How does Acupuncture Work?

Acupuncture is part of ancient Chinese Medicine. Energy, called "qi" (pronounced "chee") flows along specific pathways, called meridians, throughout the body. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe the human body has more than 2,000 acupuncture points connected by meridians. Disruption of the energy flow can cause disease, pain, dysfunction or illness. Applying acupuncture to specific points can release blocked qi in the body and stimulate function, enhancing the body’s natural healing process thereby improving health.

“Acupuncture points are believed to stimulate the central nervous system. This, in turn, releases chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These biochemical changes may stimulate the body's natural healing abilities and promote physical and emotional well-being.” - Johns Hopkins Medicine

“Modern research has demonstrated acupuncture’s effects on the nervous system, endocrine and immune systems, cardiovascular system, and digestive system. By stimulating the body’s various systems, acupuncture can help to resolve pain, and improve sleep, digestive function, and sense of well-being.” - UC San Diego School of Medicine

What to Expect at your First Visit for the Acupuncture Treatment?

On your first visit, you will fill out the patient intake form. Then our doctor will ask about your health history, present complaints and check your vital sign, examine your tongue’s shape, color, and coating, feel your pulse, and feel the skin temperature of your hands and feet. Once the doctor diagnoses your condition, the doctor will be able to recommend a proper treatment plan to address your particular condition. In your first acupuncture treatment, you lay comfortably on a treatment table. Then the hair-thin needle is inserted to a specific point to open up the meridian channel to balance and enhance the flow of the Qi, decrease pain, increase circulation of blood, oxygen, or stimulate and restore the function of the body. During treatments, patient report that they feel very relaxed and many patients fall asleep.

What Conditions are Commonly Treated by Acupuncture?

Hundreds of clinical studies on the benefits of acupuncture show that it successfully treats conditions ranging from musculoskeletal problems (back pain, neck pain, and others) to nausea, migraine headache, anxiety, depression, insomnia, Bell’s Palsy, and infertility. In our office we specifically focus on treating the following conditions:

• Depression
• Headache tension
• Hypertension, essential
• Knee pain joint pain
• Low back pain
• Neck stiffness pain
• Anxiety
• Periarthritis of shoulder
  
• Insomnia
• Postoperative pain
  
• Rheumatoid arthritis
  
• Sciatica
  
• Rheumatoid arthritis
  
• Sprain
  
• Stroke
  
• Acne vulgaris
  
• Bell’s palsy
  
• Craniocerebral injury, closed
  
• Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
  
• Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
  
• Female infertility
  
• Facial spasm
  
• Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
  
• Gouty arthritis
  
• Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
  
• Neuralgia, post-herpetic
  
• Alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine and heroin dependence
  
• Osteoarthritis
  
• Postoperative convalescence
  
• Prostatitis, chronic
  
• Schizophrenia
  
• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction