Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture is a part of the larger field of Classical Chinese medicine. Depending on your symptoms, based on a traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis, specific points are activated with extremely fine needles.
Chinese medical diagnosis is completely different from Western medical diagnosis. It uses subtle analysis of your pulse qualities, the appearance of your tongue, and palpation of various regions of the body to understand what is out of balance in your physiology. All parts of you are understood to be interconnected, and no symptom is addressed without treating the underlying imbalances – whether they are blockages, excesses, deficiencies, or other issues.
Combined with acupuncture are other methods that are commonly used, including cupping (a form of suction), gua sha (a firm pressure technique), tui na (Chinese style massage) and moxibustion, the application of a warming herb to acupuncture points.
Your treatment may include any of these methods, as indicated.
Alongside the physical acupuncture treatment is the use of herbal medicine formulations. In Western culture it is common to see the use of a single herb to treat a single symptom. In Classical Chinese medicine, a combination of herbs is created to match your unique physiological imbalances, and this is known as a “formula.” It is prescribed for a given length of time (a week, ten days, a month, etc.) and your herbal formula may change as your condition changes, or stop altogether. These formulas are not meant to be taken forever, as you might take a nutritional supplement.
As a patient, you can receive acupuncture as a stand-alone therapy, or you may wish to incorporate Chinese herbal medicine into your therapy.
ACUPUNCTURE TRIGGER POINT TREATMENT FOR RELIEF OF PAIN AND TO RESTORE FUNCTION
“DRY NEEDLING”
One specialty of my practice is unique style of Acupuncture known as “Trigger Point Release Acupuncture.” It’s a technique that excels in relieving pain syndromes quickly and effectively, while restoring healthy function.
Sometimes referred to as “Dry Needling” in physical therapy settings, it targets selected locations in muscles related to your pain syndrome, and immediately gets them to relax with a characteristic “twitch response” that feels like a little “jump” in your tight muscle.
Many times active Trigger Points can be found in locations connected to but not exactly in your area of pain. These need to be released as well for full recovery and relief of your pain syndrome. Acupuncture looks at all these connected muscles or tendons and treats them directly, while also supporting any physiological imbalances that may be contributing to your pain or strain.
I’m frequently asked about Dry Needling by patients who have tried it in a physical therapy setting, without any noticeable results. Naturally, this can be disappointing. My response is that Licensed Acupuncturists have upwards of 3000 hours of training in the use of needles before they even become licensed to practice, and use needles as their primary tool in all their patient treatments. Physical Therapists need only pass a 54 hour continuing education course to do Dry Needling, and it is removed from the context of deeper whole-body healing. Doing it in the framework of Acupuncture is simply more effective, and your Acupuncture provider is an expert at needling skills. Whenever possible, look for an Acupuncture specialist. Don’t settle for less.
ACUPUNCTURE HEALING
Acupuncture is perhaps best known for pain relief, and it does that effectively.
What you may not know is that it is also a holistic healing approach that restores harmonious function to your whole body, thereby enabling your body to heal itself naturally – from any symptom!
For this reason, you can seek Acupuncture treatment for whatever ails you. It is used to treat all body systems – skeletal, muscular, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive.
Many people use acupuncture for relief of stress and its effects, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, irritable bowel, infertility, high blood pressure, allergies, and more.
Most people after their first treatment say, “I had no idea this would be so relaxing!” One patient who had come for back pain and insomnia, as well as myriad other complaints, commented on his relaxation response to the treatment, “I’m melting into this table; that never happens!”
It’s hard to explain. You just need to experience it for yourself to feel how it really works.
HERBAL MEDICINE
The medicinal properties of herbs have been used in healing throughout human history.
Many of our pharmaceutical drugs are developed based on plant medicine that people have used for centuries.
However, there is one important difference: Once you isolate a single bioactive chemical from a plant, you have stripped it away from all the other components in that plant that make the natural form of it safe and highly effective.
I work with medicinal herbs that have been used for thousands of years, and create individualized formulations to meet your unique needs. As your condition changes and improves, your herbal formulation changes as well. You only use the herbs for as long as you need them.
You might use herbal medicine to address conditions including high blood pressure, infertility, menopause, fatigue, immunity, anxiety, insomnia, or digestive disorders, to name a few. Herbal medicine serves as an internal form of treatment that you use on a daily basis at home. It can be used on its own or in conjunction with acupuncture treatments.
Herbs are prescribed in easy-to-use forms like granules that you mix into water and drink, or liquid tinctures, or sometimes tablets or capsules that you swallow, depending on your needs and preferences. I maintain a granule herb pharmacy in my clinic. Other high-quality herbs and nutritional supplements can be ordered through my Fullscript discount dispensary by logging in here.
All herbs meet GMP standards and are lab-tested to authenticate their identity and ensure they are free from contaminants of any kind.