Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an ancient health system used to increase vitality, find relief from pain, enhance fertility, and address many common conditions and ailments. While “western medicine” mainly treats symptoms with drugs and surgery, acupuncture optimizes and balances the functional aspects of the body.

For many of us, the whole idea of acupuncture as a way to gain energy and vitality, to find relief from pain, to enhance our fertility, or to address our nagging health complaints is pretty hard to grasp. In our everyday experience of the world we see little that would lend us to believe that inserting very fine needles in precise locations on the body would treat or prevent medical conditions.

The kind of acupuncture I do is a completely different paradigm for health than the “western model”. The “western model” that your M.D. uses is based on disease. If you come in with high blood pressure, she gives you a pill that makes your kidneys work harder so that number goes down. If you have acid reflux (stomach acid going up into your esophagus) she gives you a pill that makes your stomach produce less acid. Your doctor reacts to diseases that you already have. Your doctor doesn’t try to cure your hypertension or acid reflux, she tries to treat the symptoms with drugs that you may have to take for the rest of your life.

A good classical acupuncturist has a very different approach to health care. Instead of treating your symptoms, he helps balance your body’s systems. The scientific term for that balance is “homeostasis”. Your body contains complex, interconnected systems designed to balance each other. Factors like injury, fatigue, poor diet, and stress can overwhelm the body’s ability to achieve a healthy state of balance. Imbalances that develop create the many symptoms of different diseases. Acupuncture helps the body return to the naturally healthy balanced state where it is able to heal itself. When you think about acupuncture and disease, think about creating health through balance. So many conditions are caused by imbalances when you think about it. This is exactly why acupuncture is so effective for so many conditions. Acupuncture treats the imbalance that leads to disease.

I invite you to explore the links above to learn more about how acupuncture can help you achieve your health goals.