Katie Pickworth, ND, MS

Check out this blog post I wrote on moving away from the BMI and weight as indicators of health! :)

Why the BMI is Bunk: Setting Health Goals in 2021 - Northwest Integrative Medicine Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest We’re finally on the other side of 2020! And with the new year comes the same old-school messaging: “Isn’t time for you to set a new year’s resolution, and shouldn’t you start the new year by trying to lose weight?” This is the time of year when we’re...

It’s no secret that stress and anxiety go hand in hand. Anxiety often becomes more problematic or pathological when it disrupts daily activities or doesn’t feel appropriate given our stress level. For example, we might experience anxiety in our day-to-day life even if we aren’t that stressed, or our anxiety response to a normal, minimal stressor could be super-duper high when it doesn’t need to be. 😖🤬😱

This boils down to dysregulation of our hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is responsible for our stress response that gets us into fight or flight mode. The critical hormone/regulator of this is cortisol, which can easily become imbalanced or overactive when we experience prolonged stress. Studies have shown that repeated, prolonged, or very severe stress can cause over-activation of this axis and contribute to anxiety. The details of this relationship have yet to be determined by the research, but I know that I have seen many patients with clear HPA axis dysfunction that impacts their mood, including anxiety. This also often impacts sleep patterns, especially when someone is up ruminating late at night or is waking in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep. I suspect that traumatic experiences and trauma-triggers play a key role here, but I haven’t seen the clinical trial just yet!

HPA axis dysfunction is a state of being that responds to more natural and lifestyle intervention than pharmaceuticals; in fact, there aren’t a ton of conventional options to get our HPA axis back in harmony. Good news is that your friendly neighborhood naturopathic physician has a lot of tools for supporting this system and improving your stress response AND anxiety. ✨🌿🥰

PMID: 19716990
📸: Portland, Oregon October 2020

Anxiety is a state of mental and physical discomfort that has many possible underlying causes. One of the most-talked-about but perhaps least understood aspects of anxiety is the role that neurotransmitters play in our experience of it. I think of them as one critical way we understand the mind-body connection; these little friends mediate much of our internal experience!

Neurotransmitters are the proteins responsible for sending messages between cells in our brain. Dysregulation or dysfunction of the neurotransmitters responsible for mood and emotions is one cause of anxious mood. This happens one of two ways: there is too much of a stimulating neurotransmitter or too little of a calming neurotransmitter. Most research has found that the neurotransmitter GABA, which is our brains’ go-to for calming down, becomes dysfunctional. This can happen either because the receptors in the brain have become less common or because there isn’t enough GABA to go around.

Serotonin, which plays a larger role in depression because it’s the “feel good” or “happy” neurotransmitter, also has some evidence of dysfunction in some people with anxiety; this is more likely to be the case when someone has a mix of depression and anxiety.

Medications and natural supplements, including some herbs, often act on these two neurotransmitters or their receptors, increasing their ability to bind in the brain and have the desired positive, calming impact. There are even some fancy ways to test the activity and availability of your own neurotransmitters (though those tests are sometimes without great scientific evidence to back them). Regardless, this is a very common place to start when it comes to medical treatment options for anxiety - but it’s rarely the whole picture.

Neurotransmitter function is important for brain health, of course! Where things get really interesting is when we dig into the relationship between these fun molecules and their protein brethren, our hormones (especially stress hormones). More about the relationship between neurotransmitters and hormones coming next! ✨🤗

PMID: 19716990
📸: Arch Cape, Oregon October 2020

Katie Pickworth, ND, MS now takes appointments on their Page.

When I start working with a patient who reports anxiety, I always try to identify the root cause of their distress or dysfunction - this is one of the cornerstones of naturopathic medical thinking and decision-making. 🤓

From my standpoint, anxiety is rarely a result of just one thing, nor is it likely the result of brain regions gone awry or just “chemical imbalance.” The reality is that I often find that individuals with anxiety have endured difficult life events or trauma; anxiety rarely presents without some kind of emotional or physical disturbance in someone’s childhood or youth. More on that later!

There are several areas of the brain that have been linked to anxiety, and one scientific perspective on anxiety is that it results from an imbalance in the activity of different brain centers that control mood, emotions, and executive function (like how we think, plan, and choose to act). 🤔🤪🤗

One critical brain structure here is the amygdala, which is responsible for our fear response. If the amgydala gets input from regions of the brain responsible for mood and executive functioning, it can cause increases in heart rte and blood pressure, feelings of hyper-vigilance, more of a startle response, and triggering of our stress hormones. All of this is intended to help us fight or flee a threat, but the amygdala can fire even when there isn’t a “real” threat - just a perceived one. 😫😖😰

People with anxiety are more likely to have larger amygdalas, likely due to the amygdala being “used” so much over time that it grows to meet demand. People with anxiety also have more brain activity in their prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for sending signals to the amygdala.

The circuitry of the brain goes on overdrive when we have anxiety, especially chronic anxiety. This is one of the reasons to treat anxiety sooner rather than later to improve long-term mental health! ☺️✨🧠

📚PMID: 19716990
📸: Brookings, Oregon August 2020

It’s no secret (and no joke) that this year has been incredibly tough on the mental health of many people. One report from the CDC presented substance use/abuse statistics and mental health statistics for United States adults at the end of June; the report indicates that 40% of adults are struggling with mental health or substance use concerns with 31% of adults experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms. That is no small number and definitely something to be alarmed about.

It seems like the topic of anxiety is coming up more and more with my patients as the year goes on (especially with some critical impending political events), so I want to take the next month to highlight the naturopathic approach to anxiety, demystifying and destigmatizing the experience of anxiety along the way. That means I’m going to briefly explain how we understand anxiety physiologically and then follow it up with brief descriptions of evidence-based ways that we can manage anxiety with conventional options, natural options, and lifestyle options.

It’s a really big topic and one that I imagine I’ll return to again on social media, so I can’t claim that this will be the end-all, be-all, of anxiety management. BUT, I do have a lot of experience in how to get people through anxious moments and how to reduce and prevent anxiety from happening in the first place.

I love working with patients to identify the root cause of their anxiety (physiologically or psychologically), so the first thing I want to address in this series is the physiology of anxious moods. Stay tuned for that information this week! 🤓✨🧠

What do you want to know about anxiety? Have you ever successfully managed anxiety yourself at home? Let me know below.

Reference - DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a1

Very compelling essay by Marquisele Mercedes, a current PhD candidate at Brown, about the problematic nature of certain voices within the anti-diet space.

HAES, fat positive, weight neutral, and intuitive eating work is inherently intersectional and should always acknowledge its roots in the marginalization and limitation of BIPOC voices.

The Unbearable Whiteness and Fatphobia of “Anti-Diet” Dietitians These white female dietitians have helped steal and monetize the body positive movement. And I’m sick of it.

October 10th was World Mental Health Day!

Fostering an internal sense of mental wellness is an admirable goal and something that several of our providers love to participate in. Mental health is more important now than ever - and it's about a lot more than how quarantine and isolation impacts us.

A new study published in JAMA Network Open highlighted that having a psychiatric illness increased some patients' risk of mortality from COVID-19. The study looked at a sample of COVID patients hospitalized in the Yale University hospital system between February and April 2020, and results showed that patients with a psychiatric illness had increased risk of mortality compared to those without a psychiatric diagnosis. The authors of the study didn't look at which types of conditions presented the most risk, how long the patients had that diagnosis, or why people with psychiatric illnesses might increase risk.

What do we do with this information? A few thoughts:

1. Don't freak out! Science is imperfect and doesn't look at each individual but rather looks at trends in big samples.
2. Acknowledge to yourself, family/friends, and your doctor if you feel like you have an undiagnosed or uncontrolled mental illness. We're here to support you.
3. Prevention is the best medicine! Continue to follow state guidelines about mask wearing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

If you need more support around your mental health this month or any month, schedule an appointment with one of our specialists at NWIM! We can work together toward mental wellness even in this trying time.

With hope and love,

Dr. Katie
Katie Pickworth, ND, MS

This post coming to you all the way from my second year of residency, which started last week at Northwest Integrative Medicine in Tualatin, OR.

My first year of residency was all about self-development in the end: learning how to process change, accepting the things I can’t control, and sitting with my own goals and resilience. I paused my Instagram and Facebook content to make this inner work happen. I also experienced many moments of self-doubt and worry that I didn’t have much of value to add to the digital conversation. I’ve accepted that the Internet is a vast place that can trick you into thinking you’re less important than you are (and vice versa).

There’s so much that I’m always learning in my journey towards being the best doctor I can be. If I can spread the love, knowledge, growth, positive psychology, etc - that’s enough for me.

Looking forward to chatting about my favorite things on this platform: mental health, musculoskeletal health, hormone health. HAES, weight neutral, and body positive care. Social justice for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ patients, colleagues, and community members. Integrative approaches that see the whole person from head to toe, from cell to spirit. And whatever other magic comes up the pipeline. ✨🌱

📸: Crater Lake, Oregon, August 2020

Important information from Dr. Maeghan at Northwest Integrative Medicine!

It’s been a very difficult time for many. Please reach out if you need support or help finding treatment. The docs at NWIM are here for you!

FYI, the relapse and overdose rate has increased by 30% since March 2020. Mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression.

NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Health has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Please, would any two of my Facebook friends copy and repost to share the helpline far and wide? Just two. Any two. Say done.

I am sharing this because I strongly agree with education shared by NAMI.

🎉 I am thrilled to announce that this month I am officially accepting new patients at Northwest Integrative Medicine! 🎊

If we haven’t met before: I’m Dr. Katie Pickworth, a naturopathic primary care physician specializing in body positive, trauma-informed, individualized medicine that sees and cares for the whole person. My favorite thing is to work with patients to identify and address the root cause of discomfort and disease using an approach that incorporates my patients’ preferences every step of the way. With me, you will always have a safe space, an open ear, and an enthusiastic ally and teammate.

I come from a family of storytellers; big, loud belly-laughers; and open-hearted healers. My upbringing oriented me to the world of medicine, and my academic training has prepared me for in-depth conversations on evidence-based practice. My first year of residency has focused primarily on mental health and musculoskeletal health (i.e., chronic pain, sports injuries, and athlete care), and I love talking about how the mental body impacts the physical body; physiology and psychology go hand in hand in my book.

My work often blends conventional methods like medications with supportive, gentle natural therapies like flower essences and herbs that maximize treatment response and allow for genuine healing, recovery, and self-love no matter the condition or situation. I also spend more time with patients than the average primary care doc to ensure that they know and understand their condition(s) so that they are best supported (and invested) in their healing journey.

I’ve been shadowing with Drs. Maeghan and Stephanie Culver for exactly two years today, and they have modeled nothing short of excellence for me every time I’m with them. It is beyond exciting to humbly accept their invitation to start working with these incredible women and leaders in our community, along with the rest of the awesome NWIM family.

Interested in working with me? Our practice website is in my bio, and you can call ‭(503) 855-4341‬ to schedule. I can’t wait to hear your story. Let’s laugh together soon.

I messed up. I’ve been so active internally and externally during my unofficial break from Instagram that I failed to stand in open solidarity with my black friends, colleagues, patients, and other incredible spirits past, present, and future. I’ve been sitting in shame, feeling like it’s too late. I apologize for my silence on this page and can only assure you that in my “real” life, I have been speaking out, standing up, and educating myself in the space between.

Black lives matter.
Black trans lives matter.
Black LGBTQIAA+ lives matter.
Black womxn’s lives matter.
Black mental health matters.
Black neurodiversity matters.
Black humans of all shapes, sizes, and abilities matter.

I stand with you and promise to continue to lift black voices, work, art, and love to the highest degree that I am able.




Cheers to this little oxalis for reminding me this morning that even in the toughest of conditions, we can still bloom. ❤️✨🌼

Perfectionism tells us we can’t mess up: we have to meet the needs of everyone around us, all the time. Perfectly. ⁣
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But that’s not how it works, does it? Perfectionism holds us hostage to invisible, capricious standards - of performance, of productivity, of appearance. Of empathy and of compassion. Of... doing Zoom... correctly? 🙊⁣
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We burn out not because we aren’t good enough: we burn out because we burned the candle at both ends. ⁣
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People with higher levels of perfectionism are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, insomnia, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, and obsessive compulsive disorder. It is also associated with more subtle emotional underpinnings: higher levels of shame and guilt; more indecisiveness and struggle with self-identity formation; and of course more worry and rumination. ⁣
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With constant societal inputs for unattainable perfection, how do we begin to let go? Therapy helps (documented by a lot of research!). Mindfulness meditation helps, too. But I also know it’s a personal journey for all of us perfectionists, and there’s a long road ahead for many. What if we choose to live a life that we love, based on values that we decide on ourselves? ⁣
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Who are you at the end of the day, alone with yourself? What lights you up? Where does your heart take you in the middle of the night? ⁣
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These are questions without answers. All I can say is that you are enough as you are today, and I love your whole perfectly imperfect being right here and now. Promise. ♥️✨🌿⁣
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Sources: PMIDs 27836815, 26231736, 31507476, 28397103, 27673706, 29875882⁣
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📸: Berberis spp, Hoyt Arboretum, April 2020⁣
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Happy Sunday from my family to yours! 🌸 The Pacific Northwest is in full bloom as we head into May at the end of this week, and the people and pets in my life are all ready for warmer, longer days ahead (more time for walks! 🐶🏃🏻‍♀️). Take good care, friends ♥️✨🌿 We’re in this together.

I’m going to continue this trauma conversation as we head into the weekend, which I hope will be restful and relaxing for each and everyone of you! Let’s dive deeper into the variety of emotional trauma responses you may be experiencing now or may experience in the future. ⁣
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⁣⁣Immediate emotional reactions to trauma: ⁣⁣⁣
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🔸Numbness & detachment ⁣⁣
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🔸Anxiety or severe fear⁣
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⁣🔸Guilt ⁣⁣⁣
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🔸Exhilaration from surviving⁣⁣
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🔸Anger ⁣
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🔸Sadness &Helplessness⁣
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⁣🔸Disorientation⁣
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⁣🔸Overwhelm ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Delayed emotional reactions to trauma: ⁣⁣
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🔹Irritability or hostility, mood swings or emotional instability ⁣
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⁣🔹Depression⁣
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⁣🔹Fear of recurrence⁣⁣
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🔹Grief ⁣⁣
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🔹Shame ⁣
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🔹Feeling fragile and vulnerable⁣⁣⁣
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🔹Emotional detachment⁣⁣⁣
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⁣If you are having emotional changes that feel like they’re “about nothing,” I invite you to express self-compassion in your reactions; to feel them and hold them in your heart center, knowing that it is okay to grieve and react how you need to in order to process this global event and others moving forward. ⁣⁣⁣
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This is a lot for any individual to carry around, let alone a community. I feel it in my bones. ⁣⁣⁣
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Normalizing the experience of trauma - because it is something so few of us get through life without being touched by - is key. Making the experience of trauma acceptable opens the door for more conversations and connections: more empathy, compassion, and connection. And that’s the good stuff - that’s what will allow us healing as a community and as individuals. ⁣⁣⁣
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How are you feeling going into the weekend? I’m here for you, in the digital ethers, sending you love always. ♥️✨🌿⁣⁣⁣
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⁣Sources: PMID 24413388, 30550391, 26460523⁣⁣⁣
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📸: Oregon Coast, Summer 2016

To all my healers, helpers, doers; hippie earth children and wildflower power people; funky hikers and bikers and explorers of the earth and Earth: Happy Earth Day and new moon in Ta**us! That is some big loamy energy if you ask me. 🌍✨🌑⁣
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How are you celebrating the earth today? I could preach about sustainability (you know we should care about this, right? It’s a BFD tbh 👩🏻‍🌾)... but I think I’ll tap into my inner Ta**us and dig into a book while listening to the rain instead. 📚🥰💧⁣
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You’re all doing great, loves. The earth is healing and turning without much input from us; let’s follow her lead and keep healing too. 🌿✨♥️⁣
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Columbia River Gorge, June 2016

I’ve had a few patients, colleagues, and friends tell me they’ve been feeling off since the pandemic started. Most recently: “I’m just tired all the time” (and this is a common one). Don’t get me wrong, there are a LOT of reasons that someone could be experiencing fatigue right now: schedules have changed, obligations have changed, there’s a general universal ennui from all the time indoors, etc. 😴⁣
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That said, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on the incredible diversity of trauma responses that are documented in the literature. Whether we want to be or not, we are experiencing a collective trauma as a global community. How your body and mind are responding to the pandemic might be changing all that time, and it might feel out of your control. I’m here to tell you that is okay; you are welcome to experience the diversity of trauma reactions in order to heal and be well. ♥️⁣
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There are five main categories of trauma reactions outside of psychiatric disorders like depression or PTSD. Any of these reactions may be immediate or delayed by days or months.⁣
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😣 Emotional: Anger, sadness, dissociation, overwhelm⁣
⁣💪🏻 Physical: Sleep changes, digestive upset, fatigue, hypervigilence, or overactivity ⁣
⁣🧠 Cognitive: Difficulty concentrating, memory problems, rumination ⁣
⁣🥑 Behavioral: Changing relationship(s) with food or substances, withdrawal from social interaction, restlessness ⁣
⁣✨ Existential: Despair about humanity, intense use of prayer/spirituality, redefining the meaning of life⁣
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That’s some big stuff. And I’m not here to attach trauma to you; your journey is your own. That said, if you’re not feeling like yourself right now, there are some perfectly reasonable explanations. Your experience - whatever it is right now - is valid and wholly yours. ⁣
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What do you want to know about trauma? Do you relate to any of these responses right now? 🌿♥️✨⁣
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Sources: PMID 24413388, 30550391, 26460523

As the daughter of a chiropractor and a naturopath, I know the power of intentional, intelligent natural medicine. I also know that recommendations that ignore science and other quality evidence can be dangerous in the wrong hands. And as a human with my own mental and physical health journey, I know that conventional medicine has its great strengths and weaknesses, too. ⁣
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My mission is to integrate these worlds and employ the full scope of naturopathic medicine to meet the needs of each individual patient. ⁣
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I have over ten years of training in the art and science of integrative medicine: BA in Psychological Science, BA in Biology, MS in Integrative Medicine Research, and ND: doctor of Naturopathic Medicine with three years of residency planned. I love knowledge and facts and numbers. You can trust me to critically appraise the scientific literature and other evidence when I talk about science and your health. ⁣
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There is more to me than “cerebrality” (most if not all physicians have that gift). I’m a doctor that cares about relationships; I want to know patients better so that I can serve them best. I’m a doctor that is endlessly curious and interested in the root cause of discomfort, dysfunction, and disease. I want to walk together on the healing path so that my patients feel empowered and educated to engage deeply in their own healthcare and self-care. I will greet you with a grin and an open heart, and my aim is that you leave with a smile and more hope than you came in with. ⁣
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Patients that choose to work with me may leave with a prescription for a pharmaceutical, a customized tincture or flower essence blend, a lifestyle goal, or more. We decide together so that everyone is on board with the plan, and we go at your pace according to your preference. This is your healing journey, not mine - and I’m here to support you along the way. ⁣
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What do you need from your doctor that you aren’t getting? Have you ever worked with a licensed naturopathic physician? ⁣

Tinctures are probably one of the most common traditional ways that herbs can be used in clinical practice and at home. Herbal constituents - the organic compounds that give plants a physiological effect or otherwise act on our physical body - have to be extracted from plant cells using one of a handful of methods. Soaking in a blend of water and alcohol is one of the most effective ways to extract constituents and get the most plant magic (and benefits!). 🌱⁣
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Herbal extracts like tinctures are easier to research than some other plant allies, because they can be standardized and utilized in randomized controlled trials. This can make use of tinctures easier to characterize, easier to compare with pharmaceuticals, and easier to manufacture/distribute on a large scale. I love to use standardized herbal extracts with patients so that we can talk through the pros and cons thoroughly to make a treatment decision as a team. I also like to use them with my highly-sensitive patients so that we can adjust the dosage in a scientific way if we have to (sometimes to as little as one drop in a glass of water per day!). 💧⁣
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Benefits of using tinctures are many: they’re readily available, very well-studied, and have a faster effect than encapsulated supplements. ✨⁣
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But tinctures aren’t for everyone. For example, the taste is not fun (or even tolerable) for most kiddos or people with sensory processing difficulty related to taste sensation, and the alcohol can be a trigger for patients with a difficult relationship with alcohol or a substance use disorder. Glycerites - tinctures with herbs that were extracted using the sweet tasting oil, glycerin - are fantastic compromise in these cases. 🌞⁣
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Do you have a favorite tincture? Any herbs you love the taste of - or cant stand? I love most tinctures with licorice but can’t handle the tongue-numbing-ness of kava! ♥️✨🌿⁣

Trauma, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “A deeply distressing or disturbing experience [or] a physical injury.” That’s it. Trauma is subjective, personal, and very real. ⁣
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If you exist in the psychology, psychiatry, or mental health space, you’ve probably heard of the “Big T Trauma” debate. This relies on traditional definitions of trauma (e.g., working in the military, experiencing a tragedy or death first hand, etc.), but modern research is starting to explore the incredible spectrum of traumas (“little t”) that may impact us throughout our lives. ⁣
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In my work, I have seen that full spectrum of lifetime traumas contribute to an incredibly vast number of physical and mental health concerns in the long-term. We may also be challenged with generational traumas from our ancestors who experienced traumatic events or extreme stressors - this influences the way our genes are expressed, and we inherit these patterns (genetically/physically, emotionally, and spiritually). ⁣
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The first step to healing may be acknowledging that you’ve experienced a trauma - the size of the t doesn’t matter for YOU, an individual with your own experience and life path. Your experience of trauma is highly dependent on your individual makeup, so I can’t name it for you. But I can encourage you to name it, hold it in your heart, and start to let it go - a critical step in the healing path that may take a long time and a lot of work. ⁣
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We are experiencing a collective trauma as we move through this pandemic together as a global community. Whether your experience is more of a classical T or as just-as-valid personal t from the pandemic, it may be difficult to integrate or embody your experience until we call it what it is and acknowledge the variety of possible trauma responses. We will discuss the spectrum of trauma responses next time! ⁣
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It’s a tough time. Reach out to me if you need support, help finding a provider, or would like some help accessing crisis hotlines/support. ⁣♥️✨🌿
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PMID: 24413388

Anyone else feeling like the end of their work days are blurry right now? 🙋🏻‍♀️⁣
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I feel so grateful to be working and to be in healthcare (and academia) right now! But I also have a tendency to take new tasks seriously to the point of severe anxiety over wanting to do everything the “right” way. I started putting pressure on myself to be available 24/7, and I saw that when I rushed to answer emails and accommodate unexpected Zoom calls, I wasn’t living in line with my values. My mental and physical health started to slip right away, and I had a teeny-tiny baby breakdown (anyone else? 😅). ⁣
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So, here are some tools that I’ve been using to help with holding robust boundaries during my time working at home this week: ⁣
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📖 Setting aside 30 minutes a day to write my worries down and let them stay on the page ⁣
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⏰ Working during work hours only (for me, about 8AM - 7PM is what I can accommodate) and not more than the agreed upon hours in my contracts ⁣
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🙋🏻‍♀️ Not volunteering for extra tasks right now ⁣
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🌿 Using herbal allies for stress, anxiety, and energetic support ⁣
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🎶Scheduling in 15 minutes of “transition time” at the end of the day to jam to my favorite tunes and decompress ⁣
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👀 Using boundary-setting visualization techniques before meetings and patient visits ⁣
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✨ Prioritizing the things that especially spark joy when I’m not working ⁣
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Now is a great time to recalibrate our boundaries and teach people how we would like to be treated. One of the best ways is to *live your boundaries* rather than expect others to hold them for you! How are you keeping boundaries in quarantine? What’s been the biggest challenge? I’m here for you! ♥️

One of the most wonderful ways to use plant friends is by applying them right to the skin - an option that doesn’t get a lot of hype but can provide so much benefit! 🤩🌸⁣
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Our skin is our largest organ, and what we apply to it is absorbed into the local tissues and even a bit into the bloodstream (depending on the herbs’ chemical properties, the strength of the formula, etc.). This can be helpful when we want to support skin, hair, nails, joints, muscles, or more! Bonus: for people with funky guts or absorption problems, this can provide quick and easy support. There are even herbs that can be used in a pinch for wilderness emergencies for wounds and injuries! 💪🏻⁣
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Topicals are mostly prepared using oil extractions, a process that requires some patience! This gorgeous red oil is a wildcrafted St. John’s Wort oil extract made from fresh flowers I harvested myself. Taken internally, St. John’s Wort can improve mood - but applied externally, it’s helpful for pain caused by nerve damage. I love to use blends that include this and other evidence-based topicals to support people with acute and chronic pain.⁣
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Talk to your naturopathic doctor or local herbalist if you’re interested in using herbs topically to support your whole body health! 🌿✨♥️ ⁣
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Important side note: Taken orally, St. John’s Wort can speed up the metabolism of certain medications in the liver, so please only take it if you’re working with a practitioner - and make sure to clear it with a doctor who’s familiar with drug-herb interactions! 🌼👩🏻‍⚕️🌼⁣
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