Acupuncture is most known in the United States for pain management. However, it is actually effective for a wide variety of problems. The World Health Organization has declared acupuncture as effective for addictions, arthritis, back pain, carpal tunnel, chemotherapy, digestive problems, ear problems, fibromyalgia, headaches, insomnia, menstrual and female disorders, muscle and joint problems, sinusitis, skin disorders, and much more.

Acupuncture has been used successfully to treat children and animals, neither of whom have preconceived beliefs about the effectiveness of acupuncture. But a positive mental outlook, which is true in receiving any form of treatment, can enhance the effects of treatment.

There are misconceptions about the treatment, most having to do with pain, but acupuncture is almost never painful. The needles are extremely small, nothing like needles used to administer drugs. An acupuncture needle does not puncture the skin; it slides into the tissue without cutting it and can hardly be felt. CHA uses the finest Japanese needles — smooth, sterile and disposable, with rounded points. Discomfort is rare and usually due to an unusual degree of tightness or sensitivity. During an acupuncture session, different sensations may be experienced by the patient, from numbness and tingling, to an electrical-like discharge upon insertion. This is perfectly normal. The discomfort will usually disappear as soon as the needle insertion is complete, about 5 seconds. If the discomfort remains, please tell the practitioner. the sensation of acupuncture is actually rather pleasant and most people fall into an alpha state of semi-sleep, a very relaxed state of mind.

Most acupuncturists today use pre-sterilized, individually packaged, disposable needles thus absolutely assuring that there is no transmission of communicable disease from patient to patient due to contaminated needles.

That depends on the duration, severity, and nature of each individual’s health problem. Generally improvement should be seen within the first five treatments or so. It should be noted that acupuncture builds on itself and ideally initial treatments will be about every week. Many patients choose to use acupuncture as a preventative medicine and after no longer suffering from acute conditions choose to receive maintenance treatments (once a month or so).

One may experience immediate total or partial release of their symptoms which may last, or the symptoms may eventually return. In a few cases, the pain may seem even worse. This is called the rebound effect. By the next day, the pain can be expected to gradually improve. However, one should see further incremental improvement after each subsequent treatment. In a few cases there may be no immediate relief but pain may eventually diminish over the next couple of days.

Moxa Therapy is the use of the herb “Moxa”, also known as “Mogwort” or “Artmisia vulgaris”, to promote healing. The herb is burned on the surface of the skin, which is protected by a cream, often over acupuncture points. The warmth penetrates into the body to bring about self-healing. The herb dates back to the Romans and has been used as a antipyretic, worm expellant, diuretic, and hemostatic.This therapy increases white blood cell count which helps prevent illness. It also promotes alkalinity of the blood. Moxibustion has a thermal effect, much like an infrared beam. It acts as a histotoxin, rebalancing the calcium to magnesium ratio. This ratio becomes imbalanced in diseased areas.