Do you have:

• Pain
• Chronic pain
• Stiffness
• Cramps
• Arthritis
• Nerve pain
• Period Pain
• Endometriosis

Best products for pain

What supplements do we use when we have pain

 When our practitioners or our families complain of stiffness, pain or sore muscles after the gym we reach for our tool kits in the BB dispensary.
We don’t buy off the shelf in the supermarket for these because we want high potency, high quality, practitioner only grade products.  Yes, there is a difference.
TGA in Australia is luckily very strict and ‘practitioner’ grade products must be exactly that.

Our general go to for stiffness and cramps is Diasporal magnesium. It’s easy to take and it’s purity and fast acting formula means that the body starts to relax within 5 minutes.

For arthritis use SPM and Bioflam. SPM stands for specialised pro-resolving mediators and is specialised fatty acids especially distilled at a high concentration to alleviate inflammation. Bioflam is a comprehensive anti-inflammatory formula.

Nerve pain? We add in PEA powder or capsules. PEA has affinity to certain cannabinoid receptors and can quieten some of the pain levels.  This is really useful in chronic pain and immune response pain such as endometriosis.

Period Pain? We use Chinese herbs to moderate the hormones, alleviate the inflammation, and quieten the pain receptors.  Sometimes we add in other supplements as mentioned above or even need to work on the gut to stop the cramps.

If you would like some help picking the right products for your pain. Call us.

We can supply herbs and supplements over a telephone consultation or may recommend an initial consult for more complex cases.

WHOLE BODY COLLAGEN

• A good whole body collagen will have at least 10g of protein per serve. ALL women over 50 should be aiming to increase their protein as we lose amino acids more easily once oestrogen has dropped as in the menopause.
• Amino acids are the molecules that make muscle, cartilage, bone and collagen in the skin. One of the reasons women start to lose the fullness in their face as they age is due to the bone density in the cheek bones starts to decline.  Therefore, your collagen supplement should be able to target all of these areas.

We sell Designs for Health Whole Body Collagen which has 3 types of collagen peptides:

• Verisol. Stimulates skin metabolism. Amazing with the cosmetic acupuncture!!
• Fortigel : Regeneration of joint cartilage
• Fortibone: Promotes bone health, increases bone density and reduces degradation of bone.

The DFH collagen is tasteless and heat stable. You can add it to your yogurt, or even your bolognaise.  Ask us if you’d like to buy.

OMEGA 3S:

Effectively 5g of Omega 3s per day.

Why the need for Omega 3?

Well it has several benefits:

• It will moisturise the skin from the inside.
• It curbs inflammation. Both in the skin (acne/rosacea) and also in the gut. The gut is important as we detoxify through the gut and if you have impaired gut health it will help mend the gut.
• It reduces the effects of sun damage which leads to faster aging.
• Omega 3s support the action of collagen
• Omega 3s promote skin cell turnover thereby removing old skin cells with new cells.

When buying omega 3 (fish oils) spend wisely. Buying bulk and/or cheap is likely to mean that the fish oil is of low quality, rancid and even contaminated. It is actually worse for you than if you hadn’t taken any at all because it will lead to further inflammation.

Make sure when you buy it’s Australia made (minimal travel) and from quality fish stocks.

Our preferred brands are DFH/metagenics/Bioceuticals.

We supply practitioner grade fish oils

VITAMIN C

2-4g a day.

Vitamin C is required by the body when utilising collagen as it promotes the production of cells called fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are found in the skin and produce the connective tissue that keep our skin and joints supple. All collagen should be taken with vitamin C in order to obtain the best benefit.

Vitamin C is also the precursor of many other anti-oxidents in the body and therefore is an important adjunct for healthy aging generally.

We supply practitioner grade vitamin C powder that can be mixed into your smoothie and combined with your collagen.

If you would like to buy any of these practitioner grade supplements from us please let us know on 0403273008 or speak to your practitioner in clinic.

 These products go great with our cosmetic acupuncture and anti aging treatments  which target the face and tighten, smooth and plump the skin giving it a more youthful appearance.

The combination of products and the treatments is a great way to naturally improve ones skin!

If you would like to know more please contact the clinic or BOOK NOW

In Australia more than 450,000 people are living with vision impairment or blindness (1) . About 1 in 7 Australians over the age of 50 have some evidence of macular degeneration (2) and, if you have diabetes there is a risk of diabetic retinopathy which increases the longer you have the disease. Of the 1.2 million Australians that have diagnosed (known) diabetes there is an estimated 500,000 with undiagnosed diabetes. Of these, over 300,000 (between 25-35%) have some degree of diabetic retinopathy and about 65,000 have progressed to sight-threatening eye disease. (3)

All these numbers are projected to increase. It is likely that you or someone you know will be affected by a degenerative eye disease. Research conducted in China and Denmark has shown that acupuncture may be a viable treatment that provides relief from these conditions.

About Vision Acupuncture Treatments.

Heidi Dunn from ben&biao has completed additional and specialist training in vision acupuncture and integrative vision.

Postgraduate studies include:

• Dr Rosenfarb’s Acuvision’s Ophthalmic Acupuncture protocols. (4)
• Dr Marc Grossman’s integrative approach to vision care (5)
• Incorporating Acunova protocols for vision (6)

For the thousands of patients with eye diseases who have received this form of acupuncture and integrative care treatment, many, depending on the type of eye disease, respond to treatment.

What is involved?

Our 10 day intensive program incorporates

• Acupuncture
• Herbal Supplementation
• Transformational meditation
• Qi Gong
• Eye exercises

Acupuncture

Acupuncture for vision is an intensive treatment and you will come in initially for a consultation to determine if the vision protocol treatment is right for you. During consultation, the details of the procedure will be explained.

The evidence for acupuncture

An increase in the blood flow to the eyes, decrease in oxidative stress plus neurological stimulation when the appropriate acupuncture points are used. Please contact us for details of studies where acupuncture has been successfully used if needed.

Internal supplementation

Most eye conditions have oxidative stress and cellular degeneration. As part of the health picture, patients may improve vision parameters with supplementation of certain vitamins and / or Chinese medicinal herbal formulas. The formulae used are individualised but are based on treatment protocols that have been used successfully used.

Lifestyle advice

Diet, sleep and exercise play an important role in minimising vision degeneration and these are discussed and advice given based on current evidence, during the consultations.

​Testing

Prior to commencement of treatment, we suggest you visit your eye doctor just for a baseline evaluation. Testing should be repeated a week after the course of treatments has completed. Our patients also find eyesight continues to improve for several weeks after the treatment and then stabilise.

Want to know more ? See some of our case studies

If you would like to know more book an initial consultation with Heidi Dunn click here 

Acupuncture for vision research

1. https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/eye-health
2. https://www.mdfoundation.com.au/content/what-is-macular-degeneration
3. https://www.mdfoundation.com.au/content/diabetic-retinopathy-about
4. Dr Andy Rosenfarb (USA), internationally recognised author, researcher and authority on Chinese Medical Ophthalmology and Integrative Vision Care. He has completed several studies on retinosa pigmentosa, macular degeneration
5. Dr Grossman (USA) is an authority on natural eye care and Chinese medical Opthalmology. He is co-founder of ‘NaturalEyeCare.com which was set up in 1999, He is an international lecturer, Author of multiple books including the recent ‘Natural Eye care, your guide to Healthy eyes and healing’ published in 2019.
6. Acunova is a style of acupuncture used by J Boel and widely used in Denmark for the treatment of vision disorders see boel-akupunktur.com/en/eye-diseases/ for more details.

Help with Morning Sickness from the team at ben&biao.

50 -90% of women suffer from nausea during their pregnancy, with the nausea and vomiting usually starting within the 6-7th week, and generally subsiding by week 12-14.

Can beans help with morning sickness?

Apparently so!

A study by Taylor et al  has shown that molybdenum appears to help with morning sickness. It helps for the absorption of all the extra hormones within the GI Tract that are making you feel a little green.

This essential trace element activates enzymes that help break down harmful sulfites and prevent toxins from building up in the body.

Preparing and Cooking Beans

For more information or bookings click here

A recent meta-analysis looking at 14 trials involving 1030 women again showed that acupuncture and Chinese herbs can alleviate the symptoms that come with perimenopause and menopause.
The study in 2020 reaffirmed that while periods may cease, it doesn’t have to be a time of pain, discomfort, hot sweats, mood swings and insomnia.

What is interesting to note here is the almost constant use of Da Huang in each formula. Da Huang is a Chinese herb that causes the bowel to move more regularly. Why is this important?

When you go to the toilet you take toxins, excess hormones and other contributors of inflammation out of the body. If you are not getting enough fibre and/or don’t move regularly enough then this just builds up and makes the overall symptoms a lot worse. So getting sufficient fibre is very important and often we’ll either add Da Huang to the chinese herbal formula we individually tailor for the patient or get patients on extra fibre intake to make up for the lack of it in the western diet.

So, if you want to know more or want to address your symptoms please contact us or make an appointment to see one of our practitioners.

Also, if you want to read my own personal experience of the peri-menopause please see

https://benbiao.com.au/2020/10/29/what-the-menopause-was-to-me/

Acupoint stimulation and Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of premature ovarian insufficiency: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Com The Clin Prac.2020 Nov 41, 10122

So I didn’t think I’d be writing this so soon but as we are already seeing patients in the clinic coming out the other side of COVID I thought I’d send this out to explain some of the symptoms. This information may also relevant for many Chronic Fatigue cases.
As people recover from Covid, a common number of ‘long haul/extended time’ of symptoms can occur. A number of these are :

• Excessive tiredness / Chronic fatigue
• Depression
• Pain
• Sleep interruption/depravation.

What’s going on?

During Covid, the body’s lymphatic system starts to swell with all the inflammatory markers such as cytokines and a bit like a busy highway, slows down.

As the virus is conquered by the immune system the lymph continues to drain all the debris, inflammatory markers etc out of the body.

When we have ‘long term’ symptoms the reason may be that the lymph system is not clearing the symptoms out.

Specifically in the symptoms experienced above, the lymph system of the brain which is called ‘Glymphatic system’ does not drain sufficiently and this will impact the hypothalamus of the brain. The hypothalamus is like ‘an instruction keyboard to the body’ and when it’s impacted, the signals it sends out are no longer functioning properly. Results, fatigue, lower moods, sleep issues, pain.

What will help improve recovery?

You are basically looking at two areas; improving the CIRCULATION and clearing out the debris (unresolved inflammation). Here I’m going to give you evidence based information about the circulation.

1. As the glymphatic system ONLY works when you are asleep the number one concern is to get as much sleep as possible. This is NOT falling asleep with iphones/tech/sitting up/multi-tasking sleep with hypnotherapy etc. This is going to bed, laying down and sleeping the old fashioned way and getting enough of it! 6 hours a night is not enough! Studies have shown most adults need a minimum of 8 for maintenance.. If you want the body to RECOVER (not just maintenance then when your body says sleep, then that is what you should do.
2. Improve the circulation by receiving a very gentle manual therapy such as central lymphatic drainage, myofascial release, cranial sacral therapy. These feel so slight that you can’t even believe you are being treated, however when done by a skilled and trained practitioner you know it works because you spend all afternoon urinating!
3. Spinal Cord Dynamics. Again this is using the body to gently move the cerebral spinal fluid and improve circulation. Things like Qi Gong, Feldenkrais, Co-ordination Dynamics fall into this category. What do they have in common. Slow, specific movements, using the breath to improve circulation.
   While I can’t help you with the third one, our masseuse Visca is qualified as myofascial release therapist, and the practitioners at the clinic can help you with natural aid sleep supplements and education if you need help.
   If you want to know more about how to clear the inflammation and / or deal with symptoms, or would like to know what we are suggesting to do if you are getting posts vaccination symptoms, keep an eye on the benbiao health facebook page, our webpage or please contact the clinic and book an appointment with one of the practitioners.

Take care all
Heidi

Don’t you love it when something you’ve been doing for years becomes the ‘in thing’?!

Cupping, the action of using specialist cups to suction on the skin, has been around for a very long time. Initially used on the body to clear aches and pains, over the last decade it’s become quite the trend to use cupping methods on the face.

So why would you do this and what is the benefit? Well the action of suction is sooooo…. good for circulation and muscle elasticity! When there is improved circulation there is improved hydration and improved nutrition and for the skin on your face this all means healthier and younger looking skin.

When done correctly it’s great for double chins, sagging jowls and drooping eyelids. It helps with acne scarring and reduces wrinkles.

This sounds great…but before you rush out to amazon please let us share with you what many clinical hours have taught us!

1. The type of cups you use are VERY important. The face has delicate fine skin and it is important that suction is not to strong otherwise bruising and worse – sagging can occur.  The cups need a wide base to gentle glide over your skin, not feel like you are tugging on a distracted dog.
2. Knowing muscle structure and the motion to use is also important. I’d love to say that doing it at home on your own will yield the same results as seeing a specialist -but that’s really not true.  When you use your own arm to do the cupping you are automatically changing the location of the muscles on the face. As most faces are not symmetrical it’s impossible to get it totally right.  In truth it’s best done laying down, with someone working over you correctly contouring the right muscles that can be treated with the cups rather than standing in front of the mirror and approaching it like it’s a multi-lane highway where you just zoom over the skin and hope you’ve captured the main muscles!
3. Using the right oils and serums are important too. The cupping action bringing blood to the skin (that lovely flushed look) means that the blood will take away with it whatever you put on the skin. Many oils are not really suitable for facial skin and if you have acne, many oils are pro-inflammatory and worse a rancid oil will leave your skin worse off than you started.
4. If I haven’t convinced you already, I hope you realise I’m really tempting you to go with a trained and knowledgeable facial cupping practitioner.  There are few nicer feelings than having one’s face professionally cupped. Because of the sensation over specific muscle groups many people actually fall asleep while it’s being done.   If it’s combined with facial acupuncture – ahh – well it’s even better. But that’s another blog.

In the meantime, step away from the amazon check out and instead have a look at booking with one of the team at ben&biao.  Only those with specialist training will be able to do this, We combine cupping with facial acupuncture in our anti -aging and cosmetic treatments.

See our Cosmetic Acupuncture page for more information.

For details or book a cosmetic facial treatment click here

Facial acupuncture using micro-needles can stimulate collagen production and reduce facial wrinkles.

But how?

The needles stimulate the body’s immune system and wound-healing mechanisms. As the acupuncture micro-needles penetrate the skin this causes micro-wounds and triggers an inflammatory reaction that begins a cascade of subsequent reactions.

The skin’s nerve receptors and defence mechanisms sense these fine needle intrusions as a specific type of injury and heals accordingly.

During the healing process, the skin cells within a 1 to 2 mm radius around the area needled release signals to the body to stimulate rapid growth of new cells. These signals also stimulate rapid growth of new fibroblasts and wound repairing cells. Fibroblasts are cells that are responsible for making collagen and other matrix tissue.

The new collagen and tissue rush to close the wound and to integrate with existing collagen in the upper dermis levels of the skin.

The new collagen fibers thicken the skin, fill in wrinkles and encourage growth of healthy new skin cells and provide a younger and more youthful complexion.

If you would like to know more about facial acupuncture see cosmetic acupuncture

Or book in for a cosmetic treatment with the highly talented Zoe Martin.

Zoe Martin, an acupuncturist for over 15 years has completed several specialised courses in the US and UK for cosmetic acupuncture and facial cupping.

When I started my Chinese medicine training in 2000, I had already been working for 14 years in finance. I was 30, well travelled and I worked and played hard. While none of my female work colleagues were ‘ready’ to have kids most of my school friends had either started or literally finished their baby making. My aunt had her 4th child at 47 and my mother at 52 was still having her periods. I was quite oblivious to how long my fertility would last or how it would end.

During my Chinese medicine training the term ‘geriatric mother at 30’ gave me pause for thought and I started to think about having a family. I finished my studies in 2003 and with a special focus in women’s health I started work on others and on myself. Luckily my own two children came when I was 34 and 36 years old and around this time I went to work at Zita West fertility clinic in London. I worked with women of all ages but especially those in their late 30s and 40s and learnt that the fertile years did not come to a sudden end but would start to decline for most between mid 30s and early 40s. As periods themselves don’t usually give an indication of fertility we didn’t know for sure what stage women were at until we ran blood tests that checked things like FSH, oestrogen and AMH levels which gave a much better ‘background’ picture.

So at this stage I still didn’t think much about menopause. Why would I? My mother had apparently floated through hers so my gene pool seemed to say ‘its a long way off and when it comes you’ll be symptom free’ Besides, I knew so much about hormones, lifestyle and diet…I was going to be FINE!

Famous last words….

The world sped on with technology, international moves, growing kids and a 4 year degree course but I felt fine arbeit a little ‘stressed’ sometimes.
Then at 46 years old suddenly my periods moved to every 3 weeks. ‘This is exhausting’ I thought but put it down to the stress of moving through multiple time zones over the course of a year and just finishing the degree (and looking after kids).

This went on for about 4 months, by which time I was iron deficient, irritable and starting to have some emotional moments.  I did what any good chinese herbalist would do – I took some herbs to rebuild the iron and help handle the stress. By the time Christmas came everything went back to normal.  I figured my body had sorted itself out and decided that 47 years old would be a great age to start a business and a clinic with a colleague.

Starting a business is pretty stressful, and a story for another time, but I resolved to prepare myself by going for a week detox in Byron Bay.   It was just the thing right? A week of juices and 3 colonics left me feeling very rejuvenated for about 4 weeks and then things started going … well ….not so good…

Chinese Medicine is a wholistic medicine and specifically states specifically states that people of my constitution should not eat cold foods and should not do colonics.  In doing both, I had, in Chinese medicine terms put my body through the freezer. My body responded by falling over the hormone cliff.

At this point I’d like to give my analogy for your hormones. You can skip this bit if you already know about how the hormone (endocrine) system works or if you don’t care! but I thought I’d put it in for the sake of education…

Your hormones are a family.  Imagine them all living in the same house and all leaving at predetermined times each day to do their jobs. Some on night shift (melatonin), some on early morning shift (cortisol) and some waiting for the lover at the door (oxytocin ) or changes in the menstrual month ( progesterone and oestrogen). Some are in charge of metabolism (thyroid) and some are designated for digestion (insulin). They all report into their mum – the pituitary gland.

The pituitary gland is one very busy organ because not only does she have to run the family but also she has to report into the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus lives next door to the pituitary in the brain and gets feedback from the body 24 hours a day on what is going from the nervous system.

What food is coming in, what the environment is like, what air we are breathing, how much sleep the body is getting etc.  As this comes in the hypothalamus starts to make decisions for the pituitary.  Too much work, well let’s wind up the cortisol. Too much sugar – increase the insulin.

The impact of these instructions is that the pituitary is no longer sending out instructions to a body in harmony but to an imbalanced body and the rest of the hormones start to take the brunt of this.  If this is a short-term issue, the body can adapt. The problem is when it becomes a long-term lifestyle.

Now if the pituitary is sending out imbalanced instructions for months and years it will start to make an effect. For some women the most they might feel is some pre menstrual tension. For others it can progress to painful periods, endometriosis, thyroid disorders, polycystic ovaries and even auto immune issues. This is because within the female hormone family oestrogen is the big sister. She is the dominant force in the fertile woman.  Handed out at puberty in the form of oestrodial, she keeps us looking luscious, helps keep the energy up, our minds sharp and our bones and joints supple. But she has a retiring date.

Now her retiring age may be genetically determined at 54 but all this extra work over the years has made her decide to throw in the towel a little early. Some days she’s ok and can manage to stay on top of the load and other days she’s sitting on the couch watching netflix and telling everyone else to bugger off.

So back to my story..

So at 47 I’d been given some warning shots by oestrogen the previous year that not all was going to plan.  Changes to the menstrual cycle are a definite sign that you are entering the ‘peri-menopausal zone’.  I had been burning the candles at both ends and then I decided to really throw my digestion and metabolism into a spin by heading off on a detox and send my cortisol levels rocketing by starting a new business.

So, Oestrogen gave me the finger and walked out the door.

What happened next?

Almost overnight my sleep stopped. I had always had amazing sleep but suddenly 3am became the new wake up time.
Of course I became totally fatigued and what do you do when you have no energy…you eat…so I also put on weight.
I also experienced some very very hot moments especially at night!  One July  (middle of winter here) I was so hot that I jumped into the ice cold pool at about 2am.
I cried a lot – both rationally and irrationally.
I couldn’t remember where I put my keys, the car, my glasses (oh yes.. now I needed glasses! …) and spent time going round the house asking ‘has anyone seen….’
My knees and neck started to ache and spasm at night to the point I had to stop exercising which really didn’t help the weight thing…

I think that was it..I honestly can’t remember…like childbirth…you forget as soon as you can.
You could say it was a train wreck or trauma or a bit of both. How did I not see what was happening?  I was trained in this field for Gods sake.  Denial is definitely in there somewhere. I believed that all my pilates, zumba, clean living and good genes would see me through like my mother. But my mother didn’t have 2 coffees every day after the yoga, she never drank alcohol and she certainly wasn’t living the fast paced lives of today. Her children were adults and firmly out of home and not requiring being ferried to every sporting event. Neither (and this is a big one) was there internet or social media . So no need to be on the computer by 8am or looking at what your friends are doing across the city/globe via snapchat or twitter or shopping at 10pm via the phone.

The world may have changed rapidly but our bodies have not and nor can they. We are part of this planet and were made to live with the rhythms of seasons and cycles of life. If we don’t pay this some respect we pay the price.

So what did I do?

I made a lot of adjustments to my life to stop all the symptoms. I had to stop the wine and the coffee for a period and have to leave the phone and the computer FAR FAR away at night to resist the temptation.  I spend time every day in mindfulness and have learnt to say NO. I do less and I care less. I’ve had to adapt my diet which limits inflammation and suits my body. I’ve also had to take herbs and supplements to help with the sleep and the joints. The flushes sorted themselves out pretty quickly and the brain fog cleared.

I’m now at 50 and it’s two years since my last period. I have to be honest – I am LOVING where I am at. The freedom of no periods is quite liberating. The mood changes have all gone and I feel almost zen like most days (Is this why men are so calm??) I’m taking all the necessary steps to make sure I’m fit and gorgeous at 60, 70 and beyond.  It’s not that I’m going down without a fight. Quite the opposite, I’m grabbing this wise woman and stomping through to the next stage. I’m certainly ready for it.

If you would like help with your transition through the peri menopause and menopause then get in touch with either Heidi or Sally

If you’d like to know more about how chinese medicine and acupuncture can help menopause see here