Sunnyside Family Swap Shop and Play Space » Post Tag: health

The Herb Shoppe – Remedies and Resources

Karen Hery — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:34:41 +0000

When we first opened the doors of the Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-op there wasn’t anything quite like it. We did a lot more educating about who and what we are then than we do now these three years later.

In my ideal world, swap shops and herb shops will be as common or more common than thrift stores and pharmacies and need no more explanation than the corner coffee shop or the local mall. Until then, it’s great to have this weekly venue to paint a picture of all the possibilities these places offer our families.

If you already frequent The Herb Shoppe in the 3300 block of Hawthorne, read along and let me know if I’ve done justice to one of your favorite places. If you have never walked in or never quite known what to look for or ask for, may this email make The Herb Shoppe, and places like it, more accessible to you and yours.

First, a little history: Dr JJ Pursell, naturopath, acupuncturist, herbalist and now the proud mama of little Cordelia born this past spring, didn’t set out to be the owner of The Herb Shoppe. She came to Portland from Bellingham, Washington to go to grad school at the National College of Natural Medicine (where church trustee Dohn Kruschwitz, who you occasionally see around the swap shop or fixing up some other part of the building, also teaches).

She was shocked to find out how little access Portlanders had to herbal medicine, especially local organically grown or locally harvested wild herbs. And you know how it is here in Portland . . . if what we want and need doesn’t already exist, we design it, build it and create a new business and way of life around it.

JJ opened The Herb Shoppe originally on Burnside and then moved to Hawthorne a few years later. She and her fellow practitioners and staff celebrated their five year anniversary with a remodel of their space that was just completed last month.

Now, if you already know your way around herbs and herbal medicine and you already know what a naturopathic doctor can do for you, you can just head on over to Hawthorne and make yourself at home.

If you are like me and your knowledge of herbs barely extends past cooking and you aren’t sure what naturopath means exactly, a little orientation is in order to make the best of the doctors, other health practitioners and healing remedies just waiting for you when you know enough to know what to ask for.

We call ourselves the Swap Shop but we are also a play place. The Herb Shoppe is, as the name implies, a place to purchase herbal medicine and, at the same time, it is also a medical office with treatment rooms where you can see a doctor (yes, that would be a family doctor who can prescribe all types of medicine including herbal medicines).

While our economy has been forcing tough financial choices for families of all sizes and income levels, The Herb Shoppe with two practicing naturopaths (JJ and our own co-op member Jennifer Curtiss) just keeps getting more and more business. I’m sure this has something to do with the fact that, when you walk into a natural pharmacy specializing in herbal medicine, the solutions to what ails you (or what ails the ones that you love) doesn’t start with an expensive doctor’s visit. Often times is starts with just a few cups of tea . . .tea that you brew for yourself after spending as little as $3 on a blended collection of dried herbs.

And you really don’t have to start with the knowledge of what goes in that herbal tea blend or which medical treatment you need. You just start by saying hi . . . to Katelyn, Ursula or Colleen who greet you when you walk in. All you need is the willingness to share a little description of what’s troubling you or what you want to improve and they can guide you from there.

I can’t remember the last time that I had the thought that the person behind the counter at Walgreens or the Fred Meyer pharmacy could advise me in any substantial way. But substantial resource is the best way I can describe the level of knowledge we have at our fingertips just by stopping in The Herb Shoppe and asking for a little guidance.

You are not alone if you come in with a cold or flu (or not wanting to get a cold or flu), with general life stresses or digestive issues, with questions about women’s health or the need to get a better night’s sleep. Whether you have chronic pain that nothing else helps or the first signs of something you are not sure how to treat, somewhere in the line of options from $3 bags of herbal tea to $12-$15 tinctures, to capsules or formulations in the $18-$25 range, to healing massage starting at $40 to first doctor’s visits at $150 with return visits from $50-$85, you have resources far more affordable and, often times, much more effective than many forms of traditional medical care.

You’ll have to check with your insurance provider for the specifics of your plan but Dr. JJ Pursell is a provider for Blue Cross, Great West, American Specialty Health and Kaiser Complimentary Care.

Dr Curtiss, and other great providers of alternative medicine hold free lectures every Wed. night 6:15 – 7 at the shop. This Wednesday, Jennifer will be talking about vaccinations and Wednesday, October 27th about family immune support.

JJ is bringing a winter basket of herbal treats to our Autumfest auction and offering a first patient visit with her or Dr. Curtiss to our auction bidders. If Cordelia cooperates, she’ll be joining us at the Autumnfest dinner a few Saturdays from now on October 23rd.

When we take the time to support The Herb Shoppe, everyone there gets a chance to support us too. That, to me, is what community is all about.

Be well and, when you are not well (or would like to stay well), think herbal.

The Herb Shoppe

3327 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR 97214

503-234-7801

theherbshoppe©gmail•com

Dr. JJ Pursell

Shop hours:
Monday-Friday 11-7pm, Saturday 10-6pm
Sunday 12-5pm

Doctor’s visits by appointment

Israel Sostrin, physical therapist.

Karen Hery — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:56:44 +0000

The doctor that other doctors go to and the therapist that other therapists see has the most qualified referral I can think of . . . the recommendation of their own peers.

So where do massage therapists go when their own bodies needs a tune up? Our own co-op member and talented massage therapist, Dana Buhl, goes to Israel Sostrin.

His official title is physical therapist but his real title should be “motion maximizer” since he spends his days helping the injured, the aging, athletes and new parents work smarter not harder to move and rest well.

Like a lot of us in Portland, Israel wasn’t completely satisfied with “the way things are done” and went searching for better ways across several parts of the planet and multiple modalities. For Israel the journey included Baltimore, Arizona and Seattle and several schools of massage and physical therapy before coming to Portland. He originally picked up a book on the Feldendrais method of physical therapy for his own personal interest – in part because he and the method’s creator, Moshe Feldendrais, have similar Jewish roots. Happily, he found his way into the best four years of his professional education to date.

In talking with Israel, it’s easy to tell that he’s also found a piece of his life’s passion that he gets to share with clients who, up until they meet him and the Feldenkrais method he uses in his practice, often think physical therapy is just a series of hot and cold packs and a list of stretches to do at home.

Everything we do with our body uses some combination of our strength, our flexibility and our endurance. Addressing just one of these three and not the others, as some of us can vouch for, can make the problem even worse. Israel’s work is all about better coordinating our own body’s natural balance while honoring that simple truth that we have gotten into whatever pinch we are in for very good reasons more complex than it all first appears.

One part of physical therapy that doesn’t have to be complex is getting qualified for regular care. The State of Oregon mandates that the first 60 days of physical therapy should be reimbursed without a referral for all insured patients. Still there are policies that vary from insurer to insurer and even within the various levels of coverage from each insurer requiring certain notifications or approvals.

While you and I only navigate our insurance policies (car, body or home) every once in a while, the office Israel works in on Hawthorne lives and breaths that special insurance language every day. One quick call or email and they can evaluate your policy more easily than you can and let you know what’s available to you.

I was surprised and delighted to find out that, having Kaiser, I could still be eligible to see Israel for physical therapy. His front desk staff was great to work with and had an answer in just one day on what my deductible and co-pay would be plus the steps I had to take through Kaiser to be approved.

While most of his patients are working through insurance for their care, he does bill some patients directly. His current rates are $100 for the initial visit and $85 for follow up appointments. I can’t speak to your co-pay but mine would be $35 per visit. Best of all, you are never shuffled off to an aid with your physical therapist just overseeing your care. Israel spends time directly with his patients, listening and learning what’s right for your body and your life.

A lot of us will be very happy to know that his office space is fabulously kid friendly with a great big stuffed lion in one corner for those appointments where you need to bring your little loved ones along.

Israel’s littlest loved one is his 10 month old daughter Aubrey. If your injuries or nagging aches are from the funny positions you’ve gotten into feeding, caring for and picking up (or picking up after) the newest members of your family, Israel will be both sympathetic and empathetic while he helps you adjust to the higher stress/lower sleep way of life you’re now living.

Like Dana, Israel is a popular practitioner with a busy schedule. He purposely leaves a few spaces open every week for emergencies like motor vehicle crash injuries that can’t wait and for new, first time patients just getting started in his care.

Whether you are dealing with some new stresses and strains or have been dealing with unresolved physical issues for a while now, both Dana and Israel are great family resources to help get you back to a place of comfort and ease.

You don’t have to save and then recall this exact email to get in touch with them or any of our great community minded Roost sponsors. They are all a click away on the Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-op home page at www.sunnysideswapshop.org .

To contact Dana Buhl right away for a relaxing and very therapeutic
massage:

Appts. Mon and Thurs noon – 8, Wed and Fri 9 – 4

To set up a first time appointment with Israel Sostrin:

Anisha – Center for Holistic Health
4031 SE Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, Oregon 97214
WHOLENESS IN MOTION
Israel Sostrin MSPT, CMT, GCFP
P: (503) 231.3633