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Initial Treatment:
Please wear comfortable clothing, but also you can undress fully and will be covered by a sheet on the treatment table, only exposing areas we need to treat. We want you to feel comfortable and secure during treatments, so we will respect your modesty. We often will treat the back and the hands and feet or ears to affect points that correspond to affected areas as well.
We will go over your health history and intake forms with you. Then we will do a comprehensive intake discussion of about 15-20 minutes where we review all of the systems of your body from head to toe. We will ask questions about your aches and pains, as well as digestion, bowel movements, sleep habits and emotional states and stressors. All of these systems integrate in the body and help inform our diagnosis, so some questions may feel odd, but it is commonly asked in our medicine for diagnostic purposes.
Then we will have you get onto the treatment table clothed or covered with a sheet and we will take your pulse and look at your tongue and palpate your abdomen. These are tools for us to determine how to treat your body. This gives us information on the inner workings of your body systems, to help guide us to the most effective treatment. We may also touch different areas of tension to determine how to treat musculoskeletal problems as well.
After forming a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis, which is usually very different from a Western medical diagnosis, we will choose what style of treatment we think best for that day. It may involve inserting needles into different points on the body, we may use Moxibustion to warm an area, cupping therapy to loosen tight shoulders, gua sha to release the tissues, magnets for non insertive acupuncture, kinesiotape to support a joint weakness, or manual massage techniques to free up restricted movements. We will explain what we are doing and make sure you’re comfortable with the technique before we move forward with it.
The needles are retained for usually 10-30 minutes, then the various adjunctive techniques are applied as needed. Sometimes you will turn over and have the other side of the body treated as well, depending on the treatment protocol for the day. The wonderful thing about our office is we have many tools to treat people, depending on their needs and sensitivities we can adapt to make it a positive experience for every individual patient. These are truly customized services, because every person is different, every day we see you, you are different. We will meet you where you are every time you come to the office.
Follow up treatments:
Each subsequent treatment will have a similar flow, but the treatments themselves likely differ slightly depending on what we observe in the body and what the primary concern is for that day.
Acupuncture involves using very fine needles inserted into specific acupuncture points on the body. It is usually a painless insertion, but occasionally you might feel a small pinch when the needle is inserted. Most patients only feel about one out of every 15 needles inserted. This pinch sensation should dissipate within about 10 seconds or so. Then the sensation at the point will feel a dull, heavy, achy maybe slightly itchy sensation while the needle is creating a reaction for the body. Most patients feel a nice calm relaxing sensation as the needles are retained for 10-25 minutes in the area.
Acupuncture uses fine needles inserted into specific points on the body to affect change in your body. The needle provides a stimulus to the body to create change in an area. Sometimes the area may be very tight or stagnant, therefore not getting enough blood flow to the tissues. The acupuncture needle helps break up that tension and allow blood and energy to flow more freely in the body. Another area may be deficient and the needle will encourage the body to send blood and energy to that area, thereby helping it to heal and function more ideally.
Not everyone needs needles. There are many non-insertive techniques that can be applied to utilize the principles of Traditional Chinese or Japanese acupuncture without puncturing the skin with needles. Press balls are vicaria seeds stuck to the skin and can stimulate acupuncture points by pressing on them for many days in a row. Magnets applied to the body during treatment time that promote the movement of energy (Qi/Chi) throughout the body. A blunted needle called a Teishin to touch and stimulate the acupuncture points but not puncturing the skin. Also acupressure touch to stimulate the meridians and acupuncture points with pressure.
Cupping therapy is an ancient technique where suction is applied to an area of the body to lift the tissues, promoting blood flow, releasing tight muscles, encouraging the body to come in and break up tissue adhesions and areas of stagnation. This can be done using pump suction cups, fire in a glass cup or silicone cups pressed to an area of tension, or by sliding the cup along muscles to release areas of tension. The marks that can be left on the skin are not bruises, but old stagnant blood that has been brought to the surface. This allows the body to come in and break down the old deoxygenated blood and promotes healthy nutrient rich blood to return to the area. Naturally helping the body heal and repair tissues in the body. It should not be painful, just can feel a bit tight when the cups are applied. Most patients find cupping enjoyable and effective to release soreness. Five minutes of cupping can be as effective as about 15 minutes of massage to promote blood flow and release adhesions in muscles.
Gua Sha is an ancient technique meaning ‘to scrape to promote blood flow’. Sha is the reddening of the skin after a smooth edged tool is run along the skin and fascia. It is done to promote blood flow and release tissue adhesions between layers of skin, fascia (connective tissue) and muscle. It can help ease pain and discomfort as well as promote healthy flow of nutrient rich blood to the skin. The practitioner will apply pressure and stroke the tool in one direction until the skin appears pink-red indicating the proper amount of treatment has been applied.
Moxibustion is an ancient technique where the herb Mugwort has been processed and dried to be burned. Moxibustion promotes heat and blood flow and is very tonifying for the body. Many causes of pain and disharmony in the body is when cold gets into our tissues or joints and causes the blood and Qi (chi, energy) of the body to not flow well throughout the body. The moxa is then rolled into a ball and put on the head of an acupuncture needle to warm the needle and have the heat penetrate the tissues to warm and invigorate an acupuncture point. Or a compressed stick of moxa is burned and held above the skin to warm the channels or acupuncture points.