We all know that college can be extremely stressful — mentally, physically and emotionally. Work and projects can pile up, sports can cause injuries and strains and the entire experience is new and overwhelming.
Luckily, a solution is tucked between the trees at 538 6th Street, only two minutes away from Shawnee’s campus. The building houses three businesses, all dedicated to helping the people of our community.
Align Massage Therapy is owned by Ali Hull and is the primary business at this location. Here, you can receive several types of massages by licensed massage therapists Ali Hull and James West. Hearth and Healing Mental Health Therapy LLC, owned by licensed independent social worker Kirsten Livingston, also calls 538 6th Street home. Livingston offers individual therapy, relationship therapy and child and adolescent therapy.
The newest business to join the 538 6th Street building is Opal & Jade Acupuncture and Wellness, owned by licensed acupuncturist Alli Sargent. Sargent is a 2019 Shawnee State graduate, with a bachelor of biology and a minor in neuroscience. Her business is named after two stones known for their healing and harmony properties. The name also holds personal meaning, as Jade is Sargent’s middle name and Opal is the name of Sargent’s great-grandmother. The business opened on Sept. 20.
When Sargent graduated from Shawnee State, she had no idea what the future would hold for her.
“At the time, I had no idea I was going to be an acupuncturist,” she said. “But luckily for me, having that degree was able to get me into my master’s degree for acupuncture, and here we are.”
She completed extensive schooling to become a licensed acupuncturist in the state of Ohio. Along with earning her master of acupuncture at The American Institute of Alternative Medicine, Sargent also completed three board exams from two Chinese medicine boards and one biological medicine board.
The Women’s Business Center at Shawnee also helped Sargent start her business.
“The massage therapist that owns this building is actually part of the ECDI Women’s Business Center, and she helped connect me to those resources,” she said. “I reached out to them about opening up the business, and they’ve really helped me every step along the way with anything I might need. If they couldn’t help me directly, then they gave me the names and connected me to the people that could help me.”
Sargent’s services have benefits for multiple types of issues, such as stress or injury. She describes acupuncture as the use of tiny, thin needles that go into different acupoints located on the body.
“Every living thing has something called qi,” Sargent explained. “It’s supposed to be free-flowing, so it starts around the groin area, goes down and comes back up around the head – it makes a full circle. When you’re in pain or you have stress, the qi gets stagnated and blocked. So we use acupuncture to stimulate those areas to get your qi flowing and to harmonize your yin and yang in your body.”
Sargent also offers more than just acupuncture. She can provide fire cupping, which involves setting a cotton ball on fire and using the heat to create a vacuum within a small glass cup. It is then placed on different parts of the back and shoulders. This helps release muscle tension and unblocks qi. Many collegiate and Olympic athletes utilize fire cupping. She also explained a technique called moxibustion, in which a stick or cone of moxa (dried mugwort) can be used to heat an area of qi stagnation, which can relieve pain or inflammation. She can also provide gua sha therapy, ear seeds, electrical stimulation and intradermal needles. Sargent will soon be able to provide treatment for alpha-gal syndrome, which is caused by tick bites and can cause issues such as PTSD, anxiety, stress and the inability to eat meat. This is a large issue in our area specifically, and the treatment Sargent is returning to school to learn is 96 percent successful, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Despite all the benefits of acupuncture, Sargent acknowledged that some may have a fear of needles and may be skeptical about the process.
“The only adverse effects of getting acupuncture done is having small bruising where the needle went in, or soreness in the area,” she said. “There’s no crazy, like, when you watch an ad for medication, and it’s like, you might die. That doesn’t happen with acupuncture.”
She also explains that acupuncture needles are extremely small, thin and flexible. For example, 40 acupuncture needles can fit into one intradermal needle, such as the needles used for vaccines. An average of 12 needles are used in a normal acupuncture session. Needles are also one-time use and the entire process is extremely sterile.
Sargent is taking new clients for $120. Any appointment booked after your first visit is $100. She also offers free 30-minute consultations.
“I will pretty much show you the needles, walk-through, you can tell me whatever issues you’re having, and we can figure out what’s the best method to treat what’s going on with you,” she said.
Clients can also choose a fire cupping-only session, which is $45. Anyone who presents their Shawnee ID will also receive a 10% discount.
Opal & Jade’s services can be booked through Align Massage’s website at alignmassagewithali.com/schedule. Sargent’s bookings are at the bottom of the page. Align Massage’s Facebook page also includes a link to the website. Sargent has her own Facebook page titled Opal & Jade Acupuncture and Wellness with more information about the business.
