The Chinese Medicine Treatment

Integrative Oncology

Chinese medicine can be of great assistance as supportive care for cancer patients from the onset of the journey all the way to care during the post treatment period.  China has successfully integrated their traditional medicine with modern biomedical interventions for many conditions.  Acupuncture and herbs are used in the different stages of treatment to strengthen the body, reduce pain, enhance quality of life, relieve side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, and rebuild the body's vitality after treatment.   Common side effects from western cancer treatment that can be improved by Chinese Medicine include:

•    Pain, including the pain of neuropathy
•    Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting
•    Peripheral neuropathy
•    Xerostomia (dry mouth) due to radiation
•    Fatigue
•    Improve digestive function
•    Depression, Anxiety, Insomnia

Chinese Medicine’s role in oncology support is to:

•    Reduce fatigue
•    Improves Life Quality
•    Prolong survival period
•    Treats side effects of Western Medicine
•    Preventative care

Research both in China and in the west has shown that Chinese herbal medicine has a positive impact on a wide variety of cancer  both in patients and in laboratory studies.

Please call to discuss your case with Dr. Anahita

General Information

 
Community Acupuncture
Acupuncture administered in a community setting is a win-win scenario for patients who have chronic issues or desire regular maintenance to keep disease at bay.  Many ailments can be treated in a community setting allowing patients to stretch the dollar to get multiple treatments for the price of one hour treatment when shared in a community setting.
Each patient will require a treatment plan and the cost will be slightly different depending on what is needed.  A basic acupuncture treatment with no herbal consultation or formula will be priced differently from someone who would require more hands-on work or a well designed herbal formulation.  Patients will be able to get treatments and pay on a sliding scaleof $25-$65.

Private Treatment
Private treatments are around 1hour and fifteen minutes and cost $100.  A session involves an intake, a traditional Chinese medicine pulse and tongue diagnosis, and differential diagnosis and a treatment plan.  The plan can include multiple modalities such as acupuncture, cupping, tui-na, gua-sha, and an herbal consultation.  Typically, after an initial private treatment,  a plan can be developed that is cost-effective that mixes community and private treatments to best suit the needs of the patient.

Homecare
Sometimes patients cannot leave their home and would like home care visits from their acupuncturists.  We can accommodate some homecare visits for our patients.  The cost is $180.00 a visit in the Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco vicinity.  Insurance companies that offer acupuncture generally cover most of the cost after a co-pay.  This service is appreciated by patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

Insurance
Insurance companies tend to cover acupuncture for pain relief from various conditions or nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy.  Not all conditions are covered.  Herbal medicine is generally not covered by insurance companies.  Please check with your insurance company to make sure you can be covered for acupuncture care and contact us with this information. Health savings plans are great ways to put tax-free money aside for care such as acupuncture and massage.  Check with your employer and insurance company about setting up a health savings plan for yourself and set aside the money in advance.


Services Offered

Acupuncture

How acupuncture exactly works is still a the focus of debate and there are many theories and research projects focused on answering this question.  Most people feel a deep sense of relaxation and calm when they get an acupuncture treatment.   Pain relief is often the main reason people get acupuncture, however it has been used traditionally to address many aliments.

The World Health Organization and the National Institute for Health published a Consensus study in 2003 which listed many diseases for which acupuncture is an effective treatment, including and not limited to the few mentioned below:

* Arthritis, fibromyalgia, back pain, headache, carpal tunnel, musculo-skeletal pain,
* Allergies, asthma and other respiratory problems
* Cancer pain, nausea & vomiting
* Gastrointestinal issues
* Gynecological problems like infertility and PMS
* Anxiety, insomnia and stress
* And many more physical, emotional and neurological issues

All acupuncture treatments use new one-use sterile needles from a sealed package.  Clean needle technique used and areas that are needled are cleaned to minimize any possibility of infection. 

Herbal Consultation

The clinical herbal experience in Chinese medicine is very rich and complex spanning thousands of years. 

Herbs are available in patent pills, granule or raw forms depending on the patient's taste.  Herbal prescriptions determined for the individual's condition, factor the chief complaint, medications, general health as well as other signs and symptoms.  We only use the best quality herbs for our patients which may be in raw, granule, pill or tincture form. 

Raw herbs require cooking instructions.  Raw herbs give the practitioner the most freedom in individualizing the herbal formula for the patient in terms of dosage and ingredients. 

Patent medicines are another affordable means to take herbs.  Patent medicines are pre-packaged, usually in pill form, of known Chinese formulas for particular ailments.  The patents we use come from companies who use Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in their production. 

Granules are powder versions of Chinese herbs and are often slightly more expensive than pill and raw herbs.  The formulas are decocted and then dehydrated and packaged with measured dosages of the herbs.  Companies used for our granules are all GMP manufactured.

Tinctures are the most costly but certainly the best in terms of potency, quality and ease of intake.  The tinctures we use have been through multiple testing for contaminants and quality and have gone through both a water and alcohol extraction process.   Because there are not many companies that make Chinese herbal formula tinctures at a high level, the cost of these tinctures are higher, but they provide more bang for your buck and are easier to swallow.

Tui-Na
Tui-Na is Chinese massage and acupressure.  It is a hands-on body manipulation technique used to stimulate the acupuncture points as well as a variety of techniques to warm and loosen the joints.  Tui-Na is used to loosen and move blockages that are the source of the pain and tension.

Cupping
Cupping  stimulates acupuncture points by applying suction through a glass jar, in which a partial vacuum has been created. This technique produces blood congestion at the site, and therefore stimulates it. Cupping is used for low backache, sprains, soft tissue injuries, and helping relieve fluid from the lungs in chronic bronchitis. 

Moxa  
Moxa or Mugwort is an herb used to warm and stimulate the points.  It is used indirectly or directly with acupuncture points to enhance the flow of blood and qi to the area. 







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