Saturday, January 31, 2009

Welcome to the blog

Hello, my name is Jason Bussell and I am an acupuncturist. My wife, Jeanie Lee Bussell, and I founded and practice at A Center for Oriental Medicine in Wilmette, IL. (website:www.acfom.com). We also practice at the Tiffani Kim Institute (www.tiffanikiminstitute.com) in Chicago; where Jeanie is the director of Oriental Medical Services. Jeanie and I hold our Master's of Science in Oriental Medicine and completed an advanced course of training and a clinical internship at the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. I am also the President of the Illinois Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (www.ILaaom.org). I have written a book called The Asian Diet: simple secrets for eating right, losing weight, and being well that will be in bookstores this spring. you can pre-order at Amazon.com. Even if you don't need to lose weight, you should read it.

All acupuncturists are trained as generalists; and we enjoy treating a wide variety of conditions and populations. Jeanie's area of expertise in in Women's health in general and Fertility specifially. She is one of the top fertility acupuncturists in the Midwest. She has trained with all the masters on the subject, she teaches other acupuncturists how to address it, has writeen articles that have been published in Western fertility journals, and has co-authored a book called Fully Fertile: a 12-week program to optimal fertility, available at amazon.com, borders.com, and findhornpress.com. If you know anyone around Chicago who is having trouble conceiving, they should definitely see Jeanie Lee Bussell. You can read about all the aspects that fertilty can help with at http://acfom.com/images/Winter2006.pdf.

My areas of special interest are Oncology, Pediatrics, and Orthopedics. Oncology is because my mother fell victim to breast cancer when she was only 40, and I remember how she suffered with the side-effects of the chemo and radiation. Acupuncture treats all the side-effects of Western therapies including nausea, immuno-suppression, fatigue, pain, swelling, problems with breating, swallowing, salivating and eliminating. Patients who have acupuncture with chemo and radiation experience fewer side effects, have a greater quality of life, and live longer. It should be a part of everyone's comprehensive cancer care. They should also connect with Gilda's Club and Imerman's Angels; two groups with which I am affiliated who provide great support ot those battling, and supporting the battle against, cancer.

Pediatrics is fun because kids are easy. Acupuncture is about moving the energy (at risk of sounding too esoteric), and the energy of children is much less stuck than that of adults. Most of the time with kids under 13 years old, we do not even need to insert the needles; but we can just touch the point with the back of the needle in a technique called "touch-needling". They tend to respond very well.

And orthopedics is fun because pain is easy to treat. I used to work in inpatient psychiatry with a population that had very little potential for progress. With acupucnture, 90% of my patients see progress. And with pain, we can see that progress immediately. (of course, not always)

So this is my blog. I will keep you all up to date on happenings at acfom, tiffani kim, and Jeanie and myself. This spring, I am presenting Grand Rounds at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, the Wilmette Library, and will surely be speaking more to promote my book. You can also check acfom.com/new for updates and events.

Be Well,
Jason