular will also address some of the inflammation which will contribute to pain reduction.

3. Medication. This is nerve pain - a portion of the disk is pressing on one or more spinal nerve roots as they exit between the vertebrae. There's not a lot of meds in the prescription arsenal that will work for this, but there are a few.

4. Surgery. You can have a neurosurgeon go in and clean up the herniated disk.

Most providers are going to hold on surgery until they see that nothing else is working. If you choose to try acupuncture, you're going to get your best results from someone who is actually board certified and licensed as a practitioner of Chinese medicine - there are a lot of providers currently offering "acupuncture like" services, not all of them actually went to school for acupuncture. There IS a difference; if you wouldn't go to a podiatrist for brain surgery, don't go to anyone other than a licensed acupuncturist for acupuncture.

Otherwise, the treatment choice is up to you and what happens to be available in your area.

Sometimes, yes. None of the methods for handling seasonal allergy are going to be instant; they all take time to work.

A wide variety of things can cause insomnia - probably too many to list here.

For most people the root of the issue is probably going to boil down to some combination of caffeine, stress, lifestyle, and sleep hygiene (consistent bed/wake times, no TV/computer/tablet/phone prior to bed, no food prior to bed, etc.)

A lot is going to depend on why the ankle is swollen. If this is something like an acute injury (ankle rolled while hiking, etc.) then acupuncture, physical therapy, heat, and time will help.

If the ankles are swelling due to an undiagnosed heart condition, then we're in different territory all together.

If you haven't already done so, start with your primary care provider.

There are multiple different kinds of anemia. Some of these types can be resolved and some require management. Your question gives no indication what type of anemia this is, so I can't provide any further guidance.

There are potentially several treatments that can offer help with insomnia.

Reducing caffeine intake, especially late in the day and minimizing night-time screen use - especially just prior to bedtime can make a big difference. Trying to keep a consistent bedtime can also help.

Melatonin or other over-the-counter sleep aids can sometimes help people get to sleep.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have an excellent track record for treating insomnia. I work quite a bit with sleep issues and can usually help folks sleep better.

Prescription meds can often help.

Yes, there are a few options in terms of natural treatment for seasonal allergy.

Western herbalism offers treatment for allergy. Some homeopathic remedies can help.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture can be very effective at both managing short term symptoms and helping reduce or eliminate allergy altogether over the long term.

Nutrition can sometimes play a role.

A lot is going to depend on what kind of breathing problems you're experiencing.

You could be looking at inhalers or other prescription meds to help manage your airways.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can often improve breathing issues. I treat a lot of allergy/asthma/COPD and I've worked quite a bit with folks who have continuing symptoms after an illness like pneumonia, bronchitis, or COVID. Usually I'm able to get them in a better place.

Sometimes it takes a little time to recover fully. This can be especially true if the pneumonia was severe or required hospitalization.

Sometimes, yes, seasonal allergies can be improved or resolved with acupuncture and/or herbal medicine. Natural treatments do not work quickly, though. It took me about 2 years to get rid of my fall allergies.

I get this question a lot, both in person and on sites like this. The unfortunate answer is: in my experience, rarely.

Tinnitus is extremely difficult to treat by almost any means. This is especially true if the tinnitus is the result of cumulative damage due to repeated exposure to loud sounds (like concerts, loud car stereos, loud ear buds/ear phones, gunfire, airplanes, etc.) This damage is irreversible and, at least in my experience, almost never responds to treatment.

Understanding why you're experiencing tinnitus can go a long way towards finding something that might at least make it a little bit better. I've seen hearing aids improve tinnitus. I've used acupuncture to improve tinnitus in cases where the cause was muscle tension in the neck and jaw. I've also used acupuncture to improve tinnitus in cases where the cause was neurological. I've seen neurological based tinnitus respond to biofeedback.

What I've never seen work are supplements (vitamins, minerals, herbs) aimed at improving hearing.

Acupuncture can be a good treatment for nerve damage. I've had pretty good success with issues ranging from neuropathy to nerve damage as a result of surgery.