Hello to all of you long lost friends and citizens of this new Covid-19 Era. I have held off on writing much so far about everything that is going on mostly because I have been hesitant to add one more item to your day that might end up being yet another stress to manage. Information is coming at us so quickly these days that it can be hard to tell what is even worth listening to and what is merely providing us with more unnecessary fodder to keep us freaking out! But I am at a point now where I want to provide my two cents and let you all know how things are working here at Laurel Acupuncture.
To start off I want to inform you all that I am open for business. My services qualify as an essential service, so I am able to remain open to the public. I have been doing phone consultations as often as I can, and when appropriate for the service at hand, can always be reached for a consultation in this way. But I have also been seeing a few acupuncture patients in-clinic. I made it a point not to abandon my patients during this difficult time. At the end of the day I am a medical professional and things like sciatica pain have not magically gone away. Nor have migraine headaches, or neck pain. Autoimmunity certainly has not gone away! In fact many of these concerns have worsened. In Chinese Medicine there is a saying which translates into, “Where there is stagnation there is pain.” Worry, fear, anger, isolation, and/or stress all stagnate Qi. We are only now starting to see the fallout from this social distancing experience. I fear more will unfold in the not to distant future. But this is not just a Chinese Medicine thing. There is plenty of literature demonstrating pain conditions worsening during times of negative emotion. And if you are talking about the complicated web of physiology involved with autoimmune disease, negative emotion can literally cause increased destruction of an organ! So in light of this I have never faltered in commitment to my patients during this time. I have however been operating a bit differently than usual. Here are some of the things that I am doing currently to provide a safe space:
Working less: My hours have been cut back to Tuesday & Thursday full days, Friday afternoons, and Saturday mornings.
Staggering patients: I have made it a point to stagger my patients with as much time in between appointments as possible. This removes the potential for people to be waiting in the front office at the same time.
Decreased patient load in general: Naturally my business has reduced considerably, as has that of my colleague who is only in the clinic once or twice a week for short periods of time. This has had a major impact on the number of people in the clinic on any given day. The clinic may see only 3-4 people all day long.
Clean surfaces: I have taken extra measures to wipe all surfaces, knobs, handles, etc. multiple times a day with Clorox wipes to keep any potential cross contamination at an extremely low level.
Masks: I have cloth masks that I wear when working with patients in the clinic.
Hand Washing: This is one area that has not changed. I wash my hands before and after each patient interaction, and I always have.
Personal Wellness: I have taken extra measures to keep myself healthy during this time. Aside from the few times a week I am at work, I am home with my family. I am taking my sleep much more seriously. Sleep, above most other things, has shown to have potent immune system benefits. I am also exercising regularly which, like sleep, has shown to have positive benefits to optimal immune function. I also take immune boosting and antiviral herbs and nutritional support multiple times a day.
I firmly believe that there is a safe middle ground for the service that I provide. Complete and total isolation is an extreme perspective on “flattening the curve.” It can be argued that if a person takes certain safe and mindful measures to remain healthy and positive during this time, while at the same time staying at home the majority of the time, is much better for the community at large than that person sitting home isolated without support. For as much as we are hearing about the potential new medicines on the horizon it is important to remember that humans have encountered new viruses again and again for millennia. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been around for several thousand of those years and has gained some fantastic insights into how to ride these viral infections out. There are Herbal Medicine Hospitals in China that are reporting extremely low death rates and much higher recovery rates using natural medicines in combination with pharmaceutical medications, versus the mainstream hospitals using mainstream methods alone. If you are interested in taking some of this support for yourself, please reach get in touch. I am happy to ship them to your home if you prefer not to venture out.
But there is a lot to modern day nutritional medicine that can go hand in hand with these traditional remedies. We can’t forget the basics… The magic is in the veggies people! This is the time to get back to a whole food, plant-heavy diet. Refined carbs and sugars are simply terrible for your immune system. Veggies are a nutrient dense food source loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber, all of which promote a robust immune system. So take this time to care for yourself at the most basic levels of diet and nutrition! You have been gifted the time in which to accomplish this goal! If you are looking for a solid way to do this I recommend an Immune Support program designed by my teacher Dr. Kharrazian. This program has a lot of literature about immune support and a bunch of great recipes! Please contact me if you’re interested!
If you are looking for some more specific supplemental support I have a few recommendations here for you:
Vitamins A, C & D have all been shown in the medical literature to have direct and significant positive impacts on the immune system. Vitamins C and D can even be considered to be anti-viral compounds. Vitamin A is essential for a healthy lung barrier. Remember, the people who do the worst from this illness are the ones with compromised lung tissue! And if someone is unlucky enough to become very ill regardless of pre-existing conditions, taking measures to support the health of the lung tissue itself is essential.
Cordyceps, Astragalus, & Ginseng are all Traditional Chinese Herbs that help boost immune function. Cordyceps has important functions in the body for maintaining various barrier systems (Lung, Gut, Brain) and has powerful anti-inflammatory properties in these tissues and throughout the entire body. According to MDs and researchers on the front lines, the people who perish from this illness do so as a consequence of rampant uncontrolled inflammation in the lungs. This inflammation damages the lung tissue to a point where they can no longer oxygenate the blood. So just like with the vitamins listed above, Cordyceps can help lower these inflammatory mechanisms. Astragalus, is another immune boosting herbs that has been shown to turn up specific immune cells (T-Helper 1 Cells) responsible for fighting viruses. I take all of these herbs personally, along with the vitamins mentioned above multiple times a day to keep myself as strong as possible.
You may also like to try something a bit more home-made. Perhaps Fire Cider is your thing. To make Fire Cider you just need a large knob of fresh ginger, some fresh garlic (roughly 4 cloves should do it), cayenne pepper (a teaspoon should do it) and fresh horseradish if you have it (roughly equal to the ginger in amount). Crush all of these herbs together and cover with apple cider vinegar. I like Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar because it has a live culture in it which is a high probiotic source and good for immune function all by itself! You can drink a small shot of this once or more a day (tummy permitting) in as early as a few hours but waiting a week or more is better! You can just leave it on the shelf or on the countertop in a sealed glass jar until you need it. But crack the seal every so often in case gasses are produced. This is a fermented tonic. It is alive and needs to be tended to occasionally.
So there you have it. I hope that this has provided some benefit to you during this difficult time. As much as it seems so, you are not alone. I am here for you in any way that I can be of service. Check in and let me know how you are doing if you have a moment. If I can help you with any supplement, or if you would like to schedule a phone consultation or an in-clinic acupuncture session, please do not hesitate.
I take my role in the community seriously and I am committed to the health and wellbeing of my patients, even in times of illness. The World Health Organization has many doctors and scientists working on this outbreak and they will be the fist to report that this disease is not truly an airborne disease. This means that you should not catch the disease simply by walking near or being around people. This is an illness that comes from surfaces or direct contact with mist from a cough or sneeze. If someone sneezes on a surface, those surfaces can potentially contaminate your hands, and your hands find their way onto your face. Taking measures to avoid contamination with gloves (as long as the gloves don’t touch things you don’t want to make dirty… like a steering wheel of your car for example) and masks (to help not spread virus particles onto surfaces or others) is very helpful. But nothing compares to frequent hand washing!
Wash those hands and keep them off surfaces and out of your face. Total avoidance is not necessarily the answer. It is in times like this where we need to understand that total avoidance, or hyper-sterilization of our hands and everything we touch does nothing to bolster the immune response. It is quite the opposite in fact.
Listen to the medical literature… Optimal sleep, exercise, positive emotions, & optimal nutrition (food-based and supplemental in some cases) all have been shown to bolster the immune response. Now is the time to train our systems to be strong! So take social distancing to heart. Play an active role in promoting a healthy population. But remember that avoidance is only a small part of the equation. Do not be afraid right now. Instead be proactive! There is so much you can be doing besides sheltering in place with Netflix and puzzles. And remember, as scary as it seems, San Diego has a very low rate of cases per capita. Everything we are doing currently is to help protect the hospitals from becoming overloaded and unable to help the very sick should a large surge in serious cases develop. We are not at that point. Fear tells us that the virus is lurking at every corner, and with every person who passes in the grocery store. But rationale says something very different. Be careful, be mindful, and take measures to keep yourself healthy and strong and you will get through this!