"The process is so holistic and has many nutritional aspects to it" 

DIXON, CA (MPG) - Ancient Chinese Medicine isn't as scary as it used to be. I used to envision what it would be like getting my extra-sensitive self stuck by needles slowly being pushed into my body and knew it would hurt--but that wasn't the case at all.

I had tried everything else to stop incessant hunger and decided that after all these years, sticking a needle into the muscle that sends the message to my brain that I am hungry might be possible. Could it be blocked? I wanted to find out.

I didn't have to look far. Across my desk came the City of Dixon Business License notice for Christian Iwanicki, Certified Acupuncturist, located right here in town. I took it as a sign. I called and right away felt comfortable with her exceptional knowledge of the bigger picture: How we care for our bodies in western civilization versus Eastern.

"The Eastern perspective is based on the whole body and we use Chinese Medicine as a diagnostic lens and therefore we can potentially treat anything," Christian said.

Before going back to college for my journalism degree, I was a certified childbirth educator and later worked as an Assistant Midwife who worked from the belief system that our babies and our bodies were perfectly designed. When provided healthy foods, air and exercise, we'd thrive and when we needed additional help, it was always better to go with the most natural remedies and non-invasive medical tools if at all possible.

When I first met with Christian, we discussed my limited knowledge of Acupressure Massage which I learned to alleviate childbirth pain and she brought out a diagram of an ear showing how all the various points connected to other parts of the body.

"If you look at it, it's even in the shape of a baby in utero," she said. I was immediately enamored with her. Of course it did.

But in today's society, it is rare that anyone even gets exposed to medical alternatives since popping a pill is not only easy, if you have Kaiser, it's pretty inexpensive, too.

Christian learned about it because her mother had dire migraines and had sought alternative medicine. When Christian was 9-years-old, she would go with her mom and clearly recalls walking up the steps to a "pretty older home" and feeling a sense that she would do this kind of work in her future.

"I truly believe [that feeling] was a message," she said. "I think it was God." That consideration is understandable not only because of her namesake but also because she attended Neighborhood Christian School and Woodland Christian High School.

Then, when Christian was in high school, she got thrown from a horse and was seriously injured. She was in a lot of pain and the doctor prescribed Opioids. Her mother took her back to the Acupuncturist.

"The process is so holistic and has many nutritional aspects to it," Christian said. "It's been around for several thousand years." Chinese medicine actually dates back to the 11th Century Shang Dynasty. Some of the earliest writings were written on tortoise shells and bone.

Christian admits she struggled in high school and in discovering what she wanted to do with her life while in her early twenties but when she was struggling with her own health issues--and could not get help with traditional western health medicine, she got more serious about studying eastern medicine.

Ill health is understood as a stagnation, deficiency, or the improper movement of the qi or blood and may result in an imbalance of yin and yang, she explained.

While Acupuncture is well known in the respect of using needles, Christian talked freely about her other therapeutic tools. There are herbs, cupping, massage, and dietary recommendations to restore health. She learned these things when she went to the Acupuncture and Integrated Medicine College in Berkeley where she ultimately received a master’s degree. Subjects included rigorous academics in Eastern and Western labs, clinical and pharmacology.

"California has the most stringent laws," she said as she placed warm suction cups all over my back, tightening them ever so lightly so that I could feel them grip the skin and slightly raise some of the muscle underneath my flab. It didn't hurt at all and I relaxed to her soothing voice as she talked. It's hard to describe the soreness also feeling soothing but over the course of 20 minutes, I felt completely relieved of tension and the ache in my right shoulder caused by some arthritis developing from constantly working at the computer went away.

"The cups are like a deep tissue massage because they access the fascia and musculature," she said adding that they are growing in popularity. She also inserted several needles in various places but I could barely feel a prick if anything at all. This relief lasted a good two weeks until the stress of Dixon's elections consumed me. Fortunately, each treatment averages approximately $70. I had acupuncture and the cupping twice about two weeks apart. I did absolutely lose my chronic hunger during that time.

In the United States, Chinese medicine is also becoming increasingly integrated with biomedical practices and is often used in conjunction with medical treatments and psychological care. These providers are licensed as a separate profession in 44 states and the District of Columbia. There are 27,000 of such providers who work independently in the healthcare community to treat a variety of medical conditions and support the maintenance of health and reduction of stress.

"I'm really excited I'm in practice in this town where I grew up," she said. Christian and her husband live in Dixon and her father, Joe Quinn, serves on the Dixon Planning Commission. In her off time, she enjoys training her dog and says she's "addicted to weight lifting."

Her efficient office is clean and welcoming. It is located at 805 North Lincoln across from Northwest Park and across from Demaray Chiropractic. The practice is by appointment only. Call (707) 592-6826.