If you have had little or no exposure to Acupuncture, it can be a little intimidating. I hope this will help. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me.

What Can Traditional Chinese Medicine Do for Me?

Acupuncture is generally known as a good solution for chronic (ongoing) pain management. This is a well documented, and generally accepted use of acupuncture. But there are a number of conditions that acupuncture is effective for that are not so well known. Here are a few:

Women's issues - Issues associated with menopause are commonly treated with acupuncture. Pain and irritability issues associated with a woman's monthly cycle may be effectively addressed with acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

Immune enhancement - Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can be used to treat colds and flus, and can help increase immunity so you don't get so many colds.

Wellness - Acupuncture  and herbs can help you maintain your body at peak health, and improve your resistance to the various bugs being passed around.

Facial Rejuvenation - Specifically to help you look and feel younger, acupuncture is surprisingly effective at reducing wrinkles and other signs of aging. Not as fast as botox, but has benefits beyond mere appearance.

Aging - As we are all aware, the aging process is ongoing but acupuncture can help maintain your health, and can be targeted to specific issues you may have as you get older.

In 1997 the National Institute of Health summarized some other areas where Acupuncture has been studied: "there is clear evidence that needle acupuncture is efficacious for adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and probably for the nausea of pregnancy... There is reasonable evidence of efficacy for postoperative dental pain... reasonable studies (although sometimes only single studies) showing relief of pain with acupuncture on diverse pain conditions such as menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, and fibromyalgia..." However, "acupuncture does not demonstrate efficacy for cessation of smoking and may not be efficacious for some other conditions."

The items listed above are the issues we all face as human beings. Some of us may have additional issues caused by accident or illness. Almost every treatment for car accidents, surgery, illness, etc provided by your local doctor can be enhanced by the application of acupuncture.

What to Expect

Acupuncture is a whole new world to many people. They don't know what to expect because they are unfamiliar with the practice of acupuncture. So here is a description of what to expect at your first acupuncture appointment.

Your acupuncture practitioner will ask you about your medical history, talk to you about whatever issues that prompted you to come in, and will do all the normal medical disclosures regarding HIPAA and privacy. In her mind she will be designing the treatment plan, and will discuss with you anything related to that you would like to know.

Then, she will send you behind the screen, or she will leave the room, and she will ask you to undress and cover up with a towel or sheet. She will tell you what to wear, and ask you to lie on the table, either face up or face down. You will probably be in your underwear, you typically do not completely undress for an acupuncture treatment.

She will tap the needles in, and proceed to treat you.  When the needles are in place, she will step outside of the room for anywhere from 5-30 minutes. During this time, she may cover you or turn the heat up to be sure you stay warm.

When the session is over, she will remove the needles and discard them. She will ask you to get dressed. Then she will discuss with you which herbs or Chinese medicinal herbs may be beneficial to help continue the improvement of your health. You will walk away feeling good, and the next day will be even better.

Does it hurt?

Acupuncture is a whole new world to some folks. They don't know what to expect because they are unfamiliar with the practice of acupuncture. But you need not worry about pain, this is a process that is not painful.

The needles we use are very fine. When inserted into your skin, we just tap them quickly and there is not even the sting of a typical vaccination. This is a good thing, of course, because we may put many needles in you. Even for something like a simple headache, we will use several on your head, several on each hand, and maybe one or two on the back of your neck.

It is important to note that the practice of Acupuncture, like many wellness disciplines, is all about working as a partner with your practitioner to improve your health. This is particularly true as it relates to pain you may feel during the acupuncture treatment. If it hurts, it isn't quite right. You need to speak up and let the practitioner know. The needle can be repositioned so it doesn't hurt, although you may occasionally feel an ache at the site of the needle.

It is possible for you to cause a painful acupuncture experience. You should not move when being treated. The needles may go far enough into your body that when you move a muscle the needle will move and cause pain.

Overall, the experience should not cause you any more pain than a massage. In the long run, of course, the use of acupuncture has well documented benefits for your overall health and well being.

Is it Effective?

It is clear that after thousands of years of practice, that Acupuncture is effective. But this question kind of misses the point. After all, the only thing that matters is if it is effective for you.

In our world, we tend to think like men. (No offense intended to the guys among us!) But we look at our bodies like a car. Something breaks, we want it fixed. So we go to our doctor and he gives us drugs or surgery, and voila! It is fixed.

Acupuncture is not like that. It is more like growing a garden. It is a process where you work with the elements you have, and help them. You water during the dry spells, you pull the weeds out, you apply a little compost. You do these as part of an ongoing effort to help your garden grow. Acupuncture is part of an overall attitude toward your life and your health. You are trying to do what you need to; trying to eat right, exercise as much as you can, getting enough sleep. Despite your efforts to live a healthy life issues crop up outside the normal, and acupuncture can help your body deal with these issues.

This type of treatment is very effective for some, less effective for others. It is definitely not designed to be as effective as taking a pill. Consider taking your daily Prozac. Quick, easy and effective. You may be able to achieve the same thing through acupuncture with a greater overall benefit for your health. But it would not appear like a miracle cure the way a drug can.

In 1997, the National Institute of Health issued a consensus statement on acupuncture that concluded that "there is sufficient evidence of acupuncture's value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value." The NIH statement noted that "the data in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many accepted Western medical therapies", and added that "the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted medical procedures used for the same condition."

Almost no one suggests that acupuncture should completely replace Western medicine. The benefits of drugs and surgery are undeniable. But in cases where you don't believe action that drastic is necessary, or where you want additional help through a problem, acupuncture is safe, reliable, and effective.

Looking Good!

Acupuncture is a part of your medical care designed to enhance your health and well being. It can help relieve ongoing health issues, but can also have a beneficial effect on how you look.

A subset of acupuncture is designed specifically to help you look better, and is called Facial Rejuvenation. As you might guess, this is a series of treatments that involve no drugs or surgery.

It does take some time, bf you want a healthy procedure that works with your body to make you look better, this is for you. The treatment consists of 10-12 acupuncture treatments, each takes an hour to an hour and a half. Additional electrical stimulation in minute amounts is added to some of the needles. You will start to see noticeable changes in your skin and the contours of your face after five or six of the treatments.

So, if you are considering botox or cosmetic surgery, you would be well advised to consider acupuncture as a safer and overall more healthful approach to looking younger. And with acupuncture you will probably feel better too!

Surgery or Drugs?

That question is the typical response to your ailments by practitioners of Western medicine. To be sure, these can be appropriate, useful, and effective methods of treating your ailments. But we have all had ailments that we don’t want to treat that way. We don’t want to ignore them, but we don’t want drugs or surgery either.

Well, we have an alternative for you! Acupuncture is effective for many types of routine injuries or concerns that don’t really demand the sort of treatment you will get if you go to the doctor.

The goals of acupuncture and Western medicine are the same: Both want you to feel good and be healthy. It is just that acupuncture works with your body to help your body deal with the issues. It is a longer term, less drastic, more holistic way of helping improve your health. It is not magic in the way drugs or surgery are, but it is effective nonetheless.

Acupuncture is a terrific alternative for dealing with issues of concern that you don’t want to take drugs for, but where you feel a need to do something. Check it out!

Chi or Qi  (Pronounced Chee)

You may hear your acupuncturist discussing your Qi.  Basically, it is the life force that permeates your body.

Here is the Wikipedia definition and explanation:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%27i

From Wikipedia is this section:  
Traditional Chinese medicine - Theories of traditional Chinese medicine assert that the body has natural patterns of qi that circulate in channels called meridians. Symptoms of various illnesses are often believed to be the product of disrupted, blocked, or unbalanced qi movement (interrupted flow) through the body's meridians, as well as deficiencies or imbalances of qi (homeostatic imbalance) in the various Zang Fu organs. Traditional Chinese medicine often seeks to relieve these imbalances by adjusting the circulation of qi (energy flow) in the body using a variety of therapeutic techniques. Some of these techniques include herbal medicines, special diets, physical training regimens (qigong, tai chi chuan, and other martial arts training), moxibustion, massage to clear blockages, and acupuncture, which uses small diameter metal needles inserted into the skin and underlying tissues to reroute or balance qi.


From a practical standpoint, it may not mean that much to you, but it is important to your acupuncturist.  She will utilize these meridians and her understanding of the flow of your Qi in order to treat you.  It is said that with practice, you may feel the Qi as she works with you.  You may not. There are disciplines associated with this (Like Tai Chi) that emphasize awareness of Qi, but acupuncture is not one of them.

It is a little funny in our society to describe the method of treatment as using these lines of life force. We are not typically comfortable with that.  So, please feel free to describe it this way: The modern scientific explanation is that needling the acupuncture points stimulates the nervous system to release chemicals in the muscles, spinal cord and brain. These chemicals will either change the experience of pain, or they will trigger the release of other chemicals and hormones that influence the body’s own internal regulating system. The improved energy and biochemical balance produced by acupuncture results in stimulating the body’s natural healing abilities, and in promoting physical and emotional well-being.  (Holy Cross Hospital:  http://www.holycrosshealth.org/svc_acupuncture_how.htm)

What is the point?

On occasion someone will ask about acupuncture in a way that doesn’t really allow a good answer. For example, they might ask "where is the acupuncture point for a headache?".  Their assumption is that their body and acupuncture work like a car and your mechanic.  Something goes wrong, you stick a pin in it!

You may have guessed, but it doesn’t work that way. In Chinese medicine there are general points for some things, ie headaches.  But this avoids the real question.  The reality is you need to diagnose why someone has headaches and treat the root cause.  The headache or specific symptom is just a manifestation of the disorder.  We want to treat the cause of the symptom not just the symptom itself

This perspective on treatment is consistent with the general practice of oriental medicine.  The most successful treatments incorporate your overall wellness, and utilize your own body’s defenses to provide relief of your symptoms and a general overall improvement of your health.



Diet and Exercise

Acupuncture is a great tool for improving your health.  It works with your body’s systems to improve how you feel, how you look, and how you work.

It is quite a bit different from Western Medicine, which appears to have an emphasis on fixing things. But one thing we all agree on is that what you eat, and how much you exercise, have a huge impact on your health.  You need to eat right and exercise regularly to feel good.  Neither drugs, surgery, nor acupuncture can provide significant health benefits if you are abusing your body.

So please, get off the couch, get out of McDonalds.  Eat well and exercise regularly and you will feel better than ever.  Come in for acupuncture too, and feel the best you ever have.