Acupuncture Unveiled Dr. Kris Sparacino’s Approach

In this Navigating Nourishment Podcast, Dr. Kristopher Sparacino, an acupuncturist and owner of Clear River Acupuncture, discusses his holistic approach to health and wellness, emphasizing the importance of proactive care. He explains the foundations of Chinese medicine, including Qigong, nutrition, and acupuncture, and details the benefits of acupuncture for pain, insomnia, fertility and more. Dr. Sparacino highlights the need for regular treatments and the integration of various modalities like cupping and moxibustion. He stresses the importance of self-cultivation and rest, and advocates for wellness routines that include acupuncture, especially during seasonal transitions. We underscore the value of investing in one's health and the potential cost savings of preventive care. We encourage you to reach out to Dr. Kris and book an appointment for your well-being. Bio Dr. Kristopher Sparacino, DACM, L.Ac., is the owner of Clear River Acupuncture, Lincroft, NJ and a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, licensed in the state of New Jersey; nationally board certified in Acupuncture. His personal experience with acupuncture led him to complete the 5-year Masters and 2-year Doctoral programs at The Eastern School of Acupuncture and Pacific College of Health and Science, respectively. Dr. Kris is also formally trained in Cupping, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Reiki, Moxibustion, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Essential Oil Acutherapy, Theta Energy Healing, Medical Qi Gong, Qi Gong & Tai Chi Exercise, Yoga, and Meditation. Dr. Kris strives for an organic and intuitive approach to guide his treatments. He works with his patients’ not only to treat their symptoms but also to discover the root of their ailment and bring them back into balance. Dr. Kris continues self-cultivation daily by way of Meditation, Yoga, and Qi Gong exercise. Dr. Kris is an active practitioner with The Wellness Hub of NJ sharing many of his gifts including monthly sound bowl, meditation and Qi Gong. Transcript Edited for readability Wendy 00:13 Debbie and I are so curious about exploring different kinds of treatments and modalities around health and wellness. And so we're super excited to have Kris with us today, Debbie 00:25 Welcome to our podcast, Navigating Nourishment. This is Dr Kristopher sparchino. He's an acupuncturist, and he's the owner of Clear River Acupuncture in Lincroft. He's a doctor of Chinese medicine, and he's licensed here in New Jersey. He is a wonderful practitioner. I use him myself. I look forward to my appointments with him, because it's such a zen place, and I feel better when I leave. It's just wonderful. So he has a lot of training. He has a five year master's degree and two year doctoral program, so he knows what he's doing. And you went to the eastern School of acupuncture and the Pacific College of Health and Science for both of those degrees, right? Yes. (Kris) Besides acupuncture, you do amazing other things too. You're trained in cupping and cranial sacral therapy, Reiki, moxibustion, Chinese herbal medicine and acutherapy with essential oils, Qigong and Tai Chi, and yoga and meditation, and there's probably something I'm missing there, too. We love what you do, and we love that you're so holistic in the way that we are, that you don't look at people just for their symptoms. You look at them as a whole person and want to know what's behind the problems that people come to you with and it's not just about treating those symptoms. We have to look at people as a whole. And so I think that's why we feel like we're in sync with you as well. Wendy 02:12 I remember the first time you came to our space and we had the open house to introduce your singing bowls and Crystal bowls and Tibetan bowls, and your Qigong here. Your energy is wonderful. And because you practice all of these things, you're able to show up with the grounded beautiful energy. Kris 02:43 Oh, wow - I am humbled by that introduction. Yeah, I'm glad to know you guys too. It's definitely like, opened me up to, I mean, your space is gorgeous. And so right away, when I was introduced to the space, I was like, Yeah, I would love to work in this space and work with these wonderful women. This idea that we need to get back to holistic thought and holistic care, and wellness means we don't want to wait! You don't have to wait to see your holistic practitioner till you are sick - that's the idea. Put acupuncture on a schedule, let it be a part of your routine. Good habits make up your wellness. So definitely acupuncture and some of those other modalities we spoke about are a part of that. I started studying about 10 years ago and have been practicing ever since. And I studied some things before that that got me into it. The Qigong and Tai Chi portion actually came before acupuncture. Chinese medicine is this umbrella for five modalities. So what we put in our body and how we move our body, this is the foundation of our health. This is the foundation in Chinese medicine as well. And it's sort of overlooked, right? Because, again, especially in this country, we say- just go to your acupuncturist when you're sick. But they should also be giving you advice by prescribing Qigong and maybe even in nutrition. So those are two of the foundational parts of Chinese medicine. And then we have the other three: herbal medicine which mimics pharmacology of pharmaceuticals, acupuncture itself, and massage. It's a whole medical system. You learn all five of those parts in school. Acupuncture is the focus. I think the profession is going doctoral soon, most schools are offering a doctoral part of the program, and that fills in some of the gaps for the Western are really how to do research, how to evaluate research, for future treatments, for prescriptions. The masters and the doctoral programs are super close right now -it's only a few 100 hours difference and so we have a lot of people converting to the doctorate. But eventually it'll go the way of physical therapists, where they're just all doctors coming out of school. But originally it's a three year program, and then you can add the herbs. Herbs can be a separate study. And so there's a couple different levels to the doctorate. And so if you have herbs, it's a different doctorate as well. The acupoint oil therapies are continuing educaiton for us to keep up our licenses at 15 hours a year. We recertify every four years, 60 hours total. That includes safety and ethics. If you're an herbalist, that'll include some herbal training, usually some hands-on training, and then some online training. Wendy 07:01 So one of the things you mentioned before is moxibustion. What is that? I've never heard that term before. Kris 07:06 It's an herb. Mugwort is the common name. So it's probably growing in your yard right now. You actually put this on the end of a needle (there are a lot of different ways to use it), but the original main form was you put it on the end of a needle, or you can take a little pinch of it on it, on the skin, directly on the skin, and then you use an incense stick to light it and it smokes like an incense with an ember, and that drives heat down into an acupuncture point. It also is herbal medicine. You can use it in decoction for herbal teas, and it's what's considered a pure Yang substance. This is maybe a broader topic of Yin and Yang and those foundations within Chinese medicine. And Yang is the form of energy that flows through the acupuncture channels. So it's a less modern version, but this is sort of the original way it’s used. It's used a lot overseas and in Japan. They've written a bunch on moxibustion and how it's used. It's a great treatment. I use it more during winter and more with certain conditions. Wendy 08:48 So I love what you said earlier, too. I just want to hit on this a little bit more, because I think this is what Debbie and I hope our jobs are, is leading people to prevention instead of trying to be the reactionary world that we're in right now with our health. We wish so much for our health system to pay for these things or cover them, so that we're not on the other side saying, How did this happen to me? What happened to get me to this place. So I just want to appreciate the idea to: Use acupuncture as prevention, not just when we're sick. 09:32 Kris 100% - I'm going to structure something where people can come in on a schedule, maybe reduced rates for packages or a monthly subscription, because that's really how it's used most effectively. So Wendy, I love that statement about being reactionary. The place that we're in now. We're reactionary on all levels right now, I totally agree, and the way to reduce stress in your life is to be more proactive. You know, it's really important to be an advocate for yourself, learn to be proactive with your health. And on a daily basis, it's a struggle. It's definitely a struggle, because everybody is so busy, myself included, we're all running around just at the mercy of, you know, the environment we're in. And so, yeah, that reactionary word even just really struck a chord with me. I really appreciate that. Back to a wellness type of program I’m creating. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of people don’t think insurance covers acupuncture. But I gotta tell everybody - call your insurance company, because they may cover it. There's lots of good benefits out there. Most state workers have it and large companies actually offer it. You can get some Medicare towards it too, but you gotta check. I do the billing for my patients who have insurance. If you have HSA, that's a way to allocate some funds towards a wellness program. Debbie 11:42 I want to back up here, because some people who are listening may not even know exactly what acupuncture is. Let's just say someone only knows it has to do with needles....