City's first walk-in
acupuncture clinic
The
Chestnut Hill Local
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by PAT STOKES
A recent talk show on the subject of health made the point that there is
growing recognition of the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for
the pain of arthritis. Cited were the results of a government funded
study at the New England School of Medicine in which the volunteers
were divided into three groups: 1. self-help (vitamins, diet, etc.);
2. acupuncture; 3. placebo,
over an eight-week period.. |
Elise Rivers and her brainchild, a walk-in acupuncture clinic,
the only one in Philadelphia, recently opened at |
explains, "that this method of
healing takes time, time to bring the body back into balance. It is
definitely not an `emergency' cure." Acupuncture neatly fills the gap
that drugs do not fill, and at times has been successfully used in place of
drugs. In addition, it successfully addresses the problem that is created
with serious side effects to certain drugs that are then usually addressed by
yet another drug. Not surprisingly, often the patient is reluctant to
continue on this route. "The majority of malpractice claims center around drug use," Dr. Price reminds us. Thus state of affairs is very much in the news now, when certain |
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Acupuncture was the true winner with 14 people, or 40
percent of the group reporting a significant decrease in pain To what is this
attributed? Consensus as to how acupuncture brings relief is that special
needles inserted into specific locations in the body activate endorphins
(brain-centered painkillers) and that T-cells (which regulate the immune
system) are increased, as another boost for pain resistance. About 20 million
Americans have arthritis, usually in the joints, brought about when cartilage
wears thin causing bone to rub on bone. Acupuncture can ease that pain. The real subject
of this column is Elise Rosenblatt and her brain-child, a walk-in
acupuncture, clinic, the only one in |
Her clinic, named
Moon River Acupuncture (explanation shortly), is located at 514 E. Sedgwick St. in Mt. Airy on the third floor of one of
the area's grand old houses. Elise studied this
therapy at the New England School of Acupuncture in Master's degree in hand, she planned to
open her own office, but first with Claudia Sperber
she established a walk-in clinic in |
Hence the name. As another unexpected bonus,. in her choice of locale she
learned after moving in that her next-door neighbor is a doctor but more than
that, a doctor who is interested in alternative medicine. The doctor is Joseph W. Price M.D., who has
been in practice 34 years, using both Western and holistic disciplines. About
15 years ago, he founded Partners in Wellness, a networking group, to include
the arts and traditions, of other integrative practitioners. He thus makes
use of holistic practices without rejecting Western medicine, and says that
"like yin and yang, the two modalities mix very well together." Dr.
Price endorses acupuncture and acts as clinic coordinator. (In a later column
we'll report further on Partners in Medicine.) In addition to running the walk-in clinic,
Elise maintains a private practice. This offers an opportunity to spend
time with a prospective acupuncture patient to properly diagnose the
problem, usually in a one-and-a-half hour session at $90. Treatment
sessions of six or more at the clinic follow at $30 each. "It's
important to understand," she |
types of drugs are being examined by
reliable health organizations for their unwanted side effects. "The
human organism does not like the intrusion of foreign chemicals,” said, Dr.
Price. "It will accept them in the short term, creating a sense that the
drug is working; but when the body recognizes their toxicity, it will react
with unpleasant symptoms." These two dedicated people agree that
"it is an art to keep your body working well." Walk-in Clinic hours: Monday and Wednesday
evenings, |
