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129 E 90th Street #1W,
New York, NY,
10128

(646) 609-4250

Natural Relief for Post-Travel Illness

With January nearing its end, many of you have returned from your vacation travels and are back at work and school. While unpacking the souvenirs and gifts from your travels, you may realize that may not be all that you’ve brought back. Traveling to a foreign country is a privilege everyone should experience at some point in their lives. You get to encounter different cultures and traditions, have new experiences, and meet wonderful people. However, your body also comes into contact with very foreign environments, most of which it won’t be used to. Inevitably, your body can contract a foreign strain of bacterium, most often from the bathing water or water used to cook most foods, causing you to become ill during and after the trip.

While each strain can cause varying reactions, this illness is generally known as Traveler’s Diarrhea. The most commonly experienced symptoms include nausea, cramping, abdominal pain, and, of course, diarrhea (Steffen, Hill, & DuPoint 2015). While Traveler’s Diarrhea can be very difficult to avoid, it’s a common illness that is easily treatable naturally. A very powerful Chinese herb, known as huang lian su or Coptis Rhizome, can help kill the bacteria and relieve your symptoms. Coptis Rhizome can treat a variety of ailments, though it’s most commonly used to treat stomach or intestine irritability, the root of the cause of the traveler’s disease (Tjong et al. 2011). Its effect in treating these waterborne bacteria is often associated with an alkaloid component in the make-up of the herb, called berberine.

Here at Naturna, we provide both the tablets and the powdered herb form of Coptis Rhizome. Coptis Rhizome is also a great preventative treatment to take with you while on your trip to prevent this ailment from getting too bad. However, for those of us who didn’t leave the country prepared, like myself, the powdered herb combined with acupuncture is the strongest treatment to clear your body of the bacterial toxins and irritation. The powdered form of the herb helps give your body a more concentrated, stronger dose of Coptis Rhizome, while acupuncture assists the herb in draining what we in Chinese medicine call ‘damp-heat’ from your body, which is what causes the irritable bowels, nausea, and cramping. Sometimes, the bacteria can move to the weakest part of your body and cause inflammation, resulting in intense pain in that area. Cupping, in addition to acupuncture, is a great way to relieve the tension and irritation in that area, especially in the neck and back.

If you or anyone you know has recently been out of the country and are experiencing these symptoms, give us a call at 646-609-4250 and book a consultation with an acupuncturist and Chinese Herb expert now! We’ll get you back to feeling better than ever.

 

Works Cited

Steffen, R., Hill, D. R., & DuPont, H. L. (2015). Traveler’s diarrhea: a clinical review. Jama, 313(1), 71-80.

Tjong, Y., Ip, S., Lao, L., Fong, H. H., Sung, J. J., Berman, B., & Che, C. (2011). Analgesic effect of Coptis chinensis rhizomes (Coptidis Rhizoma) extract on rat model of irritable bowel syndrome. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 135(3), 754-761.