What is acupuncture?
It’s a traditional method of healing that originated in Asia, but has been used worldwide for much longer than what we call “medicine.” Those ancient healers were pretty incredible, forming theories and protocols 5,000 years ago that line up with our “Western” understanding of the body today – without the benefit of all our modern tech. (Did you know MRI’s today can actually prove a lot of this stuff?) Anyway, these classical doctors realized that our bodies and everything going on inside them were based on energy. By harnessing the power of energy (read: nervous system), they could trigger the body to use its own healing mechanisms. They activated points using bamboo & stone…but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as pain-free as today’s methods
Acupuncture is among the oldesthealing practices in the world. As part of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), Acupuncture aims to restore and maintain health through the stimulation of specific points on the body. In the United States, where practitioners incorporate healing traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries, acupuncture is considered part of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).
What To Expect from Acupuncture Visits
During your first office visit, the practitioner may ask you at length about your health condition, lifestyle, and behavior. The practitioner will want to obtain a complete picture of your treatment needs and behaviors that may contribute to your condition. Inform the acupuncturist about all treatments or medications you are taking and all medical conditions you have.
Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel no or minimal pain as the needles are inserted. Some people feel energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Improper needle placement, movement of the patient, or a defect in the needle can cause soreness and pain during treatment. This is why it is important to seek treatment from a qualified acupuncture practitioner.
Since this system of health care may be different than other care you have received, it is only natural to have questions. Read on to find out what to expect and how to get the most out of your treatments.
Acupuncture and your Health
Acupuncture and TCM take a holistic, or whole-body approach to health. This means your Acupuncturist will take into account your whole self, not just your symptoms, in order to get to the root of your health concerns. You will work together to find out how factors like your lifestyle and emotional and mental well-being may be effecting your health.
Getting the chance to really discuss your health concerns with us, and having us really listen, maybe new to you. Think of it as your opportunity to form a partnership for better health. The more you take part in your healing process, the more successful it will be.
Your First Visit
Initial visits generally last from thirty to ninety minutes. We will take a detailed health history, perform a physical exam, and provide you with your unique treatment plan.
During your first exam, we will spend time getting to know you and your health concerns. We may be asking a wide range of questions about your symptoms, eating, exercise, sleep habits, emotional status and anything that may offer insight into your health. We will also employ diagnostic tools that are unique to Acupuncture and TCM such as tongue and pulse diagnosis.
Your Treatment Plan
Once we have gathered enough information, you will receive a comprehensive diagnosis and a treatment plan that will explain:
– Your underlying imbalances
– Your timeline of care
– What types of treatment you will receive
How Treatment Works
At the core of this ancient medicine is the philosophy that Qi, or vital energy, flows throughout the body. Qi animates in the body and protects it from illness, pain and disease. A person’s health is influenced by the quality, quantity and balance of Qi.
To treat any Qi imbalances, fine, sterile needles will be inserted at specific Acupuncture Points along the Meridian Pathways. We will concentrate on Acupuncture Points related to specific organs, based on your unique issues and symptoms.
We may include other related therapies in your treatment plan such as:
– Cupping,
– Tui Na,
– Auricular Therapy
– Gua Sha
– Moxibustion
– Electrical Stimulation
We may also include:
– Aromatherapy
– Homeopathy
– Chinese Herbal Medicine
Your role in the healing process
Your actions are a key component of your treatment plan. Focusing on your health and committing to a healthy lifestyle are the best steps you can take for your well-being. Together, we can heal your imbalances and help you achieve harmony and balance.
Even after your symptoms are resolved, we can assist you in maintaining your health, and possibly prevent future imbalances. The more you incorporate Acupuncture and TCM into your life, the more you will learn to nurture your body, mind and spirit.
Getting the most from your Acupuncture treatment
– Please show up on time
– Do not eat a large meal before your visit
– Wear loose comfortable clothes
– Be sure to discuss any questions or concerns with Us
– Refrain from overexertion, drugs or alcohol for at least six hours after treatment.
– Keep all of your appointments, as each visit builds upon the previous ones.
“Aromatherapy can be defined as the controlled use of essential oils to maintain and promote physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing.” -Gabriel Mojay
We practice Five Element Aromatherapy. This is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine and blends will be made after diagnosis based on Chinese Medicine. Essential Oils are custom blend in a Carrier Oil The blend will then be applied on Meridian Acupuncture points using the Acupressure method. The blend can also be made for use in a nebulizer, for this method the carrier oil is omitted. We will teach you the Acupressure points to use with your specific Oil Blend.
Our expertise is in making blends to heal the Spirit, Chakra Aromatherapy Blends and scents for Room to be used to nebulizers.
Auricular therapy uses the ear to help determine whether the right and left hemispheres of the brain are functioning as a dynamic whole, whether there are specific neurological, musculo-skeletal or organ systems that are in imbalance, and whether there are any blockages to treatment, such as scar tissue or emotional disorders. It is diagnostic. Treatment is specific and points are precisely located, and Accuracy is important.
Auriculotherapy can be used to treat the same range of health conditions as Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is safe, comfortable and highly effective. It is important to note that painful conditions often respond very quickly to Auricular therapy.What is Chinese Medicine?
Chinese herbal medicine is one of the great herbal systems of the world, with an unbroken tradition going back to the 3rd century BC. Yet throughout its history it has continually developed in response to changing clinical conditions, and has been sustained by research into every aspect of its use. This process continues today with the development of modern medical diagnostic techniques and knowledge.
Because of its systematic approach and clinical effectiveness it has for centuries had a very great influence on the theory and practice of medicine in the East, and more recently has grown rapidly in popularity in the West. It still forms a major part of healthcare provision in China, and is provided in state hospitals alongside western medicine.
Chinese medicine includes all oriental traditions emerging from Southeast Asia that have their origins in China. Practitioners may work within a tradition that comes from China(Us) Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan or Korea. It is a complete medical system that is capable of treating a very wide range of conditions. It includes herbal therapy, acupuncture, dietary therapy, and exercises in breathing and movement (tai chi and qi gong). Some or several of these may be employed in the course of treatment
Chinese herbal medicine, along with the other components of Chinese medicine, is based on the concepts of Yin and Yang. It aims to understand and treat the many ways in which the fundamental balance and harmony between the two may be undermined and the ways in which a person’s Qi or vitality may be depleted or blocked. Clinical strategies are based upon diagnosis of patterns of signs and symptoms that reflect an imbalance.
However, the tradition as a whole places great emphasis on lifestyle management in order to prevent disease before it occurs. Chinese medicine recognizes that health is more than just the absence of disease and it has a unique capacity to maintain and enhance our capacity for well being and happiness.
Herbal Medicine and Modern Pharmacology
There is a growing body of research which indicates that traditional uses of plant remedies and the known pharmacological activity of plant constituents often coincide. However, herbal medicine is distinct from medicine based on pharmaceutical drugs. Firstly, because of the complexity of plant materials it is far more balanced than medicine based on isolated active ingredients and is far less likely to cause side-effects. Secondly, because herbs are typically prescribed in combination, the different components of a formulae balance each other, and they undergo a mutual synergy which increases efficacy and enhances safety. Thirdly, herbal medicine seeks primarily to correct internal imbalances rather than to treat symptoms alone, and therapeutic intervention is designed to encourage this self-healing process.
What can Chinese Medicine treat?
Chinese medicine is successfully used for a very wide range of conditions. Among the more commonly treated disorders are:
Skin disease, including eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, urticaria
Gastro-intestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, ulcerative colitis
Gynaecological conditions, including pre-menstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhoea, endometriosis, infertility
Hepatitis and HIV: some promising results have been obtained for treatment of Hepatitis C, and supportive treatment may be beneficial in the case of HIV.
Chronic fatigue syndromes, whether with a background of viral infection or in other situations
Respiratory conditions, including asthma, bronchitis, and chronic coughs, allergic and perennial rhinitis and sinusitis
Rheumatological conditions (e.g. osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis)
Urinary conditions including chronic cystitis
Diabetes, including treatment and prevention
Psychological problems (e.g. depression, anxiety)
These are just a few of what Chinese Medicine can treat.
Are herbs safe?
Chinese herbal medicines are very safe when prescribed correctly by a properly trained Practitioner. Over the centuries Doctors have compiled detailed information about the pharmacopoiea and placed great emphasis on the protection of the patient. Allergic type reactions are rare, and will cause no lasting damage if treatment is stopped as soon as symptoms appear. Our Practitioners have received vast training and knowledge in Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine brings to mind Acupuncture and the use of natural herbs as healing remedies. Cupping is a lesser-known treatment that is also part of Oriental medicine, one that can provide an especially pleasant experience. One of the earliest documentations of cupping can be found in the work titled A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies, which was written by a Taoist herbalist by the name of Ge Hong and which dates all the way back to 300 AD.
Cupping is the term applied to a technique that uses small glass cups or bamboo jars as suction devices that are placed on the skin. There are several ways that a practitioner can create the suction in the cups. One method involves swabbing rubbing alcohol onto the bottom of the cup, then lighting it and putting the cup immediately against the skin. Suction can also be created by placing an inverted cup over a small flame, or by using an alcohol-soaked cotton pad over an insulating material (like leather) to protect the skin, then lighting the pad and placing an empty cup over the flame to extinguish it. Flames are never used near the skin and are not lit throughout the process of cupping, but rather are a means to create the heat that causes the suction within the small cups. Once the suction has occurred, the cups can be gently moved across the skin (often referred to as “gliding cupping). The suction in the cups causes the skin and superficial muscle layer to be lightly drawn into the cup.
Cupping is much like the inverse of massage – rather than applying pressure to muscles, it uses gentle pressure to pull them upward. For most patients, this is a particularly relaxing and relieving sensation. Once suctioned, the cups are generally left in place for about ten minutes while the patient relaxes. This is similar to the practice of Tui Na, a traditional Chinese medicine massage technique that targets acupuncture points as well as painful body parts, and is well known to provide relief through pressure.
Generally, cupping is combined with acupuncture in one treatment, but it can also be used alone. The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system (which makes it an excellent treatment for high blood pressure). Cupping is used to relieve back and neck pains, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, and even cellulite. For weight loss and cellulite treatments, oil is first applied to the skin, and then the cups are moved up and down the surrounding area. Like acupuncture, cupping follows the lines of the meridians.
There are five meridian lines on the back, and these are where the cups are usually placed. Using these points, cupping can help to align and relax qi, as well as target more specific maladies. By targeting the meridian channels, cupping strives to ‘open’ these channels – the paths through which life energy flows freely throughout the body, through all tissues and organs, thus providing a smoother and more free-flowing qi (life force).
Cupping is one of the best deep-tissue therapies available. It is thought to affect tissues up to four inches deep from the external skin. Toxins can be released, blockages can be cleared, and veins and arteries can be refreshed within these four inches of affected materials. Even hands, wrists, legs, and ankles can be ‘cupped,’ thus applying the healing to specific organs that correlate with these points. This treatment is also valuable for the lungs, and can clear congestion from a common cold or help to control a person’s asthma. We include Essential Oils suitable for Lung healing with this treatment. In fact, respiratory conditions are one of the most common maladies that cupping is used to relieve. Three thousand years ago, in the earliest Chinese documentation of cupping, it was recommended for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.
In the later part of the 18th Century Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician founded an elaborate therapeutic science based on curing with similar. He discovered that a medicine that could produce a particular disease scenario during provings on a healthy person could cure those same symptoms when found in the sick.
The Principles that he founded are the cornerstones of Homeopathy. They are:
– The remedy should be selected on the basis of symptom similarity.
– Only one medicinal substance should be used at a time.
– The remedy should only be repeated when the previous dose has exhausted its action, evident by a relapse of the symptoms.
– The smallest possible dose of the medicine should be used to stimulate a vital response.
– As the patient’s health improves symptoms should travel from above downward, from more important organs to less important
Homeopathy can benefit people of all ages, and treat the full range of human disease conditions. The principles behind this marvelous therapeutic art are very beautiful, because they take the gamble out of medicine and bring in law and order, safety and reliability.
In a Perfect World What Would Medicine Be Like?
Medicine would act promptly to relieve suffering, taste sweet and dissolve in the mouth.
Practitioners would look at all aspects of the individual to derive insights into the causes of the current illness, and the best way to treat the whole person.
Its forté would be chronic conditions, where it would reverse the progress of the disease and restore the patient to health.
Acute diseases would yield quickly to well-selected medicines.
The medicine would correct functional disturbances before signs of disease had an opportunity to develop.
The remedies would assist people with their development and spiritual growth by improving mental and emotional health.
We do not live in a perfect would, but we are lucky enough to have homeopathy, a therapeutic science with all of these qualities and more, to make the world a better place by improving the health of the people in it.
What Happens at the Homeopathic Consultation?
The homeopath asks for a detailed description of the physical symptoms starting with when they were first noticed and what makes them better or worse.
We asks about the client’s personal history to get an understanding of what influences may have played a part in bringing about the current state of health.
The homeopath gathers information about the health of family members and ancestors to see what genetic factors could be contributing to the health problems.
In order to understand the mental and emotional state, the homeopath inquires about fears, anxieties, moods and dreams.
The homeopath looks to see if there are any obstacles to cure that need to be removed or minimized such as addictive behaviors, imbalances in the use of time, unhealthy mental processes, or dissatisfaction with work or relationships.
We asks about food preferences, responses to the weather, energy patterns, sleep behavior and more, in order to match the symptoms of the client with the similar homeopathic remedy that will initiate the healing process.
The patient is encouraged to take an active role in the healing work by making wiser life style choices, practicing meditation, and using the mind and body in healthier ways.
Homeopathy is a comprehensive pharmaceutical Science with a Materia Medica regulated by the FDA.
Here is a list of the most commonly encountered
Moxibustion therapy in conjunction with Acupuncture can be very effective for many diseases and conditions including back pain, muscle stiffness, headaches, migraines, tendonitis, arthritis, digestive disorders, anxiety, and female health problems such as menstrual cramps, irregular periods, and infertility just to name a few.
Moxibustion can be applied in many different ways and the expected physiological reactions from moxibustion can greatly vary depending on the type and technique used, and as often with Traditional Chinese Medicine each treatment protocol is tailored to the individual.
Traditional Chinese Medicine has a wide range of alternative therapies that can be used, each approach is unique and used together usually brings good result to the individual. Therefore we can, in many cases, offer unique insight in a variety of health conditions that previously were non-responsive to conventional medicine or other alternative approaches.
