boosting fertility

Infertility is a common and emotionally stressing condition. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov), in the United States around six percent of married women ages 15-44 are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying. Furthermore, around 12 percent of women in that same age group have difficulty carrying a pregnancy to term.

Common treatments for infertility are things like medicine, surgery, intrauterine insemination, or assisted reproductive technology. However, more women are discovering that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be effective in boosting fertility.

Keythe Jayce Karpinski, L.Ac. specializes in women’s health and pain management. An early proponent of integrating acupuncture into IUI procedures, has years of experience treating fertility issues through acupuncture.

According to Dr. Karpinski, TCM treatments such as acupuncture, Chinese herbs, Qi Gung, and moxa, along with lifestyle modification including changes to diet, can be effective in boosting fertility.

“It is really up to the woman what she wants to do,” says Dr. Karpinski. "My recommendations would depend on how long she has been trying to conceive, her current health, and if any medical infertility treatments or procedures would be involved. Fortunately, our treatments can complement most Western therapies.”

Dr. Karpinski says the goal of boosting fertility is to make the body, particularly the uterus, the most habitable environment possible. 

“In the most general terms,” she says, “we are controlling the energy, blood, and temperature of the body. The uterus can be made to the right condition to allow conception and retain the pregnancy.”

One of the additional benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine, says Dr. Karpinski, is that not only can these treatments address the problem of infertility, but they can also encourage benefits to one’s overall wellness. 

“These treatments have been around for thousands of years,” she says, “and current evidence shows that, when used in conjunction with Western medicine, TCM increases fertility while improving women’s overall health.”

To learn more call us today to schedule a one-on-one consultation: 724-774-8729

BEMER therapy

I’d popped into Free Spirit to get a little acupuncture therapy for my neck and shoulders, which, thanks to stress and my sedentary profession, were once again painfully tight. After about five minutes, Shawn was finished doing his thing, and I was on my way to some much-needed relief.

I was just about to head out the door when he said, “You wanna try our new BEMER blanket?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, of course. But when it comes to wellness, I’ve come to trust Shawn implicitly. 

“You can be like Tom Brady,” he added. “He uses one, you know.” 

“Sure,” I said. “I’ll give it a try. But not because of He Who Shall Not Be Named.” 

So Shawn led me over to another room where there was a comfy-looking recliner covered by a long mat. 

“Basically you just lay on it, relax, and let it do its thing,” he said. 

BEMER is an acronym for Bio-Electric Magnetic Regulation. The BEMER mat or blanket is a type of Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field Therapy (PEMFT) that has been scientifically proven to be beneficial to your health. It works by mimicking the pulsing of the earth’s own magnetic field to stimulate and improve the circulation in your body’s microvessels, which make up 75 percent of all the vessels in the human body.

Studies have shown that BEMER therapy can help improve sleep, speed up recovery from injuries, improve mental acuity, and reduce overall fatigue. NASA has even used it to design a special type of space suit that improves microcirculation in its astronauts, preventing bone and muscle atrophy in outer space.

I wasn’t necessarily suffering from any particular injury or fatigue at the time, but I’m always up for a little relaxing. So after I took a seat in the recliner, Shawn switched on the mat, turned off the light, and said he’d be back in 10 minutes or so. 

I can’t say that I felt anything while lying there, but I could imagine the electromagnetic pulses penetrating my body, improving my circulation, and, in turn, making me healthier with every passing minute. I don’t know about you, but I’m up for anything that improves your overall wellness when all you have to do is take a 10-minute nap.

So it turns out you don’t have to be some multi-gazillion-dollar-earning superstar athlete to take advantage of state-of-the-art wellness technology. You just have to visit Free Spirit Wellness & Acupuncture in good ol’ Beaver, Pa.

Take that, Tom Terrific.

Valentine J. Brkich

a cup of relief

Being a writer, a lot of my time is spent hunched over a computer. Unfortunately, this sedentary occupation wreaks havoc on the muscles of my upper back and neck, which, in turn, does a real number on my overall disposition. Just ask my wife. 

I’ve tried a lot of different things to relieve my chronic upper back and neck pain over the years, everything from massage to chiropractic to, most recently, acupuncture (INSERT LINK: https://freespiritwellness.com/community-acupuncture-buh-bye-back-pain/), all of which have been effective to some level. One thing I’ve always wanted to try, however, was cupping. Luckily my friend Shawn at Free Spirit Acupuncture & Wellness invited me in recently to give it a try.

For those of you not familiar with this ancient form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), cupping is a type of therapy wherein small glass cups are used to draw congested blood and energy to the surface. The therapist uses a flame to heat the air inside the cups, and when they’re placed on your back the air cooling creates a vacuum. The purpose of this 3000-year-old technique is to provide relief and healing by breaking up stagnation and congestion within the body. The suction actually loosens muscles and encourages blood flow, helping to release any nasty toxins that have built up in the application area. In addition to providing pain relief, cupping can be used to treat a variety of issues, including but not limited to: high blood pressure, anxiety, migraines, fatigue, congestion, asthma, and even cellulite.

I’ll admit I was a little nervous as I lay facedown and waited for Shawn to heat up each of the eight small glass cups (which, by the way, reminded me of the little fishbowls you see at those carnival win-a-gold-fish, ping-pong-ball-tossing games). Something about applying heated glass to my bare skin didn’t sound too appealing. 

But as he applied each cup to the overly tight muscles of my upper back, all I felt was a pleasant warming sensation along with the bizarre but painless sensation of the cups snugly attached to my skin. It was as if I had a giant, lovable octopus on my back, just without all the sliminess or seawater smell. 

The entire procedure didn’t last much longer than five minutes, and when it was over I could immediately feel relief in my upper back and neck. The tightness was suddenly gone and, thankfully, so was the pain. The only downside (if you can even call it that) of the whole experience was the circular bruises left on my back after removing the cups. But, I was told, those wouldn’t last much more than a week at most. Besides, they would give me the opportunity to freak out my kids, which is always fun.

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Valentine J. Brkich

Stroke recovery

Strokes are a leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that as many as 15 million individuals suffer from stroke annually. 

A stroke is caused by a blocked (ischemic stroke) or burst blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke) preventing oxygen from reaching the brain. When this happens, the part of the brain deprived of oxygen can no longer function properly, and therefore the part of the body that it controls can no longer function properly either. A stroke can be devastating not just for the person who experiences it but also for the family members and others close to the person. If you’re lucky enough to survive one, your life may never be the same. 

Fortunately, there are post-stroke treatments that can help you alleviate the effects and regain some of the lost functionality. And more and more, medical practitioners are seeing the benefits of acupuncture in post-stroke care and recovery. 

According to the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, acupuncture, when administered promptly and correctly, can offer major benefits to stroke sufferers. Scalp acupuncture has been shown to have the most promising results. Likewise, researchers at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine found acupuncture to be effective in alleviating post-stroke depression and restoring neurological functions. 

Here at Free Spirit Wellness & Acupuncture, we have seen first-hand the benefits of acupuncture as a supplement to other, more traditional post-stroke treatments.

Take Bill McCarter, for example. Bill had his first stroke three years ago at the age of 70 and suffered debilitating nerve damage on one side of his body. By chance, he'd read an article on the benefits of electric acupuncture in treating stroke victims. So he stopped in to see Shawn at Free Spirit, who then began treating Bill to try to wake up the nerves again.

“I didn’t notice a lot at the start,” Bill says. But he kept going for the next few months and eventually started to regain feeling. “I was moving my arms and feeling better all around. It was good.”

This past June, Bill suffered a second stroke, which set him back 6-8 months in his recovery. He decided to try acupuncture with Free Spirit again, but this time it was the traditional, non-electric variety. He’s also been seeing a local chiropractor for his back. Bill says the acupuncture and therapy, combined with the chiropractic work, has really made a difference.

“Shawn does 45 minutes of acupuncture followed by physical therapy,” says Bill. “It’s been waking up the nerves, and I’m really happy with the way I’m moving around. No pills or anything. It’s just old medicine. I think it’s amazing. I’ve got more hope now than I’ve had in quite a while.”

To learn more about the overall benefits of acupuncture, give us a call or stop by and see us. 

Sources:

https://www.healthcmi.com

https://www.pacificcollege.edu

MIGRAINES

Do you suffer from migraines? You’re not alone. In the United States alone, millions of people — predominately women — live with these painful, long-lasting headaches, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light. 

At Free Spirit Wellness and Acupuncture, we harness the time-tested power of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to prevent and treat migraines. Through acupuncture, Qi Gong, herbs, and nutritional counseling, we work with the body to kick start its natural abilities and get to the source of the problem, rather than just masking the pain. As a result, there is a substantially reduced risk of side effects as compared to other pharmaceutical or medical treatments. 

Acupuncture, in particular, is one of the most effective ways to prevent and treat migraines. For more than 3000 years, people have been using this ancient technique to open the meridians in your body and improve the flow of Qi (your body’s vital energy), eliminating imbalance and allowing your body to work how it’s supposed to work. And when your body is working properly, migraines become a thing of the past.

First, we work with you to determine the location of your headaches in order to pinpoint the true source of your pain. The location can tell us what particular meridians or organs — liver, gallbladder, kidney, stomach, — are imbalanced, which in turn can lead to migraines. Then we use the gentle yet effective art of acupuncture to specifically target those areas and, over time, work to decrease and alleviate the intensity and frequency of your migraines. 

Take Lisa Lathom, for example, a local realtor from Patterson Township. Lisa began suffering from headaches and migraines back in her early 20s. Last year the migraines started becoming more frequent and intense, occurring two or three times a week.

“It was awful,” says Lisa. “I’d be stuck in bed, shades drawn. I’d miss entire days and couldn’t work.”

At first she went to her regular doctor who gave her a prescription for the headaches. But the pills only made things worse. That’s when a friend suggested acupuncture. Lisa was a little hesitant, believing that traditional medicine was the way to go. But she was desperate.

Lisa had some relief following her first treatment but was still having one or two headaches per week. After her second treatment, however, the headaches disappeared altogether.

“It was amazing,” she says. “The first time I went in I was scared it would hurt. But it was so painless. Honestly, it was probably the best, most relaxing half hour of my day. I recommend acupuncture to everyone now.”

If you’ve been suffering from migraines and medications don’t seem to be solving the problem, stop in and see us today, and let us work with you to come up with a more effective, natural solution for your pain. 

Sources:

https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/

https://www.tcmworld.org

a healthier approach to weight loss

Keto. Paleo. Whole30. DASH. Atkins. Mediterranean. Carnivore. It seems like every day there’s a new fad diet claiming to be the best way to lose weight. The problem is, that none of these “quick fixes” properly address the true causes of weight gain. If they did, we wouldn’t be dealing with an epidemic of obesity in this country, where more than half of all adults are overweight, as well as close to one-fifth of all children.

With Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we don’t just look for short-term weight-loss solutions. We get to the root of the problem and work to make sure that your body’s organs are all working in proper balance. 

It all starts with your body’s Qi or “vital energy.” TCM works to strengthen and balance your body’s Qi so that your body can function properly and, in turn, keep you healthy. And that’s really what losing weight is all about: being healthy.

One way we help you maintain a healthy weight is by looking at your current eating habits and then teaching you how to adjust your diet so that you’re getting the nutrition your body needs to function properly. We take a holistic approach to digestion, looking not only at what you’re eating but also other external factors, like stress, anxiety, etc., which can have a negative impact on your body’s organs. For example, practitioners of TCM believe that a properly functioning spleen and stomach can help with weight loss by enabling your body to effectively break down food, extract nutrients, and dispose of toxic waste materials. 

Of course, proper nutrition is just one of the ways we help you maintain a healthy weight. We also incorporate things like Chinese herbs — which have been shown to increase metabolism and suppress appetite — and the healing art of acupuncture — which can help regulate your endocrine system, reduce appetite, and increase your overall energy. 

If you struggle with your weight and want something more effective and long-term than the latest diet fad, stop into Free Spirit Wellness and Acupuncture today. We’ll work with you to create a personalized, holistic, long-term plan to help you maintain a healthy weight and keep you in balance, physically, emotionally, and mentally. 

Sources:

tcmworld.org

chinaeducenter.com

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Arthritis

According to Arthritis.org, arthritis affects more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children annually. If not treated, the disease can lead to chronic pain and permanent damage to joints and even some of the body’s organs. 

If you suffer from arthritis, your doctor may have told you that the disease is “incurable” and “progressive,” and that there’s really nothing they can do about it. Most likely, they suggested pain medication and/or surgery to replace the knee, hip, or whatever joint is affected. 

Here at Free Spirit Acupuncture and Wellness, we use the time-tested techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to treat arthritis. We don’t just mask the pain with medication or do temporary surgical fixes; rather, we go to the source of the problem to address what’s actually causing it in the first place.

For example, one of our patients — a woman in her early 70s — was suffering from osteoarthritis and had only 5 percent range of motion in her neck. The most common type of arthritis, osteoarthritis is a degenerative form of the disease that wears away cartilage and leads to pain, swelling, and stiffness. One of the causes is your body’s overall pH being out of balance. When this happens, calcium is pulled from your bones and stored along with fluid in your muscles, joints, and other tissues. 

Using safe and effective acupuncture to treat the pain, we worked with the patient to help her make the proper changes in her diet that would help her pull the calcium back and store it back in her bones where it’s supposed to be, reducing pain, swelling, and joint damage. I’m happy to say that after about three months or so, we were able to greatly improve her range of motion, and without any medications or surgery.  

Another type of the disease we treat is inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis. This usually has to do with your digestive system, aka, your gut. When you eat the wrong kinds of foods or when your food is not being digested properly, it can destabilize your immune system. Again, by combining traditional acupuncture with proper nutrition, we can help you stabilize your gut and make sure your digestive system is working properly. By doing this we strengthen your immune system, which in turn reduces inflammation, swelling, and pain in your joints. Again, all without costly medicine or surgery.

Other types of arthritis we treat include psoriatic arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and gout, to name a few.

Arthritis doesn’t have to mean a lifetime of pain. It’s all about getting to the root cause and then treating it with safe, time-tested techniques that have been trusted by Eastern medicine for thousands of years. Contact us today to learn more about our arthritis treatments and how we can help you.

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Sports Injuries

Now that winter’s over and spring is in full swing, it’s time to get moving. Whether it’s school sports like baseball, softball, tennis, track & field, and soccer, or other physical activities like jogging, rollerblading, or cycling, everywhere you look people are getting out and getting active. 

Of course, after spending most of our time sedentary and indoors over the winter months, these types of activities can open the door to physical injury. Athletic- or sport-related injuries are not only painful, but they can also keep us from enjoying and performing our daily duties. These injuries can include sprains, strains, trauma, concussions, recovery from training, and just your normal, everyday exertions.

At Free Spirit Acupuncture and Wellness, we harness the power of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to treat sports-related injuries and get you feeling better and back in the game as soon as possible. Leveraging the time-tested power of acupuncture, Qi Gong, herbs, and nutritional counseling, we work with the body to kickstart its natural abilities to repair and heal itself. Best of all, unlike modern pharmaceutical or medical treatments, TCM offers relief with a substantially reduced risk of side effects. A study by the Annals of Internal Medicine actually found that acupuncture benefitted patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee, reducing pain and improving overall function and mobility. Furthermore, the National Institute of Health now recognizes acupuncture as an effective treatment for pain.

For example, through the ancient art of acupuncture, we’re able to pinpoint areas of injury and inflammation, which can significantly reduce pain and recovery time. Acupuncture can also benefit athletes by soothing sore muscles and improving flexibility, range of motion, and strength.

At Free Spirit, we offer a natural, holistic approach to wellness that helps you recover quickly, safely, and effectively. If you’re suffering from a sports-related injury or just want to improve your overall performance, stop in today and see what we can do for you.

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Allergies

After another long, cold, dreary Western PA winter, springtime — thank goodness — is nearly upon us! Of course, along with the flowers and warmer days comes something else: seasonal allergies. The sneezing. The runny noses. The red, itchy, watering eyes. It almost makes you wish it was winter again. Almost. 

The good thing is there are healthy, natural ways to deal with springtime allergies and eliminate all those nasty symptoms. Here at Free Spirit Wellness and Acupuncture, we use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to help people manage their allergies so that they can go outside and enjoy one of the most beautiful times of the year. We don’t just suppress the symptoms of allergic reactions with over-the-counter medicines. We go to the source, providing personalized, effective treatments that offer a long-term, curative solution.

Modern Western medicine sees allergies as just another condition to treat with shots or drugs. TCM, on the other hand, sees springtime allergies as an imbalance in the flow of Qi (pronounced /chee/) or one’s vital energy, specifically in the area of the nasal and sinus cavities. Deficiencies in lung and/or spleen Qi can affect one’s respiratory functionality and cause an overproduction in mucus, leading to that person being more susceptible to allergic reactions. 

At Free Spirit, we use the time-tested art of acupuncture along with herbal supplements to help reverse this imbalance and enable your Qi to flow freely. And we do this by creating a unique plan that is specific to you and your particular symptoms. We offer a holistic approach to your allergies, working to strengthen your immune system, which, due to stress and other environmental factors, has been weakened. 

Some of the herbs we use include WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, and WHAT. Through acupuncture, our patients experience long-term, and sometimes immediate, relief from their symptoms.

Don’t let your allergies keep you from enjoying another beautiful spring season. Stop in today and let us create a custom-tailored allergy management plan just for you!

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with acupuncture, the proof is the evidence

It’s only taken around 3,000 years or so, but thanks to real, quantifiable evidence, acupuncture is finally starting to be taken seriously by practitioners of Western medicine. 

First practiced in China, acupuncture stimulates specific points on the body, most often by inserting thin needles through the skin. Doing so encourages the flow of energy (Qi, or Chi) through the body, allowing it to find equilibrium and achieve balance. Each year, more people are turning to this ancient treatment as a way to manage their pain. At last count, more than 14 million U.S. patients have tried acupuncture. That’s a lot of needles.

But pain management is just one of the many benefits of acupuncture. More and more studies are now proving that acupuncture can yield positive results for a wide range of medical conditions. Over the past couple of decades, more than 13,000 studies on acupuncture as a medical treatment have been conducted in over 60 countries. In The Acupuncture Evidence Project — A Comparative Literature Review (2017), John McDonald and Stephen Janz looked at the evidence from these studies and found that acupuncture had some type of notable effect on 117 different medical conditions.

Some of the conditions where there was evidence that acupuncture had a positive effect included allergies, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, postoperative nausea and vomiting, postoperative pain, chronic low-back pain, headache, knee osteoarthritis, and migraine prevention. Other areas where there was evidence of potential positive effects included stroke, anxiety, asthma in adults, back/pelvic pain during pregnancy, obesity, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, smoking cessation, and hypertension.

The bottom line: acupuncture is a real, evidence-based treatment for a wide variety of common medical conditions. If you’d like to learn more, stop in today and I’d be happy to discuss how acupuncture might be able to help you.

—Shawn Kissick, L.Ac, DOM, DQM, Founder

traditional chinese medicine

A lot of people, when they first meet me, say, “Oh, you’re that acupuncture guy!” And I guess I can’t blame them, considering our clinic’s name is Free Spirit Acupuncture and Wellness. 

But that’s not all we do. Not by a long shot.

At Free Spirit, we believe in a personalized, balanced, and holistic approach to health. We help you achieve this through the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

The practice of TCM is rooted in Taoism and goes back thousands of years — more than 2,500, to be exact. It incorporates things like herbal medicines, acupuncture, massage, cupping, hot stone therapy, Qi Gong, and Tai Chi to promote overall health and wellness. 

TCM is founded on the basic principles that: 

• Every part of your body is connected and works as one entity.

• You are deeply and intimately connected to nature and the universe as a whole

• There is a vital energy that runs through all of us and helps us function and be healthy.

• Your body has the ability to heal itself.

• Prevention is the best medicine.

Following these tenets, we harness the power of acupuncture, Qi Gong, herbs, and nutritional counseling to help your body kickstart its natural abilities to repair and heal itself. Not only is this a more natural approach to health and wellness, but you don’t have to worry about all those nasty side effects you hear about on TV with those other pharmaceutical or medical treatments.

At Free Spirit, we tend to focus on three main areas of TCM: acupuncture, Qi Gong, and herbal medicine.

Acupuncture 

Acupuncture stimulates specific points on the body, most often by inserting thin needles through the skin. Doing so encourages the flow of energy (Qi, or Chi) through the body, allowing it to find equilibrium and achieve balance. Afraid of needles? Don’t worry. Acupuncture needles are very thin, and insertion usually causes little discomfort. Honestly, you might not even notice them. 

Qi Gong (Chi Kung)

Qi Gong is an ancient, holistic healing art that focuses on breathing, posture, meditation, movement, and intent or will (Yi) to prevent and heal disease, reduce stress, and improve health, physical, and mental performance. Those who practice Qi Gong daily tend to heal more quickly and stay healthy longer, harmonizing the mind, body, and spirit.

Herbal Medicine

Primarily utilizing plants, combined into formulas and served as teas, capsules, liquid extracts, granules, or powders, herbal medicine treats and prevents health issues by boosting the body’s natural ability to repair and heal itself.

Stop in today and I’ll be glad to talk to you more about Traditional Chinese Medicine and how it can benefit you.

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Community Acupuncture

My back is a real pain in the neck. (Actually, my neck is no picnic either.) I’ve been dealing with upper back and neck pain issues going back 20 years now, right around when I first entered the workforce. 

Coincidence? I think not.

Being a writer (aka, a “desk jockey”) my days are spent hunched over a computer as I write things like what you’re reading right now. (Can you believe I actually get paid for this?) This type of sedentary, repetitive work is killer on your neck and back, as you computer-based workers out there know all too well. 

Over the years I’ve tried everything to ease the pain. I’ve tried different chairs, different desks. Heck, I’ve even tried the standing desk thing, but that only made my knees and lower back ache. Massage and chiropractic adjustments have definitely helped. But until my health insurance starts picking up the costs (I’m not holding my breath), it’s just not something I can afford to do on a regular basis.

So when my friend Shawn, owner of Free Spirit Acupuncture and Wellness in Beaver, suggested I try acupuncture, I was skeptical but willing to give it a go. I’d already tried everything else. What did I have to lose?

In case you’re not familiar, acupuncture is a technique used in Traditional Chinese Medicine in which thin needles are inserted into the skin in order to stimulate specific points on the body. The process encourages the flow of energy (Qi or Chi) through the body, allowing it to find equilibrium and achieve balance.

So on a recent Thursday evening, I strolled over to Free Spirit to take part in their Community Acupuncture service. After checking in, I went back to their community room where I found four other local folks already receiving treatment from Shawn. I admit I was a little nervous, since I’m not so good with needles (I pass out just thinking about giving blood). But Shawn made me feel comfortable right away. 

Before I knew it, I had four needles inserted in my upper back, three in my head, one in each hand, and one in each foot. (I’m pretty sure someone somewhere has a voodoo doll of me that looks pretty much the same.) And besides a slight pinch on one of the more tender areas of my back, I didn’t even feel him insert the needles into my skin. 

After that it was easy. Shawn had me recline in a chair for about 20 minutes as he went around helping the others in the room. It was actually quite peaceful just sitting there, listening to the soothing new-age music, and letting the acupuncture needles do their magic. Every once in a while Shawn would check in with me and give me some tips on things I could add to my diet that would help with my back and neck pain—things like leafy greens (Yum!), dark chocolate (Yes!), and black licorice (Ugh.).

Before I knew it, my first acupuncture treatment was over, and I was free to go off and resume my normal position—hunching behind my computer like a modern-day Quasimodo. 

And you know what? Here it is a week later, and my neck and upper back feel great! Honestly—the pain is gone. Turns out acupuncture might just be the remedy I’ve been so desperately searching for. 

And here I thought Calgon was the only ancient Chinese secret. ~

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Valentine J. Brkich