Introduction

So often people are curious about what I do and tell me they would love to give acupuncture a try but hesitate because ‘there’s nothing wrong with them’ or they ‘don’t like needles’.

First of all, needling is only one modality that I use when treating patients. And the needles that are used are all sterile and hair-thin and nowhere near the size of needles used for shots or having blood drawn. Second, the idea of seeking healthcare only after you have become sick or are symptomatic is a uniquely Western way of thinking. In almost every other form of medicine around the world, healthcare is just that: caring for your health. It is mostly preventative, and cultivating and maintaining health is the whole point.

The other issue with waiting until symptoms present is the idea of making them go away rather than following them and understanding where they’ve come from. Chinese medicine operates under the construct that our bodies are constantly seeking balance (homeostasis) and that symptoms are messages from the body that the inherent desire and function to maintain this balance is impaired. Your body is letting you know that it’s not okay, that it can no longer deal effectively with what is happening. Promoting the body’s innate ability to maintain or regain this balance is my goal. It is my job to find the source of the dysfunction and assist the body’s natural healing and restorative processes.

Prevention is an important aspect of caring for your health, so in addition to treatments I regularly make recommendations about nutritional choices, supplements, exercise, and Tai Chi/Qi Gong. Don’t wait until symptoms appear to come in! Just like caring for a car: you don’t (usually) wait until you are out of gas and stuck on the side of the road to fill up; you don’t wait until your engine has overheated to add fluids or change the oil; so don’t wait until you’re sick or symptomatic to come in. Seasonal ‘tune-ups’ keep you feeling good and your immune system strong!