August 3, 2014 by Elizabeth Girard, MS, L.Ac.
Do you take Advil or Tylenol more than once a week?
Are you popping tums or taking a laxative more than once a week?
Do you take medication for blood pressure and or type II diabetes?
Taking medication can often be like just putting a band aid over the problem. A good example of this is when someone gets a headache and they take a Tylenol. Is that Tylenol actually fixing what was wrong or “out of balance” within our bodies? What caused the headache in the first place? Possible causes could be hunger, dehydration, neck and shoulder tension, not enough sleep, and or anxiety/stress. Taking that Tylenol alone does not fix any of those causes. I’m not saying medication is not necessary or that you shouldn't take it. What I am saying is fix the cause and hopefully you will be able to decrease or stop the medication all together (with the supervision of your physician). What I commonly see is we want easy quick fixes and if taking a pill helps, we stop there. Over time if you keep masking the causes and not treating the root of the problem they will develop into something harder or more serious to treat.
That’s why I love acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, a healthy diet, nutritional supplements and exercise. These are natural safe ways to treat the root of the problem. These modalities allow your body to be healthy and strong enough to fix imbalances which can prevent and treat disease. The best form of medicine is preventative. In China people don’t just use acupuncture when they are sick but get treatments regularly to prevent issues from even occurring. Remember our bodies are extremely intelligent and they let us know when something is off. Listen to your body and the clues it gives you, stop putting a band aid on it!
If you have questions on this topic or would like some more information about Whole Body Healing, please feel free to contact me.
To Health, Healing and Happiness.
Online appointment scheduling for Health & Wellness July 31, 2014 by Elizabeth Girard, MS, L.Ac. 
Do you suffer from back pain? Well you are not alone! According to the NIH almost every person will suffer from back pain at some point in their life. This can range from a slight twinge that goes on for a couple days to chronic everyday pain.
At Whole Body Healing, low back pain is the most common complaint that I treat patients for. For some people it’s just they slept wrong or lifted too much, other people have had multiple spinal fusions and surgeries and still no relief. I can say with confidence that in both cases 99% of patients will get some sort of relief from acupuncture. Some people feel results immediately and other people it can take a few sessions to notice a change. Acupuncture has an accumulative effect and each session builds on the next. The first session the pain relief may only last a few hours to a few days, the next session hopefully longer and so on. At my office I utilize both acupuncture and massage together. I often joke that my “perfume” is Tiger Balm because I use it so much when giving massages. (Tiger Balm is a topical liniment used for sore muscles.)
Using Acupuncture for low back pain will help decrease the amount of medication you need to take in a safe natural way.
“I have been a patient for 4 months and love it, since beginning I haven't touched an Advil once. The whole experience was well worth it and my doctor was very patient and forthcoming.”
“Always a pleasure getting treatment at Whole Body Healing. I had a wonderful acupuncture session with one of the best and most focused massages afterwards. As I was getting dressed I realized that I had a massive increase in my range on motion. I will absolutely be going back again soon!”
If you suffer from low back pain or any painful condition, please feel free to contact me.
To Health, Healing and Happiness!
Online appointment scheduling for Health & Wellness July 29, 2014 
If you have received an acupuncture treatment from me, than most likely you have had a point on top of your head needled. Most people find this odd or even a little funny. It is one of my favorite points to use and it’s great for so many things. I practically use it with all my patients. The points “name” in Chinese medicine is DU 20 or Baihui. Baihui means “one hundred meetings,” and is known to treat one hundred diseases. This point is located approximately at the vertex of the skull along the midline. If you palpate it on yourself you might feel a slight depression and it could even feel like a bruise.
The most common uses for the point in my office are;
Dizziness
High Blood pressure
Trouble sleeping
Anxiety
Headaches
Trouble concentrating
Low energy (fatigue)
Memory issues
Threatened miscarriage
Prolapse of the uterus or rectum
Menstrual issues (excessive bleeding or amenorrhea)
These are just a few conditions that DU20 can be used for but you can see why I needle it so often. So next time you tell someone you had a needle in your head, you can explain to them why.
Hope to see you soon!
To Health, Healing and Happiness!
July 23, 2014 
After reading my last post, I realized I did not talk about what I am doing now. Well six months ago I re-opened Whole Body Healing in Northampton, Massachusetts. I joined an already existing wellness office with a naturopath and psychologist. Working with other health practitioners is important as it allows for a much more comprehensive treatment if necessary. In my practice I mainly use acupuncture, Chinese herbal formulas and massage. I do not use massage alone but in combination with acupuncture and or “cupping”. Acupuncture has been shown to effectively treat many different kinds of ailments but in my office I mainly see patients for women’s health issues, pain and or stress management.
In my last practice I worked with hundreds of women with fertility issues. I helped couples to conceive both naturally or assisted with IUI or IVF. Acupuncture can help increase IVF success by 70%. That is a huge considering how expensive an IVF procedure and the medications can be. Acupuncture during this time is important as it can be both emotionally and physically demanding. You want your body to be as healthy as possible. In treating women’s health I also work with menstrual irregularities and perimenopausal symptoms.
Pain management is what most people think of when they think of using acupuncture. There are thousands of studies that show acupuncture to be effective in treating low back pain, knee and shoulder injuries. It can also help with chronic headaches or migraines. It is great that you can get a reduction in pain without the use of pain medication. It has also been found to make the pain medications work more effectively so you can decrease the dose and frequency of its use. I don’t need to tell you how addictive pain killers can be and how big of a problem this has become. I feel good knowing I can help patients reduce their pain in a safe and natural way. Feeling relaxed and maybe taking a nap on the table are the main “side effects”. I personally have given thousands of acupuncture treatments for pain. I have seen people be able to put off surgeries, reduce pain meds and even completely heal after years of suffering in pain.
Lastly and the most important thing I treat is stress, anxiety and depression. There is nothing better than seeing people be able to find joy in their life again. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can’t make the stress in your life go away but it can calm you enough to move you in the right direction. There are always going to be “stressful” things in your life, it’s just how you perceive and manage them. Research has shown how acupuncture can be just as effective as some medications at regulating serotonin levels, without the negative side effects. For me seeing the shift in people from before the treatment to after the treatment is why I love what I do. People come in grumpy or anxious and leave relaxed with a smile.
So what am I doing now? Hopefully making people healthy and happy!
To Health, Healing and Happiness.
July 17, 2014 by Elizabeth Girard, MS, L.Ac.
Hello! In case you do not already know me, my name is Elizabeth Girard. I am a licensed acupuncturist, wife and mom to my beautiful daughter Adie. I love my profession and am very passionate about health in general. I always knew that I was going to be in the health field but never really expected to be an acupuncturist. I grew up in a small town and never even heard of acupuncture and Chinese medicine until I went away to college. Like many others in my field, I came to this medicine because of my own health issues. I saw how western medicine was very limited in treating my condition and had become frustrated. After ending up in the hospital for a short stay, I sought out alternatives and stumbled onto Chinese medicine. You can read more details of this on my website under “My Story”.
I have my masters in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine and was lucky enough to attend one of the best school in the country. The school allowed for many fantastic and life changing opportunities. I volunteered in a hospice for over a year providing end of life care to terminally ill patients and their families. I have worked in free clinics for the homeless as well as private practices. Most recently I owned and operated, for 5 years, Whole Body Healing, in South Burlington Vermont. I provided in and out patient acupuncture treatments. I was even asked into large corporations to provide acupuncture in house to help decrease stress and work with smoking cessation. I have given lectures several times to UVM medical students and Fletcher Allen’s free community outreach programs.
When I am not at my office or being a mom and wife, I am always reading new research and continue to learn new things. I hope that my blog will provide some good information about health and inspire others to make necessary changes to their life. To health, healing and happiness!
July 17, 2014 Welcome to my most recent blog! I took a short hiatus from writing while transitioning into my new practice and focused my free time on being a new mom. Now that I am reaching my 6 month anniversary of opening my new space in Northampton, Massachusetts, I figure it is time to get creative again.
The reason for this blog besides allowing myself the occasional rant session, is to hopefully educate and inspire you, the readers. I love my profession as an acupuncturist and healer. It is part of my "job" to pass along everything I know so that you too can live a happier and healthier life. So to health, healing and happiness, enjoy!
January 1, 2012 by Elizabeth Girard, MS, L.Ac.My Favorite Homemade Granola
2 Cups whole grain quick rolled oats
¼ cup of crushed pistachios
¼ cup of maple syrup
2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 tsp on vanilla
"zest" of one orange
¼ cup of golden raisins
¼ cup of craisins ( I like the flavored ones, cherry or orange)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients and orange zest together. Leave the dried fruit out to the side.
• In another bowl mix the sweetener, oil and vanilla extract
• Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Spread the granola in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
• Add dried fruit and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let it cool on the baking sheet. Once the granola has cooled, store in a closed container.
*Tip: Place some fresh raspberries and chopped banana in a bowl, top with Greek yogurt and then add the granola. YUMMY!
