Chinese medicine has been practiced and cultivated over thousands of years. The theory behind it focuses on achieving homeostasis within the body in order to soothe excesses and tonify deficiencies . This action is achieved by manipulating specific points along meridians in the body to enable their given therapeutic roles. Meridians are like channels that run throughout the body from head to toe, at varying levels of depth. Each pathway is linked to an organ system. The acupuncture points used in a treatment are the places along the channels where the Qi of that pathway is most accessible to the practitioner. Anatomical references and relative proportions determine the location of these points on each person. Points are chosen for their individual or combined actions in a treatment strategy.

A diagnosis is chosen based on an intensive intake interview wherein many aspects of the clients complaints, lifestyle and habits are examined. The practitioner is interested not only in the symptoms presenting in that moment but the entire picture behind every possibly related issue. No piece of information is insignificant to the acupuncturist! One will be asked questions ranging from bowel pattern to emotional status in order to see the whole person behind the symptoms.

Other diagnostic tools include the reading of the pulses and analysis of the tongue. Three pulse positions on each wrist will reveal the quality of the energy in their corresponding organ systems. When reading the pulse the practitioner is doing much more than counting beats per minute. Detailed information about organ function is being accessed by a trained touch. Viewing the tongue also gives the practitioner valuable information about the internal state of the client. Different parts of the tongue represent parts of the body and much can be revealed by analyzing the texture, color, thickness and coat of the tongue.

Acupuncture is a cumulative type of therapy and the number of treatments required to resolve any given medical issue will depend directly on the nature of the problem. One can expect to come anywhere from 3 to 10 times or more, accordingly.

Acupuncture is recognized by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to be effective in the treatment of:

• Addiction-alcohol, drug, smoking
• Arthritis
• Anxiety
• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Chronic fatigue
• Colitis
• Common cold
• Constipation
• Dental pain
• Depression
• Diarrhea
• Digestive trouble
• Dizziness
• Dysentary
• Emotional problems
• Eye problems
• Facial paralysis/tics
• Fatigue
• Fertility
• Fibromyalgia
• Gingivitis
• Headache
• Hiccough
• Incontinence
• Indigestion
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Low back pain
• Menopause
• Mentrual irregularities
• Migraine
• Morning sickness
• Nausea
• Osteoarthritis
• Pain
• Pneumonia
• PMS
• Reproductive problems
• Rhinitis
• Sciatica
• Season affective disorder (SAD)
• Shoulder pain
• Sinusitis
• Sleep disturbances
• Smoking cessation
• Sore throat
• Stress
• Tennis elbow
• Tonsillitis
• Tooth pain
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Urinary tract infections
• Vomiting
• Wrist pain