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          How Does Acupuncture Work?

              Acupuncture is part of a comprehensive system of natural healthcare called Oriental
              Medicine (OM) that includes Herbal medicine, TuiNa or Chinese massage, nutrition,
              exercise such as Tai Chi, and a few other modalities.

              OM is an energetic medicine – and teaches that all living creatures possess a vital
              energy called “Qi” (pronounced “chee”). We all start out with a certain level of constitutional
              Qi – what we’re born with. Then throughout our lives we can build up our Qi with proper
              nutrition and exercise, or we can deplete it by eating a bad diet, smoking, lack of exercise,
              overwork, worry or fear. The goal of OM is to restore balance, strengthen your Qi, and bring
              you back to a natural state of optimum health.

              So how does Acupuncture work? Chinese medicine teaches that this energy, this Qi,
              runs inside the body in channels, called meridians. You can't see them, but you may have               experienced your own meridians without knowing it. Have you ever scratched yourself in
              one part of your body and felt it in another? That's because the energy traveled up or down
              that meridian.

              Sometimes our Qi energy gets stuck or "stagnated" in the body, and we feel pain. Our Qi
              may be deficient, as a result of illness, or it may be in excess, as a result of an infection.
              Acupuncture can help to build-up the deficiency, or calm the excess, or invigorate and
              move out the stagnation.We affect the Qi by inserting extremely fine needles into energy
              points along the meridians. Each one of the more than 350 points has a specific location,
              purpose and effect. We usually use between 10 and 20 points during an average
              treatment. We decide which points to use based on a treatment plan, which we create
              according to a diagnosis of your symptoms… much the way your Western doctor decides
              which drugs to prescribe.

              The major difference between Eastern and Western medicine is that Western medicine
              treats the disease and generally prescribes the same drug (or class of drugs) for
              the same condition, in all patients. In OM, we treat each individual patient
              according to his or her individual symptoms – in the moment. So two people who
              may appear to have the same symptoms – a sore throat for example – may have very
              different underlying causes, and that’s what we want to get to. In Western
              medicine, an ulcer is treated pretty much in the same way in every case –
              with one or two drugs being prescribed for all patients. But studies in China
              have come up with 23 different diagnoses for stomach ulcer. In other words, 23
              different treatments, each individualized according to the underlying cause.

              Those new to Acupuncture might be a little intimidated by the word "needle". But an
              acupuncture needle is as fine as a cat's whisker - virtually painless. And by law, all
              needles used in the U.S. are sterile and disposable, used only once and then discarded.

              Acupuncture is performed with the patient lying down on a comfortable massage table,
              face-up or face-down, wearing comfortable street clothes or a gown. The average
              treatment lasts about 20 minutes once the needles are inserted.

              Most people find Acupuncture painless and relaxing. The initial activation of Qi may cause
              a distending or grabbing sensation, which goes away quickly. Many people fall asleep
              during treatment. And some say it's the best rest they have had all week!

              In conclusion, people often come to an Acupuncture Physician as a last resort, after
              they've tried everything else. That's OK, as long as you come to us eventually.
              Because we can help.