Acupuncture: How Can It Help You?
Acupuncture takes an individualized approach to healing. Your symptoms are seen through a lens that includes all the unique aspects of your body/mind. Often, patients will share a seemingly insignificant detail about themselves that becomes a valuable piece of information with regard to their treatment. As a result each person’s pain or illness is treated relative to that person’s particular body and life experience.
Though our culture expects us to multi-task and spread ourselves thin, acupuncture allows us to slow down, consolidate our resources, and discover our own inner health. A person's symptoms are viewed as a sign of a deeper imbalance, and treatments prod the human system to hit the reset button and let go of old holding patterns and constrictions that are no longer serving their original protective purpose. Left untreated, these imbalances can worsen over time and further impede the body’s vitality with regard to the free flow of fluids, nervous system impulses, and hormonal balance.
When needles are gently inserted into specific points on the body, the regenerative processes in our physiology are activated to get fluids moving and clear pathways of metabolic wastes that have built up over time. In addition to their symptoms resolving, patients often become aware of deeper feelings of calmness and spaciousness that allow them to meet life’s challenges with renewed energy. When they rediscover a greater ease with regard to everyday tasks and activities, they become empowered to make better choices and improve their overall sense of well-being.
Though acupuncture typically involves the insertion of very thin needles in “active” points, needles needn’t be used for those patients who are sensitive. There are many other therapies in an acupuncturist’s toolbox including acupressure, bodywork, moxibibustion, gua sha, cupping, and nutritional and self-care counseling. At least two of these modalities are often used in each treatment.