The Best Poke in Town: A Day in the Life of an Acupuncturist

by Lucinda Kotter, Licensed Acupuncturist

Healdsburg Integrative Medicine at 637 Healdsburg Avenue is where I ply my trade. I practice Traditional Chinese Medicine using acupuncture and Chinese herbs to treat my patients for almost any human health condition. When I heard about HealdsburgMagazine.com’s “a day in the life” feature, I jumped at the chance to record a day in my clinic.

First, I called all my scheduled patients to make sure they were comfortable being photographed while in my clinic. Everyone said “yes”. My friend, Margie Grant, was kind enough to be my photographer and spend the whole day with me.

My first patient brought in her four week old baby who nursed contentedly while I treated her arm for carpal tunnel. Before I brought out my needles, I questioned her closely about her general health since the birth of her son. Any night sweats or palpitations? Headaches or ringing in the ears? Anxiety or insufficient milk production? These can be signs of depletion that I can treat with acupuncture, herbs and diet. Long term depletion can compromise the immunity and leave her and her baby more vulnerable to contagious diseases or other complications.

My next patient complained of fatigue and insomnia. She had some surgery this spring and lost a lot of blood. Her tongue and pulse reflected this. Depleted blood can cause insomnia because blood anchors the mind at night. If the blood is weak the mind is not anchored and thus cannot be quieted to allow sleep. We talked about good foods for building her blood. I inserted needles into tonifying but calming points in her wrists and legs and let her rest for about a half hour while I entertained her son in the waiting room. He and I looked at my acupuncture doll; a rubber woman with all the points mapped on her body. Then I packaged specific herbs for this patient and send her on her way.

My third patient had a sore knee. He needs to get this diagnosed by an orthopedist but his general practitioner insisted that he try physical therapy before she will refer him. In the meantime it still hurts and is slightly swollen. I suspect a torn meniscus. Acupuncture won’t repair it but I can decrease his pain and swelling. I recommended he take an Omega-3 supplement like a good quality fish oil or flax seed oil to decrease inflammation.

My fourth patient doesn’t really have any complaints today. She has been improving her health very successfully with diet, exercise and a “change in attitude”. She was curious about acupuncture and alternative medicine in general. After talking for awhile about her health history I began to see a pattern. Her tongue and pulse confirmed it. “You have excess liver, just by constitution. Everything you have told me so far fits this pattern and it is a very common one. You are doing all the right things so keep it up.” I used a point combination that is like the reboot button for the body. It finds stuck energy anywhere in the body and helps it flow freely. After her treatment I felt her pulse again. It had changed significantly for the better. She left feeling relaxed and refreshed and I was pleased knowing that I had given her a successful tune-up.

My fifth patient just had three wisdom teeth removed. She is healing well but her jaws ached. “Will you let me use points on your face? If it is too sore to be approached I can just use all distal points on your hands and feet,” I say. She wanted the facial points and the others. I inserted needles in her cheeks. I also used the Master point for the face and head which is on the hands. I finished with a Stomach Channel point on the feet to drain excess energy from the opposite end of the channel, which is where her pain is located. (Acupuncture is so cool.) She told me it felt much better as she was leaving. I cautioned her it might ache more tonight and then feel much better tomorrow.

Now for my sixth and last patient. She is six months pregnant and had back pain that radiated down one leg - sciatica. She has been seeing a chiropractor but so far it has only hurt more. She said she knows this can sometimes happen and wants to continue seeing her chiropractor. Pregnant women can be tricky to treat, as they can’t lie on their back or stomach, so I often treat them lying on their side or sitting up in a comfortable chair. I also must avoid the “forbidden points” during pregnancy - they can stimulate premature labor. No points in the lower back allowed. That’s ok because I have many ways to treat low back pain. “Tell me when you feel something, like maybe a muscle twitch or a little electrical zing,” I said as I inserted a needle in her hand. “No zing but the baby just kicked,” she said with a smile. The baby kicked for each needle I inserted into her hands and feet. Fifteen minutes later she got off the massage table and said, “Wow, it really feels better!” I saw her that night at a barbeque and she said, “Lucy, it really worked, my pain is gone!”

I tidy up my office and go home. I saw a nice variety of patients today. I hope this piece can give readers a glimpse into the wide variety of health conditions that acupuncture can treat. I also hope it conveys how comfortable and relaxing an acupuncture treatment can be.

View more pictures of my day in the flickr stream.

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Already known as an alternative remedy for alleviating backaches and migraines, acupuncture has found a niche in treating the side effects of cancer treatment, diabetes, eating disorders, infertility, nausea associated with pregnancy, skin disorders, emotional disorders like depression and even smoking and alcohol addictions. Relief can also be found for respiratory, circulatory, digestive and gynecological problems.

I am Lucinda Kotter, a Licensed Acupuncturist. I have a Masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Five Branches Institute. I also hold California and national certifications in acupuncture and herbology. My family practice is at Healdsburg Integrative Medicine at 637 Healdsburg Ave. Lucinda may be reached at (707)239-1687 for appointments or questions.

Julia’s Lemonade at the Farmer’s Market

Julia is selling lemonade at the Healdsburg Farmer’s Markets to save for college. I see her on Saturdays, but the last time I talked to her, she was also planning to be on the Plaza on Tuesdays.

I also happen to know that she’s looking for lemons. So, if you have a fat old lemon tree in your yard, and you simply have too many lemons, bring ‘em on down to Julia. I know she will appreciate them.

I believe that Julia (and her parents) squeeze the lemons by hand to make the lemonade. It is quite the process. I’ll have to find out how many lemons it takes for one huge jug of lemonade.

I took this picture as part of the Day-in-the-Life event.

George Hoyer: Healdsburg Park Plaza : Saturday Morning

George Hoyer met Jean in the Healdsburg Park Plaza on Saturday morning. She gave him my card and told him about the “A Day in the Life” event.

When he got home, he submitted his photos. I asked him about why he was taking photos that morning and he said:

I have taken photos as an amateur for many years, but have been away from it for a while. I just purchased a digital camera and I have been wanting to try it out. So when A Day In The Life presented itself, I thought I would take advantage of it.

Karen Holmes: Shots of my trellised pumpkin plant

I met Karen last Tuesday evening as I was handing out cards and promoting this Day in the Life event. She’d recognized me from hanging out at the the wine library.

Karen sent in this submission on Saturday evening:

Hi, Jennifer. I introduced myself to you at the Plaza on Tuesday, having seen you at the Wine Library…

Here’s my submission: Shots of my trellised pumpkin plant.

I’d noticed a pumpkin plant trained to climb up a pole in someone’s yard on First and Matheson Streets last summer. I’d never seen that done before. The beginning of June my wisteria, that had so beautifully covered my trellis, succumbed to Crown Gall Disease. It seemed so bare there after it was removed. Then I remembered the pumpkin plant on First Street from last year, and so planted my own at the base of the support for the former wisteria trellis. The pumpkin plant is growing about 2″ a day and seems to love to climb up. Today my husband made a little sling to support the biggest pumpkin. We’ll see how that works.

Thanks!
Where: Garden on Almond Way
When: Around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday the 19th
How: Canon PowerShot A620 digital camera

See more shots of the trellised pumpkin in the flickr photo stream (we’re still working on sorting and uploading the pictures).
Learn more about the wine library

What a Day!

Wow. What a day. I only have a few moments, but to summarize so far:

Up at 5AM.

One audio recording of the birds in my neighborhood.

2.5 hours helping start the Healsburg Century Bike Tour.

• Five brown thermos containers of coffee
• Two trays of cinnamon bread
• Too many Odwalla juices to count
• 1500 or so bikers (will have to get the exact number from Briana over at the Chamber)

Back home to regroup and refresh a bit.

Update the A Day in the Life column on this website. Shana IMs me to say she’s started a twitter stream: #hburgmag.

Out to meet Julie at Cousteax (missed her but met her later at the Farmer’s Market).

Quick stop at Fideaux to make sure the girls there take a picture (I took one–just to be sure).

Farmer’s Market (lots of people there today, including Shana and another Healdsburg local: oenophilus).

Met Laurel Cook and some other Literary Guild members who were serendipitously releasing a BOOK entitled: A Day in the Life of Healdsburg.

It was the 30th anniversary of the Farmer’s Market this week. Think I’ll be getting some more interesting photos from Mike Haran later.

Up and down the street to a few shops (will have to wait until I sort out my pictures).

Through the Plaza.

Over to Oakville Grocery, Rosenblum, and Selby tasting room.

Back through square to meet Shana for lunch.

Lunch at Willi’s Seafood. Bartender was Carl. Have to write up his drinks for the Two-Drink Minimum column. Oysters (delectable).

Back through to ParkPoint Health Club to ask about their memberships for out-of-town visitors. Have a summary I can post later.

I’m exhausted.

Head home for a snooze.

Head out to run an errand, but was just too exhausted to stay out.

Back home. Check email (four unexpected submissions for event — Thank You!!! I’m expecting more though. I know they’ll come in as the week progresses).

Check the twitter stream (two new friends on Twitter–(hi Rob and macgenie). Special shout out to Shana Ray for starting that off this morning–an unexpected social media contribution.

Call my new friend Randy over at Mateo Granados Catering to make sure he sends in his perspective. He sends it from his iPhone (will link later when I’ve got the pictures sorted).

Check the Flickr group. One new member: local photographer Craig Clemment-hope to that you’re going to submit a photo or two Craig. I’d be honored.

Quote of the day from Shana, “It made me happy!” for almost every picture she took and posted to twitpic.

It’s 11:33 right now. I have to get up early again tomorrow.

Thanks for everything everybody who participated. I look forward to your submissions.

Stay tuned!!

A Day in the Life of Healdsburg: 19 July 2008

A few weeks ago, I was talking to Stephen about promoting the magazine. He immediately had a great idea: Choose a day and have everybody take a picture on that day (anytime during the 24-hour period of the day) and send it in. Then, do a-day-in-the-life-of series.

Isn’t that a great idea? I am so excited. Except, since I’m trying to work with more media, I’m going to ask that people use any form of media for this project. The day is going to be 19 July 2008.

That’s right: 19 July 2008. Mark it on your calendar folks. This is the day that I’m going to ask everybody and anybody who is in Healdsburg, California to record it. Just record being in Healdsburg. Record it how you want to record it. Video it. Photograph it. Blog it. Record it. Voice mail it. Text it. Email it. However you want to do it, just do it.

Here are some guidelines:

If you are in Healdburg on the 19 July 2008 with any form of media, record it.

• If you video it, create a short video of your experience.
• If you photograph it, send in the photograph with details about who, where, when, and how.
• If you blog it, just blog it and send the link to your blog.
• If you use audio, send in your audio clips.
• Or, just call and leave a voice mail. 707-477-2528.

Anytime during that 24-hour period on the 19 July 2008, just record who, what, when, and where.

Then, send in your submissions (contact).

That’s it. That’s all I’m asking for. I’m expecting that it will be a great day.

I’d like to use all the submissions to re-create 24 hours in Healdsburg. How exciting is that going to be?

Let’s see how it turns out.