Employing traditional Chinese therapies,
a new sanctuary in Carroll Gardens offers its patients a couple
of necessities that are often missing at the doctor’s office:
time and compassion.
Certified acupuncturists and herbologists Anne Mok and Peggy
Regis opened Cornerstone Healing in December with a commitment
to making a patient’s visit – and even the waiting room – as
soothing and relaxing as possible. The walls are painted a cool,
celadon green and antique chests, bamboo stalks and wood bowls
are carefully placed throughout. Mounted squares of fabric are
the perfect finishing touches to the reception area and treatment
rooms.
And lest they forget, a framed message in Chinese calligraphy
hangs across from the reception desk reminding the acupuncturists
that their mission is to practice with a "compassionate
heart [and] compassionate skills."
"We want to be like the old family physician for the neighborhood,
back when the family doctor knew the whole family," said
Mok. "We want to be like that for the neighborhood."
When a patient arrives, they are immediately greeted with a smile
and a warming cup of jasmine tea and asked to take a seat on
a chair topped with a plump, silk cushion.
Patients are then asked to fill out an exhaustive, five-page
medical history. In the initial consultation, every one of your
aches, pains and worries is addressed by one of the acupuncturists.
"Your head is connected to the rest of your body,"
said Mok with a laugh, explaining that the 90-minute initial
consultation helps them get to know their patient physically
and psychologically.
Your tongue and pulse will be examined, and then it will be time
to lay on the table and prepare to be "needled," as
Regis calls it. (Acupuncture is actually the insertion of fine,
sterile needles into the body at specific points shown to be
effective in the treatment of particular health problems.)
Mok, a Chinese-American, and Regis, a Haitian-American, offer
acupuncture, massage, herbal remedies and nutritional counseling
to cure whatever ails their patients. Both say that herbal remedies
were a common way to treat illness in their own families, and
now they both claim success in employing all of these modalities
in aiding everything from fertility to weight loss to quitting
smoking.
"We are not just treating the symptoms, but the cause of
the problem," explained Mok. "Traditional Chinese medicine
treatments last longer and are more beneficial for the patient."
Mok said she started out in healthcare as a pharmacist. "People
came back to me month after month, sick with the side effects
from the medicine," said Mok who decided to further study
the Chinese herbs she grew up with. Regis said she turned to
acupuncture to help with her anemia.
Just as reflexology uses pressure on areas of the feet to aid
with various ailments, Mok said that ears are equally sensitive
and acupuncture there can help patients quit smoking or lose
weight.
"You can treat the whole body with foot or ear acupuncture,"
said Mok. She explains that patients looking to stem addictions
follow up their ear acupuncture treatment at Cornerstone Healing
with tiny seeds, like poppy seeds, that are taped to their ears.
Whenever they get a craving for that cigarette, or next piece
of cake, they are to give the seed a bit of gentle pressure.
Over time, the acupuncture, and use of ear seeds when away from
the office, along with modifications in diet and lifestyle, will
make a difference, said Mok, who also uses acupuncture and ear
seeds to help patients overcome drug addiction at the Brownsville
Multiservice Family Health Center.
"Generally people don’t have the time to come in for acupuncture
more than once a week, so they can do it themselves with the
ear seeds for another three to five days," said Mok. "The
more you do it, the better, and there are no side effects."
Acupuncture can even treat grinding and clenching teeth at night,
or temporomandibular syndrome (TMJ). When I went to my dentist
for help, he told me there was nothing I could do but order a
$700 custom-fit bite plate that I would wear to bed for the rest
of my life.
Mok offered a lengthy consultation and performed acupuncture
on my face (to loosen the tight muscles in my jaw line), suggested
cutting out the caffeine, and gave me five herbal tea bags to
relax me before sleeping (total cost: $93, future acupuncture
visits and tea bags: $78). In addition to the 20 needles in my
face, more were added to my feet, hands and wrist (to help a
sprain). Mok left me with an eye mask and soothing music while
my "chi" got moving. Regis offered a relaxing, 60-minute
tui na massage, using deep-tissue massage strokes and acupressure
(cost: $75) under a warming heat lamp.
This traditional Chinese approach to healing takes the whole
patient into account and attempts to bring the patient back into
balance.
I came away immediately relaxed, albeit with some tenderness
in my jaw. A week later, although I haven’t stopped grinding
my teeth, the intensity of grinding is diminished and I’m looking
forward to a future visit. A combination of sleeping with a bite
plate will protect my teeth, and future acupuncture visits will
hopefully aid in diminishing the muscle tension and jaw popping
altogether. (And I have the feeling that Mok and Regis would
recognize me on the street, while my dentist might not know my
name unless I moved into the summer house next door to his in
the Hamptons.)
Everything about the experience at Cornerstone Healing is about
balance. When coming in for a treatment they instruct patients,
"Don’t have an empty stomach, but don’t have a full stomach."
Their advice is very much about the time-honored mantra, "All
things in moderation."
Mok and Regis are careful to stress that they work in conjunction
with medical doctors.
"There are certain instances when antibiotics are certainly
needed – or surgery," said Mok. "We work hand-in-hand
with medical physicians and hopefully, in time, doctors will
overcome the ’our medicine vs. your medicine’ way of thinking
and feel that way, too. The bottom line is patient care, and
whatever works for them. That’s what we want to do."
And they say that their treatments are only as effective as their
patients – who have to be as careful about their sleeping and
eating patterns as these acupuncturists are about where they
place their needles.
For more information about Cornerstone
Healing, see the Spa Directory.
