Cup of Tea with Dr. Yael Tusk, DACM

Dr. Yael Tusk, DACM

OCCUPATION: Doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, specializing in pediatrics and fertility

LOCATION: Yerushalayim

PASSION: Seeking out the truth and using that knowledge to empower people to make better health and life decisions.

SHE WISHES PEOPLE WOULD KNOW: To never make decisions out of fear.

By Esther Retek

IIn preparation for this article, I perused Dr. Yael Tusk’s book, Health: A Natural Approach, Take Charge of Your Health, to get a better feel for the health personality I was about to interview. In her best-selling book, Yael discusses basic healing remedies for common health issues, and I came away with a trove of nuggets regarding alternative healing. But it was actually meeting Yael that gave me a much deeper glimpse into not only her breadth of knowledge on a subject that so many are confounded by, but also of her gentle approach, which makes all the difference in regards to healing.

In my conversation with Yael, whose effervescence exhibits through every aspect of her being, from her sense of humor to her energetic demeanor, I was immediately struck by the contrast between her calm, approachable nature and the depth of knowledge and expertise conveyed in her writing.

In alternative healing circles, Dr. Yael Tusk is recognized as a competent doctor with over 15 years of experience and expertise. Yael’s knowledge is extensive and broad, but more laudatory than her breadth is the depth with which she pursues every health topic. “I’ve made it my business to research and investigate every subject I am led to. I can’t even help myself,” Yael chuckles—and our ensuing conversation proves that she means it in earnest.

What led Yael down this road not taken? “It’s a question people have been asking me for the last twenty years, but I don’t have an answer. I have no idea what spurred me to take a step into this unfamiliar territory. My upbringing was open-minded, but also conventional and not very health conscious. I grew up with soda and candy all week long. I even remember feeling sorry for my cousins who only had soda on Shabbos, while we had it all week. Conventional medicine was also part of my upbringing. Doctors’ visits and medicine were commonplace. The one time my parents did give alternative medicine a try, it didn’t work out well.”

Paradoxically, Yael remembers her father’s mother, originally from Germany, being very well-read particularly in the field of natural health. “We thought she was a little nutty because she was so natural minded. Her house always smelled of herbal oils, and we found it really funny. I sometimes wish I could go back in time and look through her library, have a conversation with her about these topics, and gain from the wisdom she had. Whenever I come across some really shocking research, I always wonder if she already knew about that.”

Of course, Yael’s family eventually joined her journey toward a more wholesome life. “My mother, particularly, served as my partner on this journey. As I didn’t have access to the internet during many years of my research, she would email me whatever information I needed, and subsequently learn the material as well. This led her to discover a whole new world of health and wellbeing, which she embraced as I did. Later, my father jumped onto the bandwagon as well.”

Yael asserts that having family on board, especially one’s spouse, makes the journey all the more pleasant. “I encounter couples in which one is more conventional and the other more natural and that can be a cause of serious friction.”

With her own leap of faith, Yael took a plunge into Chinese medicine without any former background in health and alternative healing. “In the beginning, I kept looking out for any discrepancies, baloney, and lies. I was very skeptical and wondered whether I’d made the right decision turning to this field. Baruch Hashem, within the first few years of my schooling, I learned the truth of Chinese medicine, especially as we practiced in the school’s clinic and experienced unbelievable results. My validation finally came after I witnessed so many patients benefit from acupuncture. Also, Chinese medical theory is very logical. Everything made a lot of sense, even to the skeptic I was.”

While studying, Yael had her own experience with acupuncture, which further strengthened her belief in the modality. “As part of our practice, my colleague inserted a pin in a spot on my foot where I suffered from chronic pain. As she was implementing the treatment, I felt the pain shoot from the place and dissipate,” Yael shares. It was a simple incident, but one that left an indelible impression on the incredulous student she was.

The years of schooling were a massive undertaking, as Chinese medicine is very deep and extensive. “Had I known what the studies required, I probably wouldn’t have jumped into it so eagerly. I thought it would be similar to any graduate school, but I was quite shocked,” Yael admits.

In the process, she learned some Chinese and Latin, as well as memorized hundreds of acupuncture points and functions, among other information. “Unlike many conventional learning programs, however, almost everything I learned in those five years is relevant to my day-to-day practice. I feel blessed that whatever I learned is so relevant to my work and was worth its time.”

Chinese Medicine: A Brief Overview

What is traditional Chinese medicine? “The medicine of China,” Yael quips. Her sense of humor throughout our meeting is so refreshing, and as she’s running a clinic that encounters the gamut of health struggles, the patients certainly appreciate this very much.

“Here’s a definition,” she continues. “It’s the advanced and organized system of medicine that evolved over several thousand years. It’s probably the oldest organized school of medicine, but that’s not to say it’s some ancient abracadabra. The medicine is built upon principles they discovered by observing nature and the human body. The organized system is also based on millennia of clinical experience and practice.”

What about illnesses that are a recent phenomenon? “Chinese medicine has developed protocols to treat newer diseases such as autoimmune diseases.”

Yael further elaborates that when people come to see her as a last resort after years of trying different modalities, she’s usually hesitant to treat them. Although Chinese med- icine is a more comprehensive, all-inclusive treatment modality, it’s not magic and doesn’t work for everything, especially not extremely stubborn conditions that have already been through the whole gamut. “At least not in just a few sessions,” Yael adds. “Stubborn, chronic conditions generally require prolonged treatment, if they can be helped at all.”

According to Yael, the success rate in her practice is quite high, especially with people who come in with an unadulterated condition. “When people come in with a ‘clean slate, before having tried dozens of other treatments, they are much easier to treat. Most people don’t have just one simple problem, and I like treating conditions by addressing the many layers. It means we can celebrate small successes as symptoms gradually improve. The hardest is if they’ve already had years and years of treatments. Those are the patients I find most difficult to help.”

On a deeper level, Chinese medicine is based on the principles of balancing the body’s energy, known as Qi (pronounced “chee”), and restoring harmony between the body, mind, and spirit. “I wrote a lot more extensively about the theories and principles of Chinese medicine in my upcoming book,” Yael shares.

“According to Chinese medicine, illness is caused by imbalances in the body’s energy. Yin and yang have a pivotal role in Chinese medicine and are used to understand the body’s balance and health. Chinese theory understands that the world is made up of complementary and opposing forces, known as yin and yang. Yin represents the feminine, dark, passive, and cold aspects, while yang represents the masculine, bright, active, and warm aspects,” she explains.

In the human body, yin and yang are constantly in a state of flux, and an imbalance can lead to illness. For example, too much yang energy in the body can lead to fever, inflammation, and overactivity, while too little yang can result in coldness, lethargy, and sluggishness, as yin becomes dominant. Maintaining a balance between yin and yang is key to achieving good health and preventing disease.

“I use yin and yang to diagnose and treat illnesses. For example, if a patient presents with symptoms of excess heat, such as a fever, red eyes, and a rapid pulse, I can tell that this is a condition of excess yang energy, and I use acupuncture points to rebalance the body’s energy. Some conditions can be a combination of excess and deficiency.

“A lot of diseases you wouldn’t associate with ‘excess’ are called toxicity in Chinese medicine. Infection is often associated with heat toxicity. It took me time to wrap my head around this concept, that infection means toxicity. However, the more I work with illnesses of this nature, the more these theories make sense. Even according to modern science the understanding that toxicity can cause infection has been proven. Over the years, I realized that there are many parallels between what we know intuitively and what Chinese medicine teaches.”

These imbalances can be corrected through various treatments that many people have heard of but may not understand, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and cupping, as well as dietary therapy, Gua Sha (Chinese massage therapy) and physical exercises.

In layman’s terms, what is acupuncture? “Acupuncture involves the insertion of fine needles at specific points along the meridians, or energy pathways, in the body to stimulate the flow of energy and promote healing. These communication pathways reach every organ in the body, like telephone lines. The aspect I love about acupuncture is that it’s a very gentle, self-healing method. It stimulates the body to heal itself. It’s a way to tell the body what needs to be done to facilitate healing.”

Yael mentions another treatment Chinese medicine employs that’s on the rise now and that she uses a lot in her practice—cupping. The practice involves placing cups made of glass, bamboo, or other materials on the skin and creating a vacuum to draw the skin and underlying tissue into the cup. This suction is created either by heating the air inside the cup (by lighting a fire) or by using a mechanical pump to remove the air.

According to Yael, cupping promotes the flow of energy and blood in the body and helps remove toxins and blockages from the body’s tissues. It is often used to treat conditions such as muscle pain, back pain, and respiratory disorders.

“What’s unique about cupping is that by first creating that vacuum, it can really open up tight spaces in a way that nothing else can. Even a good massage can’t release the tension in muscles that cupping can.

“And of course, there’s herbal medicine. In one line, Chinese herbal medicine uses natural substances such as plants, minerals, and animal products to treat various conditions. Herbal medicine can be very broadly applied, and is therefore very popular. I specialize in acupuncture and herbal medicine and love combining both.”

Yael emphasizes that in Chinese medicine, ideally, herbal treatments need to be customized to the individual and not generically prescribed. “The formula needs to be built like a cocktail, unique to an individual’s situation. I spend at least an hour examining and talking to every new patient.

“The most important differentiator between Chinese and Western medicine is that Chinese medicine is based on a holistic approach, which means that the whole person is considered in the diagnosis and treatment of illness, rather than just the specific symptoms or isolated organs. When a client comes in with a Western diagnosis, in Chinese medicine, we would call this the ‘chief complaint.’ This is the problem they’re coming with, not a diagnosis. From that point of departure, we then figure out a diagnosis. In Chinese medicine, a diagnosis is the underlying pattern, which is a complex process.”

Yael says that some clients feel much better simply after talking for an hour and discussing their physical issues. For some, it’s the first opportunity they’ve had to just get it all out. “For example, a patient comes to me with a fertility issue and mentions that she also has chronic low back pain. She’ll ask me if they’re related because when she asked her doctor, he discounted a connection. In Chinese medicine, however, every symptom is considered before forming a diagnosis. Chronic back pain is a common sign of kidney deficiency, which is also strongly connected with fertility.”

So many clients Yael encounters arrive exasperated and frustrated, and Yael’s clinic becomes their haven for comfort and encouragement. “They know something’s wrong with their body, that something’s not functioning right, but no conventional doctor has ever put it together for them. Clients usually leave my practice feeling validated. ‘Everything I feel and experience matters.’ There’s a reason why they feel cold all the time, or why their hair is falling out. I also often find that people really have deep insights into what they’re experiencing. When I ask them when the pain started, if they can think why it started, I often get very telling responses.”

Yael’s passion as she speaks evokes just that empowerment that she imbues her clients with. It’s her belief in every one of them that makes all the difference in their healing journey, encouraging them to look inward to find healing there.

With all the information and knowledge Yael presents, the title “doctor” befits her. Does she feel like one? “In that people come to my clinic to work on their health