Sleep is an issue that sometimes may be overlooked and it may result in interfering with a person’s daily routine and efficiency, which may also contribute to fatigue one may experience. Joy Junghee Kim, a licensed acupuncturist and practitioner of Oriental medicine said there are two types of fatigue, temporary and chronic. Temporary fatigue is caused by overwork, seasonal factors and stress. Whereas the chronic fatigue is often caused by poor diet, insomnia and imbalance in one’s constitution or long term illness.
“Acupuncture and herbal treatment can provide stress relief and help a person recover from exhaustion and seasonal fatigue.” She said. “Chronic fatigue is more complicated. Treating chronic fatigue means the person has to change his lifestyle to fit his constitution in addition to receiving the treatments. A treatment consisting of acupuncture and herbs can help speed the process and give a person more energy, but he did not get to this state in just one day, do long lasting, positive effects take time to achieve. Western Medicine is very different in that treatments often cure the symptom in a short time, while Eastern Medicine takes longer, but gets to the root.”
“Some patients come to me because they have heard success stories from other patients, while other people may still refuge the treatment because of their own skeptism or their fear of the needles. These concerns include the safety of ingesting herbs and the effectiveness of needles even though they have tried all other means without seeing any success. However, the important thing is that since this medicine has been around for more than 5,000 years, any methods that could have caused harmful side effects were found a long time ago and eliminated.” She said with a laugh.
Joy said many people seem to think all herbs and herbal products are good for everyone since they are natural. However, different herbs can affect different constitutions differently. Take Ginseng as an example. It is a very good tonic herb but it is not suitable for everyone since each person has a different constitution. It is best to determine what herbs benefit to you the most by an herbal practitioner.
“Some people take vitamins or energy pills or drink a cup of coffee on daily basis to counteract the effects of their fatigue and when they forget, they feel run down. After a person has been treated with herbs and acupuncture for a time, the results are longer lasting and build up in their system”, she said.
Diagnosing a patient’s constitutional imbalance and tailoring a diet & treatment program to bring his can achieve long-lasting health benefits or his body back to a state of health and harmony. This is the goal that Joy Junghee Kim guides her patients toward everyday.
