‘Herbal medicine on the rise at Confluence Acupuncture’

By Chris Mays, Vermont Country Magazine.

BRATTLEBORO — With new pressure cookers and staff trained in making formulas, Confluence Acupuncture is seeing an uptick in patients taking herbal medicines. 

“The herbal component has really taken off,” said Stefan Grace, owner of Confluence Acupuncture.

Grace opened Confluence Acupuncture on Technology Road Drive in Brattleboro in early 2023.

That first year involved “getting my legs under me then last year was when things really started to grow and move forward,” he said. 

“I’ve got a couple of staff members who are working with me at the front desk,” he said, as they help with scheduling and turning over acupuncture treatment rooms. “We give a lot of people herbs now.” 

Grace writes an herbal prescriptions, and staff members put together herbal formulas for patients, a process that he said can be “really time consuming.” It had been difficult for him to pull off at the same time he was running the treatment rooms. 

One of his staff members manages and oversees the herbal inventory and formula development. Last year, the team started “decocting” the herbs, a process Grace likened to cooking tea. 

Getting patients to decoct the herbs themselves had been a challenge at Confluence Acupuncture. Doing that in-house now, with the pressure cookers in the herb prep room, has been a game changer. 

Patients are sent home with a six pack of jars, which is about a week’s worth of already cooked herbs that can be stored in the fridge. Grace said the new process makes the treatment “easy as possible.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he learned of hospitals in China giving out herbs in a similar fashion. He was inspired to try his own version. He purchased the pressure cookers about a year-and-a-half ago. 

“I’m quite pleased with it,” he said. “That’s always been the sticking point with herbs, getting people to take them.” 

Herbs are used to treat pain, digestive issues, anxiety, gynecological conditions and many other things. Grace called their application “super broad.” 

Having the herbs premade “takes the mystery out of them,” he said. All patients have to do is drink them. 

A new display of topical herbs is out at the office. Some are made in-house and others are procured from suppliers in Japan and China. 

“I’ve been pretty selective about what types of herbs I have out there,” Grace said, adding that they’re all batch tested for heavy metals, sulfur, pesticides and fungicides. “They’re all of the utmost quality that you can find on the herb market today.” 

Grace sees herbs as an “added value” to the acupuncture offered at his clinic. Acupuncture is what brings people through the door, he said.

“I’m happy with the community support I’ve gotten with this whole endeavor,” he said. “It shows me that there’s a market for it, and people are quite enthusiastic about it.”

Grace has been a licensed acupuncturist for more than a decade and has practiced Chinese medicine for more than 15 years. He worked in different clinics before opening his own. 

Confluence Acupuncture has four rooms with equipment to accommodate different kinds of pain. The clinic is handicap accessible and Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, with wide hallways and doors to make navigation easier for people with wheelchairs and walkers. 

Grace also teaches Qigong in his office or in parks when the weather is nice. He compares the traditional Chinese movement therapy to tai chi. 

“It can be really helpful,” he said. “I’ll prescribe some of those movement therapies as part of treatment, too, sometimes.”

Chris Mays is a reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He plays guitar in three groups and has a Yorkie named Lemon, who can be followed on Instagram at @lemon_the_yorkie. He enjoys spending time in the mountains.