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Dr. Richard Hazel is a distinguished Doctor of Acupuncture and a New York State Licensed Acupuncturist, renowned for his expertise in Functional Acupuncture, with a specialized focus on Orthopedic & Sports Acupuncture. With a passion for optimizing athletic performance and facilitating recovery, Dr. Hazel proudly partners as the acupuncturist for UB Athletics, working with their football, volleyball, and other dedicated athletes.
A Leader in Integrative Sports Medicine
Dr. Hazel's approach integrates advanced acupuncture techniques with a deep understanding of human physiology and athletic demands. His commitment to enhancing recovery, regeneration, and adaptation to exercise stress is evident in his significant contributions to the field. He is a co-author of Chapter 22, "Acupuncture: Its relationship to Recovery, Regeneration and Function," in the authoritative book Fundamentals of Recovery, Regeneration, and Adaptation to Exercise Stress: An Integrated Approach (Springer Nature). This publication solidifies his position as a thought leader in the application of acupuncture for athletic populations.
Pioneering Education and Global Influence
A graduate with honors from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine – New York, where he earned both his Master of Science in Acupuncture (Orthopedic & Sports Medicine) and his Doctor of Acupuncture, Dr. Hazel is a dedicated educator. He has developed and taught extensive curricula in Motor Point Acupuncture and Trigger Point Needling, sharing his knowledge through online courses on Podia and at prestigious international seminars. His teaching engagements span across Europe and Australia, including the European Sports and Orthopedic Acupuncture Congresses in Barcelona and Amsterdam, and workshops in Poland, Canada, Ireland, and France. His work has significantly influenced practitioners globally, establishing him as a world-renowned authority in Functional Acupuncture.
Dedicated to Athlete Well-being
Through his partnership with UB Athletics since 2024, Dr. Hazel provides cutting-edge acupuncture treatments to help athletes achieve peak performance, accelerate injury recovery, and maintain optimal physical well-being. His hands-on experience with collegiate athletes underscores his practical application of advanced acupuncture principles in a high-performance sports environment.
Episodes

Monday Aug 01, 2022
Neuromodulation and Acupuncture
Monday Aug 01, 2022
Monday Aug 01, 2022
Neuromodulation is a big word. I wanted to be sure I knew what it was and I realized that we should all be using this word more often to explain what we do, especially when we talk to medical professionals.
Here's the link to the study I mentioned: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/13/4647/pdf

Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Why We Need to Understand How the Body Responds to Pain vs Just Testing Muscles
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Understanding postural issues, over-use issues, the actions and antagonists and synergists of muscles is essential to treating tough cases and in many cases we simply can't do muscle testing on patients due to age, size, level of pain or other reasons. When we understand how to body responds to pain and over-use we can often put together a solid treatment plan without muscle tests.
The thought experiment today was all the ways I can think of that the TFL can cause low back pain. How many can you think of?

Sunday Jul 10, 2022
Fascia Lata Injury and other Fascia Injuries
Sunday Jul 10, 2022
Sunday Jul 10, 2022
There are things that happen to the body when there's injury or a surgery. One of them can be the fascia lata getting very tight.
You won't find this from muscle testing. You need to know what you are looking for and how to address it.
I mentioned IASTM in this episode so here's a good example of IASTM from Brent Brookbush of the Brookbush Institute:

Saturday Jul 02, 2022
DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis (Quick and Dirty) Treatment
Saturday Jul 02, 2022
Saturday Jul 02, 2022
Sometimes people make things too complicated when there's a simple treatment that will get fast pain relief for most patients.
I'll piss some people off with this one. But I want to help the people who are new to orthopedic assessment get fast results for this condition that can take months to resolve without an intervention with acupuncture and electric stimulation.

Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Plantar Nerve Distribution and Entrapments
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
I'm a big fan of studying common peripheral nerve entrapments from medical books that are by and for MD's.
Here are some strategies that I have success with for foot pain and numbness that involves consideration of plantar nerve distribution and entrapments.
Here's my favorite reference:

Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Is that SIJ Pain Really Coming from the SIJ?
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Not all SI Joint pain is coming from the SI Joint. In fact, many or most times it's coming from something else.
The SIJ is often the underlying instability for many issues like hip and back pain, but that doesn't mean the SIJ will hurt.
When there's pain at the SIJ I always check these three things first.

Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Are you muscle testing the hip adductors as a group?
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
If you find that you rarely see a need to treat the hip adductors and you are only doing a manual muscle test of them as a group, you are likely missing some things.

Sunday May 29, 2022
This little muscle can cause some big pain
Sunday May 29, 2022
Sunday May 29, 2022
It's important to look for a problem with anconeus on anyone with lateral epicondyle pain.
It's easy to miss and important to treat when it's tight and injured.
Here's the link for the October seminar I mentioned:
https://kangfu.eu/motor-point-acupuncture-head-neck-upper-extremity-assessment-treatment-strategy-nfl-protocols/

Sunday May 22, 2022
Trigger Points: When and Why Do We Need to Treat Them?
Sunday May 22, 2022
Sunday May 22, 2022
If you aren't treating trigger points when it's necessary, you can't get the best results.
Knowing when trigger points are the problem is essential.
Here's my advice and method for knowing when to look for trigger points to release.

Sunday May 15, 2022
Orthopedic Acupuncture (with me) is Not a Spa Day!
Sunday May 15, 2022
Sunday May 15, 2022
When I treat, I want to be sure I'm getting the best results I can get and that requires having the patient move around to see how they feel and then they get back on the table so I can do more treatment.
