Bishop Acupuncture

"Oh, I've heard about that. Does it work?"

2009-10-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

Read on if you've asked me this and found it suspicious that I didn't have anything to say. Otherwise, move along, there's nothing to see here.

I had a bit of a reactionary rant here, but having had a chance to think about it, making money and being honest are not mutually exclusive things. They kind of are right now, since I am honest to a fault and have only been in business for a few years. I could promote the attention grabbers, like face lifts and weight loss. I could make promises. I could take cases that are out of my scope according to the rules of the Texas Medical Board. (I've had classes in Orthopedics, and chances are if you sprained your ankle or had some other acute trauma, a doctor is just going to ice it, wrap it, and give you meds anyway. But the rules say aside from chemical dependency and chronic pain you have to have seen an MD first.) But I don't, because I have always been someone who plays by the rules.

If you've bothered to at least google it, you know that acupuncture is thousands of years old, used to be primary medicine, has been double-blind proven on back pain, has as good or better track record than western techniques on infertility, yadda yadda yadda.

If you've read my website, you may have gleaned that I've literally had the lame walk and the blind see, though I wouldn't promise it every time. If you read the small print on drug disclaimers and surgical consent, you'll see that modern medical techniques don't promise it every time, either. Sometimes I get extraordinarily lucky like that, but I do attribute it to luck when it is. For most maladies, it helps to some degree. Sometimes it works better than others. It's a therapy. That's how therapies are.

You don't know me, you have no reason to assume I have a good character. I graduated second in my high school class, cum laude with a double major from Vanderbilt for undergrad, kicked around corporate for a while, and was president of the student council when I finished my masters degree. Yes, doing this requires a few years of graduate school, national board exams, and a license. So that tells you I'm smart, not necessarily that I'm trustworthy, but I really am.

I was known as the brutally honest nerd in my family, rather than as a people person, so there was plenty of laughing and pointing when I decided to go into business for myself. I cannot stress enough that there is no way I'd sell something I didn't believe was helpful. So when I pause after you ask, "Does it really work?" it's not because it doesn't. It's because if I believed it didn't, the very idea is so unthinkable to me that I can't help but consider it a character assassination, a rather pointed one, right in my face, and it takes me a moment to recover from such a grievous insult.

I'm sure it's just one of those conversational things and isn't meant to be personally insulting. But if you think about it (and it's been said plenty enough times for me to think about it a LOT and figure out why it bothers me so much), it is a direct attack on my integrity, which is something I might develop a sense of humor about when I'm more secure as a person and have been in business for a decade or so. Check back with me in a few years on that.

Do you barter?

2009-09-09T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hey, as the clothing artist I just booked realized, it never hurts to ask. I know times are tight. I have bills to pay, so not all the time, but let me know what you've got, and I may have a use for it.

I got the chance to talk to Katherine Clapner at the First Sunday farmers' market at Bolsa this week. She's opening up a storefront in Bishop Arts in November. I hope we become great friends!

The insurance thing

2009-08-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

I get a fair amount of calls that start and end with, "Do you take insurance?" Healthcare is also somewhat in the public eye these days, so I thought I'd give you my thoughts. The question I have is, "Does your insurance take me?" Do you have a current policy that pays for acupuncture? If you don't know if you have insurance, don't ask me if I take it, right?

I used to be a corporate kind of gal, and I was pretty ignorant about insurance until I had to look into buying it on my own and then on the other side of things, think about billing it as a provider. I always figured if it wasn't covered, there was no use getting the treatment/consult or shopping around, because surely an in-network provider would be most cost-effective and have the most skill. Anyone not accepting BCBS or whatever my job provided must be a hack. This couldn't be more untrue.

When practitioners don't deal with insurance, it says nothing about their healing skills and might say something about their office management skills. I say might, because it may be that the practitioner is not staffed to do paperwork. It also may be that the practitioner has decided that insurance is not good for the practice. Dealing with insurance can be a full time job. I was in my third year of business before I even found any instruction on how a practitioner might go about billing insurance.

Everyone should have the right to healthcare, but healthcare providers also should have the right to make a decent wage. Can you imagine there would be enough people wanting make a career out of healthcare if this was not the case? While some practitioners do inflate the range of "decent," lots of us just want the middle class lifestyle expected of a trained professional. In these times, even that may be a bit much to ask. As a business owner still in the first few years, I'm pretty happy about survival.

Anyway, healthcare is expensive. You are not just paying for your doctor's expertise, time, student loans, and current lifestyle. You are paying for rent, clinical supplies and equipment, lab work, administrative personnel, office supplies, licensing fees, malpractice insurance, advertising, and everything else that goes into running a business. Because if money is exchanged, it is a business. And all of these expenses can really add up.

So, you have insurance, in case something happens. As a consumer, the idea is to balance as closely as possible the copays and premiums against the cost of care if you were uninsured. But remember how I said if money is involved it's a business?

Insurance is a business. They are in the business of collecting more money than they pay to healthcare providers, since they also have rent, personnel, and office equipment to pay for. They hire mathmeticians (yet another expense) to calculate how much you will probably use and base your monthly premiums to be about as much more as you might be able to pay.

You might catch a cold over the course of a year. Or you might break your arm. Or you might have surgery or cancer treatment. If you only see a doctor once, insurance doesn't lose a ton of money on you. If your cancer treatments are several thousand dollars a day, and you've already hit your out of pocket cap, insurance is going to have to pay out a bit. Where do they get the money? Some of it from the monthly payments of people who didn't get terribly sick, which is why nobody thinks they can get decent coverage at an affordable price.

The insurance company stays healthy by collecting more and also by paying less. There is a fresh horror story every day of "but I thought it was covered" in conventional medicine about life saving treatments. My field has thousands of years of empirical evidence, but for only the few conditions that have had modern scientific studies does it have a shot at coverage. And as with anything insurance covers, what does it pay? Not the full tab, and if a provider is in-network, that provider is never seeing the balance.

It's business. My overhead is low, so my prices are low, and I question how lucrative the "how soon and with how much effort can I wring a payment from the insurance company?" game would be to my bottom line. Really, or yours as a consumer. Of the colleagues I know who bill insurance, they say it's a great way to get people in the door...when the majority of the population have jobs, disposable income, and insurance that covers acupuncture. For the condition treated. If you tell me your back hurts, and part of my point prescription covers back pain, I can code for back pain, but I'm not going to lie about it.

I know I'm losing business by not billing insurance and by not being on in-network provider lists, but I suspect I would have neither the patient volume nor cash-flow needed to stay in business if I depended on insurance referrals and reimbursements. One of these days I'll figure out how to integrate insurance into my practice (setting costs, sending claims, figuring out what to do when it's not covered/claims denied), but for now I'm concentrating on helping my current patients and having something of a life outside the office.

Fear

2009-07-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

First, a shoutout to Stephanie Gonzalez at the Skin and Body Solutions Day Spa. I am enjoying my eyebrows!

I guess magazines have this problem, and certainly with as long as I've been reading Dr. Weil, I've seen plenty of repeats. I tend to forget that just because I've published on a subject doesn't mean people aren't still going to be uninformed. Speaking of magazines, I am getting really tired of how the concept of trying acupuncture is portrayed like, "REALLY?!?!?! OMG!!!" in the media. I suppose I'm a little out of touch, but is the knee jerk emotion to my field really utter revulsion? That is...at best, not terribly great for my self-esteem...

I've gotten 4 cancellations in the last day, so I have a little time to write. One reason is fear. Given my height and frame, I have to admit, the concept of people being scared I'm going to hurt them is pretty funny.

So, a few reality checks:

ZOMG NEEDLES ARE GROSS AND WILL HURT LOTS!
I use sterile, single-use filiform needles. Filiform means there is a point, rather than a cutting edge, and they are solid. I've been sewing lately and can definitively say that acupuncture hurts a lot less than forgetting to use a thimble. You'll feel some of the needles go in and come out, more or less depending on the anatomy of the puncture site. Mostly, people forget the needles are there a few seconds after they've been inserted. If you don't feel anything, then your body is too weak to generate a response, and that is no good. Anyway, acupuncture is about energy flow. Energy does not flow in a body that is clenched tight. So unless I did it wrong (and if I did, tell me, I'll fix it, it should not feel uncomfortable), it's more your fear of the needle than the needle itself that is preventing you from relaxing and letting flow happen.

ACUPUNCTURE DOESN'T WORK ANYWAY:
I hope you say that about drugs, because the standards to get a drug on the market and put an "Ask your doctor about ___" campaign on tv? Something like 20% efficacy, according to this month's Prevention, which could mean doing nothing for 80% of the test group. I don't know that a practice would endure for thousands of years on a 20% success rate.

IT ONLY HELPED FOR A DAY, SO IT MUST BE WORTHLESS:
I never claimed that I could make someone with two broken legs cast aside his crutches with a single treatment. Acupuncture is a medical therapy. You didn't get sick over 30 minutes, so one nap on my table is unlikely to cure you. That doesn't make what I do worthless. A course of antibiotic tablets is not worthless just because you have to swallow them every several hours for a period of time instead of getting a single injection.

I'M A [INSERT RELIGION], SO I CAN'T USE/BELIEVE IN ACUPUNCTURE:
My favorite teacher likes to say, "Doesn't matter if patient doesn't believe! They have no choice but to feel better! (Unless you picked the points wrong, and I'm teaching you how to pick the points.)" I question a god who actively does not want you to try to improve your health with a millennia-old system of practices that doesn't directly support or detract from Him. Does your god frown on the use of aspirin because you don't know each chemical pathway that leads to reduction of inflammation?

I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT, SO IF I USE IT I WILL PROBABLY DIE:
(Seriously, this came from an article in last month's Acupuncture Today.) Do you have a degree in medicine? Do you say that about going to an MD? Have you taken a look at magazines/the internet/your library? It's not like information about what I do is unavailable, and I love to answer questions. I'd much rather spend time talking to you than to have you make an appointment one day and cancel the next out of fear.

I like MDs, by the way. I like MDs, DOs, DCs, and NDs, and like me, an L.Ac., they all have their own area where their methods are particularly appropriate. I went to graduate school for four years, passed five national board exams, and have a license from a division of the Texas Medical Board. They regulate me to make sure I won't kill you. Know this, anyway: for most conditions (excluding chronic pain, weight control, and substance abuse, basically) I am required to have on file that you have seen a medical doctor in the last 6 months. If you aren't getting better within 30 days or 20 treatments, I am required to refer you to a medical doctor. The public puts their confidence in MD, therefore the law makes them the last authority. But the law also put in place standards for me, all of which I have passed.

There were medical doctors in my classes, and one of them asked a surgical colleague about potential injuries. She was told there was pretty much no way we could inflict permanent damage with the size of our needles. Some of my patients are on warfarin, an anti-clotting drug. A friend of mine is on it, and because of that, she just bought her first electric shaver. So, in this case, acupuncture is a more acceptable risk than many common grooming methods. Still scared? *sigh* Well, I tried...

sit-ups might change your life

2009-04-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Brought to you by the one hundred pushups guy is two hundred sit-ups. Now, I find these exercises to be incredibly repetitive, boring, tedious, and difficult. However, I'm also a numbers nerd, and working the program and seeing myself getting stronger has been great!

I'll be honest, I really wasn't going to bother with the sit-ups. I just really hate them. However, a patient and my sister serendipitously convinced me that I have to do the challenge.

I've talked before about how breakouts in my chin/jaw area are an early warning to get my head off my hand or be in a world of hurt from TMJ. I was on the phone with my sister, relating how I've told my migraine/acne patient to not adopt the Thinker pose quite so much. And she said, "You need core muscles, otherwise you're going to use your hand to prop yourself upright."

Dammit. I really really really hate situps. I'm in fact, putting off starting the 200 until I've completed the 100. But I will do it, because despite this giant zit under my jaw, I can't seem to stop with the head in hand.

What about you? Do you suffer from headaches? TMJ? Back pain? Break out on the lower half of your face a lot? Join me in the challenge, because I can't do this alone!

Peer support

2009-04-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to avoid this newslet bit, "ARE YOUR FRIENDS MAKING YOU FAT?!?" Well, my friends are kicking off trying to move it in the opposite direction.

The same dude who made a McDonald's run because one of the guys had never heard of a McGangBang posted to our email list about his need to incorporate exercise and a better diet into his life. As we're all nerds, a spreadsheet is in the works for whomever wants to follow along.

The one hundred pushups challenge has been sweeping my corner of the blogosphere as well. (91 at last count, booyah! I started several weeks ago collapsing around 16.) Peer support can make or break attempts at a healthier lifestyle. So if you're trying, speak up. You might be surprised.

acupuncture in the news

2009-04-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

From my colleague Nancy Corsaro in Addison:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup?rn= 3906861&cl=12826245&ch=4226723&src=news

Basic Maintenance

2009-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

I attended a seminar on billing insurance the other week, so there will be some paperworky type changes in the nearish future. Unfortunately, more than likely this will include pricing.

If I'm going to be doing the insurance thing, I won't be able to display your comments on any web presence of my own, but I do welcome them. Angie's List, Citysearch, Yelp, yahoo, google, there is always someone collecting data and publishing it. All too often my home address instead of my business location, but hey, any publicity, right? If you think I suck, please let me know personally, before putting it out on the internet. I am only one person, trying to run a business, and I want to do everything I can to make your experience with me a positive one!

I had a real post, but the editor ate it. Several times. Autosave doesn't seem to be working this week. I'm going to compose offline for a bit and hopefully have something for you within the week. I feel bad for missing March, but it's been a weird month. I blame the weather and everyone being preoccupied with taxes.

Sweeteners doing not so sweet things

2009-02-11T10:10:00.001-08:00

Sugar is necessary. Your cells run on sugar; without it you'd die.

It's REALLY easy to get all the sugar you need. The trick is to modulate the amount moving around in your bloodstream. Nature has a way of doing this, with insulin and glucagon. Nature hasn't quite kept up with technology, though.

One of the trigger mechanisms of insulin release is via taste. When you taste something sweet, your body prepares for an onrush of sugar. Doesn't matter if it's fruit, milk, cane, or beet sugar, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, or what you're tasting, your body gets ready for sugar. So, if it's NOT sugar, the levels in your bloodstream are going to be modulated incorrectly, until your body catches itself.

So what's the big deal? It'll fix itself eventually, right? Well, grossly oversimplified, that sugar modulation is like an elastic. Stretch it too much, and eventually it's going to wear out and not be nearly as snappy. When that elastic has no more bounce in it, that's what we call diabetes, and all kinds of other Bad Things come with that.

And that should be reason enough to use real sugar, and not too much of it. Even if you don't believe that artificial sweeteners are poison, even if your corn syrup product of choice hasn't been shown to contain mercury, your body will work better for longer if you don't confuse it.

Budget for you

2009-01-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

How are y'all doing? Broken any resolutions yet? No worries; lunar new year starts on the 26th, so you can try again.

As I may have mentioned before, I used to work in the supplements section of a store while I was going to acupuncture school. It was pretty easy to see patterns, and for the most part, people were tired, had trouble sleeping or trouble pooping, wanted better sex, wanted to lose weight, and/or were depressed. Today I'm going to talk about sleep, which goes hand and hand with the tired thing. You'd be surprised at how many people try to deny that.

Let's look at sleep like money. I think lots of people inadvertently do, and lots of people don't think about budgeting. One only has to look at the credit crunch and all the paycheck loan businesses about to see that we're not that good at managing our personal resources. We think, until the situation changes, I'll catch up later. But just as we overextend ourselves until we can no longer make monthly minimums, eventually we can't catch up with one day on the weekend. When you borrow money, there is interest to be paid. When you run on sleep deficit, it becomes harder and harder to catch up, and your baseline of wellness sags lower. It's just not a good long term plan.

Once in a while, we have circumstances. For example, I rarely travel, but when I do, I invariably put off the packing until a few hours before my morning flight. Sometimes a work or school situation or a new baby might make for a fairly long haul of sleep deprivation. Still, this is not meant to be forever.

As I sock a few bucks into savings every month, my new year goal is to be as regular about investing in sleep. We all complain that there aren't enough hours in the day; how many of us also find ourselves bored? Is it just me with the getting trapped in the "I really should have gotten this done, so I'm going to stay up a few more hours and procrastinate?" If there really aren't enough hours, it's time for a lifestyle checkup. What all regularly needs to be done? When you audit this for yourself, include 7-8 hours of sleep every night. And when there really aren't enough hours to fit everything in? Take it out of another account. Sleep is like your employer-matched 401k, so make a regular contribution!

Holiday news

2008-12-13T08:48:00.001-08:00

Seasons greetings, everyone! Send me an email if you want to get e-news. I do have a seasonal newsletter that you can subscribe to through acufinder.com; I think I get it at the same time as you. For local happenings and specials, I am probably not going to send things out very often, but get on my list, and when I do send something, you'll get it.

Aside from annual greetings and rate changes (sorry, yeah, that's coming), what might I be sending? That I might not be posting every time, even? Well, I have to take continuing education for licensure, and I try to take interesting things rather than just sit through a boring class because I have to. Sometimes I can immediately put a technique into practice, and sometimes I...need more practice. In addition, sometimes it gets slow. Like lately. I know y'all are using your spare time to Christmas shop (ugh, I need to get on that myself), but too much time out of the office makes Laura a lazy girl. So every so often, I'll designate practice days, where I work on new techniques at cut rates. For my first practice days, I'll be offering TBM for $30 through 2008, except for Wednesdays. Due to space constraints, I will still require appointments, and please tell me if you are wanting TBM when you make the appointment.

So what's TBM? Total Body Modification is an energy technique developed by Dr. Victor Frank, a chiropractor. There are no adjustments; I'm not licensed to crack your bones, anyway. TBM uses muscle testing to identify imbalances in the body, which are corrected by tapping and other gentle movements. There are no needles; it's completely noninvasive. In addition to basic balance of different organs and muscles, TBM can address allergies, arthritis, blood pressure, and emotions, and can be used to assist in weight loss. However, there are many systems to check to set basic balance before you address specific complaints. Once I get up to speed on the basics, I'll set a fee and start offering this as a regular service. Unlike acupuncture, which is an ongoing therapy, TBM is designed to correct. This is counter to the other methods I've studied; with TBM, we reset the body, and it should stay that way. It will probably be priced accordingly, so take advantage of this deal if you have the time!

This year, I also studied Seasonal Balance with Dr. Richard Tan. Dr. Tan is an acupuncturist from Taiwan, now based out of San Diego. He originally came to the United States for graduate study in engineering and ended up getting certified in Oriental Medicine (which he knew from family tradition already). Dr. Tan has a unique method of point selection, combining Traditional Oriental Medicine, the I-Ching, and (believe it or not) structural engineering. Mostly he uses the command points, which are located from the elbows and knees out. So, if you haven't seen me for a while, don't be alarmed at my point selection. It's not always the most intuitive or the most comfortable, but it gets results!

As a reminder, I do accept medical account cards if they are Visa or Mastercard. Also, check your flex-plan! If you still have a balance to use or lose, now would be a great time to work on chronic pain, headaches, or just have a session to relax!

For those of you in the southern suburbs, I am seeing patients at the Cancer Institute off of 67 and Danieldale in Duncanville on Thursdays; this may be more convenient for you. You do not have to be a patient of CI for me to see you there, and you'll still call me to make the appointment.

Gift certificates are available; call me to make sure I'm in the office to sell them to you. I will be out of the office from December 23-27 and will be available for appointments again on the 29th.

I've picked up an excellent new supplement line. Who doesn't need a multivitamin or extra antioxidants? Many of the Nutrametrix products are water-soluble and taken in a rapidly and easily absorbed isotonic solution. Ask me for a sample at your next appointment!

Lastly, rates. Starting in January, I'm going to be more firm on timing, which might affect your cost up or down. Also, I will be standardizing my rates, so what I charge is what I charge, with apologies to my loyal and long-established clients. If you have financial hardships, we can absolutely discuss a sliding scale and/or payment plans; I definitely want to help you get well, but I do need to pay my rent, too! I've put together a new fee schedule after researching insurance information and industry standards, so I feel fair about these as a balance of value to you the consumer, getting paid myself, and not bringing down the national average for reimbursement. (Reimbursement is still your responsibility; superbills are available upon request.)

CPT	CPT Description	Fee
99201	New Patient, problem focused, 10 minutes	$27
99202	New Patient, expanded problem, 20 minutes	$48
99203	New patient, detailed, 30 minutes	$71
99211	Return patient, presenting problem, 5 minutes	$15
99212	Return patient, problem focused, 10 minutes	$28
97810	Acupuncture, initial 15 min	$33
97811	Acupuncture, each additional 15 min	$25
97813	Acupuncture with electrical stimulation, initial 15 min	$36
97814	Acupuncture with electrical stimulation, additional 15 min	$29

What this means for you is that a short session will run between $48 and $58, and a more complicated follow-up will run between $73 and $86. For new patients, a short, directed session will be $60, moderate complication will be around $81-85, and long sessions for new patients will be from $104-129. This is not counting for electroacupuncture, as I almost never use it.

Have a happy and safe holiday season, and best wishes for a healthy 2009!

Holiday recovery

2008-11-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone. I hope you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

I started this week well, determined to reset my sleep schedule. (This whole being self employed with an irregular schedule means I have to have some self-discipline, you know.) The first two days I did manage to go to bed and wake up at appropriate times. The third day I stayed up late talking to a friend, and yesterday was Thanksgiving. So much for consistency!

For most people, there isn't a big secret to good health. Eat, sleep, poop, drink, get some exercise, relax, and be happy. All of these in the right amount and consistently.

So, you ate too much yesterday. So did I. The key is to not give up completely. (This falls under the relax and be happy part.) Cut yourself some slack for yesterday, have a better game plan for the future, and take care of yourself now. As for myself, I am definitely exercising tighter portion control when everything looks so good, and right now I am quite happy for Bao He Wan and oolong tea to settle my stomach.

The Halloween pentagram post

2008-10-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

(Again, recycling old material. Sorry, folks. Maybe something original and interesting next month.)

You probably have some idea of the balance and interplay between yin and yang. Two opposites, yet there are degrees of both of them in everything. You've heard of them. You've also probably heard about the elements of early science, though the Greeks had it a little different from the Chinese.

In Chinese theory, the five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The macro (outside environment) and micro (human body) -cosms can be explained by the dynamics between the five elements. There are all kinds of correspondences of the five elements, and when you understand the relationships between them, you can see things fall into a pattern.

The five elements can be used in dietary therapy, as each element has a taste. They can be used for seasonal attunement, as each has a climate. Body systems are also mapped to the five elements. Here are some of the correspondences. (little formatting thing I don't seem to be able to control...scroll past the whitespace, please.)

	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
organ	Liver	Heart	Spleen	Lung	Kidney
tissue	tendons and sinews	blood vessels	muscles	skin and hair	bones
emotion	anger and impatience	joy (mania)	worry and anxiety	grief	fear
environmental influence	wind	heat	dampness	dryness	cold
color	green	red	yellow	white	black
taste	sour	bitter	sweet	pungent	salty
season	spring	summer	late summer	autumn	winter

Creation Cycle (outer circle):
Wood burns to generate
Fire whose ashes become
Earth from which
Metal is mine, which enriches
Water, which nourishes trees (back to Wood).

Control Cycle (inner star):
Metal cuts Wood.
Water puts out Fire.
Wood penetrates Earth in the form of roots.
Fire melts Metal.
Earth surrounds Water.

Now we know from science that the organ that filters blood has nothing to do with bones, and that the spleen is for lymph, not digestion. Look at it as Water and Earth if that's easier to accept; it's more or less the same thing.

The cycles show the elements keeping each other in balance, but they also show what can happen when balance is disrupted. A common example follows of wood overacting (excessive control) on earth. Stress leads to impatience, frustration, anger. This is an excessive wood influence. Digestion is ruled by the Spleen system. From the perspective of the five elements, a stressed-out worker with antacids in his or her desk isn't just a common occurrence; it's nature in action.

New product line!

2008-09-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

I have recently become a Nutrametrix distributor. Check out the web portal at http://bishopacupuncture.nutrametrix.com for information about the products, a questionnaire for supplement recommendations, the Transitions weight loss program, and to order things.

I get approached about carrying products a fair amount, so why Nutrametrix? I found out about them through the smartest classmate I ever had, so if she found the products good, they were probably good. She placed me on a regimen of B-complex and multiminerals this summer, which really did wonders for my energy levels. The products are convenient, taste good (even the calcium has no hink of chalkiness), and are scientifically backed.

Yes, there is a marketing component to it, and no, I'm not going to harrass you about becoming a distributor. It's a little different from an MLM; I don't get docked if I don't have subordinates or anything like that. Eventually, the company hopes I'll sign up a few people, but that's not the entire basis of the financial structure. No rush, no pressure. And did I mention the products are impressive?

The body recognizes an isotonic solution as something that does not require digestion. Most Nutrametrix products are in powder form; you mix them with a measured amount of water to create an isotonic solution. Bypassing time in the stomach, nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine within a minute. The line includes vitamins, minerals, digestive support, cardiovascular support, and there is hardly a condition for which its flagship antioxidant has not been shown to have beneficial effects.

As I have ranted and raved before, there is no substitute for living well, eating right, sleeping enough, getting exercise, drinking water, etc. However, I do think these products are worth looking into. Check out the web portal, and/or ask me for a sample when you come in for your next appointment.

I'll have something more entertaining to write about next month. Until then, happy fall!

Summer Lovin

2008-08-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

Whew! I've been meaning to do a post all month, and it almost slipped away from me! I should have some catchy theme of back to school, fall's almost here, new beginnings, yada yada. Instead, I am going for the slightly serious and slightly irreverent.

As an acupuncturist, I have had training on women's issues. Gynecology has its own class and a few chapters in "treatment of disease" curriculum. The menstrual cycle is actually diagnostically very significant.

On the flip side, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I get calls about men's health. As these are almost always from caller-ID blocked numbers, I have to wonder how many of them are for real.

Let me get out of the way that I am a trained professional, but not that kind of professional. I am not going to look at or handle your junk. If you feel that localized treatment/examination by an alternative practitioner is absolutely necessary, I can refer you to one of my male colleagues and/or someone who has the space and the money to hire an assistant. My gynecologist does not examine me without a nurse present. And when I'm treating female issues, I don't expose more than the lower belly. Capiche?

So. If I'm not going to get up close and personal with your genitalia, how can I fix what's wrong with it? A philosophical aside, I don't fix anything. I encourage your body to correct the imbalance within itself. Acupuncture is a holistic sort of medicine, so it looks at the big picture.

It's probably not just your junk. Even from a western standpoint, it's not the best thing to just go for the blue pills. Diabetes and hypertension are both conditions that can lead to erectile dysfunction. You might just care about one part of your body, but you really do need to maintain the whole thing. Reproductive energy is governed by the Kidney system, which is the root of all your body's qi, so from an oriental view, sexual dysfunction is often one of the last symptoms to appear. (It might be the only one you notice, but it's not the first thing that was there.) It is not going to be the first one to go away.

Acupuncture isn't magic. In general, it is not a one-treatment miracle cure. The course of treatment is dictated by the severity and duration of the problem and the body's individual capacity to heal. Reproductive problems are indicative of a more severe imbalance and will take more time to correct than other conditions.

Some common sense steps to maintaining your mojo:

1. Quit smoking.
2. Get regular exercise.
3. Maintain a healthy weight.
4. Moderate your alcohol intake.
5. Get enough sleep and manage stress.
6. Moderate the amount of sexual activity. This includes time alone.

1-5 are from a western standpoint of cardiovascular health and hormonal balance. 6 is from a traditional oriental viewpoint. Health is determined by quality and quantity of qi, or life energy. As reproductive energy is governed by the Kidneys, the foundation of qi, you don't want to burn it out too fast. Concern yourself less with having as much sex as modern media says you should be having, rather not more than your body can handle. Be good to your body, and your body (all parts of it) will be good to you.

sharing life's metaphors

2008-07-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

I rode my bike to work this morning. It's summer, but sometimes I still do that. I live so close to the office that it takes that long for the ac to cool my car. Anyway, I can generally bike in and cool off enough to be collected for my appointments if I give myself 20 minutes. Two things today. I had 15 minutes, and my front tire was quite low. I threw my stick-pump into my bag and left.

And was still sweating half an hour after I got to the office (with time to spare before my 9:30). Funny thing, though. At noon, I filled my tire before I went home. And was not particularly uncomfortable when I got there, even though the day had gotten hotter.

Moral of the story: take a minute to fill your tires, and the journey is so much easier! What does this mean for your life?

slowing it down

2008-06-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

I've often ranted that smokers have a great habit. They take breaks. Now if they could do so without the smoking part, it would be even better!

People ask me how often I get needled myself, and the answer is generally not as much as I'd like. One of my teachers stressed that acupuncture and herbs, while the most of what we studied, is the last part of healing. Diet, exercise, and meditation come first, and while I can generally keep myself in check with diet and exercise, I do let it slide sometimes.

I let student trainees at the NADA conference needle my ears the other month, and it struck me how much of a layperson I'd become in that regard. I sat there, mentally tapping my toes, mind racing. Is this going to hurt? Eh, I've had worse. Do I actually have half an hour to just sit here? I have the neighborhood potluck tonight, I have notes from the conference to review, I have ideas to put into motion, I made some cool new friends this weekend. Wonder what else is going on tonight? And then something amazing happened.

Silence.

My mind stopped, time stopped, and I was completely relaxed. I just sat there for about 20 minutes, had my needles taken out, regained enough awareness to drive home, and went on with my evening. The ants on my kitchen counter (never leave baked goods cooling all day when you have seen one; there will be thousands) didn't bother me half as much as they should have. I mingled with my neighbors with less social anxiety than usual. It was actually a pretty cool time.

I would really love to share this peace with you! Community style acupuncture is safe, effective, affordable, and convenient. It can be used to treat insomnia, withdrawal, pain, and any kind of stress. All we need is people and a comfortable, quiet place to sit for a while. Comment, email me (laura @ activeacu.com), or call 972-935-4169.

Mom was right!

2008-05-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

First, a housekeeping thing. My office has changed its name to emphasize wellness and so has dropped massage from the title, though it still houses me and the two massage therapists. So if you've never been to my office, now you're looking for the Bishop Arts Wellness Center.

On to the post. Don't forget to call your mom on Sunday.

Don't cross your legs. Not because it makes your skirt hike up in an entirely unladylike fashion, but for a couple of reasons important to both appearances and general health. Men, too. Keep reading. Crossing your legs ties up your energy, restricting flow. It does the same thing to blood, and not only energetic, but structural balance.

I'm not knocking the feet, but your feet are not your body's foundation. In this day and age, most people sit a lot more than they stand. Your body's foundation is the pelvis. Biggest bone in the body (shut up if you're trying to make a double entendre out of that. You kiss your mother with that mouth?), and our legs are rooted in the pelvis. So what happens when you cross your legs? You twist. Eventually, your body shifts. Ever see what happens to a house when the foundation starts to shear? So what do you think is going to happen with your body when your pelvis is tilted? Your legs become not the same length, and your back, shoulders, and everything becomes unbalanced and has to compensate. In my one brief foray into homeownership, the foundation did start to slip. All the windows and doors on the east side of the building started to leak. What else is protected by the pelvis? Keep yourself in good shape. Depends and Detrol aren't necessarily inevitable.

And if that's not enough, take a look around, as it's becoming shorts weather. Most of the time, you can look behind the knees and see who crosses which leg. Stop this habit before your visible veins become varicose veins. Varicose veins are not only ugly, but they can become painful and ulcerated and cause skin problems. Venous problems generally indicate an insufficient valve, and when vessels and valves are not smooth, this invites clots and/or bacterial infection. And that's a whole other topic, how plaque builds up in your circulatory system and valves weaken over time. But no need to speed things along.

fat and taxes

2008-04-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

So I was sorting through boxes of paper in the aftermath of my taxes, and I realized that it was an illustration for weight loss. Keep reading. I'm serious. In my scheme of organization, for the things that are not filed properly, there is short term storage (the inbox/trays on my desk, my purse for the mail I picked up at the office) and long term storage (put in a box and deal with it later). Our bodies have short term storage and long term storage. Short term is glycogen, primarily stored in the muscles so it's right there and easy to use when needed. Long term, obviously, is fat.

As an aside, let me tell you, weight loss isn't as simple as eating less. Generally, this is what one needs to do. However, there is a lot going on in your body. So. Consider the human body. Water, proteins, fats, DNA, ATP, bunch of other acronyms you probably don't remember from science class. Being good to your body is giving it what it needs. Do you know how batty it makes me when people equate "being good" to starvation? "I've been eating good, like salads and fruit." First of all, it's "eating well," but fruit is basically sugar and water. Closer to nature than Cheetos, but one cannot survive on strawberries alone. "I'll just stop eating meat; you never see a fat vegetarian, right?" Actually, I have seen a fat vegetarian before; that was most of the hippie wannabes in my high school class, though most of them were substituting Oreos for entrees. What you do need is as important as what you don't, and it's a whole other rant for another time.

Anyway, we have to be trained to properly use short term storage. I mean to be good about it, either file immediately or go from mailbox to inbox to sort out and either filed or shredded and recycled, within the week. I've realized I've gone through several months throwing stuff in boxes to deal with later. And in cleaning out the boxes, I've found stuff from, oh, 5 or 6 apartments ago. Last in, first out. Just like fat. I've been digging deep and finding from important things like W-2s to as mundane as grocery receipts. I'm telling you, if I miss a few appointments, chances are I'm in jail because I never opened a call to jury duty! (I'm getting much better about opening my mail, really!)

We are lazy. Our bodies are lazy. (No, really, it's called efficient.) Just as I am never going to put my receipts in a file or open my mail within a week unless there's a damn good reason (tax time!), our bodies are not going to store as glycogen unless they expect to need a quick energy source. That weekly 8am meeting with your boss totally doesn't count; unfortunately mental exercise doesn't burn a ton of calories. This is where exercise comes into play. This is why consistency matters so much more than working really hard whenever you get around to it. If you challenge yourself often, your body will get the message that it is going to need to do work and store accordingly. Fat is easy to store and hard to use. It is only through regular exercise that your body will say, "Ultimately it's less work to store as glycogen, because I'll need it later. Might as well keep it close. Just as much as I think I need." Though if you eat more than you use or can store as glycogen, it will be stored as fat. Short term storage is limited space, though your body does optimize it to how much it thinks you'll need. So you still need to set limits on what you eat, especially if you want to make your body use what it has in long term storage.

I remember the last time I really got organized. I think that was in 2003. Labeled the files and everything. My essential papers fit into a single drawer. I think I had maybe half a banker's box worth of old mail. This time I have just managed to shrink 7 boxes into 4 (okay okay, 5, but they're not full), but I'm still working on it. The same principle applies with fitness. Getting organized, getting in shape, it's hard. There is a limit to how far you can let it go and bounce back easily. It is very easy to get off track, and if you're not consistent, you can end up worse than you started the last time. But if you keep at it and learn to make it enjoyable, the rewards are great. Physically, I feel a lot better than I did in high school, and if I don't do cardio three times a week, I get cranky. Find a motivator, if nothing other than maintaining your state now. Maintaining requires work; chaos is a force of nature. I still haven't figured out how to like sorting through papers, but one day I'm going to be able to find a document in less than a week. It's going to be sweet.

Jadescreen

2008-03-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Greetings, readers. I've been taking Claritin every morning since I last wrote, and my eyes and nose are doing a great deal better. Still a little sneezy, but not like last week. Did you know the non-drowsy antihistamines don't work on colds? I had a cold earlier this month, so I'd switched to Benadryl.

Speaking of colds, if you haven't gotten it, you're not out of the woods just yet. I'm looking at the forecast, and while tomorrow will have spring rain, Monday shows a high of 48. One of my patients was saying how her whole front yard was about to bloom, just in time for a hard freeze. Because we're going to have one. Don't get caught out while the weather is making up its mind.

Studies show that cold and wet do not make one more susceptible to catching a cold. I respect science, but I'm going to go with tradition on this one. I definitely believe in controlling exposure, especially handwashing, but I don't think it hurts to keep a comfortable environment as well. I remember reading explanations of how sometimes things happen to make folk wisdom seem true to the uneducated. For example, strong air conditioning dries out the nasal passages, making them more vulnerable to viral invasion. Not the air conditioner, but the virus. To me, that still boils down to "don't stand in front of a vent."

Ancient Chinese didn't know about viruses or bacteria. They called it "wind" and "pathogenic evils." The old remedies kill them just the same.

Qi is the life energy that circulates in all living things. One kind of qi is wei qi, or defensive qi. This circulates at the body surface. It controls the opening and closing of the pores. It protects the interior from pathogens, which enter through the pores. Now, when you go out in cool weather with light clothing, you're depending entirely on your wei qi to protect you from wind invasion.

If your wei qi is strong, science is right. Your defenses probably aren't going to be breached by a little exposure to cold weather. I suspect the type of people in medical studies about the common cold would be prone to have strong wei qi. But if you already know you catch colds easily, you have weak wei qi. Check the weather, dress comfortably, and let your clothes keep the wind out of your pores.

When the weather is unpredictable and settling seasonally, it is a good time to take yu ping feng san. This translates to Jade Windscreen Powder. It's an herbal formula that when taken regularly, boosts wei qi, screening out wind. The jade part was because the herbalists found it to be valuable like jade. Tea samples are available upon request, so call in advance if you'd like to pick some up.

Need for consistency

2008-02-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

Gentle reader, as I type this, my eyelids are sandpapery, my nose is raw, and I'm unduly exhausted. I am fondly remembering a long weekend in Chicago this summer when I could breathe easy. What was it about that time? Being away from my cat? The escape from 100+ degree weather?

Well, the temperature isn't brutal yet. If the skin testing is to be believed, I am almost as allergic to dogs as I am to cats. And my friend is just as nuts about her dog as I am about my cat.

You know what I think it is? When you're on vacation, routines tend to go out the window. I try to keep my daily rituals as consistent as possible when I'm away from home, just to establish a sphere of control. In this case, it was keeping my vitamins and Claritin in a little box by my bed, to take every morning.

After 4 days of taking Claritin at the same time every day, I was feeling pretty good. Even managing to wear contact lenses comfortably, which I hadn't been able to do in weeks. Sometimes a medicine or herb really isn't the right one. If you don't take it as directed, you'll never know.

I've been being good. Why do I feel so bad?

2008-01-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2008. By now, you're had a few days to get rested, get rid of your hangover, and start those good habits. Hard, isn't it. Now, I've had friends who have quit smoking, drinking, eating junk food, etc., and it generally feels terrible.

Why? Isn't being healthy supposed to feel good? What about that extra energy, and isn't my immune system supposed to be stronger? Why do I feel so sick?

Legal disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This is informational, not medical advice, and if you think something is really wrong with you, you should go see yours.

Here's the thing; you are not alone in your body. Psych jokes aside, watch the Discovery Channel sometime. You have colonies of like, a zillion, just living at the roots of your eyelashes. Don't be too grossed out. Yet.

There are symbiotic relationships, and there are parasitic relationships. Symbiotic relationships are mutually beneficial. The little fishes that live in shark's teeth get food, and the shark gets its teeth cleaned. Similarly, the nontoxic E. coli in your guts get fed, and they make vitamin K so you don't bleed to death. Parasitic relationships are more one-sided. As you can often see in the winter, mistletoe thrives until the tree it's on withers and dies. Some strains of E. coli feed and reproduce inside you and instead of helping you with vitamin K, produce toxins that make you crap til you die.

Most parasites aren't quite so dramatic. After all, why kill you when they can make a long term, cozy home for themselves? These don't kill you, but they don't make you stronger. They're a nuisance, and you can take steps to make your body inhospitable for them. Your new year's resolutions! So why do you feel awful? Well, if you made dramatic changes, you are killing large numbers of parasites. They don't want to go. They're pissed off. What do animals do when they die? Release a bunch of crap. Which is now floating free in your system. A little bit of parasite waste maybe gives you b.o. and bad breath, makes you feel sluggish, ties up your metabolism so you gain weight, takes the sheen off your skin, hair and nails. The waste released from a massive die-off? Can make your head ache, your body hurt, your sinuses clog, your moods swing, your digestion poor, your nether regions itch, all kinds of badness. Look up herxheimer reactions for more information, but that's it in a nutshell.

Great, so I can go back to drinking and junk food! I knew resolutions were stupid.

Oh, come on. You can still have clearer skin, more energy, and all that. The goal is still to strive for more symbiants than parasites. You can slow down and make changes gradually. Just don't stop. Quitting any vice is extremely difficult. You have entire populations on/in you that are depending on your vices. To improve your health, you are going to have to make your body optimal for you, not the freeloaders. Which means less of the refined sugar, alcohol, and industrial chemicals (Food should not be trademarked. If it is, read the label; you'll likely be horrified.); more of the water and real foods.

I'm not a huge proponent of the concept of "detox," but the time for it is when you're making changes. Detoxing without making changes...what is detox? You sweat more, you pee more, you crap more. If your body is still a petri dish for microorganisms that aren't beneficial to you, then what's the point? The toxins are pretty much just going to build back up in your body. But while
you're making your body less parasite-friendly, you can encourage flushing out of the dead parasites and wastes, and the process will be a lot easier.

So what can you do? Drink plenty of water. Strive to drink as many ounces of water every day as is half your body weight in pounds. Get plenty of fiber in your diet. Gradually get more exercise. Take baths in clean, warm water with epsom salt. Eating only raw fruits and vegetables is not automatically healthy. Learn about nutrition and a real balanced diet. Come in for an ion cleanse. And while the law says I can't claim to treat anything, as acupuncturists are kind of bastard step-children in the field of medicine, the WHO says acupuncture is effective at resolving nausea and pain, and studies show it effective at treating fatigue.

A KISS for the New Year

2007-12-31T13:19:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm totally recycling my rant from last year. Hey, it was a good rant. More soon on why your resolutions are so hard to keep!
-----

I used to be a codemonkey, and like most codemonkeys, I had cheeky cut-outs taped to my office door. I shared my first office with a couple of people, and already on the door when I moved in, was this wise little snippet.

Eat when you are hungry,
Drink when you are dry.
Sleep when you are tired,
Don't forget to breathe or else you'll die.

In the wellness industry, we are trying to sell you things. Expensive antioxidants. Things to help you sleep, things to wake you up, things to support your thyroid function. Lots of polysyllabic things to target problems you didn't even know you have but are dramatically decreasing your quality of life, and isn't $75 for a bottle of pills worth the greater energy/weight loss/clarity/happiness it promises to bring? Energy drinks are not a substitute for sleep. Diet pills are not a substitute for sensible eating and exercise. Antioxidant pills are not a substitute for eating fruits and vegetables. Be good to yourself. Accept no substitutes. Give yourself the real thing.

Some people really do have thyroid problems. Or a family history of cancer. Or other real medical problems that are truly helped by the latest miracle cure. The rest are spending money because their insecurities have been played like a violin. Keep it simple! (I won't call you stupid.) If you have your basics down and you still need more, I'm cool with whatever product or therapy makes you feel better. Really. Even if it doesn't involve hanging out on my table. If you don't have your basics down, stop. You spent enough money on Christmas. Chances are, in the long run, rereading this poem is going to do more for you than that fountain-of-youth-in-a-bottle. That's probably going to sit on a dusty shelf anyway.

Eat when you are hungry. Are you hungry or are you bored or angry or sad? On the flip side, are you not-hungry or are you too overwhelmed to notice? The wrong answer to the first question will lead to weight gain. The wrong answer to the second will lead to crash and can also lead to weight gain. The cortisol-blockers advertise that stress leads to hormonal changes that lead to weight gain. You know what stress also leads to? Skipping lunch and eating a thousand calories of fast food at 3 in the afternoon. Coming home from work at 7, worrying for half an hour about what's for dinner, and going out for something awful. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anything or anybody else. Snack appropriately. Eat lunch at lunchtime. Plan to eat real food.

Drink when you are dry. Again, are you not-thirsty or are you too busy to notice? While I'm sure there will be a soft-drink mega-corp on Mars eventually, right now they're looking for water. It's the stuff of life; keep some with you.

Sleep when you are tired. Not drink coffee when you're tired. All-nighters are for college kids. And I might add, the only guy I knew to graduate with a 4.0 went to bed by 10 almost every night. You are more efficient on a good night's sleep.

Don't forget to breathe or else you'll die. Well, we're all going to die eventually, but it will greatly improve your outlook and your life if you breathe freely and fully. In order, my favorite reminders to myself to breathe are: 1. Laugh every day. 2. Sing in the car. Loudly. 3. Yoga. Generally, the instructor will remind you to breathe. A lot. 4. Weight lifting. Similar to yoga, you'll find that things are easier on an exhale. Let go. Let your breath nourish your body. Once you stop laughing (I control myself in public classes, but on my mat in my living room alone in front of my tv, I do crack up a bit. Because it does sound a little ridiculous.) you'll realize you can feel what they're talking about.

Happy New Year, everybody. Enjoy the song. You have my permission to dance around your computer.

Season's Greetings to all from Bishop Acupuncture!

2007-12-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

As the year draws to a close, like many of you, I am considering my goals for the next year. At the top of the list are to be more helpful to you and to have my practice sustain me as well as itself. To that end, I'd like for you to consider a few questions for the next time we see each other. Why do you come to acupuncture? What, specifically, are you hoping to achieve from our work together? What is your desired end result, and what are some milestones that we can observe along the way to know that our time together is valuable?

Oftentimes on our journey, we get sidetracked. This is definitely true for acupuncture therapy. You may have started to see me with a particular pain or condition and continued to make appointments out of habit. Maybe it's all about relaxation/relief just for now. Maybe you just need periodic tuneups. Maybe you're seeing me for something that you'll only be able to see change or not on your next diagnostic lab. I would really like to know that I'm actively helping you and that you are satisfied with your progress. I want you to be aware of what your goals are, and let me know, for we won't know if you achieve them without identifying them. If I haven't heard from you in a while, I'd love to know how you're doing!

Happy Holidays and best wishes for the new year!

Rate change:
90 minute session, $80
60 minute session: $60
No shows: $45
Cancellations within 24 hours: $30
Outcalls: minimum 1 hour, $1/minute+$0.50/mile, housecalls to current patients only

Because many conditions are easily treated with arm and leg points, and to maximize your session, I do not provide nor charge for table set up on outcalls. We just need you to rest comfortably and have space for me to move around you. I can treat up to four people at a time on an outcall, so this may be an economical option if you have space and know other people who need treatment. Consultations can be done via phone and email, so no worries about discussing your ailments in front of others.

There are times when I am consistently busy after regular business hours, so I will periodically discount $15 for office visits 9-5 M-F, 9-12 Saturday.

In the past I have offered a discount for appointments made within a week; while met with the best intentions on both sides, it has not been as effective as I'd hoped in promoting regular treatment intervals. Acupuncture is a therapy, just as medicine is. There are not many prescriptions that cure with one dose, and more serious conditions require a steady schedule, rather than analgesic as needed. I certainly understand that cost can be a barrier, but if you need regular treatments and can commit the time to getting them, I'm sure we can come up with a compensation plan that is agreeable to both of us.

Referral bonuses:Starting in January, check the web page for monthly incentives!

New service for you:

United Medical Network provides customized nutrition. They have a urinalysis kit to test for deficiencies, a supplement line, and a meal plan. If you're not taking even a multivitamin, why not? While I encourage eating well, sometimes we can't, and there are bound to be some deficiencies. If you're taking many supplements, consider why you are taking them and how they are working for you. You may not need all of them. A test would be a great way to identify your needs. The meal plan is designed by a registered dietician for weight loss, disease prevention, or special needs (allergy, vegetarian, vegan) with cool little nutrient analyses and a grocery list for the week. The prices on this are excellent, and it is customizable, long term, and you can even log your food and exercise to recompute your caloric/nutritional needs.

Gift certificates are available. Call ahead if you're going to be in the neighborhood to make sure someone is in the office. My phone is 972-935-4169; Tyra Quesenberry is at 214-395-7195, if I'm not in town. Alternately, you can purchase an electronic gift certificate through paypal at www.bishopacupuncture.com.

Excuse my writer's block...

2007-12-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

I'll post my Christmas newsletter here when I finish it, and then you can put the one from snailmail into your recycling bin. In the meantime, check out the website for new products and pricings.

The Vinegar Tasters

2007-10-28T13:46:00.002-07:00

Oh, hey, I get my first comment and it's kinda spam! AmesWalker beats your prices, but it's a nice informational video there, commenter.

Does anyone actually read this thing? I get ideas on things to say, and I get off on a new tangent before I have finished writing anything on the first one. So I could definitely use some topics, if you want to suggest any.

I was in school for a really long time, surrounded by fairly like minded individuals when it came to knowledge and opinions about health and lifestyle. Out in the world, I'm realizing that most people don't think like I do on the concepts of maintaining well being.

I definitely feel that taste and lifestyle are acquired. We are influenced by the opinions of others, no matter how we claim individuality and declare not giving a crap what anyone else thinks. Consider your first beer. Or first cigarette. You were probably young and wanted to appear adult, and no matter how much it made you choke and gag, you learned to like it. It's a socially acceptable vice, a means to unwind, a ritual, a fashionable accessory, and a way to let branding make a statement about who you are. Not having these vices, I'll say I had the same experience with raw fish. I thought it was pretty disgusting in childhood, and now I have an appreciation for it. An appreciation I probably would not have developed without exposure to the concept of sushi as a sophisticated delicacy that my friends in college enjoyed very much.

As a child, eating sashimi was one of those weird things that grownups did sometimes, that for some reason they liked. The same can be said for brussel sprouts. And kim chee. And exercise. I don't expect you to effortlessly make the transition from a starch-based diet to the most notorious of disliked vegetables (though my sister is seriously a good enough cook to make brusssel sprouts extremely palatable), or go from a couch potato to a marathon runner (though my best friend did last year, and I'm still hanging my head in shame to be working on a single mile), but I'm saying, consider. Try.

Long before I decided to get my master's degree in Oriental Medicine, a book called The Tao of Pooh was quite popular. I've never forgotten about the vinegar tasters. What I took from that scroll is to consider things for what they are. Vinegar is sharp and strong. I wouldn't want to drink a glass of it, but it is extremely useful as a seasoning, a pickling agent, and a household cleaner. I can definitely smile at a taste of vinegar. Particularly a good quality balsamic or rice vinegar, though I wouldn't clean my shower with those. I'm not saying junk food doesn't taste good, but it is not true that all things that taste bad are healthy and all healthy things taste bad. (And in case you live under a rock, starving yourself is wholly ineffective as a way to lose weight. Eat 3 squares, especially breakfast, and a couple of nutritious snacks. And you must do cardio. Don't get me started right now.) Try eating something that has natural color in it once in a while. You might be pleasantly surprised. Even if all healthy things aren't as tasty as ice cream or potato chips, they have their place. And so you don't think I'm totally holier than thou, I do drink beer and eat junk food and bring real cake to parties. Not to excess, and not every day. It has its place.

Product pitch of the day: compression stockings

2007-09-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

You might think they look silly, but so do varicose veins, and so does your face when you're wearing that end of the day grimace. Compression stockings now come in different styles and colors; they don't have to be your old white nurse's stockings.

I discovered these when I worked retail; 8 hours on my feet on a concrete floor, Danskos or not, my feet, legs, and back killed me by the end of the shift. If I wore compression socks or hose, I was such a happier person. Your heart pumps blood out. Gravity tends to keep it there, pooled in your feet and calves. The pressure of the stockings with the movement of your legs really helps to keep circulation going. Where there is blockage there is pain! What do you have to lose?

I'm back.

2007-07-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

I'm all caught up with my files, and my new computer is working well. It's not quite as portable as the old Thinkpad, so invoices for reimbursement shall be available upon request. They can be picked up at your next appointment, mailed, or emailed as a pdf.

Tijuana was incredible. It's nothing like the media depicts it. Some places are worse, which was where we worked. Mostly it's much better. It is by and large, a typical sprawling metropolis, with all the inherent problems of being such.

I've moved my volunteer day to Thursday, so no appointments Thursday until 1. However, Mondays are now available. This is going to change quarterly.

The webpage has been updated; I'll be using what was the blog page there to feature products for sale. Not as mail order, though; I've got enough on my plate!

May you live in interesting times

2007-05-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Recent weeks have seen a catastrophic computer crash and will see international travel.

I'm waiting on a Vista-compatible software upgrade so I can access old patient files. (I managed to back up that, and my Quicken data. Whew! Everything else was toast, though.) And so much for the new website, but the old style is going to have to do for a little while longer.

Tomorrow I leave for Tijuana, Mexico. I hear my mornings shall be much like my volunteer Mondays, giving acupuncture to addicts. My colleague needed an assistant for teaching a NADA class in the afternoons. I'll be gone for a week. I think it will be a very good experience!

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."
- Ferris Bueller

Welcome to the new Bishop Acupuncture!

2007-04-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been over 2 months since you heard anything new from me on the web. It's been a really crazy time. I've moved my residence to the neighborhood and moved my office down the street, in addition to the usual stuff, seeing family, and a pretty busy caseload.

It's springtime! I'm smashing, how are you? Sneezing? Yeah, me too. Quickly, let me recommend something that will change your life. This sounds totally gross, painful, and bizarre, but hey, so does acupuncture, right? Neti just makes for a happier nose. It's really easy. I've even seen it at Walgreen's under the brandname of Sinucleanse.

It may be a little while, but there will be new content coming. And the old stuff will gradually get posted up here, too. I have a lot on my plate, but I'm not giving up on this web thing; I'm just too much of a nerd. I've grown out of the last template, so to showcase products, I'm redoing the whole website. And after I have new pictures, I'll do it again. In my copious spare time.

Say hi to my new colleagues, and I'll see you at the new office!