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The Story Behind The Needles in Kim Kardashian’s Face

By Sara Calabro

My Google Alerts are set up to notify me every time a mainstream media outlet mentions acupuncture. For the past two weeks, I’ve been getting pinged more often than usual.

That’s because on March 24—brace yourselves—Kim Kardashian got acupuncture and Instagramed a picture of her face full of needles!

Of course, no one cares about this nearly as much as the media would have us believe. However, when celebrities publicize their use of acupuncture, it generates a lot of new interest and questions about acupuncture—and that’s something we do care about.

So, why did Kim Kardashian have so many needles stuck in her face? Keep reading

Pet Acupuncture Expert Explains Why Animals Love Needles

By Sara Calabro

Before she became an acupuncturist, Becca Seitz was an expert in five languages (not including English). Upon realizing she didn’t want to spend her life as a translator, Seitz gave up Russian, German, Spanish, French and Arabic to learn the language of animals. She changed her major to pre-veterinary medicine and started volunteering at a Humane Society. She loved both, but around this time, while lying on the table at her own acupuncture appointment, her acupuncturist said, “Don’t forget about acupuncture for pets.” It was a lightbulb moment that led to Seitz choosing acupuncture school over vet school. Keep reading

Mexican Indigenous Healing Inspires Acupuncture Project

By Sara Calabro

Jeya Aerenson, an acupuncturist in Eugene, Oregon, really wanted to learn Spanish. Now, the Mexican people who helped her achieve this goal are learning from her. But rather than offering language skills, Aerenson is teaching acupuncture. In February, she’s temporarily shuttering her private practice to travel to Oaxaca, Mexico, where she will educate local healthcare providers on administering the NADA protocol, five designated acupuncture points in each ear.

In a recent conversation with AcuTake, Aerenson talked about pioneering and paying for the Oaxaca Acupuncture Project, the impact of acupuncture on underserved Mexican communities, and why everyone should care about indigenous healing traditions. Keep reading

South African Clinic Is Flying High

By Sara Calabro

Ever since leaving his native country of South Africa at age 13, Gidon Levenbach has wanted to give something back. Gratitude came in the form of needles.

Immediately upon graduating from acupuncture school, Levenbach began laying the groundwork for Flying Needle Project, an organization that provides acupuncture to HIV/AIDS patients and other vulnerable populations in South Africa. Levenbach and his team of acupuncturists operate a free clinic in Cape Town, where they are making inroads toward decreasing the stigma associated with acupuncture. Just two years old, Flying Needle Project already has plans to expand into South Africa’s more remote townships.

AcuTake recently spoke with Levenbach about practicing acupuncture in South Africa, the logistics of starting a clinic in another country, and how he pays the bills. Keep reading

Acupuncture for the Soul

By Sara Calabro

We live in a physical world. Material goods define success. Fitness is measured in miles and pounds. Love is expressed in diamonds. Yet even the richest, fittest and most enamored among us often feel a void. The stories of our lives run deeper than meets the eye, and yet mainstream medicine pays little attention to our non-physical aspects. Even acupuncture has become dominated by an emphasis on physical pain.

Being in touch with these more abstract, non-physical parts—the soul, spirit or psyche—often is the missing piece for people who may be otherwise healthy. Lorie Dechar, one of the world’s leading thinkers on acupuncture and spirituality, has been helping people find this missing piece for over 25 years, beginning long before the quest for spiritual enlightenment became a trend. Keep reading

Stroke Expert Realizes Dream

By Sara Calabro

A lot of acupuncturists were enthusiastic about the release of 9000 Needles, but perhaps none more than Atsuki Maeda. The documentary follows an American stroke victim to China, where he receives acupuncture from a team of doctors led by Shi Xue Min—Maeda’s teacher.

After completing acupuncture school in Japan, Maeda participated in an exchange program that sent recent graduates to China’s renowned First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. While there, he became one of the first students to get certified in Xing Nao Kai Qiao Fa (known as XNKQ), a form of stroke therapy developed by Dr. Shi. It has been Maeda’s dream ever since to expand awareness and accessibility of this powerful treatment. Keep reading

Musician Kristin Hersh Returns from Bipolar

By Sara Calabro

Kristin Hersh is the founder, lead singer and guitarist for the popular 1980s rock band Throwing Muses. In addition to her continued work with Throwing Muses, Hersh performs with her other band, 50FOOTWAVE, and as a solo artist. Her latest album, Crooked, is available as a book, CD and app. She also is the author of Rat Girl, a memoir released last year that chronicles the early stages of Hersh’s 20-year battle with bipolar disorder.

After two decades of trying everything from lithium to vitamins to exercise to just succumbing to her symptoms, Hersh had nearly given up on hopes of becoming well. Then she found acupuncture.
 Keep reading

Documentary Grows Awareness

By Sara Calabro

9000 Needles is bringing acupuncture to the masses.

The documentary—it follows Devin Dearth, a 40-year-old former bodybuilder, to China, where he is treated with acupuncture after suffering a massive stroke—made a splash at several of this year’s film festivals, including the Gotham Independent Film Awards, where it was a finalist alongside media darling and eventual winner Waiting for Superman.

The film was directed by Devin’s brother, Doug Dearth, whose frustrations with the U.S. health insurance industry during his brother’s recovery inspired him to research international options. He spent three-and-a-half months filming in Tianjian, China, where Devin participated in an affordable, comprehensive stroke rehabilitation program that included frequent acupuncture treatments.

9000 Needles tells a unifying story of how Devin’s family and local community put aside preconceived notions about medicine to embrace the solution that offered their loved one the most benefit.

Doug Dearth recently spoke with AcuTake about filming his brother’s journey—and how he hopes it’ll improve perceptions and accessibility of acupuncture in the U.S. Keep reading

Community Model Improves Access

By Sara Calabro

Back in 2006, John Weeks, editor of The Integrator Blog, called the community acupuncture model “one of the most exciting recent developments in the business of integrated care.” His conclusion was based on discussions with Lisa Rohleder, founder of Working Class Acupuncture in Portland, OR, and author of The Remedy and Acupuncture Is Like Noodles.

Rohleder has become the public voice of the community acupuncture movement, which she believes has the power to create major change in healthcare. In the four years since Weeks endorsed the model, Rohleder has evolved her thinking on some issues—namely, the ease with which Working Class Acupuncture‘s success can be replicated—while steadfastly continuing to champion the clinical and social benefits of community acupuncture.

AcuTake recently spoke with her. Keep reading