Frequently asked questions

Acupuncture has been embraced across cultures for nearly three millennia, due to its simplicity and effectiveness at healing a broad spectrum of pain and illness. It takes the entire body’s health into account, even when addressing specific symptoms.

Drawing on Eastern philosophical principles like Yin-Yang and the five elements as methods for understanding phenomena, it focuses on balancing communication pathways in the body, improving circulation, clearing pathogenic obstructions, and optimizing function. This makes acupuncture a very versatile medicine—it can be used successfully for a wide range of health concerns, from acute injury and chronic pain to hormonal imbalances, immunity issues, digestive problems and mental/emotional imbalances.

Acupuncture is also anatomy-based with many methods that closely interface with and modulate the peripheral and central nervous system. It also can encompass orthopedic techniques focusing on muscular trigger points, myofacial release, soft tissue injury, and more.

​Hair-thin, sterile, disposable needles, moxa (herbal heat therapy), and/or other methods are used to stimulate points in various areas of the body in order to promote communication, circulation and healing. Most times, needles are shallowly inserted and left in the body for anywhere from 10-30 minutes, after which another set might be administered from a different position or using a different strategy.

A variety of different techniques may be used. For patients who are extremely needle-sensitive, non-needle techniques are available. Treatments are always tailored to the unique needs of the individual patient. Generally treatments are surprisingly relaxing—not painful. Patients leave feeling nourished and rejuvenated.

Acupuncture needles only a tiny fraction of the size of hypodermic needles and not hollow. Most patients find acupuncture utterly painless, or at times feel a therapeutic twinge or ache (known as De Qi, or "arrival of Qi").

While some conditions, such as orthopedic or neurological disorders, can occasionally benefit from stimulation like trigger-point needling or electroacupuncture, we also specialize in Japanese-style needle insertion which is especially gentle and shallow, using the smallest gauge needles and gentle heat stimulation of points (moxa). This can be a great option for those who have sensitivity.

From the beginning, we’ll use your feedback to determine a treatment plan appropriate to your level of comfort. For children and the highly sensitive we employ a wide variety of non-needle techniques.

Acupuncture takes many years to master, and a licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac) has at minimum gone through a rigorous, 3 to 4-year master’s degree program, has spent hundreds of hours in clinical internship, has passed stringent national board examinations, and is subject to state licensing and annual continuing education requirements.

Most acupuncturists, including those at our practice, also pursue extensive specialized training beyond that required for licensure, such as Chinese herbology certification, doctoral degrees or other post-graduate certifications.

It depends! We treat everything from the high school athlete with a hamstring strain, to the peri-menopausal woman with recent onset of hot flashes, to the middle-aged man with decades of acid reflux, to the octogenarian with severe diabetic neuropathy. As you can imagine from these diverse cases, the course of treatment and speed of recovery is highly individualized, and may hinge on factors like age, health history and lifestyle.

Acupuncture can sometimes bring immediate relief, though a few weekly sessions might be needed to get a meaningful shift with a chronic problem. For serious conditions we would be proud to be part of your integrative care team as you are supported over time.

Many issues of an acute nature can respond relatively quickly, even with one or two acupuncture sessions. As a general rule of thumb we tell patients with chronic conditions to anticipate a few weekly sessions to see if acupuncture can make an impact, but how much treatment they will ultimately require varies a great deal from case to case. We will give you our best determination on your prognosis and the initial recommended course of follow-ups at your first session.

Slow-to-recover or very complex conditions may continue to benefit from treatment on a regular schedule, whereas some cases can fall back to an as-needed basis once symptoms abate.​ ​

Many patients love the relaxation and preventative benefits of acupuncture and voluntarily opt for a treatment on a weekly, monthly or seasonal basis.

With most chronic conditions acupuncture has a cumulative effect after a series of treatments, so it's important to keep your initial course of follow-ups fairly close together. Certain conditions can advance with a single weekly follow-up, while others may benefit from more intensive treatment. This is something you can discuss with your practitioner at your initial session.

We use only sterile, one-use disposable needles and take precautions to maintain a safe and hygienic environment. Licensed acupuncturists are also heavily trained in safety measures to protect our patients from the rare possibility of adverse events. With the use of such precautions, infection and injury from acupuncture needles is extraordinarily rare.

Due to the low likelihood of possible complications, acupuncture is, without exaggeration, one of the safest forms of medical intervention you could consider. The most common "side effect" is very slight bruising at a needle site (maybe one out of one hundred points) or occasional transient soreness after treatment.

In short, the training of the average acupuncturist encompasses extensive, superior dry needling skills, plus so much more. Occasionally other medical professionals, especially physical therapists and chiropractors, take an interest in acupuncture and orthopedic "dry needling" (which uses acupuncture needles but no Eastern medicine theory) and practice it after very limited training (sometimes after mere one or two weekend courses!). However, a professional licensed acupuncturist will have over 3,000 hours of training and far greater experience in orthopedic needling as well as extensive safety training. Acupuncturists are more likely to offer the skill, safety and experience you need to get results.

By tapping into the patient’s innate healing power, acupuncture can help in recovery from many health concerns. Patients should consult their medical doctor to understand all treatment options, but can consider using acupuncture as support with many conditions, including:

Acute and chronic pain: arthritis, headache, migraine, muscle tension, fibromyalgia, phantom pain, post-operative pain

Injuries and accidents: joint and muscle sprains and strains, fractures, whiplash, scar tissue, herniated discs, brain injury , sports injury

Repetitive strain: tendinitis, tendinopathy, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, plantar fascia pain, Morton's neuroma, chronic joint pain

Nerve pain and dysfunction: sciatica, radiculopathy, numbness, neuropathy, tremor, ticks, trigeminal neuralgia, Bell's palsy

Neurological: post-stroke recovery (paralysis, loss of speech, cognitive dysfunction, proprioceptive loss); post-concussive syndrome (headache, difficulty focusing, cognitive issues); neurodegenerative disease; Lyme's disease; neuropathy; trigeminal neuralgia; Bell's palsy

Cancer support: chemotherapy and radiation symptoms, surgery symptoms, fatigue, suppressed immunity, weight loss, nausea, stress, pain

Psychological support: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, stress, trauma, PTSD, ADHD

Women’s health: menstrual irregularities, PMS, cramps, fibroids, ovarian cysts, PCOS, peri-menopausal symptoms, hot flashes, heavy bleeding, C-section scars , pelvic pain and dysfunction

Symptoms during and after pregnancy: morning sickness, pain, lactation-related issues, post-partum depression and anxiety, C-section scars

Hormonal imbalances: diabetes, hypothyroid, hyperthyroid, adrenal exhaustion, pituitary imbalances, low testosterone

Digestive issues: nausea, IBS, constipation, loose stool, gallbladder dysfunction, gastritis, acid reflux/GERD, colitis, Crohn’s, SIBO, sensitive digestion

Immune support: allergies, hay fever, asthma, chronic or acute ear and upper respiratory infections, frequent colds, flu, and bronchitis, effects of chronic infections like Lyme's disease

Skin issues: acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, scars, hives, unusual hair growth or loss

Autoimmune: Rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, scleroderma, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, interstitial cystitis, MS

Cognitive: fatigue and low energy, poor concentration, memory loss, insomnia

Cardiovascular: Reynaud’s disease, erectile dysfunction, low and high blood pressure, palpitations, arrhythmia, edema

Sensory: vertigo, Meniere's syndrome, motion sickness, tinnitus, hypersensitivity

Fertility and reproductive health: infertility; support before and during IVF cycles

Weight: sluggish metabolism, sugar and food addictions, poor appetite

Detox: tobacco, alcohol, and drug addiction; side effects of anesthesia or pharmaceuticals

Preventative: health maintenance, stress management

​In conventional health care our health problems are typically treated as isolated complaints with drugs or surgery. There's a time and place for this but with many conditions these interventions don't get to the root of why the problem developed in the first place, and may cause new complications.

In contrast, traditional East Asian medicine looks at the interaction of your body, mind, lifestyle and environment in determining a treatment approach, recognizing your unique health story.

Even while targeting the chief complaint, acupuncture works to treat underlying imbalances, which can improve the longevity of results and enable a variety of other symptoms to improve. During this process acupuncture guides patients to new knowledge about their body-mind continuum. A successful treatment will leave the patient feeling more educated about their body, and more in control of their condition.

During the past 3,000 years, as acupuncture migrated from China across various regions, it has evolved and taken on the influence of a number of different cultures. There are innumerable different theoretical schools, diagnostic styles and techniques in acupuncture, but the foundation of all systems of traditional acupuncture lies in the classical Chinese texts and methods.

In Japan, from as early as the Edo period (1602-1868), acupuncture had the peculiar history of being a profession primarily of the blind. As a direct result, Japanese acupuncture relies to a great extent on palpation (gathering information through touch), refined forms of pulse taking, and subtle, sensitive needling techniques. By comparison, Chinese acupuncture typically uses thicker gauge needles, deeper insertion, and stronger needling stimulation, often accompanied by electrical stimulation.

In another important distinction, Chinese medicine became standardized in China under the Communist regime. The resulting state-sanctioned system known as “Traditional Chinese Medicine” (TCM) is relatively convenient to teach in modern institutions, but most practitioners find it leaves something to be desired in terms of efficacy. It is a simplified system, frozen in time, versus other styles (Japanese and other non-TCM styles) which are free to evolve with research and free inquiry.

We believe that diversity in styles of acupuncture is a positive thing, enabling discovery, innovation and patient choice.

Practices that better care for our health and better care for the environment are often one and the same. Whenever possible we use recycled and organic materials, eco-friendly detergents, bulk packaging, biodegradable products, and non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaning products.