When Naama Lindenberg went into labor, she was both excited and nervous, as most women are. “Mostly, I was ready to be done being pregnant!” she says with a laugh. Unfortunately, the anxiety took over after the epidural. “They tie up your hands so that you don’t instinctively remove the IV,” she recalls. “I felt so tensed, I began to sweat to an extent that I couldn’t breathe. One of the nurses, hoping to help, brought a fan and put it by my face.”

Lindenberg delivered a healthy baby girl, but suffered from Bell’s palsy immediately following the labor. Bell’s palsy is a paralysis that weakens the muscles of the face. “You have no control over the muscles. The mouth, the eyes drop. You can only chew on one side. You have to exercise your brain to think of every motion you need to do. It's debilitating,” she admits.

“My OB-GYN prescribed me steroids, which weren’t of any use. I went to see another doctor, who was just so, so negative. He said, ‘Maybe it will go away, maybe it will stay forever.’”

Meanwhile, Lindenberg was playing a balancing act with her brand-new baby. “I hold Sophia in my arms as she is reason of joy, security, and peace for me.” She was an amazing baby. But without her, I began to have all sorts of doubts, and heavy anxiety attacks.

“I hated looking at myself in the mirror. It felt so vain, but I had always been a ‘pretty girl’ - could I manage life like this, now? Would I be able to accept myself, would I be able to be happy? I was terrified.”

After the negative visit with the second doctor, the new mom knew there had to be another solution. “I googled, and I read and read and read. My family had used acupuncture before, so I called Scott, and he gave me so much confidence, right away.”

“With Bell's palsy, there is always wind involved. Internal wind is often caused when the yin energy of the body (reserve fund) goes down, which then leaves an opening for the yang of the liver to rise to the face. If yang rising is strong, it often turns to internal wind, which is more damaging and it will affect the nerves. Giving birth is often depleting and the yin gets hurt, leaving an opening for Bell's palsy to occur,” says Scott Suvow, LAC, an acupuncturist who has been practicing in New York for several decades.

“Scott is a very special person,” Lindenberg is quick to share. “Being an expert in what he does, he still strives hard for perfection.”
After three months of treatment, Lindenberg’s palsy was completely healed. “I’m a mom, I have a beautiful child, she’s healthy, and that’s all that matters,” Naama says definitively. “I believe that our society does not teach us the phenomena of birth and having kids, how it is amazing and tiring at the same time. “ I am glad that everything went smoothly.”

Lindenberg has continued to see Suvow for anxiety and other healing. “It’s amazing, it heals everything - no matter what kind of pain. If I go to the regular doctor, he fills me with pills, and most of the time doesn’t even know what the problem is.”

Whenever I can go for acupuncture, I make my appointment in the morning and it gives me incredible energy for the rest of the week. No medicine can compare to the feeling of acupuncture.”

“Acupuncture is a very complex form of healing. Most people think it is just for pain problems and have no idea that there is a diagnosis involved. Its strength is the fact that we look at relationships between the internal organs and the symptoms, and it’s holistic in approach since we treat from the inside out rather than just symptomatically,” says Suvow. “I try my best to emphasize that natural healing is slow, but it brings about a more lasting result.” Lindenberg is first to agree.

Care Consideration: Just a reminder that the above information is not a substitute for medical care and is not a substitute for medical advice or recommendations  from a healthcare provider.  This information is not intended to treat, mitigate or cure any disease.  That said, we encourage you to connect with an Acupuncturist in your community to learn more about this and other Traditional Chinese Medicine options.  If you’ve got questions about Chinese herbal medicine or getting started with an Acupuncturist, feel free to connect with us on hello@mydaolabs.com. 

Caroline Joan Peixoto is a writer born in New Jersey. Since then, she’s lived in Portugal, Rwanda, California, and Colorado, where she currently lives with her photographer boyfriend and wild African dingo. She’s continually inspired by travel and history, and energized by simple living. Connect with her @carolinejoan or caroline@mydaolabs.com