Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1208712
34 READERS CHOICE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020 SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL ank You for Voting for Us! Best ai Restaurant Delicious ai Cuisine Two Locations to Serve You- By the Mountains or By the Sea Sawasdee Soquel 5050 Soquel Drive 831.462.5051 or 831.431.6988 Sawasdee by the Sea 101 Main St., Santa Cruz 831.466.9009 Catering and to-go orders available Order online at sawasdeesoquel.com or sawasdeebythesea.com Another recent development, adds Joanna, is the role that acupuncture and Five Branches are playing here in Santa Cruz, working with the Central California Alliance for Health, treating hundreds of Medi-Cal patients for pain. "Acupuncture is an effective treatment for pain and an excellent alternative to addictive opioids." TCM can be used for healing and prevention. The five main modalities, from which Five Branches takes its name, are Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Asian Bodywork, Dietetics and Energetics (exercise and movement). "These modalities are used to balance acute and chronic conditions, and also as preventative healthcare to balance the body for optimum health. For example, a patient with asthma due to excess heat will receive acupuncture treatment and herbs to reduce heat (treatment) and will be asked to adjust their diet and not consume spicy food or 'cooked under high heat fried food' (preventative). Another example is cupping, as used by someone like Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps (to relax muscles to allow Michael to perform optimally), or to help patients with stressed shoulders from working on computers all day." Patients are seen by Five Branches faculty, with students observing. "Later in their fourth year of studies, our students treat patients under the supervision of our highly experienced faculty," shares Joanna. "This combination has resulted in very positive outcomes for patients." Lynn Greenspon, who's in her 50s, first visited Five Branches for acupuncture in 2003. "When I started, there was nothing Western medicine would do for me except drug therapy," says Lynn. "I was quite debilitated, using a cane and almost in a wheelchair. Under the practitioners' careful care and guidance, I am now pain-free and not using any drug therapy." She can walk normally and actually works at Five Branches' front desk reception. "Five Branches has also been great at managing my asthma," she adds. 41-year-old Aimee Hanson, who first went to Five Branches in 2002, receives weekly treatments. "I practice acupuncture, massage and herbal therapies to relieve chronic pain, manage stress, maintain emotional equanimity and enhance parasympathetic nervous system health," says Aimee. Joanna describes what to expect if you're considering acupuncture: "An acupuncture appointment at the Five Branches clinic starts with a comprehensive intake to understand the main patient complaint, history, and background information that may be affecting the patient. The patient then lies comfortably and acupuncture needles are inserted in appropriate points. Normally, the patient does not feel the needles. The patient rests for 30 minutes during which time the practitioner, if warranted, prepares an herbal formula to address the patient's disharmony. A normal course of treatment for most conditions is about 10 treatments, once or twice a week depending on the condition." Some conditions are resolved in one or two treatments. "The two major things a patient considering TCM needs to know are: 1) acupuncture needles, unlike our memories of hypodermic needles, do not hurt; and 2) restoring harmony and balance to the body may take more than one treatment," adds Joanna. Web site: fivebranches.edu/health-centers/santa- cruz-clinic/3192 continued from 33...