Acupuncture and Arthritis

As many clients of the Birch Center already know, acupuncture is extremely effective in the treatment of arthritis. Many kinds of arthritis can be treated with acupuncture: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis pain from chronic disease such as Lyme's disease or lupus.

The reason why so many different kinds of arthritis - pain and swelling of the joints - can all be treated is that acupuncture can help the body move the energy that becomes stagnant in the joints, reducing the swelling and pain. It really doesn't matter what the Western diagnosis is - even if you're not diagnosed with arthritis at all - acupuncture is so effective at restoring balance to the body and moving the energy from the aching joints that people experience relief, usually quite quickly.

Along with needles, we often use moxibustion, which is heating an herb over the area of the arthritis. This feels wonderful to people.

If you have arthritis or know someone who does, or have anything else going on that you'd like to talk about, you are always welcome to come in for a free 20 minute consultation with Birch Center acupuncturist David Sokulski. Just call (412) 381-0116 for an appointment. He is available Monday through Thursday, 9 am through 9 pm.

Live Science recently also published an article about how acupuncture effectively treats arthritis:

This Week’s Question: I have arthritis in my knee. I’m thinking about trying acupuncture, but my friends think I’m nuts. What do you think?

Several recent studies show osteoarthritis symptoms can be relieved with acupuncture. One Scandinavian study reported that 25 percent of patients canceled their plans for knee surgery after acupuncture.

About 15 million Americans have tried this needle therapy. The World Health Organization recommends it for more than 40 conditions as diverse as asthma and nausea from chemotherapy. The Food and Drug Administration regulates acupuncture needles.

So, no, I don’t think you’re nuts.

(You can find the article in full here.)

Thanks for reading, and we hope you have a wonderful day!

Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

Fresh Living Workshop

It's spring and everything is blooming! What better time to learn about natural health and fresh living! Join us as we show you how you can easily incorporate healthy foods and natural healing practices in your life.

Fresh Living is the first series that covers wild edibles, raw food, aromatherapy and homeopathy in one enlightening workshop. Presented by four experienced natural health practitioners, the series give you the basics that you need to start living a naturally vibrant and deliciously healthy life!

Fee: $50, includes a wonderful raw food lunch, handouts and samples. Reservations suggested as space is limited. Please Register by May 14th.

May 22, 2010
10:30am – 2:30pm
Wilkins Community Center
7604 Charleston Ave Swissvale, PA 15218

To register call (412) 381-0116

*Please Register by Friday, May 14!


Schedule:

10:00 am – Registration and Morning Tea

10:30 am – Wild Edible Walk with Melissa
Start the morning with a walk around the park and discover nature's edible bounties that were always right before your eyes!

11:15 am – Raw Food 101 with Leah
What could be fresher than raw? In Raw Food 101, Leah will show you the basics of how to un-cook. As summer approaches, learn how to make refreshingly delicious raw meals (beyond salad!) From raw raviolis, soups, dips and desserts! We will also juice and use some of your finds at the Wild Edible Walk!


12:00 – Lunch (Raw Food and Wild Edibles)

1:00- Homeopathy 101 with Tara
Join Tara for an introduction to self-prescribing for the everyday complaints of a healthy family. These include coughs, colds, ear infections, sore throats, stomach disorders, flu, and first aid. She will cover the basic principles of homeopathic philosophy to provide a structure for understanding simple prescribing. She will also look at symptoms in depth to help guide you in observing illness. She will cover the most commonly used remedies for each of the above disorders as well as the basic principles of dosing and repetition of remedies.

1:45 – Aromatherapy with Cathy
Learn about the safe use of essential oils for household use and for physical and emotional health and well being. We'll discuss the use of pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils as alternatives to: toxic household cleaners, pet care products, insect repellents, pharmaceuticals and more. A wide variety of essential oils will be on hand to view/smell. Oils will be diffused in the room. We'll cover natural options that will build the health of our bodies and our environment instead of breaking them down. Samples will be provided for each participant to take home. Fresh water with therapeutic-grade lemon oil will be on hand for drinking.

About Us

Cathy Daniels
Cathy Daniels is the founder and owner of One Gentle Spirit Holistic Services, LLC, a Certified Hypnotherapist, Reiki Master/Teacher and Natural Health Educator, she has been sharing her passion, experiences and information regarding natural ways of bringing positive changes to the body, mind and spirit for the past 14 years. As well as providing private sessions for clients, Cathy holds classes and workshops on Hypnotherapy, Aromatherapy, Reiki, Natural Health and Nutrition Awareness.† She is the mother of 3 and is a retired La Leche League Leader.†Cathy is excited to be thriving on her path of health and wellness and joyfully sharing her experience with others.†
More information on Cathy can be found at www.onegentlespirit.com

Tara McElfresh
Tara McElfresh has been practicing and studying Homeopathy for the last 3 years. Her interest in naturopathy and alternative medicine began when her child was diagnosed with heavy metal toxicity after an adverse reaction to a vaccination. After consulting with an ND, her daughter showed incredible improvement with homeopathic treatment. Tara;s passion for homeopathy continues and she is currently working with a naturopath to deepen her knowledge and broaden her practice. She uses only natural remedies to treat her family's ailments. Tara actively writes about homeopathy and natural medicine in her blog naturalremedyhealing.blogspot.com

Leah Shannon
Leah Shannon, is a certified Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Food Educator. She received her training in Holistic Health from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and her Masters Degree in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Leah is an advocate for urban farming, healthy food accessibility, and food safety policy. Leah is the menu planner for Shepherd Wellness Community’s Friday Night Dinners and Holistic Health Counselor for Matrika Wellness Center’s Stress Reduction Programs. She serves on the board of Grow Pittsburgh whose mission is to demonstrate, teach and promote responsible urban food production. Leah lives in Stanton Heights adjacent to Mildreds’ Daughters Urban Farm where she teaches healthy cooking classes during the season.
More information on Leah can be found at www.befullwell.com

Melissa Sokulski
Melissa Sokulski is a licensed acupuncturist and massage therapist trained in the practice of Eastern and Holistic medicine. She received her Masters Degree in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology in 1996 from the New England School of Acupunture. She and her husband David are the founders and proprietors of the Birch Center for Health in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Melissa is well-recognized in Pittsburgh as an expert on Wild Edibles and Raw Food and regularly leads Wild Edible Walks around town.
More information on Melissa can be found at www.foodunderfoot.com and www.birchcenter.com

Thanks so much!

Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

Pittsburgh is the Most Livable City...Again!

This year Pittsburgh was again chosen as the most livable city! We love Pittsburgh and the great opportunities that we have here.

Here are some of The Birch Center's favorite things about Pittsburgh!

• We love our East Carson Street location, right near the corner of 20th! Pittsburgh's South Side is an awesome and fun place to be. We hold our Wild Edibles Hikes right on the south side river trail (the next one is May 30!), just a few blocks from our office. Sometimes we have time to grab lunch a few doors down at Thai Me Up, or get in a quick yoga class at BYS. And I can't seem to resist browsing right across the street at Utrecht Art Supplies every now and then!





• When beauty or butterfies are what we are looking for, we jump across the river to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland, where the agave plant is literally through the roof right now!





• Camping at one of the many state parks...year round!



• Learning about wild mushrooms with the Western PA Mushroom Club, who hold mushroom walks every Saturday, and have informational meetings once a month, open to all! They now have Indiana and Washington County chapters. We just got back from Morel Madness weekend hosted by them...loads of fun. This group is so generous with it's knowledge...we love them!

Just a short list of some of our favorite things about Pittsburgh!

What are your favorite things here? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks so much!

Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

64% off Cosmetic Acupuncture

The Birch Center for Health is so excited to bring you another great deal in conjunction with Groupon! (We're the "side deal" today through this weekend, you'll find us on the sidebar.)

Today through Sunday, you may purchase a package of 3 Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture Treatments (also known as Cosmetic Acupuncture or "The Acupuncture Facial") for only $130, which is 64% off the regular price!

At only $43 per treatment, this is a great deal, even if you use it for regular acupuncture only! Our facial acupuncture treatments include:

• a full consultation
• whole body acupuncture treatment focusing on your specific symptoms, conditions and concerns
• PLUS points on the face which help reduce wrinkles and blemishes, and bring energy and vitality to the head and face.

Birch Center Master Acupuncturist David Sokulski has been specially trained in facial acupuncture, and brings great care and skill to each treatment.

Many clients report additional benefits to these treatments:

• increased memory
• decrease in headaches, anxiety and depression
• increase in energy and ability to sleep soundly.

Please don't miss this amazing deal!

Groupon Price: $130 for 3 treatments
Regular Price: $360 for 3 treatments
Savings of 64% (save $230!)

Purchase through Groupon today!

Thanks so much!

Sincerely,

Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

Wild Edibles Walks

It was cold, but we still had a great turnout and great fun at both our walks at Frick Park Earth Day celebration last Saturday! Thanks to everyone who braved the cold!

We saw so many wild edibles...way more was up this year than last year, even though the event was held the same weekend last year! I guess our warm temperatures at the beginning of the month caused a lot more to come up.

Here are some things we saw:


Fiddleheads


Violets


Garlic Mustard

We also saw:

dandelion
burdock
lambs quarters
japanese knotweed
may apple - ripe fruit is only edible part of this plant
bloodroot (medicinal, not edible)
mugwort
cut-leafed toothwort
onion grass
jewelweed (poison ivy remedy)
poison ivy - not edible, please do not eat!

Please join us for our next wild edible walk, which is this Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 11 am at the south side river trail in Pittsburgh! It is $5/person (children under 10 free). For more information visit our events page. Please call (412) 381-0116 to register, so we know to expect you.

Thanks!

~ Melissa and David Sokulski, acupuncturists and herbalists

Food Under Foot
Birch Center for Health

(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!