LAURA JOHNSON
Staff Writer
A fountain can be heard in the distance and music off of the Malibu Shaman’s latest album is playing overhead. Suddenly, the phone rings, and the serene mood is abruptly interrupted.
“Hello, Malibu Acupuncture and Herbs. How may I help you?” the receptionist says.
With Chinese herbal vitamins lining the walls and two rooms to do the actual needle work, the place is tiny, but this is the way that Bridget Perrin Gardner, licensed acupuncturist, or L.Ac., likes it. The quaintness gives her a very personal and comfortable relationship with her patients, and having a patient who is relaxed is the only way for the treatment to truly work.
“It’s not a whole crystal thing,” said Gardner of her trade. “Acupuncture is about real energy, energy which we can feel. Like mixing the food you eat with the air you breathe, cells burning the energy and so on. Your body is alive.”
Placing incredibly thin (approximately 20 of these could fit into a hypodermic flow needle), sterile needles in specific points on the body, an acupuncturist locates the pain and works to relieve it. Once the needle is put in the blood stream, the cells attack the foreign object, sending sensations of tingling up and down the body. In other words, it gets the blood flowing.
According to Gardner, this ancient technique may be used for anything and everything in between. Although usually associated with pain, it also can help with depression, infertility, stomach problems, toothaches, asthma and even addictions.
“Usually, when a patient comes in with a certain problem, really there is something else that runs deeper within that person,” said Gardner. “My main goal is to find that root.”
Gardner likes to say she doesn’t cure a person’s disease but their patterns.
Gardner’s specialty lies in the arena of addiction. When a patient comes in and wants to kick their smoking habit, Gardner makes a list of all the things they need to do along with the acupuncture.
“It’s really a 50 percent chance that acupuncture will work with smoking, but the main thing is doing everything possible to make sure a person won’t be tempted to start again.”
Junior Courtney Stringer knows first hand how acupuncture can help the body. Stringer started seeing Gardner last fall at the suggestion of her father, after allergies and back pain was becoming unbearable.
“Acupuncture has been great actually,” said Stringer, “Everything ends up intertwining. Like because my back pain has gone away, I am way less stressed out, making college life way easier.”
Gardner said she loves her job most when she hears things like this. Getting to know her patients on a personal level is something that Gardner is most adamant about.
“She takes a lot of time to get to know you,” Stringer said. “She becomes your friend.” she said.
Gardner likes to be known as “just Bridget” to her patients. After receiving her L.Ac. degree a few years ago, she knew she wanted to open a clinic in Malibu because she has lived here her whole life.
In order to get her degree, Gardner first had the arduous task of passing the California State Acupuncture exam, which only 30 percent of all people pass on their first attempt. With such a low passing rate, Gardner still said she found it easy.
Drawn by its natural appeal, Chinese medicine was a perfect fit for the acupuncturist. However, this doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have any time for Western medicine at all. On the contrary, Gardner went to medical school for a while just so she could learn more about the body. Her philosophy is to find the combination of Western and Chinese medicine that will work best for her patient.
Acupuncture is about much more than just being poked with little sharp objects. According to Gardner, Chinese medicine, which dates back to 3rd century B.C.E., is the oldest kind of medicine still practiced today. The idea behind acupuncture is to get one’s energy or “qi” (pronounced “chee”) flowing through the body.
Sometimes needles can be placed in what may seem like odd locations. For example, when an acupuncturist wants to narrow in on something in the brain, he or she might put a few pins in the bottom of the foot because this is the best area to awaken certain areas of the brain.
For the person who is afraid of needles, acupuncture may seem like a daunting procedure. However, it actually is virtually painless. Plus, one can see results many times after he or she’s first visit. Though the cost for that first visit is $150, it drops steeply to $90 dollars for subsequent appointments.
Yet Gardner reminds patrons that acupuncture is not an alternative to every other type of medicine; it is simply another option on a list of things to make a person feel better.
03-30-2006
