- Cloud 9 Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine22 West Padonia Rd. Suite A-203
Timonium, MD 21093
Stress & Anxiety
Avoid Side Effects of Anti-Depressants with Natural Alternatives
Anxiety and Depression are at all time highs over the last few years. Mental health has become a crucial focus in health care and many folks have newly sought out relief with anti-depressant medications.
However, many do not enjoy the unwanted side effects of anti-depressants. Whether it’s weight gain, fatigue, a completely flat affect (never feeling “big emotions” of anger, sadness, or joy), low libido, or impotence, patients seek out alternative options.
Acupuncture helps with anxiety and depression by improving the neurotransmitter response in the brain, and providing a balancing effect to the different bio-hormones in the body. Dr. Parks has extensive experience treating anxiety, depression, and PTSD using acupuncture, helping patients to either reduce or eliminate medications and side effects.
For the last 3 years, Dr. Parks has added an additional therapy to help called Brain TapTM, a headset that utilizes light and sound with guided meditations designed to create new synapses and open new pathways in the brain, allowing patients to experience faster and deeper states of relaxation using similar techniques to hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming. Most patients report becoming so relaxed that they drift asleep during their session, especially when combining acupuncture with the Brain TapTM headset.
Certain vitamin injection therapy provides a significant reduction in inflammation within the brain and nervous system, which has created vast improvements with anxiety and depression.
Each patient is considered on a case by case basis as to what therapies will be most appropriate for their treatment goals, after a thorough medical consultation and intake with Dr. Parks, with over a 90% success rate in reducing anxiety and depression naturally.
The Best Way to Find the Best Acupuncture Clinic for You
Whether you’re suffering from low back pain, or neuropathy, infertility or headaches, you’ll want to find the best acupuncture clinic that suits your needs the best.
The very best way is to call and speak with the receptionist of your clinic of interest and ask them if they have experience in or specialize in your primary condition you are seeking care for. While most acupuncturists have trained extensively for 3-5 years in graduate level study acupuncture programs, and receive a Master’s degree or a Doctorate (also known as a Acupuncture Physician), it’s still best to work with an acupuncturist or clinic that has experienced success in treating your condition.
Some questions you can ask when you phone a prospective acupuncture clinic:
Has the acupuncturist treated my type of condition before?
What is the success rate of treating my condition at this clinic?
How many years of experience does the acupuncturist have?
Do you offer any additional therapies beyond acupuncture to help address my condition?
What can I expect during my first visit? (Is it just a consultation, or will I receive treatment that day?)
Most of our patients are referred by word of mouth, from former patients who have also experienced success. Our acupuncturist Dr. Laura Parks does specialize in chronic, complex conditions and has been practicing for over 13 years. She received her acupuncture doctorate from Five Branches University, and acupuncture masters from Maryland University of Integrative Health (formerly Tai Sophia). Dr. Parks has been treating Fertility patients for over 13 years and specializing in neuropathy for over 4 years, with over a 85% success rate.
Becoming Resilient to Stress
I once had to write an essay on the book, “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” by Robert Sapolsky and I can summarize it to this day… The sympathetic nervous system elicits the “fight or flight” response. A third response is to freeze in place.
Modern humans often freeze in place, stall. Usually, we do not fight others or run (flight) like zebras run away from lions, but we just sit or stand in place, doing the same exact thing physically we were doing prior to the stress trigger. The cortisol elevates with the stressor, the adrenaline surges… and we sit (or stand) in place instead of using that fuel to launch into a sprint away from a predator (lion, tiger or bear, oh my!)
Zebras have no choice. They run or they die, or they run and die. Either way, they really must run. In turn, their bodies burn off the adrenaline surge and other stress hormones. This is why they do not get ulcers.
However, humans do get ulcers, because their ancient wiring “fight or flight” response designed to keep them alive during times of war with neighboring tribes, or being hunted by predators, simply goes off at very inopportune times… like when we’re stuck in traffic, or getting flack from our boss, or a friend phones with bad news … goes off, constantly, daily, sometimes multiple times per hour. This creates a cascade effect with the nervous system, the neuro-endocrine hormones and creates inflammation, extra body fat, cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, anxiety, panic attacks, headaches, autoimmune disease, insomnia, and more. Everyone responds to stress differently.
Most people respond very well to acupuncture because it brings the nervous system and endocrine system into balance. Over time, with regular acupuncture treatment, patients become less triggered by stress as the “fight or flight” response becomes much more self-regulated.
Acupuncture & Insomnia
Often, patients begin to notice insomnia creeping in at the change of the seasons, especially as we move into springtime. With the added sunlight and the sun setting later in the day, our bodies and minds feel invigorated after a long and arduous winter. For some, the mind “just won’t turn off at bedtime,” for others, the thoughts from the day are set on “rinse and repeat.”
Further still, some are physically restless and simply do not feel tired, until it gets so late past bedtime that they are exhausted and yet, some still cannot sleep. Of course, lest we forget our moms with young children who also suffer sleeplessness, passing their insomnia on to their parents by proxy. Pain also is a large factor of sleep disturbance, which is treated swiftly by acupuncture by reducing chronic pain.
The good news is, Acupuncture Can Help. Regular acupuncture treatment helps to regulate the neuro-endocrine system, balancing the nervous system, cortisol levels and hormones. Many of our patients can attest to acupuncture also reducing anxiety and stress levels, contributing to a better nights sleep. Cloud 9 has a signature Insomnia Treatment Program to solve your insomnia once and for all. Begin with a Consultation.
Fertility Journey Success!
We would shout it from the rooftops if we could!
Sometimes, a Fertility Story is so good we just can’t not share the good, good news!
Another Pregnancy! This Patient tried for over 18 months prior to starting with Cloud 9, with advanced maternal age, PCOS, Fibroid surgery, history of chronic autoimmune conditions NOW improved on bloodwork panels.
7 pregnancy tests and Bloodwork Prove It! She’s Pregnant BEFORE her scheduled IVF cycle!
Congrats to our patient, we are over the moon excited for you and your fertility journey and can’t wait to support you the entire pregnancy for the goals of healthy mom, healthy baby.
