How Safe Are Your Cleaning Products

I just recently became aware of this article from the sun times about a cop who died after inhaling fumes of cleaning products at the police station. 

Often times we take for granted what exactly is in the household cleaners we use on a regular basis. I know recently we talked about what is in tooth paste and other personal care products here. Today I wanted to give you some options for safer house hold cleaning products. Above there is a video on how to make your own cleaning products at home based on the recipe of the Thieves essential oil. If you don't have the time or patience for a DIY project Young Living has an concentrated thieves cleaning product available for purchase as well. (Young Living orders go out the 2nd of each month)

If you are still looking for safer alternatives for personal care products and you live locally make sure to check out Turtle Bay Naturals a Hand Made Soap Company. You can check ingredients of their products right on their website.

Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com

What is Moxabustion?

Moxa or Artemisia Vulgaris is a species of chrysanthemum and can be used for a variety of conditions. In Chinese Medicine there are several ways to use moxa and all involve burning this herb over or on acupuncture points.

One major benefit of Moxa is that it benefits circulation. It can be used to regulate the energy and blood of the body, expel cold and dampness especially if pain is worse in these kind of environments, warm the uterus, stop bleeding, regulate digestion as well as menstruation, and ease the fetus or turn a breech baby.

Moxa can be used preventatively as well. Burning moxa over the acu-point Zu San Li St36 on a regular basis is a great way to stay healthy. In Notes on Bian Que's Moxibustion, it says, "when a healthy man often has moxabustion to the points of CV4, CV6 and CV12 he would live a very long life, at least one hundred years."

Currently in Africa moxabustion is being used as a treatment for tuberculosis through the organization Moxafrica. There is research evidence from Japan in the 1930s and 40s where moxabustion was used effectively and cheaply to treat and in many cases cure TB.






Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place Welcomes New Acupuncturist!

NAP is excited to welcome Margeurite Vandenbrouke, our newest acupuncturist.

Marguerite graduated from the Southwest Acupuncture College in Albuquerque, NM with a Master of Science in Oriental Medicine.  Her experience as a Massage Therapy student introduced her personally to the wonderful world of acupuncture and herbs.  Marguerite clearly remembers the day in 2003 when she exclaimed, “I have to learn this medicine and help others the way I have been helped”!  


Marguerite has many wonderful childhood memories of spending time with family at Crystal Lake.  She is thrilled to return and join Sarah as your neighborhood acupuncturist!


Schedule appointments with Marguerite on Thursdays between 10a-2p & 4p-6p and Fridays 10a-2p.


Our new fall hours are:


Mondays: 2-6:30p
Tuesdays 9-1p
Wednesdays 2-6:30p
Thursdays 10-2p & 4-6p
Fridays 10-2p
Saturdays 9-1p


Sarah Zender LAc


Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com 

If You Suffer From Frequent Canker Sores Your Tooth Paste Could Be The Problem

I was having a conversation recently with my land lord and somehow the topic of tooth paste came up. He shared that most tooth pastes contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate which creates the foam when you brush your teeth. Unfortuantely Sodium Lauryl Sulfate has also been linked to causing mouth sores among other things including damaging your immune system. I hadn't been aware of this but as he talked my tongue rolled over a recent canker sore on the side of my mouth. At home we had recently run out of our regular tooth paste and switched to Colgate. Neither one of us liked it but we were using it to not be wasteful. I shared the info on Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and was surprised to find that Christian also noticed mouth sores since using the store bought tooth paste.  We switched back and noticed a difference right away.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is in many soaps, shampoos etc make sure to check your labels. If you are looking for an alternative tooth paste without harmful chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulfate NAP carries Thieves toothpaste from Young Living. 

	Thieves Dentarome Plus Toothpaste - 4 oz
	Thieves® Dentarome Plus Toothpaste contains ingredients such as thymol and eucalyptol that are found in clove and thyme essential oils, along with gentle, odor-absorbing baking soda.Thieves Booklet Thieves PDF
How to use: Brush teeth and gums thoroughly morning and night. Ingredients: Baking soda, deionized water, vegetable glycerine, xanthan gum, ionic trace minerals, thymol, eugenol, steviocide (Stevia rebaudiana), the essential oils of wintergreen† (Gaultheria procumbens), peppermint† (Mentha piperita), and the blend of Thieves [clove† (Syzygium aromaticum), lemon† (Citrus limon), cinnamon† (Cinnamomum verum), eucalyptus† (Eucalyptus radiata), and rosemary† (Rosmarinus officinalis)].

Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com

Why Not Use Antibacterial Soaps? Via the Allergy Queen Blog

Fall Allergy season is now upon us. I recently found this blog with great info for allergy sufferers. Deborah Mumm explains why not to use antibacterial soaps. For more info visit here. 

The Allergy Queen

Allergies are my life! I enjoy helping people with allergies. Allergic to dust, mold, foods or just allergic to things like housework? Anyway you look at it, there are just some things you shouldn't do! Come hear my stories on Life With Allergies...with tips for healthy living...From the Queen!

MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011

Why NOT to use Antibacterial Soaps?

As a community we tend to overuse antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers. What is wrong with them?

The antimicrobial chemical triclosan in antibacterial soaps is believed to disrupt thyroid function and hormone levels in people; when it mixes into waste water, it can cause sex changes in aquatic life. And health experts believe that overuse of this and other antibacterial chemicals is promoting the growth of bacteria that are resistant to antibacterial treatment.

Better alternative: Good old-fashioned soap and warm water will kill just as many germs, studies have shown. If you must use a hand sanitizer, pick one that’s alcohol-based and doesn’t list triclosan or other chemicals on its label.

Deborah Mumm
Healthy Environments Inc

Acupuncture, Herbs, and The Flu

The kids are back and school and fall is starting to creep in with delightful sleeping weather. It also means for many that sinus infections are back as well as cold and flu attacks.

What can you do? 

* Recent studies show that acupuncture points have higher levels of white blood cells. Acupuncture by default boosts the immune system and has virtually no negative side effects.

Many patients comment on the lemon, cinnamon, evergreeny smell of the office. The scent comes from the essential oil blend called Thieves made by Young Living. Thieves got its name from a band of apothecaries during the Black Plague. They couldn't make a living selling their wares in the cities so they began stealing what valuables they could find from the dead bodies. The Kind of France finally caught up with them and offered not to kill them if they shared their secret in not getting sick. The apothecaries would take the herbs of clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus and rosemary and wear on their bodies and over a scarf covering their faces.

Studies conducted at Weber State University during 1997 demonstrated Thieves killing power against airborne microorganisms. One analysis showed a 90% reduction in the number of gram positive micrococcus luteus organisms after diffusing the oil for 12 minutes, after 20 minutes of diffusing the killing jumped to 99.3%. Another study against the gram negative pseudomonas aeruginosa showed a kill rate of 99.96% after just 12 minutes of diffusion.

So make sure to breathe deeply while resting during your treatment as the Thieves oils are diffusing in the air! Thieves is available for purchase at NAP also.

Check this article on how chinese herbal formulas have shown to be as promising on swine flu as tamiflu. The article cautions on how finding these formulas can be difficult in the U.S. Your neighborhood acupuncturist has them. :)

Sarah Zender LAc

Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com 

Acupuncture Can Help Lower High Blood Pressure

ABC news shared an interesting article written by John McKenzie on how acupuncture may offer a new tool to lower blood pressure. Click this link or read below for the full article. 

Study Looks at Acupuncture as Treatment for High Blood Pressure

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By John McKenzie

N E W  Y O R K,   Feb. 27

          

By his own account, Dr. Randal Zusman, Director of blood-pressure medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, is a pill pusher.

"I am very aggressive in the treatment of high blood pressure using drugs, using pills," he says.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Middle-aged Americans face a staggering 90 percent chance of developing the condition, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

But the drugs used to treat it must be taken daily, usually for a lifetime. And they may have side effects, such as fatigue, depression and dizziness.

So Zusman is looking for alternatives for relieving hypertension. He thinks he may have found one in the ancient Chinese technique of acupuncture.

"There is an extensive literature from Asian and Russian communities that acupuncture does indeed lower blood pressure," he says.

American researchers have already shown that special acupuncture needles, when gently inserted into specific points on the skin, can stimulate nerves that reach up into the brain and to cells in the brain that control blood pressure.

"There's evidence from our laboratory and many other laboratories to suggest that the cells quiet down after acupuncture," says Dr. John Longhurst professor of medicine at the University of California, Irvine.

When those cells "quiet down," or become less active, blood vessels relax.

Clinical Trials Continue

Now, in the most rigorous study of its kind, patients with high blood pressure — 140 (systolic) over 90 (diastolic) or higher — are being given a series of 12 acupuncture treatments.

The study is not yet complete, but Zusman is already enthusiastic.

"A substantial number of our patients have responded with significant reductions in blood pressure," he says.

Patients like Rip Reeves are also impressed: "In my late 30s, I was probably 145/95; with medication, I got it down to 130/80. And since I've been on acupuncture and not taking medication, I've been averaging 125/75."

Perhaps most amazing, acupuncture's benefit can be long lasting. Some patients who received the acupuncture treatment nine months ago still have normal blood pressure.

"The implication," says Zusman, "is that 12 acupuncture treatments over a six-week period will produce a cure."

In this case, the doctors defined "cure" as maintaining normal blood pressure for one year without medication. And that, for some patients, may now be within their reach.

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If you are curious about how acupuncture might be able to help you, remember NAP offers very affordable treatment. You pay what works for your budget $15-40 per treatment everyday no questions asked. 

Sarah Zender LAc


Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.clnap.com