Acupuncture is a branch of the philosophy of Chinese Medicine that emphasizes balance of internal organ systems to treat diseases and bring the body back into optimal health. One of the foundations of this medicine is the belief that most health problems are caused by imbalances in the body. Acupuncture focuses on fixing these imbalances to promote healing. Acupuncture has been used as a primary medical system for over 2,000 years in China.

How it works

The body is comprised of many energetic pathways. This energy is called “qi” and it is the basis for all of the body’s functions. When the qi is not moving properly through the pathways, this creates blockage and leads to the symptoms that occur with disease states.

Acupuncture works with the body’s energy by using very fine needles to stimulate specific points on the energetic pathways. The stimulation of these points brings systems into balance, allowing the body to heal from within.

Why choose acupuncture?

Safe

Acupuncture is a safe medical practice performed by a licensed professional, who has undergone extensive training, clinical work, and passed a rigorous licensing test to be in practice. Acupuncture needles are sterile, single use medical instruments that are strictly regulated for proper sterile packaging and disposal.

Natural

Compared to pharmaceutical drugs, acupuncture treatments have virtually no harmful potential side effects.

Proven effective by the World Health Organization

There are many studies being published that show acupuncture’s effectiveness in many conditions. Backed by these studies, acupuncture is continuing to be accepted and is gaining in popularity around the world.Acupuncture has been shown to increase blood flow to localized areas of treatment and activates neurotransmitters and endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers. A 2010 study from the University of Rochester in New York also found that acupuncture can help relieve pain through the release of adenosine, which helps contribute to acupuncture’s ability to decrease pain. [1]

The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine’s national survey on acupuncture use in the United States found that nearly 1 out of every 10 U.S. adults over the age of 18 has tried acupuncture, approximately 20 million in total.

According to the National Institute of Health, almost 40% of American adults use alternative forms of medicine. Overall, acupuncture and Chinese medicine are continuing to gain widespread acceptance.

[1] Nedergaard, M., Goldman, N., et al. Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture. Nat. Neurosci. 2010 Jul; 13(7): 883-888.

Treats the underlying cause

Western medicine tends to focus on your symptoms and eliminating them. While this can be effective for many conditions, sometimes this isn’t enough. Maybe your medication is no longer effective, or there are unpleasant side effects, but it could feel like you’re just managing your symptoms instead of fixing and eliminating them.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine look at the body as a whole system and focus on seeing the whole picture and the underlying conditions that are causing the signs and symptoms that you experience. This can be a longer process than taking a pill for immediate symptom relief, but with acupuncture we will be getting to the root cause and working with the body to promote healing from within.