Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
A16 BUSINESS Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, August 21, 2019 Eagle Cap Wellness expands current clinic, opens new site By Ellen Morris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain Acupuncture, which orig- inated in China more than 2,000 years ago, is one of the oldest existing therapies in medicine—and one of the newest in Wallowa County. It’s also one of the fastest growing medical practices here, with four acupunc- turists in the county offer- ing treatments for a full spectrum of medical needs, from eliminating wrinkles to reducing chronic physi- cal pain to managing stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as treating internal medical issues. Acupuncture is in such great demand here that Eagle Cap Wellness has moved to larger quarters in the EM&M Building at 117 East Main Street in Enter- prise. And they have opened a second, walk-in clinic in Joseph. That facility, at 4 South Main Street, Joseph, is open only on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and offers “walk-in acupuncture,” with no appointment necessary. The catch, or maybe the advan- tage, is that your treatment will be in an open room with up to four other people pres- ent, and in varying stages of their individual session. While that doesn’t afford much privacy, some stud- ies suggest that acupunc- ture in a group setting may actually enhance or amplify the effect of individual treat- ments. The other advantage is that each treatment costs only $25. Licensed acupunctur- ist Jamie Slagel, MACOM, LAc, opened Eagle Cap Wellness in 2016 with a small, one-room studio inside Belle Salon. Slagel is a 2014 graduate of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, holding a masters degree (MACOM) in acu- puncture and oriental med- icine. She fi ne-tuned her formal education here with studies and practice at Nan- Ellen Morris Bishop Essential oils and herbal medicines are important components of treatments at Eagle Cap Wellness. Ellen Morris Bishop Acupuncturist Jamie Slagel, MACOM, LAC, applies thin acupuncture needles to a patient’s arm for treatment of anxiety. jing University in China. “In China, the hospitals offer specialized acupuncture more than traditional medi- cine,” Slagel said. “You can walk into a hospital or clinic, and fi nd a wing dedicated to acupuncture for specifi c kinds of internal medicine, or cosmetics, or psycho- logical needs. There’s less of what we consider here, and the pharmacological offerings are more oriented toward herbal medicines.” Demand for her services mushroomed. And so when the Enterprise City Hall moved out of their tempo- rary quarters and into their new building, Slagel saw an opportunity to expand. Eagle Cap Wellness took their space (117 East Main Street), adding three new treatment rooms. With more space, Eagle Cap Wellness added a second acupunc- turist, Julia Collins, who is also a graduate of the Ore- gon College of Oriental Medicine. Collins brings a talent for Yoga and certifi - cation in Shiatsu massage to the practice, along with a deep interest in caregiv- ing, hospice and the benefi ts of acupuncture and herbal medicine for an aging pop- ulation. “When I was going to medical school, I was a caregiver for a man who had been injured when a car ran into his bicycle,” she said. He became a paraplegic as a result. “It was a very moving experience, and it inspired me to think and learn more about caring for people who needed more help.” With two acupunctur- ists on staff, Slagel wanted someone with a complemen- tary background. She found that in Bonnie Wickwire, a board-certifi ed chiroprac- PUBLISHED BY THE COMING SOON IN YOUR WALLOWA COUNTY CHIEFTAIN! Get your 2019 Round-Up magazine FREE ($5 value) when you purchase the Sept. 4 edition of the Chieftain newspaper. TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL 541-426-4567 or log onto https://www.wallowa.com/subscribe-now tor and naturopath, who had been working at Winding Waters’ Holistic Health and Healing Clinic. Wickwire brings more than 25 years of experience, including teach- ing at Portland’s colleges of Naturopathy and Chiroprac- tic. She is an expert at sooth- ing tired backs, realigning painful spines, and prescrib- ing herbal medicines that can extinguish pain, soothe digestive upsets, and calm frayed nerves. “We have a really exten- sive stock of herbal med- icines here,” Slagel said. People can come by, talk with us, and pick up all kinds of supplements instead of ordering from the Internet. We take pride in the qual- ity of our supplements and are trying to have a compre- hensive and thorough phar- macy.” Some of the bottles sport labels in Chinese. Sla- gel pulled one of them off the shelf and pointed to the ingredients, listed in English on the back. “This one has some scorpion in it,” she said cheerfully. “It helps treat Bell’s Palsy.” To most of us, the idea of sticking needles into our arms, face, ears, back or neck hardly seems like a way to reduce pain or treat anxiety. And yet it works. “Some of the high school athletes use acupuncture and cupping to help them recover after an event,” Slagel said. “It’s really pretty popular.” Other applications of acupuncture include dental pain, head- aches, including migraines, and the pains associate with labor and childbirth. “We encourage people to reach out to us for whatever might be ailing them,” Slagel said. Acupuncture is based on the ancient Chinese princi- pal that energy (qi) fl ows through our bodies along pathways known as merid- ians. By inserting very thin needles into these meridians, the fl ow of energy can be rebalanced to alleviate pain, establish a more positive energy in the brain, thus alle- viating stress, anxiety and depression, or just get exces- sively tight muscles to relax. A more Western understand- ing of the process is that acu- puncture points are actually places where inserted nee- dles stimulate nerves, mus- cles, and connective tissues, and the body’s production of stress-relieving hormones known as endorphins. However acupuncture works, the procedure is generally painless — with occasional very minimal pain--when the needles are inserted or removed. They are virtually un-noticable while they are there. Slagel and Collins do their work and then allow their patients to lie comfortably and qui- etly for exactly 27 minutes before returning to remove the needles painlessly. That is the precise time required for the qi to be optimally balanced, Slagel said. While conventional med- icine may still harbor some reservations about the true effectiveness of acupunc- ture, many studies indi- cate that it works for a wide variety of ailments, espe- cially for those who take it seriously. For example, the National Institute of Health reports that “.. acupuncture may help ease types of pain that are often chronic such as low back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis/knee pain. It also may help reduce the frequency of tension head- aches and prevent migraine headaches. Therefore, acu- puncture appears to be a rea- sonable option for people with chronic pain to con- sider. “ And a comprehensive study of acupuncture’s effectiveness for treatment of depression, published in the prestigious Journal of Affective Disorders con- cluded that “….acupuncture was an effective treatment that could reduce the sever- ity of disease in patients with depression.” The increased popularity of acupuncture in Wallowa County suggests that many people here fi nd it benefi - cial. With growing options and opportunities for treat- ment, this ancient medicine is going to be here for a long time to come.
