greetings from bitter melon.
Happy Spring!
Spring is here and we are welcoming a lot of new and returning patients to our clinics as everyone’s Yang energy picks up, along with sinusitis and (unfortunately) injuries as folks ramp up their activity levels. For existing patients, you will notice that Laura Penna Firme is now exclusively in our Pinole clinic on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Elokin Orton-Cheung will be exclusively at our El Cerrito clinic, starting mid-May, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Danni Tsuboi, Ruben Bomse and Sapho Teologo are still splitting their time between El Cerrito and Pinole, and Xiaojing Wang is in the Oakland and Pinole clinics.
We know that our Pinole clinic is unusually full and will do our best to schedule your appointments there if that is the most convenient location for you. If you have any flexibility to be seen at our El Cerrito location (also with free parking!) we can usually get you in earlier. An added incentive is that our El Cerrito clinic has an herbal pharmacy and your practitioners can prescribe herbal treatment for you at that site. As always, we appreciate at least 24 hours of notice if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment since we do have waiting lists in all three clinic locations.
Thank you for being part of our community.
Bowing To Your Health,
Bitter Melon
PS. There's still time to cast your vote for Bitter Melon Acupuncture! We are honored to be nominated for "Best Acupuncture Clinic" and "Best Alternative Medicine Practice" by Oakland Magazine! Ballots close April 28th.
honoring earth day.
East Asian Medicine (EAM), like all indigenous healing systems, is deeply tied to the natural world; its cycles, patterns, and elements. The basis of our medicine is the Five Elements - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, and their relationship to human body organs, health and disease. These elements also correspond to the five seasons in EAM - Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Fall and Winter.
This month, we celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, which marks the apex of the Spring season. As a holiday founded to bring attention to the disastrous impact of human driven industrial pollution on the environment, it’s an apt time to reflect on how our bodies are also interconnected with the natural world. This is the time to detox from the pollutants around us, and focus on cleansing the Liver and Gallbladder organs. A congested Liver can result in skin rashes, allergies, temporal headaches, constipation and irritability. Sour foods can help to cleanse the liver, so try to add lemon infused water to your morning routine along with other sour fruits such as guava and green apples.
we rise by lifting others.
Earth Day is also a great time to support the work of local groups that are building healthy communities safe from toxic pollution and leading the way on climate resilience.
Some local organizations that are doing incredible work include:
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
California Environmental Justice Alliance
Communities for a Better Environment
Planting Justice
We offer gratitude to all beings who are stewarding and tending to the earth and our communities.
managing long covid headaches.
As we emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic, long COVID symptoms are unfortunately becoming more common in our clinic. In particular, we are seeing more cases of chronic headaches, triggered by activity and fatigue, and often accompanied by “brain fog”.
Studies show that people suffering from persistent symptoms 9 months post-COVID infection could be as high as 30% and literature reviews found headache to be a symptom reported in 38–44% of patients with long COVID. However, the pathophysiology of persistent post-COVID-19 headaches and other symptoms impacting the neuro-cognitive system is not completely known and the literature on post-COVID symptoms is still developing. Possible causes of neurological issues in post-COVID patients include the degenerative effect of the virus following its entry into the central nervous system through the olfactory nerve or through the lymphatic system. Another hypothesis is that the cytokine release at the sites of the viral infection can cause low-grade inflammation in the frontal lobe of the brain.
One of the historical roots of East Asian Medicine is the treatment of epidemic diseases going as far back as 3000 years. Our medicine focuses on expelling the “external pathogens” causing the disease so it is not retained by the body to create chronic conditions. Therefore, during the patient’s convalescent period, it is critical to both tonify and reinforce the Qi while taking care to eliminate any remaining pathogens. For long COVID patients, it is important to use acupuncture to nourish the Lung and Kidney Yin and support the Spleen Qi. Herbal formulas are also a crucial part of post-COVID treatments to eliminate dampness in the body and promote blood circulation. One home remedy that everyone can use after a COVID infection is daily intake of hibiscus tea. Hibiscus is a wonderful aide in improving microcirculation in the body and decreasing inflammation.
Angus-Leppan, H., Guiloff, A. E., Benson, K., & Guiloff, R. J. (2021). Navigating migraine care through the COVID-19 pandemic: an update. Journal of Neurology, 268(11), 4388–4395.
Baig, A. M. (2021). Chronic long-COVID syndrome: A protracted COVID-19 illness with neurological dysfunctions. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, 27(12), 1433–1436.
Hollifield, M., Cocozza, K., Calloway, T., Lai, J., Caicedo, B., Carrick, K., Alpert, R., & Hsiao, A.-F. (2022). Improvement in Long-COVID Symptoms Using Acupuncture: A Case Study. Medical Acupuncture, 34(3), 172–176.
Peilin Sun. (2022). TCM Treatment of the Convalescent Stage of COVID-19. Journal of Chinese Medicine, 128, 3–9.
keeping it lit*.
This month’s book recommendation is actually a poetry collection by the artist Tanzila “Taz” Ahmed. If you have been to our Oakland clinic, you’ll have seen several pieces of her artwork gracing the treatment rooms. Taz is an L.A. based artist, writer, podcaster and political activist. Her most recent publication is titled “Grasping at This Planet Just to Believe” and is a collection of poems composed during the month of Ramadan.
In her words, Taz writes: ““Every Ramadan since my mother’s passing, I’ve written daily poems as a practice of prayer during the month of Ramadan. Daily poems, over one lunar month over ten years. 2,800 poems, if I had actually done it without fail. Some years were more successful than others, depending on the year, the season, the heart, the world politics, the grief… This project has become one of the most spiritually fulfilling part of how I connect to the world during Ramadan. I hope these poems can support you on your journey as well.”
*literary recommendations from the Bitter Melon team!
say hello to ruben.
We are honored to use this space to introduce you to our phenomenal acupuncturists and practitioners at Bitter Melon. This month we are elated to introduce you to Ruben Bomse (he / him).
"I was drawn to the field of acupuncture first by how much it helped me as a patient and then by the theory of the medicine, which is fascinating! In this work I enjoy the chance to engage with many different people at a variety of life stages and phases, and always with the hope to help people move towards less suffering and greater ease. Like all holistic medicines, acupuncture is based in and reflects the natural world; even when it feels complex, there’s something simple at its heart. Before coming to acupuncture I worked in community mental health settings, and continue to be invested in emotional awareness, especially as it intersects with the body. More recently I have gotten interested in meditation as a way to find more stillness and space in my life and went on my first meditation retreat last year."
Photo by Bethanie Hines.
until next time.
We hope that you find our newsletters to be helpful and supportive of your personal journey with health and healing. Thank you for choosing Bitter Melon to be part of your journey.
We are honored to serve you.
your healing lifts up the ocean of existence. when you heal, we all heal.
-yung pueblo