So, you've made the decision to become a licensed acupuncturist, and invested lots of money in your education, the perfect place to practice, staffing, etc. Now what? Where can you go to find information on products, continuing education and other goods and services to help grow your practice?
"What Are My Choices?" is an occasional column that gives you the information you need, straight from the experts - the companies themselves. This first column focuses on companies that offer nutritional supplements, herbal remedies and teas - all important components of a successful practice in acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
Acu-Market: Tel: 866-440-7703.
Alliance of Complementary Therapeutics: ACT has been offering the public services and products that assist one in achieving wellness and staying that way for over 10 years. Directed by Quila Rider, RN, CNM, PhD, AC, ACT is situated in the beautiful White Mountains of Arizona. Frustrated by not seeing people get well in the medical system, she turned to Natural Medicine to help people. Quila offers a money back guarantee on all products and services.
Products and services include: Traditional Acupuncture, Auriculomedicine (ear acupuncture), ASAP Silver Solution, Oasis Anti-Aging Products. Tel: 1-800-443-0970; e-mail: act127@frontiernet.net.
Amazon Herb Company: First and largest exporter of wild-herbs from virgin Amazon Rainforest soil. Herbal formulas designed to balance and nourish entire body systems. Taken daily, provides a density of chemistry, nutrition and raw materials far superior to isolated nutritional supplements. Bio-energetic herbs sustainably harvested, hand inspected, never fumigated or irradiated. Success supported by finest research, backed by 40 years of fieldwork, combined with thousands of years of experience. Aids Rainforest preservation.
Products and services offered: Rainforest nutritional formulas for energy enhancement, immune support, physical recovery, stress reduction, environmental detoxification, digestive enhancement, hormonal balance and metabolic support. Healthy organic dark-chocolate with Rainforest herbs. Tel: (323) 936-2376; E-mail: wayne@rainforesthealing.com; Web: www.rainforesthealing.com.
Arise & Shine Herbal Products, Inc.: Famous for its internal cleansing program, the Cleanse Thyself™ program, and for the purity and potency of its nutritional supplements. Healers and health conscious individuals have relied on the high quality and efficacy of Arise & Shine products for over 15 years. Company founder, Richard Anderson, is the author of the Cleanse and Purify Thyself book series, the classics on internal cleansing and rejuvenation.
Products and services offered: Large selection of all natural internal cleansing, colon health, organ support, and specialized nutritional products; as well as over 100 herbal extracts. Tel: 1-800-688-2444; Web: www.ariseandshine.com.
Bio Essence: serves Acupuncturists and herbal practitioners since 1987. Company imports and distributes Min Tong and Bio Essence brand Chinese herbal extracts in granules, tablets, pills and capsules. Both lines are certified by Australian government to meet TGA (GMP) Quality Standard.
Products and services offered: Full line of Min Tong Chinese herbal extracts of single herbs and formulas. Bio Essence Brand Nutritional supplements and Chinese Herbal formulas in pills and tablets. Also provide custom formulation & private labeling services. Tel: 800-538-1333; e-mail: info@bioessence.net; Web: www.bioessence.net.
Blue Light, Inc.: Treasure of the East® herbal formulas have been formulated in the U.S. GMP certified Tian Jiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., in mainland China, manufactures our herbal extracts. They are made of top quality, genuine materials which come from only the best resources in China. All Treasure of the East® herbal extracts have been tested for heavy metals in China, as well as in independent U.S. laboratories. Please contact us for more details!
Products and services offered: over 300 single herbal extract concentrates and 300 patent herb formulas concentrates in granules and capsules, custom formulas for practitioners in granules or capsules, free consultations with our Acupuncturist/Herbologist, specialty products including Seirin J needles. Tel: 1-888-BLUE-LIT; e-mail: info@treasureofeast.com; Web: www.treasureofeast.com.
Blue Poppy Enterprises, Inc.: Blue Poppy offers both live and distance learning continuing education courses, clinical reference texts, and herbal products including concentrated powder capsule formulas, liniments, ointments, and oils, for professional practitioners of tuina, acupuncture, and herbal medicine. Founded in 1979, today the business has nine full-time and three part-time employees. Blue Poppy is considered the pre-eminent provider of distance learning CE courses on all facets of Chinese medicine.
Products offered: 25 internal and 20 external herbal medicines, over 500 hours of CE courses available by distance learning, over 80 texts of Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Chinese dietary therapy, and Asian bodywork. 400 research articles, translated and abstracted from recent Chinese medical journals. Tel: 800-487-9296; e-mail: info@bluepoppy.com; Web: www.bluepoppy.com.
Boston Jojoba Company: Founded in 1994, Boston Jojoba grows jojoba seed on its Arizona farm. It sells the extract of the seed, world-wide, to massage therapists, physical therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, aromatherapists, schools, spas, resorts, retail health stores and manufacturers of professional and personal care products. Products and services offered: Boston Jojoba's only product is expeller pressed HobaCare Jojoba (100% Pure. Tel: (800) 2-JOJOBA; e-mail: hobacare@bostonjojoba.com; Web: [url=http://www.bostonjojoba.com]http://www.bostonjojoba.com[/url].
Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, L.Ac.: Dr. Cohen has been practicing Asian Medicine since 1977. "Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine," her San Francisco clinic, has been operational since 1990. Using Chinese Traditional Medicine and Chinese Herbal Medicine as part of a comprehensive program, Dr. Cohen prescribes supplements, herbs and teas for clients at her clinic. She also provides telephone consultations for individuals along with their practitioners, to design a precise treatment plan including herbs, supplements and teas.
Products and services offered: bulk dried herbs, tablets, capsules, tinctures, extracts, teas and liniments using GMP formulas, clinic appointments, herbal prescriptions, specialized treatment plans, Chinese medicine treatment protocols, herbal formulas, seminars, books. Tel: 415-864-7234; e-mail: tcmclinicsf@earthlink.net; Web: www.docmisha.com.
Crane Herb: Tel: 800-227-4118.
East Earth Trade Winds: Established in 1985, East Earth supplies Chinese herb products to health food stores, acupuncturists, and other health professionals. We have been recognized for our product quality and customer service by being listed in over 30 books as a supplier of Chinese herb products. We distribute Chinese patent medicines, bulk herbs, Sanjiu single herb extract powders, Long Hay Flat herb products, Evergreen Herbs products, Nature's Alchemy essential oils, and more. Tel: 1-800-258-687; e-mail: sales@eastearthtrade.com; Web: www.eastearthherb.com.
Golden Flower Chinese Herbs: Tel: 800-729-8509.
Health Source Products: Tel: 866-626-5666.
Honso USA: Brings the best quality classical Chinese herbal formulas, known as Kampo, from Japan. Honso's GMP pharmaceutical facilities offer unrivaled high standards, from selection of the highest grade herbal materials to perfection of proprietary processing techniques that ensure maximum quality, efficacy and safety. Every lot of the Honso® Kampo product is routinely tested for heavy metals, purity, and microbial content to eliminate any contaminant, as well as active constituents of key herbs to ensure consistency in quality.
Offers: professional Kampo herbal products in single-dose packed granules. Tel: 888-461-5808; e-mail info@honso.com; Web: www.honsousa.com.
JR Labs: Tel: 570-253-5826.
Kan Herb Company: an international leader providing superior Chinese herbal formulas to health care providers since 1987. Our products are safe, pure and effective. Manufacturer of Kan Herbals, formulated by Ted Kaptchuk L.Ac., O.M.D.; Chinese Modular Solutions, formulated by Efrem Korngold L.Ac., O.M.D. and Harriet Beinfield L.Ac.; The Three Treasures, Women's Treasure, formulated by Giovianni Maciocia, CAc.; and Alembic Herbals, formulated by Z'ev Rosenberg L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., O.M.D. Kan Herb Company also carries a full line of Traditional herbal formulas and Single herbs. Delivery of herbal products you can trust in the pursuit of good medicine is Kan's commitment. Tel: 800-543-5233.
Kenshin Trading Corporation: Incorporated in 1990, Kenshin has always maintained extremely high standards in selecting and distributing natural food supplements, massage items, and acupuncture products. We are dedicated to customer satisfaction and able to answer questions in regard to the company's extensive product line as well as about how to best use the products. In Japanese, Kenshin means "healthy mind" and the health of your mind and body is important to us.
Products offered: Premium Green Teas from Japan, All-Natural Herbal Supplements, Massage Products, Acupuncture Products. Tel: (800) 766-1313.
Lifehance: Tel: 888-777-9621.
Longherb Health Products, Inc.: We are devoted to helping individuals maintain vibrant health. Dr. Sean Wu is a Chinese medical doctor and herbalist. He practiced in China, received a Masters Degree of Neuroscience (MS) from Iowa, USA and formed the company in 1990. We introduce our new herbal products to help smokers quit smoking for more than 13 years by mail order and on the Internet. Longherb company has Five Business Web sites.
Products and services include: Smoker's Herbal Aroma Herbal Inhaler; Quit Smoking Herbal Kit: Included Smoker's Herbal Aroma Herbal Inhaler, Smoker's Option Smokeless Menthol Cigarettes, Golden Herbal Lozenges and Stop Smoking Herbal Green Tea; Smoker's Option Smokeless Menthol Cigarettes; Yixing Nosmoking Herbal Cigarettes; MNEF (Zi-Wu-Liu-Zhu) Acupoint Calendar Charts; New Loose Tea Blocks Carton; Chinese Zodiac Fengshui Jade Charms. Tel: 800-766-5372; e-mail: syw@mchsi.com; Web: www.stopsmokingherbs.com.
Lotus Institute of Integrative Medicine: Tel: 866-905-6887.
Mayway: Distributes exceptionally high quality traditional Chinese herbs and herbal products, including the popular Plum Flower® and Min Shan® Brands. Our thirty years of experience, the combined strengths of our joint-venture herb processing facility and our exclusive partnerships with some of the best GMP factories in China allow us to provide you with superior unsulfured, preservative-free Chinese herbs, 5:1 powdered extracts, and 3rd party laboratory tested tea pills and tablets.
Products and services include: Plum Flower® Brand Classic teapills; Plum Flower® Brand Traditional teapills and tablets; Plum Flower® Brand economy sized Classic and Traditional formulas; Min Shan® Brand teapills; Formulas from other GMP factories; Plum Flower® Brand unsulfured herbs; Plum Flower® Brand unsulfured herb powders; Plum Flower® Brand 5:1 concentrated extract powder formulas; Plum Flower® Brand 5:1 concentrated extract powder formulas; Plum Flower® Brand 5:1 concentrated extract powder single herbs; Plum Flower® Brand single herb capsules; Plum Flower® Brand liquid extracts; Plum Flower® Brand herb teas; Teas; Infusions; Sulfur-free Herb I.D. Kit; Plasters & Ointments; Accessories & Books; Personal Care & Grocery Items and prescription services. Tel: (800) 2-MAYWAY; e-mail: info@mayway.com; Web: www.mayway.com.
Meyer Distributing: Tel: 800-472-4221.
Mingqi Natural Healthcare: Tel: 212-239-4461.
MNP Acupuncture Supplies: Tel: 213-487-1777.
Netmark International: Tel: 877-844-7477.
NF Formulas: Tel: (503) 582-8386.
Nuherbs Co.: Tel: 800-233-4307.
NuNaturals: Is available in over 8000 stores. We specialize in a complete line of Stevia products including the new SoooLite line standardized for Rebaudioside-A. Our diabetic line includes sweeteners that will not raise blood sugar levels as well as products that help manage blood sugar levels. NuNaturals also specializes in brain, sleep, relaxation and cold-flu formulas. Our products are available either direct from the company. NuNaturals, Helping To Keep You Well.
Brands: Alcohol Free Stevia, Brain Herbs, BrainWell, CalmMind, Daily Energy, Daily Soy, Extra Energy, Fast Asleep, Preventin' Green Tea, JointWell, LevelRight, Lo Han Supreme, LoSweet, Mental Energy Formula, NoCarbs, MellowMind, Sweet Health, Sweet-X, Throat Control Spray, Wellness Drops, White Stevia. Tel: 800-753-4372; e-mail: info@nunaturals.com; Web: www.nunaturals.com.
Nutriplex: Tel: 888-595-4752.
Nutriwest: Tel: 800-443-3333.
Orenda International: Founded in January of 2002 by Ray Grimm, George Hall, Robert Hall. Orenda International is a Bio Technology company that develops manufactures and distributes Bio health products. Orenda International exists to lift people by helping them to discover and develop their innate power to enhance the quality of their health, their thoughts and their lives.
Products offered: O-Tropin Complex Spray, HGH Secretagogue, Immune Modulator, All in One Female, All in One Male, Anti Aging Serum Cream. Tel: 800-690-2024; e-mail: herbalmedicine@att.net; Web: www.orendainternational.com.
Oriental Medical Arts: Dedicated to helping you and your clients achieve the highest quality of life by offering the best that Oriental Medicine has to offer. Dr. Takei currently works with practitioners from various healthcare modalities throughout the country in determining an accurate diagnosis for your client through phone consultations and then sends traditional Chinese herbal medicine to the practitioner to provide to the patient. Chinese herbal medicine is a very effective means of bringing an individual back to optimal health and an excellent adjunct therapy to your services.
Services and products provided: Acupuncture, Chinese herbology, Chinese massage, phone consultations, mail order custom herbs, granulated Chinese herbs custom mixed. Tel: (505) 306-3155; e-mail: orientalmedicalarts@yahoo.com; Web: www.omworks.net/drtakei.
San Francisco Herbs & Natural Education: Tel: 800-227-2830.
Sun Ten: Tel: 800-333-HERB.
Wei Labs: Tel: 888-919-1188.
If your company offers products or services to the acupuncture/Oriental medicine profession and you would like to be listed in "What Are My Choices," please contact Acupuncture Today at 1-800-324-7758.
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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