Points of Healing

Pam Seymour is a fighter. In 1992 Seymour was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (IC), an incurable bladder disorder. Unable to keep any food down, she was constantly sick and rapidly lost weight. At one point even her doctors lost hope. “My primary doctor had tears in her eyes when she told me, ‘You are dying. You are dying before my eyes and there’s nothing I can do about it,’” Seymour says.

But Seymour wasn’t ready to give up. She decided to take a new approach to healing her disease and headed to Holden to see Zev Myerowitz, a specialist with over 30 years of experience as an acupuncturist and chiropractor.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, disease is due to the body’s internal imbalance between yin and yang. An imbalance between these opposing and inseparable forces leads to a blockage in the flow of chi (life energy) throughout the body. When your chi cannot flow throughout your body, you become ill.

Acupuncture, one of the key components of traditional Chinese medicine, has been around for over 2,000 years. The practice aims to restore and maintain health through the insertion of hair-thin needles into specific points on a person’s body. These needles help to direct the flow of your chi, restoring your inner balance of yin and yang, which helps you heal.

“If there’s a blockage in the body and chi does not move correctly, cells change out of their normal vibrational pattern and disease occurs,” explains Myerowitz, who also instructs other practitioners in oriental medicine. “If chi is deficient, the body becomes fatigued and can’t function properly, and opens itself up to sickness.”

Before beginning an acupuncture treatment, the patient’s entire health is considered, including their sleep and diet patterns. “We don’t just treat a symptom,” Myerowitz says. Specifically, the tongue is examined because it is the chief sign in determining the health of the patient, according to traditional Chinese medicine. Everything from the tongue’s color, the type of coating on it, and the appearance of teeth marks along the sides is interpreted by the practitioner. The needles are then placed around the body depending on the individual’s need. On average, the needles remain in place for 20 to 30 minutes. Typically, the patient experiences a warming sensation as the chi moves in response to the treatment.

Despite the fact that acupuncture has been proven to help heal thousands of health-related conditions, many people still harbor insecurities about the practice. Many fear a painful procedure and remain skeptical whether acupuncture really works.

But despite these misgivings about acupuncture therapy, it’s a growing field in the United States. There are currently 105 licensed and practicing acupuncturists in Maine. Myerowitz is just one of two who are licensed in both acupuncture and chiropractics. “We have treated almost every condition known to man,” says Myerowitz. “People are seeking out oriental medicine because it works.”

And it’s safe. Unlike taking prescription medications, serious side effects due to acupuncture are practically nonexistent.

Seymour herself suffered from numerous side effects during her fight against IC. She had been placed on many different prescriptions to try to help her condition, but she always had an allergic reaction. One doctor even provided her with a drug from the FDA that had been taken off the market. “I was grasping for anything to help me,” she says. “Anything to try and help me get my life back.”

Myerowitz was that anything. Seymour visited his office about twice a week for acupuncture treatments starting in 2004 and ending in 2006. She also began taking herbal supplements; by the sixth week of treatment, she was off prescription medication entirely. Seymour’s medical doctors were very supportive. “In many areas of the country, oriental medicine has been integrated into the hospital setting, and eastern and western medicine are working side by side,” says Myerowitz.

Today, Seymour is fit and healthy. All of her blood work is clean of disease, and she continues to have acupuncture about once a month to maintain her health. “It was a very taxing experience,” she says. “Zev is so enthusiastic, and that’s what I needed to help me hang in there. One time I went in so discouraged and I said I just wanted to give up. Zev looked at me and said, ‘You can’t do that. You have to keep fighting.’”

As a result of her condition, Seymour weighed only 117 pounds when she first began her weekly acupuncture treatments. Now fully healthy, she weighs a stable 135 pounds and works full-time—something she never thought she would do again—as a cashier at Sears. “If I can make people’s day by smiling, or cracking a joke, that’s my goal right now,” Seymour says.