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SFA_Nicole Kruck.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Missy Modell:
Welcome to sorry for Apologizing. I'm your host, Missy Modell, activist, strategist, and Recovering chronic Apologizer. In this podcast, we'll explore all of the ways women have been conditioned by society to play small, whether it's being expected to have children tolerate chronic pain or accept gender inequities. From orgasms to paychecks. This season, we'll work to challenge the cultural beliefs that brought us here and discuss all of the reasons why we should be asking for forgiveness rather than permission. It is time to stop apologizing. Sorry for apologizing. I discovered acupuncture about ten years ago. I was having chronic stomach issues from this long-term antibiotic I was on. I had been to multiple doctors and specialists and no one had any kind of solution. It kind of just led me down this weird rabbit hole, spending a lot of money, a lot of time with no real answers. So my best friend Clare suggested I try acupuncture as an alternative method just to see what happens, because she had a lot of success with it. And I went and seemingly overnight, the months-long discomfort I was experiencing had just gone away. And I felt seen and heard in a way that I really never have before. And I was just blown away. This had never been recommended to me before. Why was there seemingly such resistance from the medical community to this alternative method of healing? So I knew what I went through with my egg freezing process that this was something I wanted to incorporate, especially because a lot of my friends experienced great results when pairing the two together. Which brings me to today. I was referred to Nicole Kruck, who is over 40 years of experience specializing in fertility issues and gynecological health for women, and she's now become a dear friend and an incredibly trusted resource for me, and I wanted to share her knowledge with you. So welcome to the show.

Nicole Kruck:
Thanks so much for having me on. I've been thrilled to, to have a conversation with you and your listeners.

Missy Modell:
Thank you. And if people missed the last, I think it was the last episode of the first season. I called Nicole, my doula, my egg freezing doula, but also just my health doula. I feel like I just like to start this conversation off with how it's been. It was really challenging for me to even find acupuncture to begin with. It wasn't recommended to me. It was through friends that are a bit more spiritual and holistic. Why do you think that you, as a practicing brilliant acupuncturist and massage therapist, why do you feel like that's not the first go to, or it's not always in conjunction with a doctor's recommendation?

Nicole Kruck:
I think because a lot of times we just we never got the manual, we never got the women's manual when we were young about like our bodies, how they work, that there is something besides Western medicine and pharmaceuticals and procedures. In third world countries, their first line of defense is or health care, it is traditional medicine. And because they don't have access to what we have, say, in the United States, they're really good about training their women really young, about their bodies, about sex, about babies, all of that. And we just have never been given that opportunity to shine a light on it. So that's one of the reasons why I've always been drawn to traditional medicine, because it's been in practice for thousands of years. So traditional Chinese medicine, Mayan medicine, you name it, Ayurvedic. And so with Western medicine, we've kind of thrown the baby out with the bathwater as women or women or people with uteruses, like, we never got this information. And I so wish that I had been informed when I was younger. It would have saved me a lot of pain, and trouble, and so much. So that's why I've kind of dedicated my 26 years of practice to really educating women. I do acupuncture, I do massage, I do all sorts of things. But really what I love to do is to help educate women so that they don't have to go through what myself and so many other women have gone through. And I'm also finding that now, this younger generation, they actually know about acupuncture because their parents were taking them when they were really young for painful periods, or migraines, or sports injuries, or whatever it is. So it's nice that we've been blowing on these little ambers for a long time, and now we're starting to get a fire going. And Western medicine is wonderful. I want Western medicine, but I also want traditional medicine, and I want women to know that there's a lot of things that you can do instead of this tunnel vision of only one way, that there's many things that we can do to help ourselves, and they all can work synergistically.

Missy Modell:
So yeah, and I just want to share I don't know if I ever told you this. So I think it was about eight years ago. I was having chronic stomach problems. Like I was very bloated. I had chronic sinus infections and I took a lot of antibiotics. I think it destroyed my gut. And I went to quite literally maybe six gastroenterologists. I went to multiple doctors and nobody thought I did multiple tests. Nothing was wrong with me. And I threw my best friend in LA. I discovered Doctor Jiang at TCM Wellness and she fixed it. Immediately, like it was years of discomfort. And in one session she asked me questions that no one had ever asked me. And similar to you, I came in and I love you to share just some of the questions you asked because no doctor, gynecologist or GP has ever asked me these questions.

Nicole Kruck:
Yes, it's really important because the thing with traditional medicine is what we're trying to do is we're trying to get to the root of the problem. Like, why did this all start? Why are you having gastro problems? Why are you having painful periods? Why are you experiencing depression towards your period? We definitely do a Western intake. We want to know what medications you're on, if you have heart problems, all of that. But what's really important to us too, is to see the person as a whole person, as an individual person, because you have things going on with you that are different than other people. But there might be some threads. Yeah. So it's really important that we ask along with that, like how are you sleeping? Do you wake up in the middle of the night? Do you sleep? Do you have a hard time falling asleep? Do you wake up at certain times? Because that connects us to different patterns. And that's especially in TCM. We're looking for a pattern so that we can get the right diagnosis and the right treatment for it. And we also want to know top to bottom. So do you experience headaches? Do you have foggy memory? Do you wake up feeling ready to go for the day or are you really fatigued? Are you having any kind of like visual problems? Any floaters, blurriness, any kind of ringing? Is the ringing like a high-pitched, right? That's going to be more liver.

Nicole Kruck:
The blood's not moving well through the vessels. Or is it really low? Is it like a kidney issue? Like something? And when I talk about organs in Chinese medicine, they're not always correlated to Western what we think the function of Western organs are. But but there's this beautiful mix of being able to use that information to find out. Maybe you're coming in because your periods are really painful and they're cloudy, and maybe they're not coming on a regular basis, or you've got a longer cycle or a shorter cycle. We want to find out all the little pieces to help support your body regulating this process. Like I put needles in because I know where to put them in. However, what happens is your body is what's doing the healing, which is such a beautiful thing because our bodies are about homeostasis. We're always trying to bring things into balance, and that's happening 24 over seven, and we don't even notice it until something really loud starts to bring our attention to it, like a painful period or problems with our memory as a younger person. I'm not talking about, you know, like older people, but things like that, like, those are little flags that we're looking for along the way to see, okay, how can we put this together and treat this person for definitely we want them to have less painful periods.

Nicole Kruck:
But what else is that? Because that blood isn't moving easily through the body or there's not enough of it. How is that causing like headaches or something else that's going on at the same time? So we're addressing the main issue of what you're coming in for. But a lot of times there's all these other little other things that are associated with it. And especially I treat my practices in New York City. So I treat a lot of people who are having really busy lives who were under a lot of pressure, especially if you're thinking you're in like reproductive years where you're like either thinking about the possibility of wanting to have kids but not finding somebody yet, and wanting to freeze your eggs, or you're you found the right person and you're ready to get pregnant, but you're having some issues. There's so much emotional stuff going on. And just the fact that New York is such a busy place. So not only am I treating like fertility issues, but I'm also treating what's going on in the head and like trying to calm, right. you're a little bit get you to sleep really well, maybe help you, give you some nutritional tips too of what could how your diet could improve your moods and, and your fertility or whatever. But.

Missy Modell:
And you also asked about how often you poop, and what are they like, and what color blood is your period. I just feel like it's very comprehensive, and I was just really impressed. And it and even I'd love to know for people that have never tried acupuncture, maybe they heard about it and they imagine the needles hurt or they're scared. What is acupuncture?

Nicole Kruck:
I love to think of acupuncture as the subway system. So in New York we have a great subway system, and it goes to many places, and we have a local line that makes many stops along the way. And then we have these express lines that skip many stops and go to Grand Central or Times Square, like real big meccas. So when everything is running really smoothly in the body, we call it, and the in Chinese medicine it's referred to as like channels. So these channels are like the train lines. So when everything is running well, you get on the train, you don't even think about it. You're listening to your music and before you know it, you get off the train and you get. To work. However, if there is a little backup with the train, stay at one of the local stations like you're checking your clock a little bit and you start to get a little anxious. But you know, the express shows up and you hop to work. You get there. If, say, for something like something's down at Grand Central or Times Square and the trains aren't moving, there's no updates. You can't hear what they're saying. You start to get really anxious, like your blood pressure starts to go up. All of a sudden you feel like you have to pee, but you can't leave the station. You're worried your boss is going to yell at you when you get there. And that's kind of what happens to the body. At first, we don't hear very much, but it gets kind of louder and louder. So what the needles do is they go into these channels or these different stations, and they help to get the trains moving again so that the energy, the ki and the blood that are moving to the through the body are able to come back into homeostasis, so that all of a sudden you're not having painful periods or you're not having headaches or anxiety or whatever that is.

Nicole Kruck:
So it's really beautiful. And the beautiful thing about acupuncture, too, is that there's so many different styles of acupuncture, different ways of treating that it's not like you have to put a needle into that specific spot, because that's the one that's going to change your life and your condition and everything else. If something's going on, you can work somewhere else. I had a friend of mine who had a knee replacement, and it was so swollen and black and blue and pain and all of that, and we could treat her on day two, but not where the actual trauma was. What helped with the swelling? It helped the healing process. It was like half the time she felt emotionally better. So it's really individual. And I tell all my patients, if there's a place that you don't want to have needles, like you don't want them in your hands or someplace else in your body, that's fine, because it's about you. The treatment's about you. I know the information of where to go, but the treatment is always specifically about you and the needles. There's. You can fit 20 acupuncture needles into a hypodermic needle. They're so small and teeny, and most of the time, people don't even feel them. Like you might feel a little pinch, you might feel a little heaviness, but usually it goes away. As long as it doesn't feel like you hit your funny bone and it's still that kind of pain that goes on. It usually dissolves.

Nicole Kruck:
It usually dissolves. And usually in 10s we'll say, okay, let's come back and see what that's doing in ten 30s and usually it goes away. But sometimes something is is either very deficient, meaning there's not enough energy to like kind of get the car moving and what might feel a little heavy, a little achy. Or it might be that there's too much energy going on. And so you do feel it right away, but then usually it calms down. So you also.

Missy Modell:
Look at the tongue and take a pulse. What are those two things for?

Nicole Kruck:
Yeah it's great. So we have many diagnostic tools such as taking the pulse. Usually when you go to the doctor they're taking your blood pressure. They want to see how much blood is going through the vessels at the time. Whereas what we're looking for is there's like a map on that kind of the radial pulse. And also you can do it in ankle as well. But we're looking to see like where different pulses correlate to different organ systems in Chinese medicine. But basically what it means is that there's different places in the pulse that can tell us whether it's related to a certain organ or if the blood is feeling. We can feel like dampness in the blood. So if there's like a lot of, say, someone was really kind of more bloated, could be a little bit more heavier, is feeling sluggish like in general wakes up really tired. They're getting those damp, wet headaches. Or we can feel that the way that the blood is moving through, through the vessel of how it's really sinking. Is it. There are a lot of heat in it. Sometimes heat will be really fast paced, so we're just looking for that. And that's actually the most accurate moment in time of where your whole body is at in this moment. It's just like a snapshot. It could be different tomorrow. It could be. We're also checking sometimes during the treatment. Did did the pulse kind of come down or did it come up. And that's indicating to us that we're on the right track or that maybe we need to do something else? The tongue is also like a lot of people scrape their tongue.

Nicole Kruck:
I know it's like an Ayurvedic. You do that, but it's really actually helpful for us to see what's on the tongue because you have different coats, like a normal tongue usually is like a little pinkish and a little round, not too flat, not too fluffy. We're looking for are there cracks in certain parts to the tongue, just like you have in reflexology? You have places in your tongue that relate to different organ systems, so that we can see sometimes if someone has a really big crack in the center, there's usually some kind of digestive issue going on, or if it's on the side, it could be another issue. Or in the back we're looking at. The color is the are the fluids really baking off? So is it like really red and thin? Sometimes it can be from age, like menopause, or sometimes it could be someone who has like hot sauce every day on their food, that type of thing. So it gives them a lot of information. And it's kind of like the when we ask you all the questions, we do that. But then we also want to like double check it with the tongue and the pulse. Usually that will be like, yep, I thought it was that. But now I'm I'm seeing that picture. And for sure I know that's like textbook.

Missy Modell:
That's so interesting. Yeah I don't think I knew that. So thank you for that explanation. And also curious, we talk a lot about myths around women's health, and I'd love you to share some hot takes around your favorite myths.

Nicole Kruck:
Great. I have a couple of them.

Missy Modell:
Let's let's talk about it.

Nicole Kruck:
All right. So one of the things that I also do is I do something called my abdominal therapy. And it's a traditional abdominal massage that came to me from Central America. But it's basically been done all around the world and with different names and different techniques. But it addresses all the organs in the pelvis. So it's good for the liver, it's good for the stomach, it all the intestines. So people usually come to me for like reproductive issues. But a lot of people also have like secondary things, like you said, like digestive issues. Or they might have some bladder issues, constipation, that type of thing. But what I've been shown is that when the uterus moves out of place, that it can affect fertility, it can affect the bladder, it can affect the bowels, because the uterus is kind of sandwiched between the bladder in the front of the pelvis and then the uterus, and then behind that is the large intestine and the rectum, and the your uterus has this amazing ability to go for ounces right after your period, 15 pounds when you're pregnant, and back down and back up. And the reason it can do that is because there's hammock ligaments that support it in the front and the back and the top and the bottom.

Nicole Kruck:
So as she expands, they kind of hold her off of the other organs in the pelvis. But also you have to remember that there's arteries and veins and nerves and lymphatic vessels that are also going through that area, bringing oxygenated blood to your uterus and your ovaries, and take bringing in hormones and taking out waste products through the lymphatic system. So what can happen is that which were never taught is that the uterus can move out of place, and it's usually something that happens to us when we're really young, because we're more likely to be doing a lot of sports, jumping on the bed or falling off the bed or out of trees or off our bike, skiing, skating, that type of thing. And over time, what happens is those ligaments overstretch, just like the elastic in your waistband. So wherever that happens, the uterus can just fall in the pelvis or it can go forward onto the bladder. So women that feel like they pee a lot, especially close to their periods, or they've been told that they have small bladders, usually it's because the uterus is sitting on top of it. How do they.

Missy Modell:
Know if they have a tilted uterus?

Nicole Kruck:
Normally, what happens is that when you go to your gynecologist, they'll do a sonogram and they will see that it's kind of a little bit misplaced in the pelvis. But because they see that on a regular basis, they're like, oh, this is normal. Wow. Seeing it every single day, if we were in Belize or another country, like when you fell off that bed or when you went fell off your bike, the women in the family or in the midwives would do massage on you right away to keep those ligands and strengthen, right? But we're never taught about that. I didn't even know where my uterus really was. It's right in the base, kind of your pelvis. Most people think it's really high up around your navel, but it's really until you get pregnant, it's really kind of down there. You just kind of feel a little bit of the top of the uterus, what we call fundus. So anyhow, I know I got a little bit off track.

Missy Modell:
No that's great. Let's give one more. We were chatting about it during one of our sessions about PMS and historically, what women are supposed to do versus what we actually are doing.

Nicole Kruck:
Yeah. So a lot of my patients come in and they're like, I'm feeling really tired. I'm feeling a little bit more sad or a little bit more snappy at my partner. I'm getting some cramping. I'm getting some spotting like several days or a week or sometimes at the start of ovulation. And they're complaining about this, but nobody's really listening to them. They're like, oh, you're just getting ready for your period. Just plow through it. And really, our periods are our most like it's our most intense time. It's like when we should be on the mountains, meditating, having the community take care of us, feed us and rest. And we have visions for ourselves and the community and our little red tents. And we don't get to have that. We're like, you got to go to work. You got to get on the subway. You have to produce. You have to produce if you're cramping. Maybe take some might all or something. But you got to plow through this and it's so in opposition of what we're supposed to be doing. So I guess one of the things I would love to tell women is get some support if that's happening, because that shouldn't really be happening. It's either something hormonally happening or your uterus could be out of place. There could be a lot of different things, but get some help until you keep asking, until you get the help that you need. But yeah, it's really important that we honor that time within ourselves.

Nicole Kruck:
People shouldn't be having painful periods or flooding. None of that should be happening. And we're so often dismissed. And then we just say, okay, that's how it is. Or we talk to our friends and we're like, they're worse than I am. I can leave out the house after two days. They're in they're in the bathroom for five days. Bloody. Just know as women there is help out there and some of it is Western and some of it is traditional. And sometimes it's like a combination of both can really make that huge change in your life. But don't suck it up. Just know that there are times in the follicular phase when you're growing these follicles, that you're going to feel a lot of energy, you're going to want to do it out. But like that second half of the cycle is really about more pulling in because like, maybe we're pregnant, we're trying to get pregnant at that time, maybe we're pregnant and we're developing this new being in our body. So we need that time to ourselves. And if you have a very high stress job, then don't put anything else on your plate. Don't be the one that says, I'm going to sponsor the meeting or the dinner party or whatever it is, say, okay, I'm going to go to my yoga class or I'm going to I'm going to walk through the park instead of hopping on the subway.

Missy Modell:
I know, and I have a habit of doing that because even I think there's guilt around our period. We feel so shitty, and this is the hand we've been dealt and I still have to push through.

Nicole Kruck:
In my day time. It was called the curse. There are so many derogatory things, and that's why I think it's wonderful that these days, new mothers are giving their daughters like moon ceremonies for their periods and knowing that they have a community like they used to have the red tent.

Missy Modell:
What is the red tent?

Nicole Kruck:
The red tent is where the women used to go when they lived, not in the city, but it's where they, the women would go because they would be on the same moon time, because they lived together as such a community, that all the women would bleed at the same time. So you had teenagers and mothers and grandmothers and they would all go and hang out at the tent, and that's when the men would be in charge of the children and taking care of the food prep. And even if they were having arguments with one another and a little bit of backstabbing when they went into the red tent, that was like neutral ground, and it was a time to just receive, to to nourish yourself, eat well, rest, do some weaving, read a book, just hang out like a girls weekend without the alcohol. Well, maybe there was a call, I don't know.

Missy Modell:
I love that and I feel like we could create our own red tents by you said earlier, not saying yes to everything and just kind of dialing things back a little bit.

Nicole Kruck:
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. That your body when things like this happen to your body, just know that they are little signs to you. Like it's time for you to. Yeah. Dial back. Take care of yourself a little bit. Go find somebody who can help you relieve these issues and kind of get to the root problem because as women, we have to take on so much more in life than sometimes our counterparts. And so just really honoring that.

Missy Modell:
And in having over 40 years of experience in this field, which is unbelievable because you look like you're 30. I know I would say no, I want to know what is something you want to tell women that are listening or that you're yet to meet? What is something you've seen over and over again that you want to just speak to or kind of give advice on?

Nicole Kruck:
Yeah, I think the most important thing is that is you live in your body 24 over seven. So it's really important to know that what you're either little voices that you're hearing, that maybe this isn't right, maybe this isn't the right health care provider for me. Maybe this isn't the right relationship. Those little things are telling you. They whisper at first, and then they get a little bit louder. So start tuning into that. And like I said, towards your period, like when we're like, oh, I'm in pain. And I'm like having to lay on the couch and watch Netflix. It might be a time also to like, journal or do some like little guided meditations or get on the phone with a really trusted friend and just have, you know, have a nice talk, or now we can actually see each other in person. Go for a tea or something. Yeah, just listen to those signs and know that you're the expert on your body and your life. There's other people out there to help you and guide you. But always, if you don't feel comfortable in a situation, there's a reason for it. And I think especially with healthcare these days, just don't go to one person who says your aim is really low and you should have a baby today. And these numbers, like those numbers are always going to change. But listen to your heart. Tune in to your heart.

Missy Modell:
I mean, that's something I've taken away from our time together. So it's so helpful. And you're brilliant with sharing health self-care tips. And I think that's self-care is listening to your intuition.

Nicole Kruck:
Exactly. Exactly, yeah. Taking time out to listen to what you're hearing.

Missy Modell:
And I'd love to know. You know, I ask every guest on the episode. What are you sorry for apologizing for?

Nicole Kruck:
You know what I am. I am sorry for apologizing for being an older woman, for getting old. I really discovered, especially recently, like, I love getting older and I love being a grown like I. I'm just like, I'm fully like bathing in it now. I just, I don't care anymore. I don't care what the numbers are. I don't care what the lines are or the roles. I'm so happy being older because I feel like I've finally come into my own self and I know who I am, and I know what I want, and I know what I don't want, and I know what I won't take anymore. And I know what I'll do. Oh my God.

Missy Modell:
That's so good. Thank you, my friend. You're amazing. And how can people find you?

Nicole Kruck:
So my main practice is in New York City and Greenwich Village, and I practice, like, hands on work there and then. But people who can't come to New York, I also do telehealth online, and I'm happy to answer anybody's questions and help guide you to like other practitioners, too. If you live out of state, I do my best to try and get you on on a path that supports you.

Missy Modell:
Thank you so much for coming on. You're such a gift and I'm so glad we get to share our private sessions to the public. So thank you for your time, and thank you all for listening. And make sure to send this podcast around and rate and subscribe. It helps your girl out so much and can't wait to see you for the next one! Bye, Nicole.

Nicole Kruck:
Bye! Thanks, Missy.

Speaker3:
Thank you.

Missy Modell:
Thank you for listening to sorry for Apologizing. Brought to you by Rescripted. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about our amazing guests. To stay in the know, follow me at Missy Modell on Instagram and TikTok, or head to Rescripted Comm. And don't forget to like and subscribe!

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