Immune Supplements

Here at Modern Roots Acupuncture, we also offer a few select products.  Unlike a lot of places, we only stock items that we personally use.  This shows our faith in the effectiveness of each item.  We also make sure to keep the pricing as low or lower than anywhere else.  This is a thank you to our patients and it allows us to only offer the highest quality available (which can often be too expensive otherwise).  Through this blog post and subsequent blog posts, we will discuss the uses of each of the items.

 

Each of our 15 items are divided onto five different tiles with different themes.  The second theme is the immune system.  While acupuncture is very effective at boosting the immune system, sometimes supplemental care is also needed.

 

Nature’s Shield Essential Oil Blend by NOW should be a familiar fragrance to all patients as it is the essential oil diffused in each treatment room since we opened in 2015.  It is a blend of essential oils called Thieves Oil or Four Thieves Vinegar which contains clove bud, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus, and rosemary.  It is primarily used to uplift and boost the immune system.  While it is all natural, this oil should not be used internally.

 

D-Hist by Ortho Molecular Products is a natural alternative to antihistamines.  We use it as a supplement to help with moderate seasonal/environmental allergies, especially with issues in the nose and sinus passageways.  It uses a combination of Vitamin C, Quercetin, Stinging Nettle, Bromelain, and N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine to support the mucosal tissues, histamine levels, airways, and immune response.  We like to use this product in the spring and fall because it helps with all of these things but without the side effects or feeling of having taken a medication. For more information, you can look at this detailed explanation here.

 

Elderberry Immune Gummy by Garden of Life mykind Organics is delicious way to aid the immune system. We use it daily in the office because we come in close contact with so many patients, but it should be used when around anyone with a cold or when you start to feel a cold coming on.  It is a natural way to boost your immune system against the common cold.  In addition to Elderberry, it also contains echinacea, zinc, vitamin c, and a few other organic fruit extracts.  For more information, check out their website here.

Pain Management Supplements

Here at Modern Roots Acupuncture, we also offer a few select products.  Unlike a lot of places, we only stock items that we personally use.  This shows our faith in the effectiveness of each item.  We also make sure to keep the pricing as low or lower than anywhere else.  This is a thank you to our patients and it allows us to only offer the highest quality available (which can often be too expensive otherwise).  Through this blog post and subsequent blog posts, we will discuss the uses of each of the items.

 

Each of our 15 items are divided onto five different tiles with different themes.  The first theme is pain management.  While acupuncture is very effective at treating pain, sometimes supplemental care is also needed.

 

Battle Balm is an herbal medicated balm used topically for pain relief.  Our patients will recognize it because we use it after all orthopedic acupuncture sessions as well as during cupping.  It smells like Tiger Balm but, in our opinion, it is much more effective.  It uses organic ingredients and cell nourishing vitamins to create a deep penetrating formula for pain fighting.  For herbal nerds, the ingredients are beeswax, jojoba oil, menthol, camphor, cajeput, wintergreen, arnica, calendula, safflower, field mint, notoginseng, sappan, corydalis, lavender, tea tree, angelica, myrrh, quince, frankincense, and burr.

For more information, visit their website here.

 

Moxa Rolls are an at home version of moxibustion or moxabustion.  It is used by burning fermented mugwort, known as Ai Ye, above the body at specific acupuncture points.  It is a warming treatment used for thousands of years to bring Yang Qi into the body, expel cold, increase circulation, for detoxification, and to treat pain.  Some of the most common pains treated using moxibustion are female health related.  Known primarily for helping with menstrual cramps, PCOS, and even fertility.

For more information, read a scientific article here.

 

CBD Gummies are a flavorful way to utilize CBD.  We’re sure everyone has heard about CBD for a while and know that you can buy it just about anywhere.  We make sure to stock an organic high quality reliable brand.  Widely used for pain management, we also use CBD as a natural treatment for stress and anxiety management.  We especially utilize it at nighttime to help with sleep.  Some notes about this particular CBD is that it does not contain THC (so it will not get you high), it is dosed at a medium level of 30mg (a safe dosage for almost everyone), and it is tasty!

For more information, visit the manufacturer’s website here or read some clinical research here.

 

Yin Yang Theory

Last week, a patient offered to bring me my favorite lunch (coffee and a cookie) in exchange for a brief explanation of Yin and Yang.  We spent a part of the afternoon discussing and exploring the theory behind the commonly seen image.  After we were done, I thought others might be interested in this lesson.  So, I have reproduced some of it here.

 

The yin yang image begins with a circle.  This circle is reminiscent to the Zen Enso circle.  It represents a simultaneous everything and nothingness.  It is often used to represent enlightenment or nirvana.  For the sake of interpreting it in relation to yin and yang, this image of a complete circle can represent 1 (everything) and 0 (nothing) simultaneously.

 

Next the yin yang image is divided into two.  The dark side is yin, and the light side is yang.  Many things within life can be classified as either yin or yang.  Examples of yin can be nighttime, feminine, resting, and cold.  While examples of yang can be daytime, masculine, active, and hot.  These definitions are also relative to the object in question.  If there are a man and a woman sitting at a desk, the man is more yang and the woman is more yin.  However when compared to the desk, the woman is more yang and the desk is more yin.  In this image of yin and yang, we have 2 pieces).

 

Viewing yin and yang as absolutes is an example of duality.  The viewpoint of things being black and white or good and bad.  However, we know that we live in a non-dualistic reality.  Life exists in the grey area.  It is for this reason that the line that connects the yin side to the yang side in the image of Yin and Yang is considered to be where life exists.  To represent the non-duality of our world, two dots are placed within each side of the symbol.  A yin dot is placed within yang and a yang dot is placed within yin.  These show that nothing is truly all yang or all yin.  We have now arrived at 4 pieces to the image.

 

In Traditional East Asian medicine, we further divide these pieces into sections of the six stages (greater yang, bright yang, lesser yang, greater yin, lesser yin, and terminal yin).  These six stages can be broken down further into their respective yin and yang parts (12).  From there the acupuncture meridians arise and points are created on those channels.  In total, there are approximately 360 acupuncture points.

 

Using these points, we strive to achieve balance of yin and yang.  The closer a patient is to this balance, the more capable they are of healing themselves and also preventing future illness/ailments.  Unfortunately, the external and internal processes of our body and the world around us are ever changing and thus yin and yang are constantly in flux.  Yin and Yang can never be truly balanced.

 

For the acupuncture treatments that I give to patients at Modern Roots Acupuncture, I also divide them into yin and yang.  My yang treatment is mostly done on the yang side of the body (back) and uses a more aggressive and stimulating style.  These are a western style and treat physical orthopedic/pain conditions.  Yet my yin treatments are mostly the opposite.  I treat the yin side of the body (front) and uses a more meditative and calming style.  This is a traditional eastern style that treats more spiritual and emotional conditions.

 

The goal is always to bring those divisions back to a balanced yin yang.

ChatGPT vs. Acupuncturist

Until last week, I had never tried ChatGPT.  I’ve been aware of its existence and the many popular opinions of grandiose innovations and cultural destruction.  Personally, I’ve avoided ChatGPT because it seems like a way to further separate ourselves from the present and the world around us.  That is, until last week.

 

Some of my extended family was visiting for the weekend and my brother-in-law was sharing with me some bedtime stories using ChatGPT.  Without going off course too much, it was shocking and amazing.  ChatGPT can create an elaborate and eloquent bedtime story about basically anything and can do so with multiple input variations and criteria.  After seeing this, I was interested in seeing how ChatGPT performed at other tasks.

 

My first thought was, how does ChatGPT perform at acupuncture versus an acupuncturist.  Obviously, the computer cannot do the acupuncture procedure.  It can, however, recommend treatment plans and protocols.  As an expert acupuncturist, how does it compare to my skills?

 

The first query was just for fun: Using only words that begin with the letter A, explain acupuncture.  In about 2 seconds, ChatGPT responded, “Aligning, activating, and applying, acupuncture addresses ailments, adjusting energy along anatomical acupoints.”  That’s great!  There are some grammar mistakes in the response, and the bot clearly used a word not beginning with the letter A, but it is still a solid answer.  So now let’s get on to the hard stuff.

 

I next asked: What is the best acupuncture treatment for sciatica.  ChatGPT responded, “Use local points Huantiao, located on the buttocks, and Shenshu, located on either side of the spine at the level of the waist.  Use distal points Weizhong, in the crease behind the knee, and Yanglingquan, found just below the knee on the outer side of the leg.  And use balancing points Hegu, located between the thumb and index finger, and Sanyinjiao, located above the inner ankle.”  This response describes a very textbook answer to the question.  All these acupuncture points are theoretically reasonable to try as a way to treat sciatica.

 

However, I would treat a patient with sciatica much differently.  While I would incorporate the points Huantiao, Shenshu, and Weizhong.  I would almost never use Yanglingquan, Hegu, and Sanyinjiao.  In practice those three points rarely, if ever, help alleviate pain related to the sciatic nerve.  Instead, I would add the points Ciliao (at the second sacral foramen – where the sciatic nerve leaves the spine and goes through the hips down to the leg), Pangguangshu (at the sacroiliac joint – where the hips meet the spine), and Zhibian (at the upper glute muscles – to be used in conjunction with Huantiao).  All these additional acupuncture points are indispensable when treating sciatica.

 

My acupuncture treatment would yield far greater results than the recommendations by ChatGpt.  For now, my job is safe from being taken over by the bots.

We are excited to announce many new changes!

We have moved to the newly renovated Clovelea building at 134 Burt Street in Saugerties

Formerly the Dragon Inn on 9W, this historic space has been beautifully redone by Nina Schmidbaur and crew. We are blessed to have been invited and plan to stay for a very long time. Clovelea is a therapeutic collective also offering somatic therapy, play and art therapy, and wellness workshops. Come visit us in the new space and be on the lookout for a grand opening party sometime later in the summer.

Megan Crouse is also set to rejoin us at modern roots acupuncture

She is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist specializing in women’s health and fertility. Since 2016 she has been helping women in their unique fertility journeys and supporting them through all stages of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Megan combines acupuncture and herbal medicine to create health plans for her patients, working to correct hormonal imbalance, reduce stress, move blocked energy, and improve overall health.

Also coming soon is a series of lectures and lessons on acupuncture and traditional east Asian medicine with Dr. Rory Crouse. If you are interested or want more information, please contact the office.

Finally, we would like to express that we are grateful to our community in and around our new home Saugerties. Our patients this past year have been welcoming and have made our transition here much easier. We have met so many new friends and connected with so many new people, it’s truly wonderful. Thank you