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Be Healthy Acupuncture works with your Western Medicine team to integrate Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments to help improve your health. These treatments include acupuncture, Chinese herbal formulas, and dietary recommendations. Together, these elements help you get through chemotherapy treatment by minimizing the side effects to improve your quality of life.  Once you have completed your treatments, continuing with Traditional Chinese Medicine can help you optimize your health. 

Acupu​ncture

More than 2,000 years ago, acupuncture was practiced by using pointed (bian) stones as needles according to the textbook Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion by Xinnong in 1999. Where the needles are inserted into the body is determined by the complex theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine. At its most basic, it can be described as the interplay between Yin and Yang. Yin can be described as the most inner part of the body or relating to substance such as the blood and body fluids. Yang, on the other hand, is the more superficial part of the body, and more action oriented than physical or tangible according to Giovani Maciocia, in his 2005 book called The foundations of Chinese Medicine: A comprehensive text for acupuncturists and herbalists. The traditional Yin/Yang figure symbolizes the balance these two forces need to have in the body. A Western equivalent that might come close to describing it is homeostasis, where everything needs to be in balance to maintain health according to Albegov, Butenko DV, & Butenko LV in their paper "The wu xing theory and homeostatic interaction of organs" published in the Chinese Medicine Journal in 2010.

From a Western Medicine perspective, acupuncture works by stimulating the nervous system either locally by releasing neurotransmitters where the needles is inserted, or through your spinal column, as well as by releasing hormones in your brain. These needles are much smaller than the hypodermic needles used by physicians, and can be as small as the width of a human hair. Generally, you will not feel the needles go into the skin, but if you do have any discomfort, it should resolve within 5 seconds. You may feel a dull achy sensation, this means that the treatment is working. During the treatment most people feel relaxed, and are able to rest. The needles are left in while you relax for about 30 minutes. Because the treatment is re-setting your body, it generally takes 4 to 6 weekly treatments to get the full effect of the session. You should get some relief after the first treatment, but it's best to follow the longer timeline to get the most improvement from receiving acupuncture.

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Chinese Herbal Formulas 

As a complement to your acupuncture treatment, herbal formulas can be prescribed based on your Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis. Based on this evaluation, herbs are combined together into a cohesive formula. A more complex treatment can occur by combining the individual attributes of single herbs. For instance, if one herb is hard on the digestive tract, another one in the formula can cancel out that attribute. In addition, alone one herb may not be strong enough for a therapeutic effect, but when combined with a similar herb the effect can be much stronger. Most of the herbs are harvested from roots, stems, leaves, flowers, barks and fruits. Standard Traditional Chinese Medicine formulas are combinations of herbs that are balanced not only to be effective, but also to be safe. 

Traditional Chinese Herbs have gotten some recent recognition from the Western Medicine establishment. For instance, in 2015 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Professor Youyou Tu for her key contributions to the discovery of artemisinin for the treatment of malaria. Professor Tu researched a 1,700 year old book mentioning the preparation of this herb by using cold water instead of boiling it. As result of her study of ancient medicine, an estimated 22% or 663 million worldwide cases of malaria were prevented.

It is important to work closely with your Western Medical provider to ensure these formulas are compatible with your current medications and treatments, as well as ensure there are no contraindications for your condition.

Dietary Recommendations

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Many people going through cancer treatment experience a low appetite or difficulty in eating. Many times, it is very difficult to add supplements to the diet since digestion is so weak, because just eating sometimes is a challenge. Therefore, it is critical for patients to eat easily digested foods with the most balanced nutritional value to help boost immunity and energy levels. The proper diet is also very important to help maintain your blood cells, since they can easily be impacted by cancer treatment. Eating a proper diet can help you maintain energy, boost immunity, and maintain precious blood cells. When patients are able to keep blood cell values in a more healthy range, chemotherapy treatments can continue and further help reduce the cancer in the body.

Traditional Chinese Medicine looks closely at the properties of foods such as their flavor and energetic temperature. For instance, beef bone broth soup has a warm temperature, compared to raw salad which has a cold temperature. The spleen and stomach have the function of cooking food to enable digestion. For instance, if a patient has a cold stomach, drinking ginger tea can help reduce nausea and vomiting by warming it. If a patient eats too many cold foods, such as raw salad or iced drinks, they can inhibit digestion because the spleen and stomach need to be warm in order to "cook" the food and be absorbed by the body. On the other hand, if the stomach is too warm already, eating too much spicy food can cause a burning sensation in the throat, and can also promote vomiting. Therefore, it is important to understand your Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis in order to choose foods to help you achieve your optimum health by bringing your body back into balance. 

Helping You Achieve Better Health through 
​Traditional Chinese Medicine

By utilizing acupuncture, herbal formulas, and dietary recommendations, we can help you with your side effects from cancer treatment, and after your treatments. You can access Be Healthy Acupuncture in two ways. First, you can get personalized treatments in our Oakland location on 4408 Market Street by calling and booking an appointment. Also, if you are unable to travel or would prefer to be treated in your home, we offer in-home visits for your convenience.

Empathy, Compassion, and
Quality Care

The goal of Be Healthy Acupuncture is to help you achieve your optimum level of health at every stage of cancer - whether you have just been diagnosed, are currently in treatment, have finished treatment and in remission, or at a stage where you are looking to improve your quality of life.

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