Hello Everyone! Healing Bird Acupuncture is open and seeing patients. As a healthcare practitioner and primary care provider, Healing Bird Acupuncture is considered an essential medical treatment and is exempt from shelter in place orders. In times of stress, it’s even more important to provide acupuncture for my patients’ health needs. I’ll be here and treating patients until directed otherwise by health officials. You are important and staying healthy is a priority. If you have an upcoming appointment or would like to schedule a new appointment, as of today my office is fully operational, with the exception of CDC and Placer County Health Departments guidelines for some individuals described below. Per CDC and Placer County Health Department, health practitioners should treat patients with respiratory infection symptoms over the phone. Patients with fevers or respiratory infection (especially shortness of breath and cough) should schedule a phone appointment with me, all other patients are welcome to see me in my office. Please email me if you have a fever or respiratory infection prior to your appointment. If travel and social interaction are not a good fit for you during this time, I also offer treatments to patients over the phone. If you are staying home these days, a phone treatment is a great way to get a personalized plan to treat your physical and mental health. I offer phone treatments to discuss how to reduce symptoms and improve your overall health and well being. If you have insurance, we can bill for reimbursement for your phone consult. Click here to book your phone consult. TIPS for STAYING HEALTHY This newsletter will give you some helpful tips on how to stay healthy. Acupuncture, of course, is great for boosting your immune system and improving health. Here are some ideas for boosting your immune system to prevent sickness or recover quickly. A brilliant way to keep your respiratory tract clean is using hydrogen peroxide, food grade if you can find it. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) eliminates harmful bacteria, viruses, and fungi. You can gargle with 1% H2O2 and a few drops of essential oils. If you place 3% H2O2 in a spray bottle, you can spray in your mouth and inhale to get a refreshing cleanse. A spritz in the ears helps keep your ears clean and spraying over your face with eyes open and inhaling up your nose will awaken your senses. Drink lots of fluids to stay hydrated. Not only are fluids essential for a healthy body, frequently swallowing will flush any bacteria or viruses down your gut, where your stomach acid will dissolve them. Likewise, chew gum. When chewing, you produce more saliva and you’ll swallow more. Sugar can upset digestion and weaken your mental state, so please avoid sugar. If you find yourself emotional eating, please make an appointment so we can help you out. Chinese herbs are effective for treating viruses, colds, and flus. Some common remedies are: First signs of symptoms of cold/flu - take Cold Away by Health Concerns and fresh ginger mint tea Dry cough - use licorice extract, and munch on fresh or frozen grapes through out the day Deep cough hard to expectorate - liquid osha extract Cough keeping you awake at night - take Schizandra Dreams by Health Concerns Nausea - drink fresh ginger tea (no mint - it can worsen nausea) Body aches - soak in epsom salt baths Headache, runny nose, or fatigue - take Cold Away by Health Concerns Shortness of breath, asthma, or bronchitis - Clear Air by Health Concerns You can find these products in my online store.
Additional Home Remedies
At the very first symptoms of respiratory infection, start drinking lots of ginger mint tea (see recipe below), which is simple and effective for combating colds/flu. I always have fresh ginger at home and mint growing outside so I’m always ready to make it if needed. If you don’t have fresh ginger and mint on hand, stock ginger tea and mint tea in your cupboard. Ginger and mint are warm in nature and can slightly increase your temperature, which kills off viruses and bacteria who are very sensitive to heat. This is why your body gets a fever in order to fight micro-organisms. Ginger and mint also promote sweating to help flush out toxins. Mint benefits the skin and ginger harmonizes the belly, too.
Ginger mint tea can also be drank as a preventative aid. Depending on how I feel, I’ll dress the tea up a few different ways. Add honey to the tea if you have sore throat. Buy local honey if you can find it which boost your immune system. A slice of fresh lemon per cup is also delicious and adds vitamin C. A sprinkle of pink salt adds minerals. If no phlegm is present, try adding organic milk for protein and healthy omega 3s and fresh turmeric (the same amount as the ginger) to help digest the milk.
If you can’t get natural medicines, and you choose to take traditional OTC medicine, it’s not a big deal. Do whatever it takes to get through your day. Be sure to take OTC medicine with food to minimize side effects, and then take milk thistle pills for a few days afterwards to help clean up your liver.
Here is an easy self massage to help reduce stress and calm anxiety. It also helps with nausea and cough. If qi goes up when it should go down, we call it rebellious qi. This causes symptoms like nausea, vomiting, coughing, hiccups, acid reflux, and anxiety. To redirect our qi downward, we take both our hands, one on top of the either and place them at the base of your throat. Gently apply pressure and massage downward, across your chest and all the way to the bottom on your abdomen in a straight line. Notice if you can feel your qi and try to redirect it downwards. Repeat. Keep massaging downward for about 5 minutes or until your symptoms subsides.
Do you know one of the worst things for immune system? Stress. Reducing your stress is the nicest thing you can do for your health. Identify the things that are the most stressful for you. Then, choose to put yourself first and reduce stressors. Do your best to not live in fear, while making wise choices. Rest and sleep are a great mechanisms to help your immune system.
This is the best time to meditate. There are really powerful frequencies bombarding the earth right now. If you are feeling stable, it feels incredible to ride these waves. If you are feeling a bit dis-stabilized, anxiety, fear, and discomfort will be rampant. Either way, meditation to the rescue! Being ill and uncomfortable is a great opportunity to be in your body. Use this opportunity to be very focused on your body. The more curiosity you have about your stress or illness, the less it is frustrating or overwhelming. Whatever body part is in distress, focus in on that part and become as aware as possible. If it’s your cough, how bad does your throat hurt? Where exactly? What part of your throat doesn’t hurt? What type of breathing pattern eases the discomfort? What makes it worse? If this is really hard to do for you, set a timer. Give yourself 30 seconds or 5 minutes (whatever you can do) of true focus, then reward yourself with a cough drop or whatever type of relief.
70-80% of your immune system is in the lining of your gut. Keeping your digestion strong is a brilliant way to support your immune health. Bone broth is a nice way to use nutrient and mineral rich foods that is easily digestible to support digestion. The recipe below is modified from Alton Brown’s recipe. Alton skims off the fat from the top but I eat a high fat diet (brain food) and I like the taste, so I leave the fat in the broth. I recommend using organic bones for this broth products. In general, organic animal products help reduce inflammation in our bodies. While non-organic conventional meats increase inflammation and inflammation linked diseases in our bodies.
I add vinegar to help dissolve the bone and release more minerals into the broth. I’ll make 4-5 batches of broth from the same bones, adding fresh veggies, herbs, and vinegar to each batch. This takes a lot of tuperware and it encourages me to cook with broth. I store the extra in the freezer. The last batches are the strongest because the bones are really releasing a lot of their mineral goodness.
Bone Broth Recipe
Leftover organic bones, cartilage, and meat bits
1 large onion, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2
2 ribs celery, cut in 1/2
1 leek, white part only, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
5 sprigs fresh thyme
5 sprigs fresh parsley with stems
2 bay leaves
5 or 6 peppercorns
2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
6-8 cups cold water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Cook all the ingredients in a slow cooker for about 8 hours, strain the broth. Reserve the bones, toss the veggies and herbs, and repeat to make 4-5 batches of broth.
Enjoy in soups and substitute for water when cooking rice, congee, or anything else.
Fresh Ginger Mint Tea Recipe
1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and finely diced
1 bunch of fresh mint
6 Cups hot water
Boil ingredients together for 5 minutes then strain. Serve hot and enjoy.
Wishing you all the best and I look forward to seeing you soon at your next appointment!
Dr. Heather Bird