Services & Therapies

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the practice of inserting sterile, single use, fine, filiform (solid) needles into the skin at specific points around the body to illicit a response. Points are selected for their therapeutic actions. 

Electrical Stimulation

Electrical stimulation also called e-stim, is the use of milli- or microcurrent in conjunction with needles. It generally produces a “soft, fluttery” feeling (shouldn’t be painful). It’s used for many reasons including musculoskeletal conditions (pain, swelling, expedite healing, etc), digestion, and moving Qi and blood.

Cupping

Cupping is an adjunct therapy often used with acupuncture. A vacuum is created usually with glass cups (plastic pump cups are also used typically on areas harder to get to with the glass cups like the neck and Achilles tendon). Often it’s used over muscular areas to move Qi and blood (increase circulation), reduce swelling, relieve pain, and break up adhesions, but it’s not only used for sports medicine! Cupping can be beneficial for respiratory issues, digestion, menstrual issues and more.

Because of the vacuum, the area cupped ranges from barely pink to very dark depending on the level of stagnation. Cupping marks may last from a day or 2 to several days. 

It’s not as painful as it sounds! Most patients say it feels like a deep massage and find it quite pleasant. 

Gua Sha

Gua Sha also called Graston®️ and Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) is a scraping technique similar to cupping in that it moves Qi and blood, moves fascial and scarring restrictions and relieves pain. A pink-red “sha” is produced. It’s often used over muscular areas for tension and aches. And like cupping is not limited to sports medicine. Marks from Gua Sha generally last a couple of days.  Again, not as painful as it sounds!

Moxabustion

Moxabustion is the burning of mugwort (also called Ai Ye in pinyin and Artemisia vulgaris in Latin). It’s used to warm meridians, add energy to a point, stimulate Qi flow along the channel or in the area and much more. There are many different techniques one can use, most common are indirect and direct moxa. Direct moxa is where very small ”rice grains” are placed on the skin and burned until the patient feels the heat. Indirect moxa uses stick, stick on or various barriers. The moxa gets close to the skin but the patient only feels some heat. We do not use any scarring techniques!

Tui Na

Tui Na literally translates into “push” (Tui) and “grasp” (Na). It’s Chinese manual therapy/medical massage. Tui Na uses many techniques for various conditions ranging from sports medicine, musculoskeletal conditions and injuries to internal, respiratory and digestive conditions. 

Nutritional Counseling

In TCM foods have specific properties, meaning they can be hot/cold, warming/cooling, neutral, blood building, damp dispelling, etc. When TCM practitioners make diet recommendations, we take into account your constitution and your TCM diagnosis.  Western nutrition is a little different in the sense they suggest the same “healthy” foods for everyone. While that may seem like a good idea in theory, depending on health conditions, digestive ability and over all compliance, “one size fits all” doesn’t work. 

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese herbal medicine has been around well over 3,000 years. We often use ”patent” formulas (pressed powder tablets or tea pills) for compliance and ease of use, but in some cases we may prescribe raw formulas to be decocted at home or granules (aka powders) to be mixed with warm water and taken as a tea. In many cases herbal medicine doesn’t produce the side effects that pharmaceuticals do. We may also suggest external topicals. These are used for musculoskeletal issues. 

B-12 Injections

Vitamin B-12 or cobalamin is an essential nutrient, meaning the body doesn’t make it.  We have to get it from outside the body, generally through food.  It’s a key player in ensuring proper brain and nervous system function as well as blood formation. We use methylcobalamin because it is more bioavailable, meaning it's easier for the body to use and doesn't need to be converted to a more useable form (like cyanocobalamin, a cheap synthetic B-12).