Precious Health Acupuncture, Pleasantville
During her previous career as a professional dancer, Jennifer Mohr-Boscaino suffered through painful Achilles tendinitis that not only threatened her livelihood but promised to make her life miserable.
It wasn’t until she tried a couple of acupuncture sessions and a massage after three years of persistent agony that she became a believer in the benefits of Chinese medicine.
“I did everything I was supposed to do,” Mohr-Boscaino said. “I went to the doctor, went to the PT, went to the (occupational therapist), was there every day. Chiropractor, you name it. Nothing helped. Three years of it. Then somebody said go to an acupuncturist.”
The relief that Mohr-Boscaino felt in her foot inspired her to attend Tri-State College of Acupuncture in Manhattan where over a five-year period she earned two masters, one for acupuncture and the other related to Chinese herbs, two of the eight branches of Chinese medicine.
About a year and a half ago, Mohr-Boscaino, a Los Angeles native who moved to New York in 2002, opened her own practice, Precious Health Acupuncture, on Bedford Road in Pleasantville. It is within walking distance of her and her husband’s residence after she previously commuted to Brooklyn to practice.
Like any other treatment, acupuncture won’t solve everyone’s health problems, but Mohr-Boscaino specializes in treating women’s infertility and to reduce pain including osteoarthritis and hip and back discomfort. Acupuncture is also effective in providing relief from nausea, particularly for those undergoing chemotherapy and suffering from morning sickness.
“What is really interesting, the first treatment people are always worried when they come in because they don’t know what’s going on,” said Mohr-Boscaino, a dual dance and psychology major at the University of California-Irvine. “By the second or third treatment, almost always they’re asleep on the table.”
A key benefit, regardless of the health issue which triggers the visit, is that acupuncture is a stress reducer.
“Everybody when they have stress there’s the physical manifestation of stress,” she said. “They’ll come in and say I’m having heart palpitations or I’m having headaches or my mind does not shut off. That’s probably the most common thing and acupuncture will definitely treat that.”
Mohr-Boscaino recommends five visits before determining whether or not acupuncture provides relief for a patient. Preferably, two half-hour sessions a week are the most effective, although one one-hour session also work.
“Within five times we’re going to learn whether this is working or not,” Mohr-Boscaino said.
One of the concerns new acupuncture patients first have is over the needles. Mohr-Boscaino uses Japanese needles, which are an inch long but are hair thin compared to the ones used by Chinese acupuncturists. Typically, they go in about a quarter-inch but up to a half-inch in the fleshier areas.
While it is a bit of a mystery how acupuncture helps relieve stress and pain, it helps the body achieve a balance, Mohr-Boscaino said. She compared the body to having rivers running through it, where there can be droughts and floods.
“In a nutshell, we’re just trying to create a balance that’s already in the body and move what’s stuck,” she said.
The other expertise of Mohr-Boscaino’s is Chinese herbal formulas. Chinese herbs are actually food that is combined to addresses a specific problem. Herbal teas are the main form of herbal medicine but can also come in pill, capsule and liquids.
Precious Health Acupuncture is located at426 Bedford Rd.in Pleasantville. For more information, call 212-228-5522, e-mail precioushealth@gmail.com or visit www.westchesterfamilyacupuncture.com.
