To access the Chinese Medicine articles,
click on the linked titles below:
Alternative Medicine: Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Infertility
Chinese Medicine and Assisted Reproductive Technology for the Modern Couple
Chinese Medicine and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Acupuncture and Facial Rejuvenation
Articles on Facial Rejuvenation
Treating Peripheral Neuropathy with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
Oriental Medicine Lays Insomnia to Rest
Gastrointestinal Disorders in Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture Information:
Acupuncture Research:
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/acupuncture.html
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Articles:
South Carolina Voyager 2024
Introducing Natalie Allard
Hi Natalie, so excited to have you with us today. Can you share your story?
Hello! I grew up on Isle of Palms and later moved to Montana for college, where I discovered my passion for alternative medicine. Through classes and internships with Naturopaths, Functional Medicine Doctors, Homeopaths, and Herbalists, I attended Herbal School to deepen my knowledge of western herbs. Ultimately, I decided to focus on acupuncture.
After graduating from the University of Montana and a brief time in Seattle, my husband and I relocated to Asheville, NC, where I attended acupuncture school. Post-graduation, I started my practice in Asheville, working inside an OBGYN office for 15 years, specializing in women’s health. In 2020, my family returned to South Carolina to be closer to loved ones. During the pandemic, I opened my practice in Mount Pleasant, where I now focus on women’s issues, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, anxiety, sleep, digestive health, and more.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road? What challenges have you faced?
Owning a business comes with its challenges, and I’ve had to learn everything about running a small business independently. Starting out, I ran my practice from the basement of my Asheville home while caring for two children under two. Over time, I grew into larger locations.
One ongoing challenge has been educating people about acupuncture and its benefits, which I enjoy doing. Recently, my practice has expanded to two treatment rooms, and I’m learning to navigate hiring help for the first time as demand grows.
Tell us about your business and what sets it apart.
My acupuncture practice is located in the serene spa environment of Stox & Co. in Mount Pleasant. I specialize in women’s health, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, sleep, anxiety, and digestive issues. In addition to acupuncture, I offer services like LED light therapy, holistic microneedling, cupping, and herbal therapy.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve helped over 100 women achieve pregnancies naturally or through IUI/IVF. Acupuncture is both a solution for acute issues and a preventative tool, reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and promoting overall wellness by unblocking stagnant energy to restore balance.
What role has luck played in your journey?
I’ve been fortunate to experience many serendipitous moments. A high school teacher suggested I visit Missoula, MT, which set me on my career path and introduced me to alternative medicine—and my husband!
Being pregnant during my last year of acupuncture school helped focus my interest on fertility and women’s health. A chance connection led to my role in the OBGYN office in Asheville, where I worked for 15 years. Finally, the timing of COVID encouraged people to explore alternative healing methods, allowing my practice to thrive in Mount Pleasant.
I’m grateful for my wonderful patients and a strong referral network that has helped spread the word about acupuncture’s incredible benefits.
Localite Guide 2024
Natalie Allard grew up on Isle of Palms and discovered her passion for alternative medicine while attending college in Montana. Her journey included taking classes, interning with Naturopaths, Functional Medicine Doctors, Homeopaths, and Herbalists, and studying western herbs in Herbal School. Ultimately, Natalie focused her career on acupuncture. After graduating from the University of Montana and briefly living in Seattle, she moved to Asheville, NC, to attend acupuncture school. There, she started her practice, specializing in women’s health, and worked inside an OBGYN office for 15 years. In 2020, Natalie moved back to South Carolina and opened her Mount Pleasant practice, focusing on fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, anxiety, sleep, digestive health, and more.
Her acupuncture practice, located at Stox & Co. in Mount Pleasant, is designed to promote wellness through services like LED light therapy, holistic microneedling, cupping, and herbal therapy. Natalie’s dedication to empowering patients through acupuncture has allowed her to help over 100 women achieve pregnancies naturally or through IUI/IVF. Acupuncture, as she describes, is not only for acute issues but also serves as a preventative tool to reduce stress and maintain balance.
Luck and serendipity have played meaningful roles in Natalie’s journey, from a teacher’s recommendation to visit Montana to chance connections that opened doors in her career. Her gratitude for her patients and her referral network has fueled her success and passion for educating others about acupuncture’s transformative benefits.
June 2009 Article for e-newsletter on Pediatric Acupuncture:
Pediatric Acupuncture
Treating children continuously renews my sense of wonder at this ancient art of acupuncture and how its principles are applied in practice. Of all people, children reflect most closely the theory of the five phases and its correspondences. Children are amazing examples of the dynamic balance of the law of yin & yang and its interrelationships. During the first two years of life, children’s emotions are pure and uninhibited; hence, their qi (Life energy that animates the body and protects it from illness) flows freely and is readily accessible. In pathology, the symptoms they exhibit are always a clear reflection of what’s going on inside. Small children cannot and do not need to tell us what’s wrong. The brightness of shen in their eyes; the color on their face and body; the texture and temperature of their skin; and many other signs speak loudly for them. Sometimes during treatment, or when the child comes back for a second visit, the changes are obvious and visible. Children respond so quickly to treatment because they are so yang, or pure.
Through treating little ones, I have become aware that most of the patterns we carry into our adult lives actually start at a very early age. Simply living in an atmosphere of stress, tension or conflicts can create traumatic experiences. These experiences affect the child emotionally, and each emotional pattern will in time affect the child physically. I’ve seen children as young as one year old suffer from major emotional imbalances.
These imbalances turn into the defense mechanisms we all develop in order to get what we want (or simply to cope with life). In terms of health, these defense mechanisms often lock us into reactionary patterns such as “me against the world,” which do not serve our well-being. These reinforce our sense of separation from the universe and tend to create tension, contraction and struggles. The attitude we adopt toward pain and illness is often a major contributor to the progression of an illness. When we feel at peace and at home within and without, we can relax and drop our guards. The qi then naturally flows smoothly and easily. By age three, a child’s constitutional tendencies and personality are already in place, along with the type of physical ailments they will be prone to. Strengthening the child’s own healing abilities in these weaker areas can make an invaluable contribution to their future health. Recognizing their strengths and respecting their limitations can offer both parent and child an opportunity for empowerment and self-discovery in their own natural state of health.
Strengthening the Digestive System to Treat Illness
Oriental medicine views the treatment of children to be extremely important, and when treating children the most important system to treat is usually the digestive system.
According to Chinese medical theory, children’s spleens and stomachs up to the age of approximately six are inherently immature (because they are still developing). That means they do not function as efficiently as a healthy adult’s does. Until then the digestive systems are weak and overworked, so it is not uncommon to see children complaining of various digestive upset from diarrhea to indigestion.
In Chinese Medicine these complaints can be classified as an accumulation of food. Children’s digestion is easily damaged by poor diets and an unnecessary or over use of antibiotics. When antibiotics are used they kill the “bad” bacteria which are possibly causing the illness. Antibiotics simultaneously kill the “good” bacteria (flora) found in your intestines. This “good” flora is necessary for a strong digestive system and a healthy immune system. There is definitely a place for Western medication and antibiotics for severe acute conditions; however, persistent antibiotic use can lead to children having poor digestive systems or recurring illnesses.
When solid foods are introduced in children, one should start with easily digestible foods, like cooked carrots and well-cooked grains such as cream of rice. Because the process of digestion in Chinese medicine is likened to a process of cooking and distillation, foods which are cooked are, in general, more easily digested than uncooked foods. In other words, cooking is pre-digestion. Therefore, infants and very young children do better when they are fed mostly cooked, mashed, partially predigested foods than when they eat uncooked, chilled, or cold foods. Chilled and cold foods “douse” the fire of the spleen and make it difficult to digest the food. In addition, foods that Chinese medicine labels as very “dampening” also easily harm the spleen when eaten excessively. These include sugars and sweets in general, dairy products (and especially chilled dairy products such as cheese and yogurt), peanut and other nut butters, and bread. The digestive system is the pivot upon which children depend on. As parents it is our responsibility to make sure we have control of our children’s diets. In the end, one of the key ways to treat all childhood illnesses is to work on the child’s diet. If you can change a child’s diet you can affect their overall health for their entire life.
What are some causes for disease/illness in children?
In today’s world, children are exposed to many stressors. Over time, they build up and can cause problems. Some examples of these are:
Accidents/falls, Environmental toxins, Diet, and Emotions.
Common childhood conditions treated with Oriental Medicine:
Cough/Colds
Allergies
Fever
Asthma/Bronchitis
Earaches
ADD and ADHD
Digestive issues
Constipation/Diarrhea
And More
There are several different methods within Oriental medicine for treating children, such as tuina, shoni-shin, and Chinese herbal formulas. Children are not small versions of adults. Their energetics are totally unique due to the fact that their systems are still developing and in a constant process of growth.
Tuina is a form of Chinese bodywork, is a great healing tool for children who need to be touched. It is effective and nurturing in the management of many chronic disorders. is a form of Chinese bodywork, is a great healing tool for children who need to be touched. It is effective and nurturing in the management of many chronic disorders. Shoni-shin is my favorite modality and truly works wonders for common respiratory and digestive ailments. It can enhance circulation and relaxation, thereby improving health in general. Shoni-shin is a form of bodywork that makes use of small metal tools designed to bring qi to the surface, help it move by “spreading” it along the channels, and stimulate specific acupuncture points. There are about a half-dozen different tools in a shoni-shin kit, none of which penetrate the skin. A shoni-shin treatment can be performed in 10 to 20 minutes depending on the age of the child and the severity of the illness. Even a very guarded or frightened child will usually warm up to the idea of shoni-shin, and many actually look forward to it. is my favorite modality and truly works wonders for common respiratory and digestive ailments. It can enhance circulation and relaxation, thereby improving health in general. Shoni-shin is a form of bodywork that makes use of small metal tools designed to bring qi to the surface, help it move by “spreading” it along the channels, and stimulate specific acupuncture points. There are about a half-dozen different tools in a shoni-shin kit, none of which penetrate the skin. A shoni-shin treatment can be performed in 10 to 20 minutes depending on the age of the child and the severity of the illness. Even a very guarded or frightened child will usually warm up to the idea of shoni-shin, and many actually look forward to it. acupuncture needles are generally not used in children under age eight or nine unless there is an extreme acute condition going on, when the child is overly tired, restless or so hyperactive that he/she cannot sit still through a treatment. I practice a “flying dart” method on just a few points which is quick, painless, and goes in and out very quickly. I also will use moxa therapy (heating of the herb mugwort) for cold situations demonstrated in the body. are generally not used in children under age eight or nine unless there is an extreme acute condition going on, when the child is overly tired, restless or so hyperactive that he/she cannot sit still through a treatment. I practice a “flying dart” method on just a few points which is quick, painless, and goes in and out very quickly. I also will use moxa therapy (heating of the herb mugwort) for cold situations demonstrated in the body. Herbal medicine has been used for centuries in China and in the treatment of children. Antibiotics are not always necessary and with herbal medicine you can bypass the side effects experienced from taking medication. Herbal medicine is used for a short period of time when treating acute conditions and longer when treating chronic diseases. has been used for centuries in China and in the treatment of children. Antibiotics are not always necessary and with herbal medicine you can bypass the side effects experienced from taking medication. Herbal medicine is used for a short period of time when treating acute conditions and longer when treating chronic diseases.
Holistic medicine means integrating the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical aspects of our beings. When we treat children with Oriental medicine, we infuse them with the awareness that bodies and minds are connected. The mind drives the body. A peaceful mind allows the body to take the rest it needs when it needs it, allowing the body to regenerate and heal. For too many of us, the mind constantly remains on fast idle, even after we’ve turned off the engine.
February 2009 article on WWEC in WNC Woman magazine:
