Covid-era muses & offerings.

>>> Acute Viral Support: Consultations & Herbs

I offer 20-30 minute pulse/tongue consultations by appointment (or drop in if you don’t mind possibly waiting in line) to get people the herbs they need to overcome any mild acute symptoms or post-symptoms of fatigue, body aches or other sequelae of acute Wind invasion with cold and flu-like symptoms. Telemedicine available.

$50 for short consultation; cost of remedies varies.

<<< BOOK HERE >>>

Prescriptions are based on current traditional Chinese, Western herbal, and outpatient allopathic medical knowledge. Prescriptions include supplements and herbs that are supportive for acute symptoms such as body aches, headache, nausea, fever, chills; as well as lingering effects such as brain fog, fatigue and cough/shortness of breath. Anti-coagulation (blood stasis) herbal remedies are often helpful, and anxiety support and sleep support herbs can be supportive as well.

If you are still testing positive or likely still contagious, please let me know and we will conduct your appointment over Zoom, or in the garden outdoors at distance, with KN95 masks on.

Take care and I’m here if you need me… 

Alison Wood MSOM L.Ac,

clinical herbalist, owner of Abalone Apothecary

>>> Perspectives on Covid

I completed my last of 900+clinical hours in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine during the first few months of lockdown. My clinic supervisors pointed us to incredible resources from China illustrating the many herbal formulas that are useful in treating the variety of manifestations of this illness. There is a massive body of scientific literature that is mostly in Chinese, but also in English, to verify the validity of these herbal therapies, if you feel a need for scientific data to prove what traditional medicine traditions can, or cannot do.

From that experience I came away learning two things:

1. Covid is not the same for everyone. Check out this Oxford risk calculator for a rough-strokes sense of known risk from a biomedical perspective. Apart from the known risk factors (such as age and obesity) each individual must receive custom treatment based on what they are experiencing in their bodies, what is their baseline of health going into the infection, and what stage of illness they are in. This applies to any and all “Wind-invasion” or upper respiratory ague - or anything at all, really.

2. There are wonderful herbal treatments that are supportive for this time. Most folks are coming in for Long-Covid type presentations, which seem to be reliably treatable with herbs. Some of my Covid-related patients have come to me for help with psycho-emotional issues and insomnia due to stress from the global Covid measures and ensuing mental health challenges. Others seek herbs and treatments for symptoms of acute viral infection. I do not discriminate; I treat what comes to me with compassion.

As far as precautions related to preventing spread of illness I take your safety very seriously:

• I have a medical-grade ionizing air filter running both in my apothecary and treatment space.

• I launder linens frequently and deep-clean my space regularly.

• I nebulize anti-viral essential oils in the treatment space.

• I wash my hands frequently before, during, and after your treatment.

• I do not come to work if I have symptoms of an upper respiratory illness, and I communicate with you if I think I might have had exposure to anyone who might have Covid.

• I do not spend time in population-dense places or crowded indoor environments - I live in a rural area and have a low-risk lifestyle in terms of infectious disease exposure.

• If I have a sniffle or on the rare occasion that I have been in population-dense indoor environments or have recently travelled - or upon your request - I wear an N95 mask during your treatment.

>>> my policy: Communication.

I request that if you have had:

• likely exposure

• recent symptoms

• recent travel via airplane or to an urban/population dense setting

• a known case of Covid-19

that you communicate this to me ahead of your appointment. We can come up with creative solutions to protect the community and still get you support, such as outdoor treatments in zero-gravity chairs or remote check-ins over Zoom and pickup or drop-off of needed herbal remedies.

I am careful, humble, and unafraid - and I want to empower you to be careful, humble, and unafraid, as well. Trust your body and its ability to heal. Viruses are a part of our reality, always have been and always will be. I am here to support the community to use the many tools and gifts of the natural healing arts in order to heal, to thrive, and to live in harmony with our biome… not in opposition to it. We are the terrain, the microcosm is the macrocosm, and thorough strengthening our spiritual and physical bodies, and supporting one another, we can use this, and every illness, as an opportunity for learning about ourselves and learning how to be interconnected well.