Acupuncture for Anxiety

Today, anxiety isn't just a common ailment but an epidemic. Anxiety disorders affected an estimated 19% of the US adult population last year and over 30% of people in the United States will experience it at some point in their lives. Fast-paced lifestyles, poor diet, and disrupted sleep contribute to making it one of the most prevalent mental health illnesses. This leads a large number of people to seek relief with natural solutions. Here's what can help.

Prevalence of Anxiety

Anxiety affects a significant portion of the population. It manifests across mental, physical, and social dimensions. It doesn't just impact your mental health but also physical well-being, social relationships, routine activities, and overall quality of life. This underscores the need for holistic treatments so you can lead a joyful, stress-resilient life.

Acupuncture Can Help

Acupuncture, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practice, has emerged as a powerful tool for alleviating anxiety and its effects. It can help reduce your sensitivity to pain and stress, promoting a state of calm. The practice can also help ease headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, and insomnia. It also improves circulation, promotes hormonal balance, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, and relieves both mental and physical symptoms of anxiety.

Anxiety can impact your social life, but acupuncture can help you feel more relaxed and less overwhelmed. It boosts your access to your own confidence and social interaction skills, making it easier to participate more in your community and social circles. Acupuncture takes a holistic approach to overall well-being and works right from the root. It targets what patterns are at the core and not just the symptoms for a sense of wellness.

When the acupuncturist inserts fine needles into the acupoints (specific points on the body), it helps stimulate your body's healing processes. This can rebalance the flow of vital energy (Qi) and significantly reduce anxiety levels.

Experience Healing With Double Happiness Health

At Double Happiness Health, led by Christine Friel, L.Ac. in San Francisco, we're a trusted health and wellness center. With over two decades of experience,  the Double Happiness Health team offers patient-centric approaches to treating the whole individual. They customizes each treatment plan to include not just acupuncture but also high-quality herbal formulations, nutritional counseling, and manual therapy techniques for comprehensive care.

When you visit our clinic, you can expect all-inclusive care combining ancient wisdom and contemporary science to experience the best of both worlds. Our patients report feeling a sense of never-experienced relaxation immediately after their sessions. Over time, acupuncture shows significant improvements in their anxiety levels and overall quality of life.

If you're in or around San Francisco, you'd want to visit us to experience the difference. Acupuncture is a natural, holistic, less intrusive solution to managing anxiety. Choose us to enhance your overall health under expert and compassionate care.

Book Your Appointment Now

Battling anxiety? Seek holistic treatments at Double Happiness Health in San Francisco. Achieving a calmer, more balanced state of being is just a call away. Get in touch at 415-255-2252 to explore how the experienced team at Double Happiness Health in the Mission District can help you experience healing and rediscovery.

Acupuncture for Thin Endometrial Lining

Acupuncture for Thin Endometrial Lining

Are you experiencing fertility issues? Could a thin endometrial lining be an obstacle in your journey? Here’s how acupuncture might be the breakthrough solution you’ve been looking for.

What Is Thin Endometrial Lining?

The endometrium, or the uterus lining, is one factor in a successful conception and pregnancy. The lining must be sufficiently thick and healthy for the implantation of an embryo. If the lining is too thin, implantation becomes difficult or even impossible. This can lead to infertility or frequent miscarriages.

Hormonal imbalances, reduced blood flow to the uterus, prolonged use of certain medications, and past uterine surgeries are common reasons for a thin endometrial lining. Women experiencing this condition struggle with a lot of frustration and uncertainties. Traditional East Asian medicine offers natural yet effective treatment to improve the chances of a successful pregnancy.

Experience the Power of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), balancing the body’s vital energy, called qi (pronounced chi), and allowing it to flow along its specific channels or meridians. It’s that gentle yet powerful nudge your body needs to awaken its incredible power.

At Double Happiness Health, we’ve been empowering women to optimize their fertility with acupuncture. The practice helps improve blood flow to the uterus, regulate hormones, and promote a healthy endometrial lining. We combine this technique with nutritional counseling, herbal medicine, and lifestyle adjustments, offering a comprehensive treatment plan. Stimulating specific points on the body, we ensure that acupuncture supports your body’s natural ability to heal and restore balance.

The team at Double Happiness Health can help.

Under the expert guidance of Christine Friel L.Ac, the Double Happiness Health team is dedicated to offering tailored solutions for your unique health needs. The practice has been open since since 2003 and specializes in Oriental reproductive medicine, orthopedics, and functional medicine. We has successfully treated thousands of women, helping them achieve their fertility goals.

Our compassionate and expert care can help you attain amazing results and greater well-being. Book a consultation with us to discover how acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can manage various reproductive issues, enhancing different fertility journeys.

Start Your Journey to Better Health with Us

If you’re struggling with a thin endometrial lining or other fertility issues, the team at Double Happiness Health in San Francisco has your back. We have helped many women overcome fertility challenges, and ewe can help you, too. Visit Double Happiness Health or call us at 415-255-2252 to book your appointment because you deserve hope, healing, and the power of ancient.

Magnesium: 10 Ways It Benefits Your Health

A crucial mineral, magnesium helps with our mood regulation, sleep cycling, elimination, energy production, muscle contraction, heart rate, hormone balance and immune function. Unfortunately, due to modern farming practices that deplete our soil of nutrients, our food supply is lacking in this mighty mineral. Compounding the issue, magnesium is found in whole foods that the standard American diet misses. Modern, refined-food diets are not geared toward the very foods that provide the nutrition our bodies need to function optimally.

Magnesium is involved in hundreds of biochemical reactions in your body. In fact, every cell of your body needs it to function. When your dietary intake of magnesium is lacking, it makes you vulnerable to develop certain chronic diseases. Research has linked diseases such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to low levels of magnesium. Fortunately, magnesium is easy to find in foods when you know where to look. It is also generally safe to take as a supplement whether you are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive. You should always check with your doctor or licensed health practitioner to find out if supplementation is safe for you. Read on to understand how magnesium can help you specifically, where to find it in foods and how to navigate choosing the best form of magnesium for you.

Benefits of Magnesium:

1. Stress relief - Magnesium calms the nervous system, moving us out of sympathetic “fight or flight” mode and into parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode. Recent studies show that magnesium helps to reduce anxiety and depression.

2. Reduces muscle contractions-Due to its regulation of muscle contraction, magnesium reduces tension from backaches to menstrual cramps.

3. Improves sleep- Because of it’s calming effect, magnesium is effective in helping folks fall asleep. Taking it at bedtime can also improve sleep quality.

4. Relieves constipation- Magnesium helps draw water into the colon, assisting with elimination. Certain forms of magnesium are not as well absorbed and as a result they work best for the GI tract. Magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide are particularly good to help with constipation.

5. Prevention of migraines and headaches- Some types of headaches and migraines are affected by hormonal fluctuations. Magnesium deficiency may give rise to these types of menstrual headaches. Supplementation with Magnesium Glycinate can be a big help in relieving them.

6. Important in pregnancy- Magnesium could reduce the chances of developing issues with blood pressure such as preeclampsia during pregnancy. Magnesium is also essential for fetal development.

7. Bone Health- Magnesium is an important building block for bone tissue. A large 2014 study linked low magnesium intake with reduced bone density- which increases risk of osteoporosis.

8. Insulin sensitivity- Research shows that people with the highest intake of magnesium have the lowest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Supplementation has been shown to reduce blood sugar in some people.

9. Reduces blood pressure- Magnesium helps lower blood pressure in folks with low levels of magnesium, but does not have the same impact on those with normal levels of magnesium.

10. Supports thyroid function- Magnesium is key to help your thyroid produce the right amounts of hormones. Severely low levels of magnesium are linked with the swelling of the thyroid- also known as a goiter- in those with hyperthyroidism.

Food Sources of Magnesium:

The following foods are excellent sources of magnesium:

• Pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews

• Spinach, swiss chard

• Dark chocolate

• Black beans, quinoa,

• Halibut, mackerel

• Avocado

Supplementing With Magnesium- Which Form is Best For You?

• Magnesium Glycinate- One of the best absorbed forms, this is the golden child of magnesium due to its calming effects on anxiety, depression and insomnia as well as its assistance in relaxing muscle tension and improving elimination.

• Magnesium Taurate- Containing the amino acid taurine, this form of magnesium helps regulate blood sugar . Magnesium and taurine also help to promote healthy blood pressure.

• Magnesium L-Threonate- Formed by combining magnesium with threonic acid, this form is easily absorbed. Animal research indicates it may be the most effective in increasing magnesium concentration in brain cells. Magnesium L-Thronate may support brain health, potentially helping with conditions like depression and age-related memory loss.

• Magnesium Malate- Easy on the digestive tract, and with less laxative effect, Mag Malate is sometimes recommended for people who suffer from fibromyalgia as it may be helpful to reduce muscle soreness.

• Magnesium Citrate- Bound with citric acid, Mag Citrate has got a tart taste. it is among the most common to find on the shelf. Due to its natural laxative effect, it is most known for its help in relieving constipation, although it can mildly help with muscle tension and nervous system relaxation.

• Magnesium Chloride- This Mag will not do much to raise your magnesium levels but is often found in topical creams to reduce muscle soreness and tension.

• Magnesium Oxide- Combined with oxygen, this not-well-absorbed form of magnesium makes it a good choice for short term relief of acute constipation or other digestive upsets such as reflux or indigestion.

• Magnesium Lactate- A gentle friend, Mag Lactate is easy on the digestive tract. It’s great for folks who cannot tolerate other forms of magnesium very well or who need to take especially large doses.

• Magnesium Sulfate- This is magnesium combines with sulfur- essentially Epsom salts! This divine salt is frequently used dissolved into bath water. Absorbed transdermally through your skin, magnesium sulfate is helpful to reduce stress and soothe sore muscles.

If you have any questions about whether magnesium is right for you or for help with optimizing your hormonal, gut or musculoskeletal health, we are here to help at Double Happiness Health. Please reach out to us at info@doublehappinesshealth.com

Thrive During Quarantine

Dear Double Happiness Health Community,

With heavy hearts, we temporarily closed our clinic to in-person patient visits on Saturday, two days before the shelter in place directive was given, because we believed the situation warranted extreme caution. We are committed as ever to make your health and safety a priority. While we will be closed for at least three weeks, we look forward to re-opening as soon as we can with all systems in place to provide excellent acupuncture, herbal and massage care while keeping you safe from COVID-19. 

If the projected stats are right, many of us may get sick, and there will  be challenges to our health care systems. The greatest percentage of us will only get a mild version of the virus with manageable symptoms. Supportive care at home will be appropriate in these cases. We'd like to support our patients during this time with free 15-minute consultations with nutritional, herbal and self care advice. Book online with your practitioner here. 

Access our Online Supplement Dispensary for much of what we carry in the clinic, including our suggested immune supplements. For tailored herbal formula's, email us or schedule a 15-min virtual consultation and we will do our best to get those shipped to you asap. 

It is important to prioritize sleep and nutrition. Hopefully you have stocked up your pantry, but if needed, here is a shopping list of healthy and delicious foods to consider. Many of our patients have been contending with some serious anxiety. Read about some helpful strategies we recommend here. If you would like to be a part of a virtual support/meditation group with our staff including Dr. Wali, email us at info@doublehappinesshealth.com.

In the meantime, this is an opportunity for many of us to slow down from our busy, fast, extroverted "yang" oriented lives and experience a more quiet, introspective and slow "yin" state. That can be a challenge, but it will yield benefits that will provide much needed resiliency, immune boosting, creativity and stress relief. Hey, with any luck, you might even get bored!! As it turns out, that's great for your brain.

We so appreciate each of you in our community. The immense support we get from you allows us to exist and do work we love. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Most of all, we wish for you and your loved ones a safe and healthy journey during this trying time. We will get through it together!! 


With Love,
Christine and the DHH Team

Practitioner Highlight: Dr. Janice Mao L.Ac. DACM

Janice Mao is a truly gifted acupuncturist- we are lucky to have her on our team at Double Happiness Health. She represents the 3rd generation of Chinese Medicine Doctors in her family, raised in a traditional household where acupuncture, herbs and foods were routinely used as therapy for common ailments. 

Janice has memories of observing her grandmother, who was a revered acupuncturist in New Mexico, working with patients. Seeing the impact she had on changing peoples lives gave Janice a deep respect for the medicine. Janice had a first career as a fashion and textile designer for 12 years, but she always knew she would eventually become a doctor of Chinese Medicine. She returned to school and graduated with a masters from ACTCM in 2016 and then earned a doctorate in Traditional Chinese medicine. Janice has a real love for herbal medicine and tailoring formulas for the individual. One of her favorite things about practicing Chinese Medicine is the relationships she forms with patients and making a positive difference in their lives.

The mother of a toddler, she is particularly attuned to women’s health. Janice is an expert at treating women struggling with menstrual disorders, fertility, peri-menopause and post menopause. She also has a passion for solving digestive disorders, emotional health and pain. You can find her blog posts on our site to read more about her perspective on health. Our patients love her bedside manner, gentle acupuncture style, effective herbal prescriptions- and she’s got the best laugh!

You can find Janice Mao at Double Happiness Health Tuesday and Thursday mornings 7am-12 noon.