Why is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?

Why is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?

No matter what culture you hail from, you probably crave broth or chicken soup when you're sick. It's certainly comforting to reach for what we were given as children, but why is there merit to the reflex? What makes chicken soup the best cold remedy? Chinese Medicine explains the classic cold buster through this nutritional lens:

THE ONION AND GINGER

The ultimate basic immune support is hot water with green onion and ginger slices. Both spring onion (or scallions, cong bai in pinyin Chinese) and fresh ginger (sheng jiang) are in a category of herbs that release the exterior of the body, inducing a slight sweat and helping to expel pathogens (what we might understand as germs). From a pharmacological perspective, both ginger and spring onion have antibacterial properties and ginger is also anti-inflammatory, antipyretic (brings down fever), and analgesic (relieves pain) (source: Chen & Chen, Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology). This simple two herb pairing works best when you are in the very early stages of a cold as this is gentle medicine.

Changes in Health and Habits

Changes in Health and Habits

Whether you are new to acupuncture or an experienced patient, make the most of your sessions by keeping track of changes in your health and habits.

1. Your acupuncturist isn't there with you outside your treatment session.

When you're having car trouble, you may take your car into the shop and find it refuses to make that irritating noise on request, even though it bothers you every time you leave home in the morning. The same often happens with symptoms. If you aren't feeling the symptom at the moment of discussion it can be hard to describe exactly where the pain is, whether it's sharp or dull, or whether you had a headache at the same time that you felt dizzy. Make it easier for yourself by jotting down your symptoms so you don't have to rely on experiencing them in the moment.

Inspiration from the Past

Inspiration from the Past

Over the past few months I've been taking time to read a brilliant little book called Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor. It's a new (published 2015) translation of a discovery from the rare book library of the Beijing Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an account of 31 cases by the Ming Dynasty practitioner Tán Yǔnxián. That's a female doctor from 1500s China! I heard about the book while listening to an episode of the Yin Yang podcast with guest Lorraine Wilcox, who was speaking about moxibustion (Episode #34 Why Moxa?). Moxibustion, also known as moxa, is a particular love of mine so I leapt to hear this topic as a treat. Turns out that in addition to her fascinating study of moxa, Wilcox translated this Ming Dynasty book. Who knows how many other female doctors there were at the time or how many wrote books, but I'm glad this one survived. It's exciting to read as I operate in the modern world of our profession.

“Cases during the Ming were not only filtered through the male doctor’s understanding, but the reported symptoms were filtered through the husband’s words.

Tán's patients were all female, ranging in age from six to sixty-nine. During the Ming Dynasty, women had to have a male relative present when seeing a male doctor so part of what set her apart was surely her ability to speak with a patient one on one and not to have the male explain her symptoms for her!

Acupuncture Better Than Morphine for Acute Pain in Recent ER Study

Originally posted as Acupuncture Beats Injected Morphine for Pain: Groundbreaking Study by Sayer Ji

An amazing new study has found that acupuncture, the ancient practice of using needles to stimulate bodily self healing, is more effective than intravenous morphine for pain. 

A truly groundbreaking study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine titled, “Acupuncture vs intravenous morphine in the management of acute pain in the ED,” reveals that acupuncture -- one of the oldest techniques to treat pain -- is more effective, faster in relieving pain, and with less adverse effects, than intravenous morphine.

Needle Free if Need Be: Gentle Japanese Acupuncture Alternatives to Needles

Cupping has had a news moment lately with Michael Phelps and it has been fun to hear from many friends and patients wanting me to see that what they already know is great is being shared more widely. I wanted to take the opportunity to share back that cupping is just one of the many ways that Japanese Medicine can help that has nothing to do with needles!

When I tell people I am an acupuncturist, I often hear some variety of statement about how they've heard good things about acupuncture, but..."I'm scared of needles."

I myself was terrified of needles* when I first started going to acupuncture and there was no way I was going to drink bitter herbs!** Luckily, I was met with a first acupuncture practitioner who was open and wanted to help me based on my comfort level. She didn't mind my many questions about why she wanted me to do something or how that was going to help. Given how successful that was for me (I ended up training as an acupuncturist, after all!) I believe in working just that same way. I will meet you where you are and use the wide variety of tools at my disposal to treat you. And believe it or not, that means we can do entire treatments with absolutely no sharp objects! Perhaps that means we have an eventual goal of using needles (maybe just one?) or maybe you don't even want to put that on the table. Either is absolutely fine.

What can we use instead of inserted needles?

Joining Back to Life

Joining Back to Life

I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Back to Life Physical Therapy to offer my acupuncture services to their patients and to my community as a San Franciscan. Before I changed my career path to acupuncture I worked for a variety of design agencies, all in the SOMA area of San Francisco so returning to the neighborhood feels like the completion of a perfect circle.

I have known Amy Selinger of Back to Life for years, first as her patient, long before thinking I might go into healthcare myself, and later as she became a mentor in my pursuit of integrative medicine. She embodies the type of provider I aim to be: a true resource and a human ally in the pursuit of wellness. Her whole team is also rising to that bar. We're going to do great work together so I hope you'll join us at Back to Life for acupuncture and/or physical therapy.

Here is a glimpse of the Back to Life clinic:

Developments

Developments

I am so looking forward to new beginnings in the Bay Area. I have been working since Fall 2015 on setting up the East Bay portion of my practice in collaboration with a wonderful group of smart, caring, and talented women and am in discussion for a second location in San Francisco (it is so hard not to share details as it is going to be a very exciting partnership). Serving my entire community on both sides of the Bay was always my goal and I cannot wait to be of service to you all.

While I prepare, you may be interested in coverage of my work at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, which was recently written up on the AIMC Berkeley website by my classmate Ra Adcock, a fellow intern at the hospital program:

The unique program at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, possibly the first of its kind in the country, provides acupuncture directly to the hospital’s staff of approximately 1,200 doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, teachers, and other administrative and support personnel. Each week, the program offers an average of forty-five acupuncture treatments in a community-style clinic located on the hospital’s campus. This special design creates the opportunity for staff to be treated during precious break times without ever having to leave the hospital, allowing many to remain on-call and available for their young patients.