Acupuncture, Hormones and a Broody Chicken

This is Loki. Loki loves to run, scavenge and follow me around begging for treats. She’s normally the first one out of the coop each morning, eager to start her day. However a week or so ago she stopped doing that, because she’d gone broody. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it’s when a chicken tries to hatch some eggs by sitting on them. They do this even if the eggs haven’t been fertilized and have no chance of making baby chickens, which is the case of Loki’s eggs. 

Broodiness is caused by a shift in hormones. When a chicken goes broody all sorts of changes happen. They pull out bits of their feathers for the nest, the sounds they make change and they go into a meditative state while they spend their day sitting on a pile of eggs. At this point you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with acupuncture, and the answer is everything. 

Hormonal fluctuations are important. They change our moods, sleep, weight, hair and body temperature, just to name a few. Diagnosis and treatment plans should factor this in. For instance, when I treat people who menstruate I change protocols for each phase of their menstrual cycle. I do this even when they’re coming in for back pain or some other non-related reason because hormonal shifts can increase or decrease pain. It’s all related in the body and should not be ignored.

You can use this information to your advantage. If you menstruate, keep a log of your cycle and include any spikes or decreases in symptoms associated with your menses. Pay attention over time to see if you notice any patterns and bring these to the attention of your practitioner. It can help us get a clearer diagnosis to speed your recovery along and best plan for future treatments. 

As for Loki, chicken hormone management is far less complicated than human hormonal management. After a few days of redirecting where she slept things returned to normal. Now she’s back to running under foot and begging for treats while I garden.