Ginger Tea for Nausea, Vomiting, Stomachache, and Indigestion

A Natural Solution for Mild Digestive Complaints

Fresh Ginger Tea is a simple solution for mild digestive issues, including nausea, infrequent vomiting of clear fluid, stomachache, and indigestion.  It’s easy to make, has no side effects, and works naturally with your body to soothe your belly. Ginger Tea is non-toxic and safe for both pregnancy and breastfeeding. It even has an anti-toxin property and has been used in East Asian Medicine for thousands of years to help detoxify other herbs.

Shēng Jiāng 生姜

Fresh Ginger Tea is best for stomach conditions that come from cold. How can you tell?

• Does your stomach feel better with the application of warmth (from your hands, a heating pad, a hot water bottle, etc)?
• Does your stomach feel better when you gently press your hands over it?

Cold conditions improve with heat and often with pressure as well. How does one end up with a cold condition? Over-consumption of cold, raw foods and drinks is the main culprit, according to East Asian Medicine. One might also have had a prolonged exposure to cold or a draft which resulted in cold invading the interior of the body.

How to brew Fresh Ginger Tea:

• Slice up fresh ginger root, about 2 inches’ worth of root the diameter of your thumb.
• Add to 3 cups of cold water.
• Bring the water to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
• Serve warm, with honey if sweetener is desired. Store leftover tea in the fridge and reheat to serve.

You can adjust the strength and spiciness of the tea by increasing or decreasing the amount of ginger root. You can also cook with fresh ginger root if you have chronic digestive issues. It is traditionally used in many East Asian cultures as a spice as well as a medicinal to improve overall digestion, not to mention flavor.

If you are experiencing severe symptoms of abdominal pain or vomiting, please contact a healthcare professional. Here’s to your digestive health!

Artemesia Healing Arts on Offbeatmama.com! Acupuncture for Morning Sickness

Check out AHA on this great resource for parenting

Offbeatmama is a great source of information, personal stories, and products for the modern parent. Stop by and check out my post on Acupuncture and Herbs for Morning Sickness.

Using Acupuncture to Treat Tendonitis

A Case Study on Posterior Tibial Tendonitis Treated Successfully with E-Stim (Electro-Acupuncture)

Acupuncture is a great modality for the treatment of injuries, whether acute or chronic. This particular injury had elements of both, with the onset of pain occurring suddenly during an hour-long run. The condition had been developing over the previous 4 months of training while the patient was in the process of increasing her mileage in order to run a half marathon. The pain was sharp and located on the right side only, inferior and posterior to the medial malleolus (inner ankle).

The patient was advised by a PT to rest her ankle and perform ice massage.  She took about a month off of running, did some irregular icing, and received very deep massage work, but the pain recurred immediately upon running.  She started seeing a different PT about 2 months after the onset of the pain, and a few weeks after that started to receive acupuncture. At this point, she had reduced her running from 5x/week to 3x/week and dropped her mileage to below 3 miles a run. She always took a day off between runs, and performed regular strengthening exercises assigned by the PT. After a few treatments using local tender points and moxibustion, I switched to e-stim. She came in 3x/week for 3 weeks. I needled Ki 2 and 7 and Sp 4 and 6 with e-stim at medium frequency for about 25 minutes at each visit. Following the 3rd week of this treatment, she reported her first pain-free run in 6 months. She has spent the past month pain-free and started to very slowly rebuild her mileage. Treatment frequency is now about once a month.

Do you have an injury? Are you in pain? Acupuncture can help facilitate the healing process. Get in touch for a free consultation.

Artemesia Healing Arts at the Fremont 5k and Briefcase Relay

Free Tuina Massage!

Stop by the Artemesia Healing Arts tent at the Fremont 5k and Briefcase Relay this Friday from 5-9:00 pm. I’ll be available to answer questions and give free consultations. Book an appointment and get a bonus Chinese Tuina massage back treatment for free!

Free Acupuncture in Wallingford/Fremont for Healthcare Professionals!

Summer Special

Are you a healthcare professional? Do you work with one? Would you like some free acupuncture? Schedule today and receive one free treatment! Enjoy an hour-long acupuncture appointment for free, just for being in or supporting the healing arts.

Not a healthcare professional? Artemesia Healing Arts is still offering $50 first visits for new patients through the end of June. Contact me to schedule an appointment or ask more questions.

Simple Chinese Herbal Tea for Anxiety, Insomnia & Depression

Calming Licorice, Wheat and Chinese Date Tea

Gān Mài Dà Zăo Tāng 甘麦大枣汤  is a very simple formula that is often mixed with other herbs but can also be used alone. It makes a nice, soothing, lightly sweet tea which helps reduce anxiety and depression. It can also be used for restlessness at night causing insomnia, which may be accompanied by night sweats. Traditionally this combination was indicated for one who cried easily. This tea is great for the postpartum period, anxiety attacks, and following or during any other type of stressful moment. I used to brew some up and take it with me into exams while I was in school. I like to drink these 3 herbs as a simple tea any time I’m feeling unsettled.

It consists of only 3 ingredients:

Gān Căo  甘草: Licorice Root

Dà Zăo 大枣: Chinese Dates (also called Chinese Jujubes)

To brew the tea: the simplest way is to make an infusion. Place a palmful (roughly 1/4 cup) of each herb in a quart-sized container with a lid and add boiling water. Let steep for 15 minutes to 1 hour. After at least 15 min, you can start to pour off some of the liquid and drink it, leaving the rest to keep steeping. You can also make it by the cup, using about half the amount of herbs, and just keep pouring boiling water on top of them through the day.

These 3 herbs are all food products, so for most of us it’s ok to use them copiously. There are exceptions to every rule though, so if you have high blood pressure or are pregnant or nursing, please consult an herbalist before you drink this.

Want to see if this tea is right for you or find out what else you can do for anxiety, depression and insomnia with Chinese medicine? Schedule an appointment at my convenient location between Wallingford and Fremont today. Consultations and information are always free. Until the end of June, new patient visits are almost 1/2 price!

Acupuncture for Depression During Pregnancy & Postpartum

How to Beat the Baby Blues

Depression during pregnancy and in the postpartum period occurs quite frequently. During pregnancy, a woman’s hormones are in a very different state of balance, with about 100 times the estrogen and 10 times the progesterone of a non-pregnant woman. These are the hormones that cause premenstrual mood swings and bring to mind the image of the hysterical pregnant woman that resounds through our culture–now she’s laughing, now crying, now raging mad; look out! The changes take some getting used to. It’s good to keep in mind that they are helping our bodies become the perfect environment for growing and raising a strong, healthy baby. Postpartum, these hormones suddenly swing back towards where they used to be, unsettling us once again. Almost every woman has at least a mild case of “baby blues” and finds herself crying easily or without reason. Having a new baby can be overwhelming and difficult to prepare for. Also, due to the collapse of the extended family structure, women find themselves without much support. Others often focus on the newborn baby to the exclusion of the mother. This shift in attention can be a bewildering and difficult transition for some. In addition, most new moms aren’t getting enough sleep and may be struggling with other issues, such as difficulty breastfeeding and relationship stress.

More and more data suggests that the less we rely on pharmaceutical solutions for issues during pregnancy, the better. Pharmaceuticals always carry the risk of side effects. Many drugs used during pregnancy have never actually been tested for their safety during pregnancy and are given out based on “expert opinion.” Why no testing? Since it’s unethical to test drugs on pregnant women, no one designs the tests. Yet pregnant women are given drugs with the hope that nothing will go wrong. Much of the time, nothing does. However, the track record does have some disturbing moments: DES and thalidomide, once commonly given to respectively prevent miscarriage and treat morning sickness, both caused horrible birth defects. Thalidomide babies suffered malformed limbs that often resembled flippers. DES babies suffered malformations of their reproductive tracts, effects which have even been shown to pass on to the grandchildren of women who took it.

There has been recent research on the use of antidepressants during pregnancy which shows that newborn babies suffer withdrawal symptoms and side effects including agitation, altered muscle tone, and breathing and suction problems. There is also evidence that these effects can occur through breastmilk transfer. The side effects are not just of concern for our babies, but for ourselves.  Depression has a varying range of severity and may require differing levels of treatment. The more we learn, the more desirable non-drug methods of treatment become in less severe cases. This may include personal therapy, support groups, yoga, exercise, massage, and acupuncture and Chinese herbs. A recent study found at least a 50% reduction in depression to be almost 20% higher when treated with acupuncture alone versus a sham treatment or massage.

Get in touch for questions or to schedule an appointment and experience the uplifting qualities of acupuncture yourself.

First Acupuncture Visit $50 Till June 30th!

Take Advantage of this New Patient Summer Special!

Need a tune-up? New or ongoing pain or illness? Pay cash or check and receive your first acupuncture treatment for nearly 1/2 price ($40 savings!).

Want to use your insurance? I am a preferred provider with most insurance companies.

Get in touch to schedule an appointment or for assistance in verifying your coverage.

Hope to see you in my Wallingford/Fremont location soon!

Acupuncture for Plantar Fasciitis

Keeping You on Your Feet

People who use their feet a lot are at risk of developing plantar fasciitis, a painful condition wherein the fascial tissue of the underside of the foot becomes inflamed and loses elasticity. It is seen often in athletes and those with occupations which keep them on their feet: runners, dancers, wait staff, even acupuncturists. The degree of pain ranges broadly and is often worst at the start of the day.

Conventional treatments include:

• rest (which workers can’t afford and athletes can’t imagine)
• massage (there’s even a subspecialty called reflexology, which focuses on the feet)
• steroid injection (which carries potential drug side effects and is a potentially temporary and painful solution which can rupture the fascia, an even worse condition)
• icing (which can stop pain temporarily but in the process also stops the flow of qi, which according to East Asian Medicine actually lengthens recovery time and/or causes future damage)
• surgery (which carries risks such as bad reactions to anesthesia, infection, potential for nerve injury, rupture of the fascia, and it isn’t even guaranteed to resolve your pain)
• orthotics (custom ones can be pricey, though there are affordable options; it’s not a guaranteed fix, however)
• stretching (free and carries additional health benefits of its own)

Luckily, there are alternatives. East Asian Medicine can treat the pain of plantar fasciitis through many different approaches, including traditional acupuncture, e-stim (whereby a gentle electrical current is run through acupuncture needles), moxibustion, and tuina.

To read more about acupuncture and plantar fasciitis, try some of the following links:

• Runner’s World article on e-stim (electro-acupuncture) treatment
• Acupuncture Today article on e-stim treatment
• Medical Acupuncture online journal article on e-stim treatment
• Livestrong article links

Email or call for a free consultation or to schedule an appt.

Acupuncture in the Wall St Journal

Modern Western Validation of an Ancient Eastern Art

The Wall St Journal published a short article on acupuncture about a month ago. The article cites a fair number of studies, most of which support the validity of acupuncture through Western eyes, namely by using double-blind, randomized control studies. Studies are cited which provide Western evidence for relief of conditions such as arthritis pain, headaches, low back pain, cancer, infertility and addiction. Some of the studies even link appropriate meridians to pain pathways (ie: heart attack pain follows the Heart channel).

Curious to find out for yourself how acupuncture and East Asian herbs can address your condition? Call or email to schedule an appointment or for a free consultation.