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Chinese Medicine
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture, in practice, is the insertion of extremely thin needles through your skin at strategic points on your body. It is a key component of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine explains acupuncture is a technique for balancing the flow of energy or life force — known as qi or chi (“CHEE”) — believed to flow through pathways (meridians) in your body. By inserting needles into specific points along these meridians, acupuncture practitioners believe that your energy flow will re-balance.Many Western practitioners view the acupuncture points as places to stimulate nerves, muscles and connective tissue. (information paraphrased from mayoclinic.org)
Acupuncture treatment can help with:
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Allergies
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Headaches
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Morning Sickness
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Induction of Labour
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Malposition of the Fetus
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Neck Pain
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Dental Pai
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Depression
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Hypertension
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Sciatica
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Sprain
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Stroke
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Tennis Elbow
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Low Back Pain
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Bell’s Palsy
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Alcohol Dependence and Detoxification
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Earache
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Periarthritis of the Shoulder
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Knee Pain
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Abdominal Pain
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and more!
Is acupuncture proven to work?
Over the last couple of decades, there have been numerous studies to verify the efficacy of acupuncture for many conditions. You can visit the website of the World Health Organization (WHO) to know that the research supports acupuncture for more than 100 diseases and disorders! Or, you can visit or Testimonials page to read real life patients’ accounts of the effectiveness of acupuncture.
Where does acupuncture come from?
Acupuncture is generally held to have originated in China, being first mentioned in documents dating from a few hundred years leading up to the Common Era (BCE.) The first document that unequivocally described an organized system of diagnosis and treatment which is recognized as acupuncture is The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, dating from about 100 BCE. (paraphrased from Rheumatology (2004) 43 (5): 662-663.)
What is Acupressure?
Acupressure is a healing modality that uses finger pressure on acupuncture points. Initially, acupressure works by releasing tightness in tissues.
This can result in:
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Increasing blood and oxygen circulation
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Acceleration of healing
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Boost in immunity
Acupressure can be used as a complimentary health treatment and as a stand alone treatment.
Does acupuncture hurt?
No! Don’t let the fear of needles keep you from trying this important medical treatment. Acupuncture needles are designed to not hurt. You may experience something akin to a mosquito bite, or a little bit of soreness, but nothing truly painful! And if you are very averse to needles, you can try Auricular Therapy which utilizes the methods of acupuncture without any needles.
Chinese Medicine Treatments
Acupuncture
1st Visit - Acupuncture $150
Follow-up Visit - Acupuncture $105
Acupuncture is an ancient practice that supports the natural capacity of the body to heal. It is effective in treating many conditions including pain, difficult pregnancies, insomnia, arthritis, high blood pressure and more. The acupuncture specialist might recommend herbs to aide the acupuncture treatment.
Add on another treatment:
First Visit - Acupuncture with Cupping $165
Follow-up Visit - Acupuncture with Cupping $120
First Visit - Acupuncture with 15 min Massage $165
Follow-up Visit - Acupuncture with Cupping $120
Cupping
$65
Cupping is one of the best deep-tissue therapies available. It is thought to affect tissues up to four inches deep from the external skin. Toxins can be released, blockages can be cleared, and veins and arteries can be refreshed within these four inches of affected materials.
The earliest recorded use of cupping dates to the early fourth century, when the noted herbalist Ge Hong wrote about a form of cupping in A Handbook of Prescriptions. In a typical cupping session, glass cups are warmed using a cotton ball or other flammable substance, which is soaked in alcohol, then placed inside the cup. Burning a substance inside the cup removes all the oxygen, which creates a vacuum. The vacuum created by the lack of oxygen anchors the cup by suctioning it to the skin. This suctioning helps to stimulate the flow of blood drawing toxins out and helping to encourage fresh, oxygen rich blood into the area. It also breaks up obstruction and profoundly relaxes the muscles by releasing the fascia, a connective tissue that binds the muscle cells and the entire muscle.
Depending on the condition being treated, the cups will be left in place from 5 to 10 minutes. Several cups may be placed on a patient’s body at the same time. Some practitioners will also apply small amounts of medicated oils or herbal oils to the skin just before the cupping procedure, which lets them move the cups up and down particular acupoints or meridians after they have been applied.
Herbal Consultation
First Visit $75 for 45 minutes
Follow-up $30 for 30 minutes
An herbal specialist will review, in detail, the patient’s health history and current health concerns to address with medicinal herbs. Herbal recommendations will be made to support the whole individual.
What will we do in an Herbal Consultation?
Mostly, you will talk! You will review your health history and current health concerns with the practitioner.
What happens after the consultation?
The practitioner will make herbal recommendations specific to your health history and needs.
Will I have to take medicine?
If it’s appropriate for you, you will be sent home with a bag of herbs from our huge herbal pharmacy, an herbal “tincture” (a liquid extract of an herb or herbs) or herbal capsules or tablets.
Moxibustion
Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of mugwort, a small, spongy herb, to facilitate healing. The purpose of moxibustion is to warm, strengthen and stimulate the flow of blood, and maintain general health. Moxibustion has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years; in fact, the actual Chinese character for acupuncture, translated literally, means “acupuncture-moxibustion.”
There are two types of moxibustion: direct and indirect. With direct moxibustion, a small, cone-shaped amount of moxa is placed on top of an acupuncture point and burned. The patient will experience a pleasant heating sensation that penetrates deep into the skin.
With indirect moxibustion, a practitioner lights one end of a moxa stick, roughly the shape and size of a cigar, and holds it close to the area being treated for several minutes until the area turns red. Another form of indirect moxibustion uses both acupuncture needles and moxa. A needle is inserted into an acupoint and retained. The tip of the needle is then wrapped in moxa and ignited, generating heat to the point and the surrounding area. After the desired effect is achieved, the moxa is extinguished and the needle(s) removed. In traditional Chinese medicine, moxibustion is used on people who have a cold or stagnant condition. The burning of moxa is believed to expel cold and warm the meridians, which leads to smoother flow of blood.