Local Acupuncturist Works in Nepal

Alison Beadell crossed oceans, continents and mountains to treat people in rural Nepal with acupuncture.

“I really like how the recipients respond to it, how they feel,” Beadell said. “It’s great to see people feel better, even if it is because of something as simple as giving them an acupuncture treatment.”

Alison Beadell treats a woman at a free clinic in Nepal. Beadell attended an Acupuncturists Without Borders trip this spring.

Beadell was part of an Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) trip, where she and 17 other practitioners traveled to rural towns, orphanages and Maiti, a center for abused and trafficked women. They practiced the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) form of auricular acupuncture, where five needles are inserted in patients’ ears in specific places. The treatment helps build a cooperative attitude and reduces anxiety.

The acupuncturists traveled to Mustang, the country’s northernmost region that shares a border with Tibet. Mustang was considered a kingdom until 2008, and still is so remote visitors are charged a daily fee. Its capitol is Lo Monthang, an ancient walled city of fewer than 900 people.

Acupuncture isn’t a common treatment in the Mustang region of Nepal, and part of the mission was to train new practitioners. Still, patients filtering through the AWB clinics responded well and spread word about the free acupuncture treatments to their families and neighbors.

“They liked it and they definitely told their friends because more people were coming,” Beadell said. “You can see they were just interested – [asking] ‘what am I here for?’ Something different, something to break the routine.”

Most adults spoke of arthritis pain, likely a result of working hard in the dusty fields.

“The women especially wanted to have their voices heard because I think in that culture often they’re not,” Beadell said. “They’re out working in the fields all day so they wanted to talk about their aches and pain. We would try to listen through the translators. The ear acupuncture can help relieve pain; it can be directed at whatever the person needs.”

The atmosphere of a free acupuncture clinic in the Himalaya Mountains was different than that of her small office in Ephraim, and Beadell said she enjoyed seeing a large group of acupuncturists and patients working together. She called the process community acupuncture, where the people were in a comfortable environment and trying to heal together.

AWB was started after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina to provide free community acupuncture to people affected by the crises and those trying to clean up after it. The organization now serves veterans in its Military Stress Recovery Project, responds to disasters, opens community clinics, trains new acupuncturists and sometimes hosts trips around the world.

Beadell would go on another trip, she said, especially if there’s need in Wisconsin.

“I think all of it together makes people feel something,” she said. “To feel like somebody’s caring about them, thinking about them, doing something for them, even when the rest of their world’s a mess.”

Beadell owns Wood Rabbit Acupuncture and is available by appointment (920.421.4221).